Republics in Ancient India, c. 1500 B.C.–500 B.C. c7.384

c7.384

In one verse of the *Ṛg Veda*,¹ already quoted above, where a noble is referred to as superior to the other nobles and rivals, Zimmer sees evidence that in times of peace there was no one king in some states, but members of the royal family held equal rights. He compares this with the state of affairs in early Germany.² This view is untenable. The passages used by Zimmer only indicate that among the nobles one was the chief. No one family held royal rights in these tribal governments. Moreover, the Ṛg Vedic passage merely shows that all the nobles who sat with the assembly could be called *rājās*, and is not decisive for the sense ascribed to it by Zimmer.³ This state of affairs is comparable to that of early Germany as described by Tacitus.⁴