Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v1.c10.s8.36

v1.c10.s8.36

In the mediaeval treatise of Sukrācharya, as we have already observed, reference may be found to one of the features of the guttige system. "Having determined the land revenue of the village the king should receive it from one rich man in advance, or guarantee (for the payment) of that either by monthly or periodical instalments. Or the king should appoint officers called grāmapas by paying one-sixteenth, one-twelfth, or one-eighth, or one-sixth of his own receipts".⁴ Receiving revenue from one man in advance is essentially of the nature of the guttige system, although we admit that Sukrāchārya does not make any provision for the element of bidding which is the most prominent, and, at the same time, the worst feature of the guttige system. Whether reference to this system is found in the Sukranīti or not is outside our purpose, since on the strength of the evidence of epigraphs, we may definitely assert that, long before the Muhammadans came to southern India, the farming or contract or guttige system had already come to stay in the country as a noteworthy feature of the agrarian life of the people.¹