[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Polity, law and society](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity) › [Republics in Ancient India, c. 1500 B.C.–500 B.C.](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sharma-1968) › c7.380 # Republics in Ancient India, c. 1500 B.C.–500 B.C. c7.380 Republics in Ancient India, c. 1500 B.C.–500 B.C. c7.380 - **Language:** English ### [c7.380](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sharma-1968.c7.380) All these later references indicate a further development in the institution of the \*samiti\*. In the Brāhmaṇic period it was being replaced by the \*pariṣad\*, a king's council of the learned \*paṇḍits\*. The word (\*samiti\*) is not used in the Vedic literature in the sense of "battle".⁷ It always signified a "getting-together," an "assembly", "meeting" or a "council."⁸ As far as we know, in the sense of a "battle" it occurs for the first time in the \*Mahābhārata\*. Eventually \*samiti\* came to mean an association or a society and it is in this sense alone that the word is used in modern Indian languages. - [Previous: c7.379](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sharma-1968.c7.379) - [Next: c7.381](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sharma-1968.c7.381) - [Up: c7](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sharma-1968.c7) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sharma-1968.c7.380](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sharma-1968.c7.380) · Pramāṇa