Pramāṇa · Search · About · API

Indian Epigraphy c16.s5: 5. Royal Prerogatives and Taxes

Indian Epigraphy c16.s5

Language
English

5. Royal Prerogatives and Taxes

c16.s5.1

While creating rent-free holdings in favour of gods, Brāhmaṇas, etc., the king usually surrendered some of his prerogatives in respect of the gift land. Such surrendered rights are more or less clearly stated in a large number of charters. It may be pointed out that some of the privileges were enjoyed by the king not directly but only indirectly. Thus according to the *Manusmṛti* (VII. 115-19), the heads of one thousand, one hundred, and ten villages enjoyed respectively a town, a village and five *Kulas* of land while ‘the headman of a village (*Grāmika*) should get all of what is daily payable by the villagers to the king in the shape of food-stuff, drinks, fuel and other things’. As will be seen below, some of the exemptions allowed to be enjoyed by the donees of rent-free holdings relate to the free supply of articles that the villagers had to make to the royal officials when the latter visited their villages on tour.

c16.s5.2

The Rummindei pillar inscription¹ of Aśoka states that, on the occasion of the emperor's visit to Lumbinīgrāma the birth-place of the Buddha, the holy place was made free from the obligation of paying *bali* (*udbalika*) and liable to pay only one-eighth of the produce of the fields (*aṣṭabhāgika*). The word *bali* has been used here apparently in the sense of land tribute excluding *bhāga* or the king's grain share. The normal rate of the king's share of grains seems to have been one-sixth for certain crops and one-fourth for others.² The income resulting from these exemptions was probably meant for being utilised for the maintenance of the holy place or the Buddhist religious establishment existing there.

c16.s5.3

¹ *Select Inscriptions*, pp. 70-71.

c16.s5.4

² According to Megasthenes, the husbandmen of the Maurya dominions paid a fourth part of the produce of the soil (*bhāga*) and a land tribute apparently in cash (*bali*). Other state dues included tribute and prescribed services from traders and cattle from hardsmen while in urban areas the main sources of revenue were birth and death taxes, fines and tithes on sales. See Raychaudhuri, *Pol. Hist. Anc. Ind.*, 1938, pp. 240-41. Indian sources generally speak of the king's grain share as one-sixth.

c16.s5.5

The Junagadh inscription³ of the Śaka king Rudradāman speaks of *kara* (taxes)⁴, *viṣṭi* (free labour) and *praṇaya-kriyā* which is the *praṇaya* of Kauṭilya's *Arthaśāstra*⁵ and means benevolence or emergency imposts. The taxes are enumerated in the inscription as *bali*, *śulka* (tolls) and *bhāga*.

c16.s5.6

³ *Select Inscriptions*, p. 174.

c16.s5.7

⁴ The word *kara* has been explained as a commentator as *kṛṣi-paśucāraṇ-ādi-kṛta-rājakiya-bhūmy-upabhoga-hetuko raja-grāhyo bhāgaḥ* (cf. A. K. Majumdar, *The Chaulukyas of Gujarat*, p. 252).

c16.s5.8

⁵ Cf. V. ii.

c16.s5.9

Some charters⁶ of the Śātavāhana king Gautamīputra Śātakarṇi (c. 106-30 A.D.) records grants of land together with all the Parihāras (exemptions to be enjoyed by the donees) including the following : a-prāveśya (i.e. freedom from the entry of royal agents), anāvamaryā (i.e. freedom from troubles associated with the visit of royal agents), a-lavaṇa-khātaka (i.e. freedom from the land being dug out or the trees being pierced for salt) and a-rāṣṭra-sāmvinayika (i.e. freedom from the administrative control to which the district was subject). The king’s officers in charge of administration of the area in which the gift land was situated were instructed to exempt the land with all the usual exemptions including the above. There are also references to the grant of a village together with kara (tax) and utkara (probably, minor tax) and with deya (periodical offerings to be offered to the king) and meya (the king’s share of grains) or with the renunciation of all kinds of the rights of the king (sarvajāta-bhoga-nirasta) in the Śātavāhana records.¹

c16.s5.10

⁶ Cf. *Select Inscriptions*, pp. 192, 194.

c16.s5.11

¹ Select Inscriptions, pp. 195, 198. Sakarukara may be sa-kar-otkara or sa-kārukara (together with the tax on artisans).

c16.s5.12

The Mayidavolu² plates of Pallava Śivaskandavarman (middle of the 4th century) mention the following Parihāras : a-lavaṇa-khātaka, a-rāṣṭra-sāmvinayika, a-paramparā-balivarda, a-bhaṭa-prāveśya and a-kūra-cullaka-vināśi-khaṭvā-samvāsa. Of these, a-bhaṭa-prāveśya, i. e. freedom from the entry of the Bhaṭas, is the same as a-prāveśya of the Śātavāhana epigraphs. The word Bhaṭa here means Bhaṭamanusya (constables or Pāiks and Piādas) mentioned in the Hirahadagalli plates of the same Pallava king.³ A-paramparā-balivarda (i. e. Freedom from the supply of bullocks in succession) refers to the obligation of the villagers to supply bullocks to the royal officers when they visited a village for official work in a bullock cart from a neighbouring village. A-kūra-cullaka-vināśi-khaṭvā-samvāsa indicates freedom of the inhabitants of the gift village from the obligation of supplying to the touring royal officers such articles as kūra, cullaka, vināśin, cot and shelter. Kūra and cullaka have been explained as ‘boiled rice’ and ‘pot’ respectively; but they may really mean ‘unboiled rice’

c16.s5.13

² Ibid., p. 435; cf. Suc. Sāt. L. Dec., pp. 186-87.

c16.s5.14

³ Select Inscriptions, p. 438.

c16.s5.15

and ‘a fire-place for cooking’. Vināśin is ‘fuel’ or ‘attendant’. The Hirahadagalli plates records the grant of land with the libation of water for so long as the moon and stars would endure together with the eighteen kinds of exemptions including the following: a-kūra-cullaka-vināśi-khaṭvā-saṁvāsa, a-dugdha-dadhi-grahaṇa, a-rāṣṭra-sāṁvinayika, a-lavaṇa-guḍa-kṣobha, a-karaviṣṭi-koñjalla, a-paramparā-balivarda-grahaṇa, a-tṛṇa-kāṣṭha-grahaṇa and a-haritaka-śāka-puṣpa-grahaṇa.¹ The word ‘eighteen’ in the expression ‘eighteen kinds of exemptions’² really means ‘all’. A-lavaṇa-guḍa-kṣobha (i.e. freedom from the trouble in respect of salt and sugar) is similar to a-lavaṇa-khātaka of the earlier records referred to above and seems to refer to the practice of piercing trees for sugar. A-dugdha-dadhi-grahaṇa, a-tṛṇa-kāṣṭha-grahaṇa and a-haritaka-śāka-puṣpa-grahaṇa refer to the freedom of the donees from the occasional supply of milk, curds, grass, wood, myrobalan, vegetables and flowers. The reference is both to the periodical supply to be made to the king when demanded as well as to the touring officers. A-kara-viṣṭi-koñjalla speaks of the freedom from the payment of kara (taxes), viṣṭi (free labour) and koñjalla which may be kauñjalya meaning the obligation of free supply of kuñjala (sour gruel) to the king’s labourers working in the neighbourhood.

