For a considerably long time it was commonly believed that the Ancient Indian People knew only the

monarchical form of Government and that the democratic elements were absent in the Ancient
Indian Policy. Later researches in the subject carried on since the beginning of this century have
completely refuted such a belief. We are fortunate in possessing innumerable references, both reli-
gious and secular, which prove beyond any doubt the existence of highly developed democratic and
local institutions in ancient India

Although the early Aryans had the institution of monarchy and ii had established itself on firm
foundations, it was not absolute but limited in several ways. Certain democratic elements curtailed
the absolute power of the king in many ways. These were : 1) the people's voice in choosing their
king, 2) the oath that the king had to take at the coronation, and 3) the Assemblies of the people. It
was the last institution that played a predominant part in curbing the power of the king

iThe iterms iRajan ior iKing iis ifrequently iused iin ithe iRig iVeda. iHowever, iwe icome iacross
iterms iwhich iin ilater itimes iwere iundoubtedly iapplied ito inon- imonarchical iconstitutions.
iWe ihave ireference ito ithe iGana iwith ithe iGanapati iat iits ihead.

iHereditary ikingship iwas ithe inormal isystem ibut ithere iis ievidence ito ishow ithat iwhen ithe
isituation idemanded, ithe ipeople icould iselect ia iworthy imonarch iof itheir iown ichoice
ifrom iamong ithe imembers iof ithe iRoyal ifamily ior ithe inobility. iThe iprotection iof ithe
ipeople iwas ithe isacred iduty iof ithe iking. iIn ireturn, ihe iexpected iand ireceived iloyal
iobedience ifrom ihis isubjects.

The rashtra (polity) was governed by a rajan ( 'king').

1 . Heading the community 2. Leading battles, and 3. Managing the judiciary

The grama, vis and jana were political units of the early Vedic Aryans. A vish was a subdivision
of a jana or "krishti," and a grama was a smaller unit than the other two. The leader of a gram
was called gramani and that of a vish was called vishpati

 The hereditary kings were the popular form of Government.

 The provision of a democratically elected king by the assembly of people
Jana was also known.
 The Rashtra was small states ruled by a raja (king).
 The bigger kingdoms were ruled by ‘samrat’ that reflects that they enjoyed a
position of greater authority and dignity.
 The Raja administered justice with the assistance of Purohita and other
officials.
 The Raja was offered bali, which was voluntary gift or tribute for his services.
The bali was offered by his own people and also from defeated people.
 The crimes were strongly dealt with by the administration. Major crimes were
theft, burglary, robbery, and cattle lifting.
 The important royal officials were −
o Purohita (chief priest and minister)
o Senani (army chief)
o Gramini (head of a village)
o Dutas (envoys)
o Spies (spy)
 iThe iking iran ihis iadministrative isystem iwith ithe ihelp iand icontrol iof iMinistry.
iFor ithe ismooth igovernance, ithe iking iwas iassisted iwith iministers ior imantris. iIn
ithe iwork iof iadministration ithe iking iwas iassisted iby ia inumber iof ifunctionaries
ilike ithe iPurohita i(priest), ithe isenani i(general), ithe iGramani i(village iheadman)
iand ithe ispies. i
 Purohita iwas ithe imost iimportant iofficer iof ithe istate. iHe iwas ithe imain iminister
iof ithe iking. iHe iwas iappointed ito igive ipolitical iand ireligious iadvices ito ithe
iking. iBesides, ihe iwas ithe ione iwho igive ireligious ilegitimacy ito ithe iking. iHence,
ihis iposition iwas iquite ipowerful. iHe iwas iexpected ito iguide ipeople iin ithe iareas
iof ireligion.
 Senapati i(commander)- iHe iwas iin-charge-of imilitary. iHe iwas iexpected ito idefend,
ito iwage iwar, ito iarrange iwar-camps ietc. iDuta i(spy) i- iFor ismooth iflowing iof
iinformation, ithe ispies iwere iappointed. iHe iwas ithe ichief iof ithose ispies. iAs ia
i'duta', ihe iwas iin-charge iof iforeign iaffairs.
 Gramini(village-headman) i- iConsidering ithe ilimited iarea iunder ithe icontrol iof
iking, ithe iGramini ialso iappointed iin ithe iministry iof iKing. iIt iwas iexpected ifrom
ithe iking ito irule iby ithe iconsent iand iadvices ifrom ithese iministers.

 Sabha and Samiti were two important assemblies mentioned in the Rig Veda.

