Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v1.c3.s12.523

v1.c3.s12.523

The village does not appear to have been a unit for legal purposes in early days,²² and it can hardly be said to have been a political unit. The village no doubt, as later, included in its members various menials, besides the cultivating owners, and also the Brāhmaṇas and Kṣatriyas who might hold interest in it by royal grant or usage without actually cultivating land, such as chariot-makers (Ratha-kāra), carpenters (Takṣan), smiths (Karmāra), and others, but they did not presumably, in any sense, form part of the brotherhood.²³ All alike were politically subject to the king, and bound to render him food or service or other tribute, unless he had transferred his rights to others of the royal family or household, as was no doubt often the case, either in whole or part. The king’s share in a village is referred to as early as the Atharvaveda.²⁴