Republics in Ancient India, c. 1500 B.C.–500 B.C. c7.516

c7.516

There are a number of weaknesses in the line of argument which Professor Sharma has followed. We think that the mere association of women with the *vidatha* does not necessarily make it "a sort of assembly". We do not deny that the women took part in the *vidatha* and its ceremonies, but this only shows that in this respect it was unlike the political institutions of the *sabhā* and the *samiti*. In no early assemblies of the ancient Indo-European republican peoples, except the Germans,¹ do we find the association of women, and the fact that they participated in the *vidatha* is a strong argument in favour of the conclusion that it was *not* a political assembly at all, but a mere gathering of a settlement for the performance of religious ceremonies. In all Hindu sacrifices and religious ceremonies women participate with men. Hence, their association with the *vidatha* points to its non-political nature, and its local as opposed to tribal character.