These assemblies were forms the essential feature of the government.
Sabha and Samiti are the two democratic organisations of the Rig vedic age which played a
dominant role in administrative affairs. The king was no doubt the pivot of the
administration. Yet to maintain proper balance, these two organizations were created which
controlled the activities of the King to a great extent from letting him become a tyrant. The
authority of Sabha was restricted to village administration. On the other hand, Samiti had a
greater say in the central administration related to important decision on War and Peace

 Sabhd was also the name of a gathering where we find people sometimes gambling,1
sometimes merry-making, and some times busy in debates and discussions on serious
matters of socio-political importance

 The presence of terms like Sabhdpati4 and Sabhdsad* suggests that the Sabhd in its
regularly constituted aspect of a public body, had its president, the Sabhdpati, and its
members, the Sabhdsads.

 That one of the functions of the Sabhd was adjudication of suits is indicated by (1) the
connection of the village Sabhd with the Grama-vadin?the village judge.
 
 Samiti was primarily the name of religious gatherings and later on, as the specialization of functions became
more and more rigid, it came to be more or less a gathering of those who were well versed in the Vedic philosophy
and literature.
: It was the most popular assembly and included common
people. The Samiti mainly dealt with the political business of
the state. It also used to elect the king. The head of Samiti was
known as ‘Pati’
The term Sabha denotes both the assembly (in early Rig-Vedic) and the assembly hall (later
Rig-Vedic). Women called Sabhavati also attended this assembly. It was basically a kin-
based assembly and the practice of women attending it was stopped in later-Vedic times. Rig-
Veda speaks of the Sabha also as a dicing and gambling assembly, along with a place for
dancing, music, witchcraft, and magic.  It discussed pastoral affairs and performed judicial
and administrative functions and exercised judicial authority.
Samiti
The references to samiti come from the latest books of the Rig-Veda showing that it assumed
importance only towards the end of the Rig-Vedic period. Samiti was a folk assembly in
which people of the tribe gathered for transacting tribal business. It discussed philosophical
issues and was concerned with religious ceremonies  and prayers. References suggest that the
Rajan was elected and re-elected by the Samiti.
The Sabha advised the king on administration. It also
functioned as a court of law and tried the cases of criminals and
punished them. The Samiti was the most popular assembly and
included common people. The head of Samiti was known as
‘Pati’ The Samiti mainly dealt with the political business of the
state. It also used to elect the king. In the early Vedic Age the
Sabha and Samiti had a commendable role to play as the
political organisation of the Aryans

Rig iVedic iPeriod i/ iEarly iVedic iPeriod i(1500-1000 iBC)

Since ithe iRigveda iis iconsidered ithe ioldest iof iall ithe ivedas, ithe iEarly ivedic
iperiod ii.e. i1500–1000 iBCE iis ialso icalled ithe iRigvedic iperiod. iHere, iWe ifind
iVedic iAryans iwandering iin ithe iregion iof iSapatasindhu. iThey iwere ipastoral
inomads iwith ibasic ikind iof ipolity.
Features
Aryans in the early vedic age village-dwellers. So family was the nucleus of political organization
which was known as a Griha or kula. A collective body of families formed a grama or village. A
number of villageS combined together was known as a vis. ‘Jana’ or ‘Janapada’ consisted a
group of vises. At the top remained the largest political organization known as. Rastra or desha.
Thus, the Rig Vedic political organization was in the form of a pyramidal structure where family
was at the base and Rastra at the top. It can be represented in the following manner:

# Griha or kula or family

# grama or village

# vis

# jana or Janapada

# rastra

The head of the family was grihapati or kulapati. gramini was the head of the village while vispati
headed vis. the highest political authority was vested in the hand of Rajan who was the head of
Jana or Janapada. References to Yadava Jana, Bharat Jana are found in Rig Veda. Entire country
was designated as rastra.

Monarchy
Monarchy was prevailing from the government in Rig vedic age which was hereditary. Of course
exception was there where king was selected by the people. King or monarch was the repository
of power and authority. The aim of the king was Excel like God Mitra in kindness, Varuna in
virtues and Indra in valour.

 Rig veda places high ideals for monarchial form of Government. The fundamental duty of the
king was not only to provide a Welfare Government but to protect the subject by rule of law. He
used to rule through prevailing customs and rites making the country safe and Secure from
external aggression. To help the king in the stupendous task of Administration there were
gramani, Purohita, senani, spasha and other officials. After the coronation ceremony, the king
wearing Royal Robes lived in the palaces. Different types of taxes namely Bali, sulka and Bhaga
were collected from the subject and vanquished power. The duties of the King included public
welfare, crushing the Enemies, maintenance of internal and external security of the kingdom.
Reference to Samrat in Rig veda indicate the use of the title by powerful kings having power,
property and prowess over small things in the region.