c16.s5.16

¹ Select Inscriptions, pp. 439-40; Suc. Sāt. L. Dec., pp. 192-93.

c16.s5.17

² Cf. aṣṭadaśa-jāti-parihāra.

c16.s5.18

The Basim plates³ of Vākāṭaka Vindhyaśakti II (end of the 4th century A.D.) mention the following Parihāras usually going with land granted to Brāhmaṇas learned in the four Vedas : a-rāṣṭra-sāṁvinayika, a-lavaṇa-klinna-khātaka, a-hiraṇya-dhānya-praṇaya-pradeya, a-puṣpa-kṣīra-grahaṇīya, a-paramparā-balivarda, a-vāra-siddhika, a-carm-āṅgāraka, a-bhaṭa-prāveśya, a-khaṭvā-cullaka-vaināsika, a-karada, a-vaha, sa-nidhi, s-opanidhi, sa-kṛta-prānta and sa-mañca-mahākaraṇa. It will be seen that, while the records discussed above refer directly to exemptions, the present epigraph mentions them together with certain previleges which involve exemptions. In a-lavaṇa-klinna-khātaka klinna seems to mean a moist substance like sugar which, as indicated above, were obtained by boring certain trees like the palmyra palm. It may be toddy, sugar, etc. A-hiraṇya-dhānya-praṇaya-pradeya refers to freedom from the obligation of payment of tax in cash and in crops and of occasional supplies of fruits, etc. A-puṣpa-kṣīra-grahaṇīya speaks of the obligation of supplying flowers and milk. A-vāra-siddhika seems to refer to the obligation of offering free labour in turn. A-carm-āṅgāraka indicates freedom from the obligation of supplying hide-seats and charcoal to the touring royal officers when they camped in a village. A-khaṭvā-cullaka-vaināśika is similar to a-kūra-cullaka-vināśi-khaṭvā-vāsa of the early Pallava grants. A-karada means that the village was exempted from payment of taxes and a-vaha refers to the obligation of supplying horses to or carrying loads of the touring officers. Sa-nidhi and s-opanidhi indicate the privilege of enjoying treasures hidden in the earth and deposits or finds on the soil, without surrendering them to the king. Sa-kṛta-prānta suggests that the gift village was granted together with its demarcated boundaries. Sa-mañca-mahākaraṇa may mean that the grant was made together with the platforms used for the collection of tolls and important records in the custody of the local officials.

c16.s5.19

³ Ibid., pp. 408-09.

c16.s5.20

The normal privileges going with the rent-free holdings in the possession of Brāhmaṇas proficient in the four Vedas are enumerated in the Chammak plates¹ of Vākāṭaka Pravarasena II (middle of the 5th century A.D.) as follows : a-kara-dāyī, a-bhaṭa-cchātra-prāveśya, a-paramparā-go-balivarda, a-puṣpa-kṣīra-sandoha, a-cār-āsana-carm-āṅgāra, a-lavaṇa-klinna-kreṇi-khanaka, sarva-viṣṭi-parihāra-parihṛta, sa-nidhi, s-opanidhi, sa-klpt-opakḷpta, ā-candrāditya-kālīya and putra-pautr-ānugamaka. In this list, a-kara-dāyī is of course the same as a-karada (free from tax) of the earlier record. In a-bhaṭa-cchātra-prāveśya, the word chātra, literally ‘an umbrella-bearer [of the king]’ but actually a Pāik or Piāda like a Bhaṭa or the leader of a group of them, has been added. In a-paramparā-go-balivarda, go, ‘a cow’, has been similarly added to balivarda ‘bullock’, suggesting that cows were sometimes requisitioned by the officers on tour. In a-cār-āsana-carmāngāra, pāra, i.e. ferrying of rivers, is sometimes found instead of cāra which thus seems to mean ‘movement’ or ‘passage’. This thus seems to refer to the free passage, free camping and free supply of hide-seats and charcoal usually offered by the villagers to the touring royal officers. In a-lavaṇa-klinna-kreṇi-khanaka, the expression klinna-kreṇi, ‘moist commodity (sugar, liqour, etc.)’, is more explicit that klinna in the earlier epigraph. Sarva-viṣṭi-parihāra-parihṛta refers to the freedom from the obligation of supplying free labour of all kinds. Sa-klpt-opaklpta seems to mean ‘together with the fixed and unfixed [imposts]’. The word klpta is used in Kauṭilya’s Arthaśāstra (II. vi) in the sense of one of the seven principal sources of the king’s income,¹ while the Motupalli inscription of Kākatīya Gaṇapati mentions klpta-kara and klpta-śulka apparently in the senses of ‘fixed tax’ and ‘fixed tolls’ respectively.² The last two privileges refer to the permanent nature of the grant to be enjoyed by the donees and their descendants in succession. Sometimes a-paśu-medhya (i.e. free from the obligation of supplying goats, etc., for sacrifice) is added to the above list of exemptions.³

c16.s5.21

¹ Select Inscriptions., p. 422; cf. p. 414 notes.

c16.s5.22

¹ In the Arthaśāstra (II. xxviii), klpta is stated to have been payable by harbours and villages or villages near harbours.

c16.s5.23

² Ep. Ind., Vol. XII, p. 193 (text line 85), p. 195 (text lines 149-50).

c16.s5.24

³ Select Inscriptions, p. 414.

c16.s5.25

Among early records from North India, the Khoh plates⁴ (575 A.D.) of Hastin record the grant of land together with udraṅga and uparikara but without the entry of the Cāṭa and Bhaṭa as well as without cora which no doubt means fines from thieves. The Śāśvatakoṣa explains udraṅga as uddhāra and udgrantha which seem to mean the share of the produce payable to the king.⁵ Uparikara appears to be the same as Marāṭhī upari, ‘a tax levied on cultivators having no proprietory right on the soil’ Wilson’s *Glossary*).

c16.s5.26

⁴ CII, Vol. III, p. 96 : s-odraṅgaḥ s-oparikaraḥ a-cāṭa-bhaṭa-prāveśyaḥ cora-varjjam.

c16.s5.27

⁵ CII, Vol. III, p. 97, note 6.

