Republics in Ancient India, c. 1500 B.C.–500 B.C. c7.407

c7.407

On the meagre evidence of the Vedic religious texts it is impossible to give more details of the procedure of administration and dispensation of justice. Early tribal governments did not generally frame new laws, so it is probable that these communities only maintained the customary law. Their tribal basis cannot be denied; in fact tribal membership appears to have been the main criterion of citizenship, even in the republics that flourished at the time of the Buddha and Mahāvīra. Since all tribal societies have a certain method of meting out justice, this form of Vedic aristocracy, like the other three varieties, must have performed judicial functions and inflicted punishment on wrongdoers.