India holds a long tradition of democratic society and mutual tolerance – religious, social and political. Vedic literature and the Epics mention about Sabha as assembly of people taking important decisions. Greek travellers described self-governing clans in different parts of India. Megasthenes wrote that the Indians sometimes elected their sovereigns on the principle of merit. Kautilya mentioned a constitution in which the sovereign power was wielded by a family or clan and mentioned many self-governing clans. The inscriptions on the walls of a temple near Kanchipuram show how democracy was practised a thousand years ago in Chola period. India maintained a democratic heritage through Gram Sabha and Panchayat.