The Rashtrakutas and their Times c21.52

c21.52

Exemption from taxation and the capital punishment are two of the main privileges claimed for the Brahmanas by the Smritis and the Puranas. It must be, however, noted that it is only for the S'rotriya or the learned Brahmana that these privileges were originally claimed; the S'ānti Parvan expressly states that the Brahmanas, who followed trade and industry, were to be fully taxed. It is quite clear from the numerous Rāṣṭrakūṭa charters that the donees of the Brahmadeya grants, who were as a rule learned Brahmanas, used to receive all the taxes payable by the inhabitants to the king; they themselves had to pay nothing to the latter. But whether ordinary Brahmanas of our period enjoyed similar exemption from taxation is extremely doubtful. The Tuppad Kurahatti inscription of Kṛṣṇa III,⁽³⁴⁾ the Honawad inscription of Someśvara⁽³⁵⁾ and numerous Chola records make it quite clear that even lands granted to temples by kings were not entirely exempted by them from the Government taxation; a quit rent, sometimes as high as 50 per cent of the normal demand, was charged. If Devadeya grants were thus not exempted from taxation, it is extremely unlikely that ordinary Brahmanas following a number of secular professions, could have enjoyed in our period complete exemption from taxation. Somadeva, a contemporary writer, lays down that when the king had to make a capital levy in order to tide over a difficulty, he could take a portion of the property of Brahmanas and temples, taking the only precaution that money absolutely necessary for the performance of the sacrifices and worship was left with them.³⁶ This again would suggest that not all the Brahmanas could have enjoyed complete exemption from taxation in our period. There is no epigraphical evidence to support such a general claim. An inscription from Gujarat, dated 1230 A.D.,³⁷ no doubt says that king Somasimha had exempted Brahmanas from taxation. But this statement is made in the course of that king's eulogy, and may not be more reliable than the assertion, immediately following, that he had defeated a host of enemies. It is further not clear whether all the Brahmanas or only a section of them was exempted from taxation.