A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c17.112

c17.112

Crown lands, annual tributes from feudatories and provincial governors paid at the time of the Mahānavami festival, port and customs dues from the commerce passing through the numerous ports of the empire, formed the chief sources of revenue which was collected both in cash and in kind. The land was carefully surveyed and assessed according to its quality, the rates differing between wet and dry lands and in accordance with the crops and the yield. The proportion of produce claimed as revenue varied from the traditional sixth to as much as half the gross yield. The state often handed over to temples and learned Brahmins the privilege of enjoying its share of the land revenue in accordance with prescribed terms. Taxes on professions and houses, fees for licences of various kinds, transit and market dues and judicial fines were other sources from which the state got its money. Most of these taxes were farmed out to the highest bidder both in areas directly administered from the centre and in the provinces, and the impression produced is that of high and even oppressive taxation.