History of Kanauj to the Moslem Conquest c20.s1.t3: Fiscal conditions

History of Kanauj to the Moslem Conquest c20.s1.t3

Language: English

Fiscal conditions

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We may now set forth the evidence regarding the principal sources of revenue, on which depended the stability and strength of the state.⁴ The Rajor inscription of the Pratihāra feudatory Mathanadeva mentions numerous dues from a village⁵ like the *Bhoga* and the *Mayūta* income (probably the contributions of fruits, firewood, etc.), with all customary and not customary, fixed and not fixed receipts; the shares of all sorts of grain; the *Khalabhikṣā* (cess on threshing floors);¹ *Prasthaka*; *Skandhaka*; and *Mārgaṇaka*.² The meaning of these three terms is not quite clear. Dr. Ghoshal, however, thinks that *Mārgaṇaka* represented benevolences of a general character levied upon the villages, as distinguished from the special forms called *Prasthaka* (a cess on each *prastha* of grain over and above the usual grain-share) and *Skandhaka* (perhaps a cess at a certain rate per load).³

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⁴ Cf. e.g. “Koṣamūlo hi rājeti pravādaḥ sārva-laukikaḥ” (*Kāmandakīya Nītisāra*, XXI, 33).

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⁵ *Ep. Ind.*, III, pp. 264, 266.

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¹ Cf. also *Ibid.*, II, p. 179, verse 42. See *Ind. Ant.*, XVIII, p. 114, line 55, for Khalaka as a revenue term.

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² See also *Ind. Ant.*, XVIII, p. 83, line 20. Compare *Mārgaṇaka* with the Hindi word "māṅganā."

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³ *Hindu Revenue System*, pp. 294, 296, 298, etc.

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Fines for ten offences (*daśāparādhandaṇḍa*),⁴ gifts, likewise *aputrikādāna* (literally the property of a person who in the absence of a son has not appointed his daughter to raise a male issue for him, or in other words, it signifies the crown's right to confiscate the property of one who dies sonless?) and *naṣṭabharata* (*naṣṭabharaṭa*?) were other sources of revenue. Besides these, the state laid claim to treasure-trove and mineral products. The record also mentions the following taxes for purposes of worship : three *vimśopakas* on every sack of agricultural produce brought for sale to the market (*haṭṭadāna*); two *pālikas* on every *ghaṭaka-kūpaka* of clarified butter and oil; two *vimśopakas* per mensem on every shop; fifty leaves on every *collika* (of leaves) brought from outside the town. The Unā charters specify the usual dues—*bhāgabhoga*, *hiraṇyadāna*, daśāparādhadaṇḍa—and add the *Udranga* (revenue imposed upon the permanent tenants?), *Uparikara* (tax on cultivators who have no proprietory rights in the soil), *Collaka*, and other minor imposts.¹

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⁴ Jolly's *Hindu Law and Custom* (B. K. Ghosh's Eng. Trans., 1928), pp. 268-70. Also consult Fleet, *C. I. I.*, Vol. III, p. 189, note 4; Hira Lal, *Ep. Ind.*, IX, p. 47, note 1, etc.

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¹ *Ibid.*, IX, pp. 5, 10.

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Further, the Gāhaḍavāla plates mention the following sources of revenue :

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(a) *Bhāga*, or share : this possibly represents a stipulated share exacted by the actual owner from the farmer who cultivated the land.

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(b) *Bhoga*, or enjoyment : probably certain rights that the landlord enjoyed when the land was left fallow. Or, it might refer to the use of waste and taking of grass, etc., from the field when the cultivator’s crops had been removed. Or, is “bhāga” partial and “bhoga” complete proprietorship?

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(d) *Hiraṇya*, or gold : probably a money-tax levied on profits of trade or manufacture. It is, however, possible that “*Kara*” represents dues in kind and “*hiraṇya*” dues commuted into cash.

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(e) *Pravaṇikara* : a tax on turnpikes intended to preserve the peace of the village by discouraging the advent of large numbers of visitors. Or, is it a tax for the upkeep of roads? Sometimes it has also been taken to stand for a tax imposed upon certain classes of merchants.²

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² Ghoshal, *Hindu Revenue System*, p. 296.

