India as Known to Panini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashtadhyayi c9.s3.14

c9.s3.14

*TAXES ON TRADE*—*Śulka* denoted such taxes on trade as customs and octroi. Pāṇini mentions that the consignment was named after the duty paid on it (V.1.47). The custom-house was called *śulkaśālā* and the income from customs *śaulkaśālika* (stock-example on IV.3.75, *Ṭhag-āya-sthānebhyaḥ*). *Ardha* (V. 1. 48) and *bhāga* (V. 1. 49) are mentioned as amounts of octroi duty, (both denoting half of a *kārshāpaṇa*), the consignment being called *ardhika* or *bhāgika* (also *bhāgya*).