Republics in Ancient India, c. 1500 B.C.–500 B.C. c7.412

c7.412

In the later Vedic period, the *Brāhmaṇa* texts not only describe the rules and procedure of the sacrifice in minute detail, but also prescribe certain sacrifices like the *rājasūya*, *vājapeya*, *aśvamedha*, etc., by the performance of which a king was supposed to have attained the higher kingly position of an *ekarāṭ* or a *samrāṭ*, a *sārvabhauma* and even a *cakravartin*. Moreover, the Brāmaṇical literature clearly reveals the fact that monarchy was virtually the universal form of government during that period.¹ That some Aryan peoples were moving eastwards is evident from the story of Videgha Māthava, recorded in the *Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa*.²