Rig-Vedic Polity

Rig-Vedic Polity
During Rig-Vedic era, the basic unit of power lied within a patriarchal family (Kula) The head of the family was a Kulapa A group of such families calledgrama, which was controlled by a village headman Gramini The groups of the villages belonged to a clan V( is) and many clans made a community called Jana
Concept of King
The Chief of this tribe Jana was Rajana Rajana was not a king in real sense, but a protector of the tribe and the cattle wealth In fact there was no real state territory or structure or even a real King
Since Rajan was the leader of the people and not ruler of any territory, he is calleJadnasya gopa or Gopati Janasya also A Rajana fought wars on behalf of his Jana These wars were for control of cattle wealth and not possession of territory Thus, the concept of land territory was absent in early Rig- Vedic period This is the reason that while term Jana appears many times in Rig-Veda, Janapada does not appear even for once The territorial aspect of the state is thought to have appeared in later Vedic age only Initially, the various regions were known after the names of the tribes which controlled them and later they developed into various Janapadas