Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v1.c10.s8.30

v1.c10.s8.30

Another kind of guṭṭu is mentioned under the name guṭṭige-piṇḍa-dāna. An inscription assigned to the year A.D. 1210 informs us the following: "The gauḍike umbali of Amiṭya-daṇṇāyaka in Amṛitapura, together with the garden, was five maṭṭas of rice land by the Gaṅga pole. Its boundaries. Whoever plants areca gardens in the land of the god Amṛitēśvara in this Amityapura will always pay as guṭṭige-piṇḍa-dāna three paṇa per kamba according to the Gaṅga pole. On their planting the pits and making an areca garden, they will pay at this rate as soon as the trees come into bearing. And these gardens will be open to mortgage or sale".³ It appears from the above epigraph that guṭṭige-piṇḍa-dāna was a sort of fee levied from those who planted areca trees in an areca garden belonging to a temple.