Republics in Ancient India, c. 1500 B.C.–500 B.C. c7.426

c7.426

There are more views and opinions about the nature and character of the *vidatha* than the number of scholars who have worked on the subject; many scholars have maintained more than one hypothesis. That the sources are open to different interpretations is obvious from the divergent views held about the origin, development and functions of the *sabhā* (council) and *samiti* (assembly). The Vedic literature provides numerous vague references to the *vidatha*. In the *Ṛg Veda* alone at least 97 verses refer to it, while the *Atharva Veda* mentions it in about 20 hymns. The *Vājasaneyī Saṃhitā*, the *Brāhmaṇas* and the *Taittirīya Āraṇyaka* also contain references to the *vidatha*. Most of the evidence, however, is provided by the Ṛg Vedic hymns, and references to this institution are fewer in the later compositions of Vedic literature.