Samitis

Samiti is a Sanskrit term meaning assembly, gathering, or committee. In ancient Indian political life, the samiti was an assembly of the people, often discussed alongside the sabha, the king’s council. The sabha was typically aristocratic, while the samiti was more popular and could include commoners and elders. The exact powers of the samiti varied across texts and regions, but it is generally associated with deliberation and consent on matters such as taxation, war and peace, and the election or deposition of rulers. Some sources describe the samiti as a body that could summon the king or withdraw support, making it an important check on royal authority; others present its role as mainly advisory or ratifying. Over time the term faded in political discourse, but it remained a general word for assemblies and councils.

In modern usage, samiti is widely used in Indian languages to denote a committee or organization. It appears in educational, religious, and charitable contexts, and many voluntary groups adopt "Samiti" as part of their official name. The plural form samitis refers to multiple such bodies. The word also appears in local administrative language in some states, where a samiti may be charged with overseeing a project or managing resources.

See also: Sabha, Gana, Parishad.