In the Early Vedic Age tribal polities were dominant. The king was elected by assemblies.
In the Later Vedic period the assemblies became less important and the power of the king increased.
The influence of assembly called vidhata disappeared, while samiti and sabha continued in the period.
The development of large kingdoms reduced the power of the assemblies.
The Rajan was the leader who led the army in the battle.
The concepts of Samrat/Samrajya developed and they suggest the increase in the power and ambition of the king.
The legitimization of kingship became important with the performance of various sacrifices such as vajapeya and rajasuya.
The king developed more control over the territory, people and resources.
Purohita, which means ‘one who places the king in the forefront’, became important in the establishment of polity and kingship.
Monarchy developed.
The Rajan became the controller of the social order.
Srauta sacrifices (sacrifices to achieve some benefits) were carried out to control the resources.
The kings presented cows, horses, chariots, gold, clothes and female slaves to the priest.
The Aitreya Brahamana says that king has to provide 1000 pieces of gold and cattle to the Brahmana who anoints him.
Thus the priest became important in the formation of polity and royalty.
The terms such as rashtra, to denote a territory, and rajya, meaning sovereign power appeared.
The king received voluntary or compulsory contribution called bali from the people (vis).
Such voluntary contributions became tributes.
The Mahabharata offers clues to historical development and is suggestive of the power struggle to control the territories.
The Ramayana too is suggestive of the Aryan expansion and the encounters with native people in the forest.
The territorial formations and the development of lineages became stronger during the Later Vedic period.
Romila Thapar characterises the developments in the first millennium BCE as the movement from lineage to state.
The development of state level political organization emerged only after 500 BCE, and the Later Vedic society was therefore in transition.
Several lineages became more territorial and settled in the Later Vedic Age.
This is evidenced by the term janapada, as we saw earlier.
The mid-first millennium BCE had political organisations such as rajya and ganasanghas (oligarchies) and these institutions developed in the later Vedic period.
Lineage is a group of people descended from a common ancestor.
As we saw earlier, the clans of Bharatas and Purus combined to form the Kurus, and along with the Panchalas they occupied the central part of the Ganga-Yamuna doab.
Panchala territory was in north-western Uttar Pradesh.
The Kuru-Panchalas became one major ethnic group and Hastinapur became their capital.
The war between the Kauravas and Pandavas was the theme of the Mahabharata and both of them belonged to the clan of Kurus.
Traditions say that Hastinapur was flooded and the Kuru clan moved to Kausambi near Allahabad.
Sacrifices and rituals gained importance in the Later Vedic society.
The king became more independent.
Rituals dominated kingship, and this increased the power and influence of the Rajanyas and the Brahmanas, while distancing the king from the vis.
The Asvamedha-yaga involved letting a horse loose into areas where it moved freely; this was an assertion that the authority of the king was recognized, and a battle ensued when the horse was challenged.
The vajapeya ritual involved a chariot race.
Such innovative modes of rituals helped to increase the power of the king.
The formation of social, distinctions became prominent.