c16.s5.28

In many cases, the grant was made with the statement that the land was given as a property of the gods or of the Brāhmaṇas so that the customary privileges going with such lands remained understood. Thus the Banskhera plate¹ of king Harṣa (606-47 A.D.) simply mentions that a village was granted in favour of two Brāhmaṇas as an *agrahāra* (rent-free holding usually under the possession of Brāhmaṇas) according to the custom governing its acceptance by Brāhmaṇas, and the addressees were requested to approve of the grant and the people of the locality were asked to be obedient to the donees and to pay them the usual dues called *pratyāya* including *tulya-meya* (tolls on commodities sold in the markets), *bhāga* (king’s share of the grains), *bhoga* (periodical offerings), *kara* (tax in kind) and *hiraṇya* (tax in cash), etc.² But most medieval records of North India quote the donees’ privileges elaborately.

c16.s5.29

¹ *Ep. Ind.*, Vol. IV, pp. 210 ff.

c16.s5.30

² *Bhāgabhogakara* may also be *kara* in the shape of *bhāga* and *bhoga*.

c16.s5.31

In the Sungal plate³ of king Vidagdha (first half of the 11th century) of Chamba, the land is given ‘as far as its limits, grass, pounds and pasture ground; together with fruit-trees and with the water-courses and channels; with approaches, ingress and egress; with fallow land and cultivated land; with [the fines for] the ten offences; to be enjoyed by the succession of sons, sons’ sons and so forth; uncurtailable; unopposed; not to be entered by the *Cāṭas* and *Bhaṭas*; free from tax; inalienable; for as long as the moon, the sun, the ocean and the earth endure’. It is further stated, ‘Having understood this, he (i.e. the donee) should freely enjoy and make [others] enjoy [this grant] on the authority of our charter. The subjects, residents in the gift land, in obedience to our command, will have to deliver to him the regular share of [the produce], the periodical offerings, taxes in kind and cash, and every other tribute due to the king. And, of our Cāṭas and Bhaṭas and others, no one will be allowed to get into his house, to let his vegetables be grazed on, to cut his ripe crops and to crush his sugarcane, to take rocika and ciṭolā [from him], to take cow's milk [from him], to carry off his stools, benches or couches, and to seize his wood, fuel, grass, chaff and so on. Not even the slightest oppression or vexation should be caused to him or to his ploughmen, cowherds, maids, servants and all other people dependent on him'.

c16.s5.32

³ Vogel, *Antiquities of Chamba State*, I, pp. 167-69. Cf. *sva-sīmā-tṛṇa-goyūthī-gocara-paryantā sa-vanaspaty-udak-āsīhāra-kullaka-pānīya-sametā s-āgama-nirgama-praveśā sa-khila-potāryā sa-daś-āparādhā putra-pautr-ādy-anvay-opabhogā anācchedyā a-paripanthyā a-cāṭa-bhaṭa-praveśī a-kiñcit-karā anāhārā . . . . . yathā-samucita-bhāga-bhoga-kara-hiraṇy-ādi-sarva-rāja-bhāvya-pratyāyam=asy=opadeyam=asya c=āsmadiya-cāṭa-bhaṭ-ānyatar-ādinā gṛh-āvataraṇa-harita-pakvasayekṣu-cāraṇa-lavan-opamardana-rocika-ciṭolā-grahaṇa-gokṣīragrahaṇa-pīṭhaka-pīṭhikā-khaṭv-āpaharaṇa-kāṣṭh-endhana-ghāsa-bus-ādikaṃ na kenacit-pragrāhyam*, etc. The expression *gṛh-āvataraṇa* seems to be the same as *umbara-bheda* explained below.

c16.s5.33

The Semra plates¹ of Candella Paramardin states : "Be it known to you that the above-mentioned villages, with their water and land, with their movable and immovable belongings, defined by their boundaries, with that which is below and above the ground, with all past, future and present imposts (ādāya), entrance into them being forbidden to the Cāṭas and the rest...... have been given, for the sake of the increase of our own and our parents' merit and fame......with a libation of water from our hand purified by stems of kuśa grass, the wish for prosperity having been duly recited......to the Brāhmaṇas......the grant having been made in connection with the intended ground which is to descend to the sons, grandsons and further descendants [of the donees] for a period equal to the duration of the moon and the sun.........Knowing this, you must bring to the donees the [royal] share [of the crops], the [periodical] offerings [payable to the king] and everything else. Therefore nobody shall cause any hindrance to them (i.e. the donees) if they enjoy, cultivate, cause to be cultivated, give away, mortgage or sell these villages, together with their houses and walls, together with their gates of exit and entrance, together with all their plants, viz. *asana*, sugarcane, cotton, hemp, mangoes, *madhūkas*, and so forth, together with their forests, hollows and treasure-troves, together with their mines of metal and so forth, together with their cow-houses, together with all other objects found within their boundaries, and together with the external and internal incomes.”

c16.s5.34

¹ Ep. Ind., Vol. IV, pp. 155-56. Cf. grāmāḥ sa-jala-sthalāḥ sa-sthāvara-jaṅgamāḥ sva-sīm-āiacchinnāḥ s-ādha-ūrdhvāḥ bhūta-bhaviṣyad-vartamāna-niḥśeṣ-ādāya-sahitāḥ pratiṣiddha-cāṭ-ādi-praveśāḥ.........mātā-pitror=ātmanaś=ca puṇya-yaśo-bhivṛddhaye.........Brāhmaṇebhyaḥ kuśa-latā-pūta-hast-odakena svasti-vācana-pūrvakam putra-pautr-ādy-anvay-ānugāminyaḥ saṃkalpita-bhūmeḥ saṃbandhe śāsanīkṛtya pradattāḥ.........iti matvā bhavadbhiḥ=bhāga-bhog-ādikam sarvvam=ebhyaḥ samupanetavyam | tad=etān=grāmān=amiṣām sa-mandira-prākārān=sa-nirgama-praveśān=sa-sarv-āśan-ekṣu-karpāsa-śan-āmra-madhūkādi-bhū-ruhān=sa-vana-śvabhra-nidhānān=sa-loh-ādy-ākarān=sa-yokulān=aparair=api sīm-āntargatair=vastubhiḥ=sahitān=sa-bāhyābhyantarādāyān bhuñjānānām karṣatām karṣayatām dān-ādhāna-vikrayam vā kurvatām na kenacit=kācid=vādhā kartavyā, etc.

