The Rashtrakutas and their Times c18.s1.79

c18.s1.79

The land tax was collected in several instalments. From the Begumra plates of Kṛṣṇa of the Gujrat branch dated 888 A.D.,⁴⁵ we learn that it was collected in three instalments, one in Bhādrapada or September, one in Kārtika or November and one in Māgha or March. It is interesting to note that this record partially confirms the statement of Bhattasvāmin, the commentator of the Arthaśāstra, that the *kara* or the land tax was paid in the months of Bhādrapada, Chaitra and the like, (46) and that of Kullūka (47) that the tax was gathered every year in Bhādrapada and Pausha. It would, therefore, seem that government permitted the farmers to pay the tax in at least three instalments. Such an arrangement was also inevitable since the tax was usually collected in kind and not in cash.