[233] But as pointed out by M.Senart, they did not form city-states in India, but settled in villages over a large area of country.

Their method of government was by small states under kings, and probably they had a kind of national constitution, of which the king was the centre and embodiment.

But these states gradually lost their individuality, and were merged in large empires, where the king could no longer be the centre of the state or of the common life of his people, nor perform a sacrifice at which they could all be present, as the Roman kings did.

This religious idea of nationality, based on participation in a common sacrifice, was the only one which existed in early times.

Thus apparently the Aryans retained their tribal constitution instead of expanding it into a national one, and the members of clans within a certain local area gathered for a communal sacrifice.