Republics in Ancient India, c. 1500 B.C.–500 B.C. c7.267

c7.267

It seems probable that the previous practice of choosing the king by the heads of families ceased to exist in some political communities, and the ruling power fell into the hands of an aristocracy. In others, however, the body of the heads of families of the *viś*, which used to choose the king, developed into the *samiti* and ruled in conjunction with the *sabhā*. These are hypotheses on the origin and interrelation of the *viś*, the institution of elective kingship, and the *sabhā* and *samiti*. The *Atharva Veda* clearly indicates that the *sabhā* and *samiti* sometimes existed together in the same tribe. This, together with the appearance of the *samiti* only in the later strata of the Vedic literature, apparently indicates the development of a new form of non-monarchical tribal government.