Republics in Ancient India, c. 1500 B.C.–500 B.C. c7.558

c7.558

Out of about 100 references to *vidatha* in the *Ṛg Veda* it occurs only twice in connection with the *sabhā*,⁶ once in the same hymn as the *sabhā*⁷ and only once does it appear in the same hymn as *samiti*,¹ where it stands for "one worthy of the Congregation" (*vidathyam*); "congregation" (*vidathyā*) and "sacrifice" (*vidatha*). These rare occurrences of *vidatha* with *sabhā* and *samiti* indicate that there is little institutional connection between them. Moreover, all of about twenty mentions of *vidatha* in the Atharvan hymns are absolutely independent of these two well-known political institutions. Furthermore, there is no allusion either to the *vidatha* taking part in the choice of the king, or to the political deliberations of the tribe taking place in it. No reference in the whole range of the Vedic literature points to the *vidatha's* tribal character and moreover the fact that it is not associated with political institutions and political activities strongly weakens the case for its being interpreted as the "parent folk-assembly" or the "earliest folk-assembly of the Indo-Āryans". On the other hand, it appears to have been a local body without any political connotation and to have performed no political functions.