Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v1.c10.s2.20

v1.c10.s2.20

These principles of the Hindu lawgivers make it clear that the State is entitled not only to levy taxes from the people, on condition that it assures them protection, but is also permitted to strengthen its financial stability in times of need by having recourse to extraordinary courses of action. The multifarious items which, according to Kauṭilya and Śukrāchārya, are to be taxed, and the sanction which they have given for a monarch to encroach on the property of the Brahmans when beset with danger, may enable us to understand the system of taxation under Vijayanagara which left almost no article untaxed in the Empire.