Republics in Ancient India, c. 1500 B.C.–500 B.C. c7.313

c7.313

It stands out from the three main types of non-monarchical government in several respects. It differs from the popular monarchical tribal governments because it contains more than one king who owe their positions not to the choice of the people, but probably by virtue of possessing the same qualities by which the chosen king was qualified for, or entitled to, his chieftaincy. Here the rulers were many, whereas in the tribes whose king was chosen by the heads of families, there was only one. In addition, in this type the *samiti* existed as an independent, distinct and powerful political institution, whereas in the elective monarchies there was only the undefined and amorphous body of the *viś*—an archaic assembly of earlier times in its nature, composition and functions. Furthermore, it appears probable that in the political communities governed by nobles and *samiti*, the sons of the nobles replaced their fathers after their deaths, whereas the son of the king in the popular monarchies had no such right to the throne.