Republics in Ancient India, c. 1500 B.C.–500 B.C. c7.420

c7.420

We have seen that during the period of the *Saṃhitās* there were, apart from the generally acknowledged monarchies, some special forms of aristocratic government, and that during the Brāhmaṇa period they had ceased to exist, some of them probably becoming hereditary monarchies.¹ During this period, the monarchy of the Vedic times appears to have undergone a change, in the sense that whereas the Vedic monarchies were limited to the extent that the king was only the *primus inter pares*, the monarchies of the Brāhmaṇa period had become more totally autocratic. The power and prestige of the king grew to the extent that he began to be regarded as divine.² His power and authority reigned supreme in his domain and he held the power either to condemn a subject to death or to appoint him to the highest office. With such great power the king might become oppressive and thus encourage some people to migrate eastwards. It might be expected that the migrants consisted chiefly of the republican tribes who resented such oppression. In order to preserve their identity, therefore, they also might have joined in or followed in the train of other marchers to the east led by Videgha.