History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v1.c13.s3.6

v1.c13.s3.6

The district of Kaira and the province of Kathiawad to which the Valabhi grants chiefly refer appear to have had separate systems of land assessment, Kaira by yield, Kathiawad by area. Under the Kathiawad system the measurement was by the padāvarta literally the space between one foot and the other that is the modern Kadam or pace. The pace used in measuring land seems to have differed from the ordinary pace as most of the Kathiawad grants mention the bhūpadāvarta or land pace. The Kaira system of assessment was by yield, the unit being piṭaka or basketful, the grants describing fields as capable of growing so many baskets of rice or barley, (or as requiring so many baskets of seed.) As the grants always specify the Kaira basket a similar system with a different-sized basket seems to have been in use in other parts of the country. Another detail which the plates preserve is that each field had its name called after a guardian or some tree or plant. Among field names are Kotilaka, Atimenakedāra, Khandakedāra, Gurjarakshetra, Bhimakshetra.”.