Ancient Civilizations History Web Site

Political Organization and Form of Government in Vedic

Period
Vedic literature provides very little informations about political history during Vedic period.
Persons, battles and political events mentioned in the Vedas cannot be arranged
chronologically (except for that they took place during Vedic period), while much of the
historical context in Vedic literature is unclear.

Mahabharata, Kurukshetra War
Punjab region was the center of the Vedic culture and from there Indo-Aryans expanded to
the east. The basic political unit was the vish (clan or tribe) ruled by raja (king or chief) who
was responsible for protection of the clan. The clans did not only struggle with the non-Aryan
tribes which they called Dasyu but were frequently in conflicts with each other as well what
clearly indicates the Battle of the 10 Kings which is described in Rigveda. Rivalry between
the clans is also the central event of the great epic poem Mahabharata (composed between
400 and 200 BC) which says that rivalry between sibling clans of Kauravas and Pandavas
provoked the Kurukshetra War in which participated number of other kingdoms as allies of
the rivals. The epic Mahabharata represents the 18-day war as a major event of great
significance for the future history. However, it remains uncertain whether the famous war
was as significant as described or the author (Vyasa) only glorified a battle of local
importance.
Clan identity was slowly replaced by territorial identity by the end of the Vedic period and 16
kingdoms known as the Mahajanapadas emerged in the northern part of the Indian
subcontinent competing with each other for supremacy. At the same time kingship became
hereditary.