Indian Epigraphy c16.s5.62

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