History of Kanauj to the Moslem Conquest c12.s4.t1.7

c12.s4.t1.7

Regarding the general features of the government, it appears that it was founded on benign principles. Yuan Chwang was impressed favourably, and he observes: “As the Government is generous official requirements are few. Families are not registered, and individuals are not subject to forced labour contributions . . . . . Taxation being light, and forced service being sparingly used, every one keeps to his hereditary occupation and attends to his patrimony”¹ The people were thus left to grow in their own surroundings free and unfettered by the shackles of over-government. Harṣa being “just in his administration, and punctilious in the discharge of his duties,”² society was not choked by a grinding bureaucracy, or overburdened by a heavy system of taxation. The main source of revenue was the traditional one-sixth of the produce,³ and “light duties at ferries and barrier stations,”⁴ paid by tradesmen, who went to and fro bartering their merchandise. The Madhuban and Banskhera grants tell us of other dues, viz., the *Tulya-meya* (taxes depending on the weight and measure of the commodities); *Bhāgabhogakarahiraṇyādi* (share of the enjoyment or produce, payments in cash, and other kinds of income.⁵