<Table> <Tr> <Td> Ancient Indian Antennae sword; Metalwork, 1500--500 BCE . </Td> <Td> Ancient Indian Ax Blade, 1500--1000 BCE . </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> Ancient Indian Antennae sword; Metalwork, 1500--500 BCE . </Td> <Td> Ancient Indian Ax Blade, 1500--1000 BCE . </Td> </Tr> <P> Early Vedic Aryans were organised into tribes rather than kingdoms . The chief of a tribe was called a rajan . The autonomy of the rajan was restricted by the tribal councils called sabha and samiti . The two bodies were, in part, responsible for the governance of the tribe . The rajan could not accede to the throne without their approval . The distinction between the two bodies is not clear . Arthur Llewellyn Basham, a noted historian and indologist, theorises that sabha was a meeting of great men in the tribe, whereas, samiti was a meeting of all free tribesmen . Some tribes had no hereditary chiefs and were directly governed by the tribal councils . Rajan had a rudimentary court which was attended by courtiers (sabhasad) and chiefs of septs (gramani). The main responsibility of the rajan was to protect the tribe . He was aided by several functionaries, including the purohita (chaplain), the senani (army chief), dutas (envoys) and spash (spies). Purohita performed ceremonies and spells for success in war and prosperity in peace . </P> <P> In the later Vedic period, the tribes had consolidated into small kingdoms, which had a capital and a rudimentary administrative system . To aid in governing these new states, the kings and their Brahmin priests arranged Vedic hymns into collections and developed a new set of rituals (the now orthodox shrauta rituals) to strengthen the emerging social hierarchy . The rajan was seen as the custodian of social order and the protector of rashtra (polity). Hereditary kingship started emerging and competitions like chariot races, cattle raids, and games of dice, which previously decided who was worthy of becoming a king, became nominal . Rituals in this era exalted the status of the king over his people . He was occasionally referred to as samrat (supreme ruler). The rajan's increasing political power enabled him to gain greater control over the productive resources . The voluntary gift offering (bali) became compulsory tribute; however, there was no organised system of taxation . Sabha and samiti are still mentioned in later Vedic texts, though, with the increasing power of the king, their influence declined . By the end of the later Vedic age, different kinds of political systems such as monarchical states (rajya), oligarchical states (gana or sangha), and tribal principalities had emerged in India . </P>

What were the functions of sabha and samiti in the vedic age