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(f) *Turuṣka-daṇḍa* : a term that is most difficult to explain. It has been variously interpreted as a tax on aromatic reeds,³ or tribute paid to Ghazni by the ruler of Kanauj,⁴ or a tax levied on the Hindus to ward off the Moslems.¹ But, as pointed out by Sten Konow, it might also mean a tax imposed on the Moslems,² who, according to the *Kāmil-ut-tawārīkh*, settled in the Kanauj kingdom in the time of Mahmud-bin-Sabuktigin, and “were faithful to the law of Islam and constant in prayer and good works.”³ Thus it would be a sort of Hindu counterpart of the Moslem *Jizya*.

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³ J. A. S. B., LVI, pt. I (1887), p. 113.

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⁴ C. V. Vaidya, H. M. H. I., Vol. III, p. 211.

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¹ V. A. Smith, *Early Hist. of India*, 4th ed., p. 400, note 1.

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² Sten Konow, *Ep. Ind.*, IX, p. 329.

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³ Elliot, *History of India*, Vol. II, p. 251.

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(g) *Jalakara*, or tax on water. This must have been a fruitful source of income as the prosperity of the village largely depended upon irrigation.

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(h) *Gokara* : probably a tax on the breeding of cattle just as in the south there was a tax of “the good bull.” Or, was it charge covering grazing rights?

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(i) *Viṣayadāna* : This must have been some kind of district tax.

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(j) *Nidhi-nikṣepa*, i.e., treasure-trove.

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(k) *Kumāragadyāṇaka* : an obscure term. It has sometimes been explained as a tax at the rate of so much per *gadyāṇaka* (= 32 *guñja* berries) on behalf of royal princes.⁴ Presumably it was something like modern *nazar* offered to royal personages on ceremonial occasions.

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⁴ See *Hindu Revenue System*, p. 294.

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(l) *Ākara* : a tax on mines.

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In addition to the above the Gāhaḍavāla inscriptions mention the following taxes, but unfortunately their exact signification is unknown.

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(m) *Yamali-Kambala*.

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(n) *Kūṭaka* (e.g., *Ep. Ind.*, IV, p. 111).

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(o) Valaat (Ind. Ant., XVIII, p. 17).
(p) Vimśaticchavathā (Ibid.).
(q) Akṣapaṭaladāya (Ibid.).

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The last two are respectively called Viśatiṭhu (Vimśatyathū) prastha and Akṣapaṭalaprastha in the Basahi plate (Ind. Ant., XIV, p. 103), which refers to other imposts also like Varavajjhe, Pratīhāraprastha, and Daśabandha, etc.

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We also learn from inscriptions that there were regular customs-houses, called “Mattadāva” or “Maṇḍapikā,” where perhaps taxes on sales and manufactures were levied and collected.

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Regarding land settlement the details are meagre to the extreme. All the information that we get is that the village lands were measured by “hastas” and “nālukas” and they were well demarcated by boundaries.¹

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¹ Ep. Ind., V, pp. 113, 114.

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Further, we are told in the Gāhaḍavāla plates of the rights possessed by owners of villages, and granted to donees, viz., water (Jala); waste-land (sthala); iron-mines and salt-mines (lohalavaṇakara); fisheries (matsyakara); ravines (garta), saline soil (Oṣara); groves of madhuka and mango (madhukāmravanavāṭikā), grass and pasture land etc. (tṛṇa-yutigocaraparyantaḥ).

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Lastly, we may make a few observations about the currency of the period. As already shown, copper and silver coins of Madanapāla, and gold and copper issues of Govindacandra, have been discovered. It would, therefore, not be unreasonable to suppose that the Gāhaḍavāla kings minted in all the three metals. The copper pieces were probably meant for small transactions, for which barter may also have been practised. The gold and silver coins vary in their types and values, and the percentage of alloy indirectly throws light on the financial condition of the kingdom under their rule. For the Pratihāra times our extant evidence consists of the silver *Drammas* of Mihira Bhoja and the doubtful gold issues of Mahīpāla. The former are derived from the Indo Baktrian (Greek) *Drachmae* weighing 65 grains, and the Siyadoni inscription enumerates several distiner kinds of these *Drammas* in connection with donations:

Linked texts (3)

Epigraphia Indica
Indian Antiquary
Kāmandakīya Nītisāra — Kāmandaki, Sanskrit