c16.s5.35

In the passage referring to the imposts payable by the villagers to the donees, the Gāhaḍavāla charters read : *yathā-diyamāna-bhāga-bhoga-kara-pravaṇikara-kūṭaka-prabhṛti-samastādāya*,¹ in which the real nature of *pravaṇikara* and *kūṭaka* cannot be determined. In some records, *turuṣkadaṇḍa* and *kumāragadyāṇaka* are mentioned instead of *kūṭaka*² while other taxes like *hiraṇya*, *jalakara* (once wrongly read *jātakara*), *gokara*, *nidhi-nikṣepa*, *yamalikambali*, etc., are also occasionally introduced in the list³, the taxes being sometimes characterised as *niyatāniyata*, i.e. regular or fixed and occasional.⁴ Of these imposts, *turuṣka-daṇḍa* may have been a tax levied on the Muhammadans or for the maintenance of special forces for defending the subjects from Muhammadan attacks. This tax is comparable with those called *āndhra-daṇḍa* and *tiguḷa-daṇḍa* associated respectively with the Āndhra and Tiguḷa (Tamil) peoples and mentioned in the epigraphs of the Kannaḍa-speaking area.⁵ *Kumāra-gadyāṇa* was probably a tax of one coin called Gadyāṇa or Gadyāṇaka payable in honour of a newly born prince, while jalakara, literally ‘water-tax’, was paid for fishing rights, etc., in tanks, lakes, rivers, etc. The Gokara, literally ‘cow-tax’, may have been a grazing levy. Nidhinikṣepa refers to the hidden treasure in the ground or deposits or finds on the soil occasionally discovered. Yamalikambali is really yamala-kambalin payable for the possession of race bullocks.

c16.s5.36

¹ Ep. Ind., Vol. IV, pp. 101, 103, etc. Cf. *sa-jala-sthalaḥ sa-loha-lavaṇākaraḥ sa-matsy-ākaraḥ sa-parṇ-ākaraḥ sa gart-oṣaraḥ sa-madhūka-cūta-vana-vāṭikā-viṭapa-tṛṇa-yūti-gocara-paryantaḥ ś-ordhv-ādhaś=catur-āghāṭa-viśuddhaḥ sva-sīmā-paryantaḥ ... ... ... yathā-diyamāna-bhāgabhogakara-pravaṇikara-kūṭaka-prabhṛti-samast-ādāyān ......... Parṇ-ākara probably means ‘fields producing betel leaves’ and *pravaṇikara* ‘a tax on merchants’.

c16.s5.37

² Ibid., pp. 106, 109, 120, etc.

c16.s5.38

³ Ibid., pp. 114, 116, 117, 120, 124, 129.

c16.s5.39

⁴ Ibid., Vol. IV, p. 120, etc.

c16.s5.40

⁵ Cf. A.R.Ep., 1934-35, B. K. Nos. 153-54. *Tiguḷa-daṇḍa* may be the same as *tiguḷa-ghali* or the Tamilian measuring rod (*Ep. Carn.*, Vol VII, Ci. 21, text line 35). B. K. No. 154 of 1933-34 records the grant of 25 coins for feeding the assembly of *āndhra-daṇḍa*, the nature of which is uncertain. Of *bhoṭṭa-viṣṭi*, ‘free carriage of loads to Tibet’.

c16.s5.41

In the copper-plate grants of the Pālas of Eastern India, we have usually the following specifications: “up to its boundaries, grass and pasture land (*sva-sīmā-tṛṇayūti*¹-*gocara-paryanta*); with its ground (*sa-tala*); with the space above the ground (*s-oddeśa*); with its mango and *madhūka* trees (*s-āmra-madhūka*); with its waters and dry land; with its pits and saline spots or barren lands (*sa-gart-oṣara*); with the tax from temporary tenants (*s-oparikara*); with *daśāpacāra* or *daśāparādha* (*sa-daś-āparādha*, *sa-daś-āpcāra*; power to punish and realise fines for the ten offences); with fines realised from thieves (*sa-caur-oddharaṇa*); with exemptions from all oppressions (*parihṛta-sarva-pīḍa*); not to be entered by the Cāṭas and Bhaṭas (*a-cāṭa-bhaṭa-praveśa*); nothing to be taken [by way of tax, etc.] (*a-kiñcit-pragrāhya*); together with all imposts such as *bhāga*, *bhoga*, *kara*, *hiraṇya*, etc. (*samasta-bhāga-bhoga-kara-hiraṇy-ādi-pratyāya-sameta*); according to the maxim of *Bhūmi-cchidra* (*bhūmi-cchidra-nyāyena*); to last as long as a time as the moon, the sun and the earth shall endure (*ā-candr-ārka-kṣiti-sama-kālam*).”² The *Bhūmi-cchidra-nyāya* referred to here is mentioned in a large number of records. It speaks of the old custom, according to which a person who brings a piece of fallow or jungle land under cultivation for the first time was allowed to enjoy it without paying rent. The custom was based on the principle that the hunted deer belonged to him who hit it first.³ The word *chidra* in this case seems to have originally referred to the furrowing of the land. Gradually however the expression *bhūmi-cchidra* acquired the meaning of ‘uncultivable (kṛṣy-ayogyā land’, and that is why some early medieval inscriptions from Orissa, e.g. the charters of the Bhauma-Karas, speak of the same maxim as *Bhūmi-cchidra-pidhāna-nyāya* literally ‘the maxim of covering up the hole in the land’, probably referring to the reclamation of fallow land for the first time.¹ These Orissan records usually speak of the grant of land together with the *uddeśa* (space above the ground called *tala*), with the tenants such as the weavers, milkmen (*gokuṭa* or *gauḍa*) and vintners (*sauṇḍika*) and with the *gulmakas* (outposts) at the *kheṭa* (village or hamlet), *ghaṭṭa* (harbour or pass) and *naditara-sthāna* (ferry).²

c16.s5.42

¹ The word *yūti*, wrongly read as *pūti*, means ‘a preserve’.

c16.s5.43

² *Ep. Ind.*, Vol. XXIX, p. 5, note.

c16.s5.44

³ Cf. Jolly, *Hindu Law and Custom*, pp. 196-97.

c16.s5.45

¹ *Ep. Ind.*, Vol. XXIX, p. 86.

c16.s5.46

² Cf. *s-oddeśa sa-tantuvāya-gokuṭa-sauṇḍik-ādi-prakṛtikaḥ sa-kheṭa-ghaṭṭa-naditara-sthān-ādi-gulmakaḥ sa-pīḍā-varjitaḥ a-lekhani-praveśataya bhūmicchidra-pidhāna-nyāyena*. The passage *sa-tantuvāya-gokuṭa-sauṇḍik-ādi-prakṛtika* seems to suggest that, sometimes, when a village was alienated, the taxes realisable from certain classes of tenants were reserved by the king or landlord.

c16.s5.47

South Indian charters of the early medieval period such as the Paithan plates³ (794 A.D.) of Rāṣṭrakūṭa Govinda III record the donee’s privileges as : together with *udraṅga*; together with *parikara* (*sa-parikara*, the same as *s-oparikara* of many records); together with *daśāparādha*; together with *bhūta-pāta-pratyāya*; together with *viṣṭi* that may be due (*s-otpadyamāna-viṣṭika*); together with the dues in *dhānya* (crops) and *hiraṇya* (cash); free from the entry of the *Cāṭas* and *Bhaṭas*; not to be interfered with by any royal officer (*sarva-rājakīyānām-a-hasta-prakṣepaṇīya*); to last as long as the moon, the sun, the ocean, the earth, the rivers and the mountains endure; to be enjoyed by the sons, grandsons and descendants [of the donee]; excluding the property of the gods and Brāhmaṇas (*deva-brahma-dāya*) that was previously granted; together with *abhyantara-siddhi* (i.e. internal income or revenues, or the local taxes); and according to the principle of *Bhūmi-cchidra*. In these, *sarva-rājakīyānām-a-hasta-prakṣepaṇīya* is the same as *samasta-rājakīyānām-apraveśya*, ‘not to be entered by any of the king's people', as in records like the Ilao plates¹ of Dadda II, and rāja-sevakānām vasatidaṇḍa-prayāṇadaṇḍau na staḥ, 'no tax or contribution for the camping and passage of the king's officers', in the Paithan plates² of Rāmacandra.

c16.s5.48

³ *Ep. Ind.*, Vol. III, p. 109. Cf. *s-udraṅgaḥ sa-parikaraḥ sa-daś-āparādhaḥ sa-bhūta-pāta-pratyāyaḥ s-otpadyamāna-viṣṭikaḥ sa-dhānya-hiraṇy-ādeyaḥ a-cāṭa-bhaṭa-praveśyaḥ sarva-rājakīyānām-ahastaprakṣepaṇīyaḥ ā-candr-ārk-ārṇava-sarit-parvata-sama-kālīnaḥ putra-pautr-ānvaya-krama-opabhogyaḥ pūrv-apratta-deva-brahma-deya-rahitaḥ abhyantara-suddhyā bhūmicchidra-nyāyena*, etc. For *bhūtapāta* cf. infra.

c16.s5.49

¹ Ind. Ant., Vol. XIII, p. 117, text line 17.

c16.s5.50

² Ibid., Vol. XIV, p. 318.

c16.s5.51

In the medieval copper-plate inscriptions of the Sena kings of East India, the gift land usually carried with it the following privileges : together with jhāṭa and viṭapa; together with the land and waters; together with pits and barren lands; together with betelnut and coconut palms; with the ten sins tolerated (sahya-daś-āparādha); exempt from all troubles (probably meaning forced labour); not to be entered by the Caṭṭas and Bhaṭṭas (i.e. Cāṭas and Bhaṭas of earlier epigraphs); exempt from all dues (a-kiñcit-pragrāhya); including tṛṇayūti-gocara (grass land as well as grazing fields).³ In the first item, Sanskrit viṭapa means 'a bush', while jhāṭa (Bengali jhāḍ) also means the same thing. The expression jhāṭa-viṭapa thus means all kinds of bushes. Sahya-daś-āparādha seems to suggest that the fines for the ten offences were not to be levied from the gift village. In some cases, 'together with khila (fallow land) and nāla (cultivated land)' is added to the list, and it is further stated that the donees were entitled to raise temples and excavate tanks in the gift land as well as to plant betelnut and coconut palms.⁴ The grants of the Candras of Bengal usually add 'together with mango and jack fruit trees.'⁵ The privileges of the donees in regard to the enjoyment of particular trees, indicated in these cases, were not enjoyed by ordinary tenants. There is a case in the Vaṅgīya Sāhitya Pariṣad plate of Viśvarūpasena, in which a Brāhmaṇa purchased a plot of land from certain rent-paying tenants who had no right to the betelnut plantation on it; but, when the king made the plot rent-free in favour of the purchasing Brāhmaṇa, the ownership of the plantation automatically passed to him. This is because the possession of such plants was a monopoly of the kings, Jāgīrdārs and privileged tenants.¹

c16.s5.52

³ N. G. Majumdar, Ins. Beng., Vol. III, p. 104, etc. Cf. sa-jhāṭa-viṭapaḥ sa-jala-sthalaḥ sa-gart-oṣaraḥ sa-guvāka-nārikelah sahya-daś-āparādhaḥ parihṛta-sarva-pīḍaḥ a-caṭṭa-bhaṭṭa-praveśaḥ a-kiñcit-pragrāhyaḥ tṛṇa-yūti-gocara-paryantaḥ.

c16.s5.53

⁴ N. G. Majumdar, Ins. Beng., Vol. III, p. 147. Cf. sa-jala-sthalā sa-jhāṭa-viṭapā sa-gart-oṣarā sa-khila-nālā sa-guvāka-nārikelā a-caṭṭa-bhaṭṭa-praveśā ā-candr-ārka-kṣiti-sama-kālaṁ yāvat devakula-puṣkariṇy-ādikaṁ kārayitvā guvāka-nārikel-ādikaṁ laggāvayitvā putra-pautr-ādi-santati-krameṇa sacchand-opabhogen=opabhoktum, etc.

c16.s5.54

⁵ Ibid., p. 8.

c16.s5.55

¹ *JAS*, Letters, Vol. XX, p. 205.

c16.s5.56

Among medieval records of the Deccan, mention may be made of the Kalegaon plates² (1261 A.D.) of Yādava Mahādeva, which refer to the grant of land together with the eight *bhogas* or enjoyments including *śulka*, *daṇḍa*, *dāṇa*, *kāruka*, *maulika*, *śrotra*, *nidhi*, *nikṣepa*, *jala*, *pāṣāṇa* and *tejaḥ-svāmya* and state that the gift land was not to be pointed out even by a finger by the subordinate rulers and royal officers (*rāja-rājapuruṣair=apy=anaṅguli-nirdeśyam*) and that the grant was made with the libation of *hiraṇy-ākṣat-odaka* (water with gold and rice) in place of the usual libation of water only. Although the *bhogas* or privileges are specified to be eight in number, the items included in the category are eleven. *Aṣṭa-bhoga*, mentioned in many other records of the Deccan, thus indicates privileges roughly grouped in eight classes. In some inscriptions of the Vijayanagara kings, the eight *bhogas* appear to be enumerated as *nidhi* (treasure trove), *nikṣepa* (the same as *upanidhi*, i.e. deposits or accumulation on the soil), waters (i.e. fishing rights), *pāṣāṇa* (hills, i.e. quarrying rights), *akṣiṇin* (actual income) *āgāmin* (future income), *siddha* (income from land under cultivation) and *sādhya* (income from land that may be brought under cultivation).³ *Śulka* and *dāṇa* of the Kalegaon plates appear to indicate different kinds of customs duties and *daṇḍa* fines apparently for the ten offences mentioned in many records. In connection with *dāṇa*, it may be pointed out that Dāṇī is a family name in many areas and the *Mahārāṣṭra Śabdakoṣa* explains it as ‘the officer collecting the tax or corn’ or ‘the officer to store the corn collected as tax from the farmers’. Maulika means the principal or main tax and kāruka seems to be a tax on artisans and craftsmen. Maulika may also mean ‘perquisites of hereditary officers’. It included in that case the receipt of the headman of a village who enjoyed a share of most of the articles produced or sold in the village. Śrotra has been explained as the same as Marāṭhī śilotarā=śilotari=śilotrī meaning a tax in kind collected from the cultivators by a lessee of State land. The same word seems to be used in another epigraph¹ as śrotaka in the sense of a kind of rent. Tejaḥ-svāmya, which is often mentioned separately from the aṣṭa-bhoga,² possibly means ‘ownership with complete control’. Some inscriptions speak of āvāta, vāt-ādeya, a-kara-vāt-ottara, bhūt-opātta-pratyāya, etc., in the list of the donee’s privileges.³ This seems to refer to any income resulting from changes caused by nature and her agencies, e.g. storms, earthquakes, etc.

c16.s5.57

² *Ep. Ind.*, Vol. XXXII, p. 42; cf. pp. 35-36. Cf. *śulka-daṇḍa-dāṇa-kāruka-maulika-śrotra-nidhi-nikṣepa-jala-pāṣāṇa-tejaḥsvāmyam = ityādy = aṣṭa-bhoga-sahitam*, etc.

c16.s5.58

³ See *Ep. Ind.*, Vol. III, p. 123, verses 26-27; p. 245, verse 47.

c16.s5.59

¹ Ep. Ind., Vol. XXXII, p. 57.

c16.s5.60

² Khare, Sour. Med. Hist. Dec., Vol. III, pp. 63, 90, 98.

c16.s5.61

³ Altekar, The Rāṣṭrakūṭas and their Times, p. 228; above, p. 398.

c16.s5.62

While discussing the rent-paying grants discovered in Orissa, we had occasion to refer to certain taxes called tṛṇodaka, khaṇḍapāla and muṇḍamola.⁴ Of these, tṛṇodaka literally means ‘a tax for grass and water’ and may have been a sort of grazing tax. Khaṇḍapāla seems to be a tax levied for the maintenance of certain troops of that name. The official designation Khaṇḍapāla means swordsmen maintained by the king and they appear to be responsible for the development of the present day Khaṇḍāit community of Orissa. Muṇḍamola reminds us of Marāṭhī muṇḍabandi meaning a collective rate of rent for land partitioned among cultivators.⁵

c16.s5.63

⁴ JRAS, 1952, pp. 4-10.

c16.s5.64

⁵ See Wilson’s Glossary, s. v.

c16.s5.65

Certain medieval Orissan records like the Balijhari plates⁶ of the Somavaṁśī king Uddyotakesarin and the Kelga plates¹ of Kumāra Someśvara of the same dynasty mention a number of interesting taxes. The Kelga plates have *suvarṇadaṇḍa*, *ahidaṇḍa*, *vartmadaṇḍa*, *vandāpanā*, *vijaya-vandāpanā*, *tṛṇodaka*, *śāsanārdhika*, *varabalivarda*, *arthāruvā*, *pratyarthāruvā*, *padātijivya*, *ādattā*, *āturāvaḍḍi*, *gogauda* and *khaṇḍapālīya*, while the Balijhari plates have such new items as *hastidaṇḍa*, *coṭāla*, *bandhadaṇḍa*, *mārgaṇika*, *pratīhāra* and *uparikara*. Of these, *tṛṇodaka* has been discussed above and *khaṇḍapālīya* is the same as *khaṇḍapāla* already referred to. *Vartmadaṇḍa* of the Kelga plates is apparently the same as *mārgaṇika* of the Balijhari plates. It was a sort of customs dues payable at the outposts on roads. *Suvarṇadaṇḍa* was a tax payable by professional goldsmiths, while *ahi-daṇḍa* was the tax payable for the maintenance of snake-charmers. *Vandāpanā* was the same as Persian *nazrāna* payable at the time of visiting the king, while *vijaya-vandāpanā* was the *nazrāna* payable on the king’s return from a victorious campaign. *Śāsanārdhika* may be an additional share of the produce payable by the tenants engaged in cultivating rent-free lands. *Varabalivarda* was a tax for bullocks meant for prize-fights and *padātijivya*, called *pāikā* in Oḍiyā inscriptions,² was a tax for the maintenance of *Pāiks*. *Gogauda* literally means ‘cow and cowherd’ and appears to have been a grazing tax or a tax on the milkmen. *Hastidaṇḍa* was a tax payable for the possession of elephants, while *bandhadaṇḍa* may be the ransom payable in lieu of imprisonment, and *pratīhāra* a tax for entry into the royal palace or the maintenace of *Pratīhāris*. *Arthāruvā* and *pratyarthāruvā* appear to indicate collection from the money-lenders for the amounts loaned out and those realised with interest. *Āturāvaḍḍi* seems to mean ‘pellets for the sick’ and may have been a levy for the treatment of the king when sick. The expressions *coṭāla* and *ādattā* cannot be explained though the former may be the same as *ciṭolā* mentioned above and the latter may mean ‘interest or fine on the arrears of taxes’. Some inscriptions of the same area mention among the donees’ privileges: ‘together with fish, tortoises, etc.; together with bushes and jungles; together with the right to enjoy the property left by people dying without son’.¹ When the gift land was situated in a forest area, the privileges of the donees sometimes included his right to enjoy *hasti-danta* (ivory), *vyāghra-carman* (tiger’s skin) and various animals as well as trees including tamarind and palmyra.²

c16.s5.66

⁶ JBORS, Vol. XVII, p. 1 ff. Cf. sa-gart-oṣaraḥ.....catuhsim-āvac-chinnah śisu-madhūka-tāla-prabhṛti-nānā-vṛkṣa-(sametaḥ*) sa-nidhiḥ s-opanidhiḥ hasti-daṇḍa-varabalivarda-coṭāla-andhānuvā(arthanuvā?)-pratyandhāruvā(pratyarthā-ruvā?)-adattā-padātijiva(or jīva)-ahiḍaṇḍa-anta(ātu) rājaddi-bandhaḍaṇḍa-vijayaiandā-panā-mārga-ṇika-prabhṛti-bhaviṣyat-kara-sahitaḥ sa-pratihāraḥ sarva-bādhā-vivarjitah sarv-oparikar-ādāna-sahitaḥ etc.

