Republics in Ancient India, c. 1500 B.C.–500 B.C. c7.265

c7.265

The fact that the *samiti* appears chiefly in the tenth *maṇḍala* of the *Ṛg Veda* is of great importance. In our opinion it supports the late origin of the *samiti*, and this time factor is of considerable importance in the study of the development and inter-relations of political institutions. We further suggest that the *samiti* developed into an independent political institution, distinct from the archaic Vedic *viś* which chose the king, on almost similar lines as the evolution of the earlier Roman *patres-familias* into the Senate during the republican period; and as the Homeric *gerousia* changed into the Athenian *ecclesia*.¹