Republics in Ancient India, c. 1500 B.C.–500 B.C. c7.18

c7.18

There were cases in ancient Greece when the invading peoples established not monarchies, but aristocracies. In such conditions government was in the hands of a few of the conquerors, while other states were governed by oligarchies, consisting sometimes of as many as a thousand members, who deliberated on affairs, but delegated their authority in day-to-day administration to a small council.¹ It seems that some Aryan peoples, like the Greeks, established forms of aristocratic or oligarchic government in India while others formed what might, for want of a better term, be called "limited monarchies."