c16.s5.67

¹ *Ep. Ind.*, Vol. XXVIII, p. 323. Cf. *prasiddha-catuḥ-sīm-āvacchinnaḥ sa-jala-sthalaḥ sa-matsya-kacchapaḥ sa-viṭap-āraṇyaḥ sa-nidhiḥ s-opanidhiś=ca s-āmra-madhu-van-ākīrṇaḥ suvarṇadaṇḍa-ahidaṇḍa-vartmadaṇḍa-vandāpanā-vijaya-vandāpanā-tṛṇodaka-śāsanārdhika-ca (va)rabalivarda-arthāruvā-pratyarthāruvā-pada-tijivya-ādattā-āturāvaḍḍi-bhaviṣyat-kar-ādi-sahitaḥ gogauda-sametaḥ sa-khaṇḍapālīyaḥ*, etc. See *nidhy-upanidhi-hastidanta-vyāghracarma-nānāvanacara-sametaḥ sa-jala-sthalaḥ sa-matsya-kacchapaḥ sa-kheṭa-viṭapaḥ sa-khalla-unnataḥ sa-padr-āraṇyakaḥ sa-gulma-latākaḥ s-āmra-madhūkaḥ sa-tantalikaḥ sa-tālakaḥ nānāvṛkṣa-sametaḥ, etc. Cf. *alīyaka* or *ālīpaka*, ‘income from bees’ (wax, boney, etc.) in Vol. XXXVI, p. 14.

c16.s5.68

² *Ep. Ind.*, Vol. XXIX, p. 107.

c16.s5.69

¹ *Ep. Ind.*, Vol. XXVIII, p. 291. Instead of ‘bushes and jungles’, sometimes we have ‘trees and jungles’ (*ibid.*, p. 311).

c16.s5.70

² *Ibid.*, p. 326.

c16.s5.71

An Oḍiyā inscription³ of 1394 A.D., speaks of taxes like *ohoṛu*, *pāukā*, *pāikā*, *bheṭa*, *voḍā* and *paridarśanā*. Of these, *ohoṛu* is the same as *daṇḍvāsī-ohoṛa*, i.e. the watchman-tax, of another Oḍiyā record, while *pāukā* may be Oḍiyā *pāuseri* and mean a tax on the money realised by the creditors from the debtors. *Pāikā* is the same as *padātijīvya* and Oḍiyā *pāikāli*. *Bheṭa* is the same as *vandāpanā* or the occasional offering of money or presents, while *voḍā* (Oḍiyā *vaḍāi*) is a similar offering of uncooked food. *Paridarśanā* may be a supervision tax, the nature of which is uncertain. It will be seen that most of the expressions belong to the local dialect. Such names of taxes in the regional languages are quite common in the medieval inscriptions from different parts of the country and a number of them have been noticed in our *Glossary*. Certain high officers of the Cālukya kings of Kalyāṇa are often described as managing the *vaḍḍāravula* and other taxes, the *vaḍḍāravula* and *pejjuṅka* taxes, the *pannāya* tax, or the *melviṭṭiya-vaḍḍāravula*, *eraḍu-bilkode* and *perjuṅka* taxes.⁴

c16.s5.72

³ *Ibid.*, Vol. XXIX, p. 107.

c16.s5.73

⁴ *Bomb. Gaz.*, Vol. I, Part ii, pp. 450-51.

c16.s5.74

The Hitnahebbagilu plates⁵ of Kadamba Mṛgeśvarman (c. 470-90 A.D.) mention a number of privileges to be enjoyed by the donee, the most interesting of them being the exemption from *paṅga* and *utkoṭa*. *Paṅga* or *pāṅga* is also mentioned in other records of the Kannaḍa-speaking area such as the Kapoli plates¹ of Aśaṅkitavarman (6th century A.D.), the Goa plates² of Satyaśraya Dhruvarāja Indravarman, a grant³ (1107 A.D.) of Kadamba Tribhuvanamalla and the Panjim plates⁴ of Jayakeśin I. The word *paṅga*=*pāṅga* found in the said inscriptions is no doubt the same as Telugu *paṅgamu* recognised in Brown's *Telugu-English Dictionary* in the sense of ‘a tax in the shape of one-fourth of the produce collected in olden times by the government on lands in the possession of gods and Brāhmaṇas’. But expressions like *sarva-paṅga-parihṛta*, ‘exempt from all the *paṅgas*’, suggests that sometimes the word was used to indicate a tax in general. And this is supported by the use of the word *paṅga* (rarely *paṅgā*) in a large number of medieval Telugu inscriptions⁵ sometimes in the sense of a group of levies. In these records, we have, besides *paṅga-tappu* and *paṅga-śulka* or *paṅga-tappu-śulka* in a single compound, the word used along with other levies called *āya-śulka*, *pannu*, *kāṇika*, *darśana*, *upakṣiti*, *puṭṭi* and *māḍalu*. Both *āya* and *śulka* mean ‘tolls, tax, customs’, etc., and the compound *āya-śulka* may mean ‘customs duties’. Wilson's *Glossary* recognises *pannu* as a Tamil word meaning ‘tax, tribute, custom, rent’ and it is also recognised by Brown as a Telugu word meaning ‘a tax’. *Kāṇika* may be Kannaḍa *kāṇike-kāṇe* or *kāṇike-kappa* (or *kappa-kāṇike*) recognised by Wilson in the sense of ‘a present from an inferior to a superior, a subscription, a donation’. Brown recognises Telugu *kāṇika* or *kānuka* in the same sense. *Darśana* is the Tamil *pāvai* and Persian *nazrāna*. *Puṭṭi* reminds us of Telugu *puṭṭidosillu* recognised by Wilson in the sense of ‘a fee of two handfuls from each *puṭṭi* of grain paid to the village servants’. *Māḍalu* reminds us what Wilson says under māḍa : ‘a half pagoda; where it is applied to a rate of rent, payment of 50 per cent’. The expression paṅgatappu may indicate interest or fine on arrears of paṅga. Upakṣiti probably means the tax on a particular kind land such as khajjana.

c16.s5.75

⁵ *Ep. Carn.*, Vol. IV, p. 136, Hunsur No. 18 : *parihṛta-paṅg-otkoṭa*.

c16.s5.76

¹ *Ep. Ind.*, Vol. XXXI, pp. 234 ff.

c16.s5.77

² *JBBRS*, Vol. X, pp. 348 ff.

c16.s5.78

³ *Ep. Ind.*, Vol. XXX, pp. 77 ff.

c16.s5.79

⁴ See ibid., Vol. XXXIII, p. 54.

c16.s5.80

⁵ See ibid., p. 55-56.