Royal officials
 Among the category of Royal officials, the foremost position was occupied by Purohita. The
sages, Saints or person of knowledge and wisdom were adorned in the post of Purohita who
used to give valuable suggestion and guidance to the king in administrative detail. It was the
prime duty of the Purohita to pray for the king during War and Peace and for his overall health
and happiness.

# next in the hierarchy was senani or commander-in-chief. As the Head of the army he was
concerned with the military organization and safety of the kingdom.

# a special class of officials, known as a spasha or spy was appointed to provide a detailed
account of events of the kingdom to the king.

# gramani was another category of officials. Besides collecting text from the village, he assisted
the king in the task of Administration.

Sabha and Samiti

Sabha and Samiti are the two democratic organisations of the Rig vedic age which played a
dominant role in administrative affairs. The king was no doubt the pivot of the administration.
Yet to maintain proper balance, these two organizations were created which controlled the
activities of the King to a great extent from letting him become a tyrant. The authority of Sabha
was restricted to village administration. On the other hand, Samiti had a greater say in the central
administration related to important decision on War and Peace. In the words of Professor A.S
Altekar:

‘It was a powerful body wielding what may be conveniently described as a sovereign powers, for
every often the fate of a king depended upon his ability to carry the Samiti with him. If the Samiti
assumed an abstractive attitude, the life of the King become miserable.’
Judicial administration
Rule of law and judicial administration has acquired great primacy in early vedic age. Justice was
imparted in the village level by gramavadi. Rig veda refers to the severity of punishment for thief,
fraud or robbery.the king was fountain head of justice. Officials like ‘Ugra’, ‘Jivagriva’ were
entrusted with police duties in the kingdom.

Military organization  
The military organisation of rig vedic age comprised of infantry, cavalry and charioteers.
Comparatively, horses were of Limited use. A soldier of infantry, was named patti while a
charioteer was rathin. The bows, arrows, swords, spears etc. were the major military weapons.
The army was called Sardh a,vrata or gana. War music was played upon by drums and pipers.
Headgears or helmets, metal dress and shields were used for self-defence. Vedic reference to
pura or Durga(fort) make it quite clear that during military expedition these forts played an active
role. purapati was the leader of these.

Democracy
Monarchy was the prevailing form of Government no doubt. But democracy was prevalent in
certain areas. The head of the gana was known as the Ganapati or ganajyestha. They were
devoted to Welfare administration along with their respective responsibilities.
https://gkchronicle.com/ancient-history/Political-s
ystem-of-vedic-period.php

Political Structure
 The political structure of Rig Vedic India can be studied in the following
ascending order −
o The Family (Kula), the smallest unit.
o The Village (Grama)
o The Clan (Vis)
o The People (Jana)
o The Country (Rashtra)
 Kula (family) included all the people living under the same roof (griha).
 A collection of several families constitutes the grama (village) and its
headman was called gramini.
 The collection of several grama (village) was called as the Vis and its head
was called Vispati.
 Several Vis constituted a Jana as it is mentioned as Panchajanah, Yadva-
janaha, and Bharata-janaha.
 The aggregation of all Jana constitutes Rashtra (country).

Administration
 The hereditary kings were the popular form of Government.
 The provision of a democratically elected king by the assembly of people
Jana was also known.
 The Rashtra was small states ruled by a raja (king).
 The bigger kingdoms were ruled by ‘samrat’ that reflects that they enjoyed a
position of greater authority and dignity.
 The Raja administered justice with the assistance of Purohita and other
officials.
 The Raja was offered bali, which was voluntary gift or tribute for his services.
The bali was offered by his own people and also from defeated people.
 The crimes were strongly dealt with by the administration. Major crimes were
theft, burglary, robbery, and cattle lifting.
 The important royal officials were −
o Purohita (chief priest and minister)
o Senani (army chief)
 o Gramini (head of a village)
o Dutas (envoys)
o Spies (spy)
 Sabha and Samiti were two important assemblies mentioned in the Rig Veda.
These assemblies were forms the essential feature of the government.
 The Samiti was mainly dealt with the policy decisions and political business,
included common people.
 The Sabha was a selected body of the Elders or Nobles and less political in
character.