Republics in Ancient India, c. 1500 B.C.–500 B.C. c7.335

c7.335

This implies that the king derived maintenance from the *samiti* as the priest from the rich man and the bull from the woods. It is also not impossible that here *samiti* has its later meaning of "battle."⁴ Verse 5 indicates that the people greatly respected those who provided them with protection and repelled the *dasyus*. This hymn also strengthens our view that the "nobles" and the *samiti* existed side by side in this type of non-monarchical government and that unconscientious nobles often missed the sessions of the assembly. In this hymn the word *viś* does not figure, but the *jana* or "tribe" occurs, probably indicative of a larger community than that implied by the *viś*, "clan."⁵ Those tribal governments which had a more complicated political machinery probably ruled over a larger territory,⁶ and (this was definitely a more refined and elaborate type of government than had existed in the earlier popular monarchies.)