c16.s5.81

The word utkoṭa, mentioned in the Hitnabebbagilu plates, is not known from Sanskrit lexicons. But there is no doubt that it is the same as Prakrit ukkoḍa meaning ‘things to be offered to the rājakula (i.e. the king, royal officers and members of the royal family)’, and ‘presents made to the king and others’.

c16.s5.82

In earlier records, the rent-free holdings in the possession of gods and Brāhmaṇas were usually called devadeya or devadāya and brahmadeya or brahmadāya respectively. Gradually the word agrahāra became popular in South India in the sense of a rent-free village in the possession of Brāhmaṇas, although occasionally the word was used in a wider sense since we have also reference to dev-āgrahāra, vaiśy-āgrahāra, etc. Other expressions for rent-free holdings, noticed especially in South Indian inscriptions, are mānya, namasya, sarva-mānya, sarva-namasya, namasya-vṛtti, etc.¹ In modern documents of Bengal, the rent-free holding in the possession of a god is called devottara (Sanskrit devatrā) and that of a Brāhmaṇa bhogottara (possibly Sanskrit bhogatrā) or brahmottara (probably Sanskrit brahmatrā), while the rent-free holding in the possession of non-Brahmanical communities was sometimes called mahātrāṇa, etc.

c16.s5.83

¹ Sometimes we have reference to ardha-namasya-vṛtti which refers to gift land taxed at half the usual rate. In some epigraphs of the Kannaḍa area, a person is mentioned as governing or managing an agrahāra according to the tribhāg-ābhyantara-siddhi which means that he took one-third of the revenues, the other two-thirds going in equal shares to the gods and Brāhmaṇas (Bomb. Gaz., Vol. I, Part II, p. 440). Likewise we have reference to pannasa in Kannaḍa records (Ep. Ind., Vol. XV, p. 336, note 3), which may be a corruption of Sanskrit pañcāśat and indicate a tenure in which the donee enjoyed fifty per cent of the revenue.

c16.s5.84

There are a few inscriptions which supply us with informations that are not generally found in other records. Thus the Anjaneri plates² (709 A.D.), recording the grant of eight villages in favour of a deity, specifically mention the *ādānas* or receipts from the gift lands as follows : the *āvāra* [taxes. probably stall-taxes] to be levied from shops (*āpaṇeṣu*); the *kovera* [tax] in respect of the *karaṇa* (probably, an official document); one *rūpaka* on the occasion of the god's *yātr-otsava* to be levied at the entry and exit of each caravan of merchandise (*sārtha-vahitreṣu*); one *mūṭaka* (probably a small weight) [of corn] and one *setikā* (Prakrit *seiā* or *setikā* meaning ‘two handfuls’) of clarified butter to be levied from certain villages probably from each household; specified amounts of money in silver coins called *Kṛṣṇarāja-rūpaka* to be levied from some districts; the eight villages should be free from all imposts (*ādāna*), free labour (*viṣṭi*) and *prātibhedikā* (probably, the same as *bheṭ* or presents); they should be free from the entry of the *Cāṭa* and *Bhaṭa* and also *abyantara-siddhika* (enjoying the right of internal income or revenue). The inscription also mentions a *sthiti* or regulation in respect of the town where the god's temple was situated and of its merchants to whom the temple as well as the god's worship and the *yātrā* festival were entrusted. According to it, the merchants were made immune from *śulka* (customs duties) and *jemaka* (the feeding expenses of officers on duty). Another inscription¹ of the same king granted the following privileges to the merchant of a town : they should have to pay no *śulka* anywhere in the kingdom; there should be no *aputra-dhana*² and no *umarabheda* for them; and they should pay no *āvāsaka* (camping expenses) and *jemaka* (food expenses) for royal officers. *Aputra-dhana* refers to the custom of confiscation of the property of one dying without sons and umbara-bheda (from Prakrit ummara meaning ‘threshold’, i. e. door) apparently suggests that no dues should be collected from the houses of the merchants when they were abroad. The charter¹ (592 A.D.) of king Viṣṇuṣeṇa of Kathiawar, called a sthiti-pātra, ācāra-sthiti-pātra, anugraha-sthiti-pātra, sthiti-vyavasthā or sthiti-pātra-vyavasthā, contains a large number of similar regulations made in favour of a group of merchants. These regulations (ācāras) contain a good many technical expressions not generally found in epigraphic and literary records and the Sanskrit lexicons. The Motupalli inscription² (1244-45 A.D.) of Kākatīya Gaṇapati is ‘an edict assuring safety’ to foreign traders whose vessels might be wrecked on the coast of his territories. It is stated that the cargo would not be forfeited to the State as before, but only the fixed customs duties would be levied on it. These duties are clearly specified in the inscription.

c16.s5.85

² Ep. Ind., Vol. XXV, pp. 232-33. Cf. ādānāni āpaṇeṣu āvāraḥkaraṇe koveraṃ | sārtha-vahitreṣu praveśe nirgame ca pratyekaṃ rūpakaḥ devasya yātrotsave dātavyaṃ | ......mūṭakaḥ ghrta-setikā ca......sarv-ādāna-viṣṭi-prātibhedikā-parihīṇāḥ a-cāṭa-bhaṭa-praveśyāḥ abhyantara-siddhikāḥ ā-candr-ārk-ārṇava-kṣiti-sthiti-sama-kālīnāḥ, etc.

c16.s5.86

¹ Ibid., p. 237. Cf. *Somagiri-vāstavyānāṁ vaṇijāṁ candr-ārka-kālikam śulkam=ādeyaṁ samasta-rājye n=āsti | aparaṁ ca aputra-dhanam n=āsti | umbara-bhedah rājapuruṣāṇām=āvāsako jemakaś=ca nāsti | kumārī-sāhase rūpakāṇām=aṣṭottara-śatam | saṁgrahane dvātriṁśad=rūpakāḥ | karṇa-troḍanikāyāṁ ṣoḍaśa-rūpakāḥ | śira-sphoṭane catvāri rūpakāḥ | bhārikāyāṁ vaṇik-putrasy=āṣṭottara-śataṁ rūpakānām | naṅge gṛhitasya yac=c=āṣṭau ṣoḍaśa vā nagara-mahallakā vicārya vadante tad=eva pramāṇam.* Some of the words in the latter part of the passage are unintelligible. *Karṇa-troḍanikā* is the same as *Karṇa-troṭana*.

c16.s5.87

² Cf *aputra-sahitaṁ* (ibid., Vol. XXVIII, p. 291) and *nidhi-nikṣep-āputraka-dhana-daṇḍ-opajātaka-sahitaḥ* (loc. cit., note 13) in some records.

c16.s5.88

¹ Ibid., Vol. XXX, pp. 169 ff.

c16.s5.89

² Ibid., Vol. XII, pp. 188 ff.

Linked texts (27)