Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v1.c10.s5.t2.55

v1.c10.s5.t2.55

It is interesting to observe that in this matter the Vijayanagara rulers paid much attention to ancient precept. Kauṭilya lays down as a rule that "in the case of construction of new works, such as tanks, lakes, etc., taxes (on the lands below such tanks) shall be remitted for five years. . . For repairing neglected or ruined works of similar nature, taxes shall be remitted for four years. For improving or extending water-works over-grown with weeds, taxes shall be remitted for three years. In the case of acquiring such newly started works by mortgage or purchase, taxes on land below such works shall be remitted for two years. If uncultivated tracts are acquired (for cultivation) by mortgage, purchase or in any other way, remission of taxes shall be for two years'.¹ The Vijayanagara monarchs, if Nuniz can be relied upon, by exempting new lands brought under cultivation for nine years, went beyond the limit of five years imposed by Kauṭilya. Their benevolent policy of assisting cultivators, which ultimately led to the enhancement of revenue, is seen also in the action which the State took in reclaiming waste land that had been devastated by floods. We are told in an inscription dated Śaka 1324 (A.D. 1402-3) of the times of Bukkaṇṇa Oḍeyar II, that some villages (*paṟṟu*) near Vaḷuvūr, in Tiruveluṇdūr-nāḍu, a subdivision of Eḷumuṟi-paṟṟu, Tanjore district, were lying fallow, since the time the river Kāvēri, overflowing its banks, had washed away the demarcation mounds between the fields, and silted up the irrigation channels, and in consequence the tenants had abandoned the fields for a considerably long period.² These fields were now reclaimed, the channels restored, the boundary banks repaired, and the tenants rehabilitated on certain favourable conditions which are thus enumerated in the inscription: