Republics in Ancient India, c. 1500 B.C.–500 B.C. c7.176

c7.176

The word *samiti* does occur in the *Ṛg Veda*, but only in the first, ninth and tenth *maṇḍalas* which are accepted by almost all Indologists as compositions of a slightly later period than the "family *maṇḍalas*" (Books ii-vii).⁵ It is indeed noteworthy that, even in these *maṇḍalas* where both the *sabhā* and the *samiti* occur, not once do they figure together in the same hymn, let alone in the same verse. This analysis of the Ṛg Vedic hymns indicates that the political communities which had *sabhās* had no *samitis*, at least during the Ṛg Vedic period. Moreover, it is significant that the *sabhā*-ruled tribes appear, in point of time, to have been a little earlier than those where the *samiti* existed.