At the beggining assistants to early kings became the accepted nobility. [1] The shamans dressed well and usually had a number of wives; they were the original aristocracy, being exempt from all tribal restrictions. [2]
There early sprang up a commercialized nobility, admission to which depended on the performance of some special service to royalty or was granted frankly for the payment of money. [3] Aristocracy exerted a restraining influence on early kings. [4]