History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v1.c12.3

v1.c12.3

The Deśa or country was usually divided for administrative purposes into divisions which were in the north called Bhukti and which in the south were called Vādi or sometimes Mandala. This division corresponds with the district of the British rule. The word Bhukti perhaps referred to so much tax collected and might be fitly translated by the word collectorate. The Bhukti or District was again subdivided into smaller portions which were called Vishaya everywhere and which correspond to the modern Tehsil or Taluka. In Tamil and other countries of the extreme south Vishaya was often called Nāḍa and in Gujarat we meet sometimes with the word Ahāra. Vishaya was not further subdivided though we sometimes find further subdivisions of the Vishaya into portions—East, West, North, and South as in modern or Mahomedan times into Tarafs.