Indian Epigraphy c16.s5.71

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