The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v2.c15.s3.t7.10

v2.c15.s3.t7.10

Taxes in kind were generally paid to the government in two instalments, one in the month of Kārtika (October-November) and the other in the month of Vaiśākha (April-May),⁶ these evidently being the two main crop-seasons. The king’s officers went round the villages to collect his share of the grain from them. There were *kolakāṇḍru*, persons engaged in measuring the king’s share of grain, and also *tirparulu*, umpires or judges, to see that no injustice was done to either party, the ryots of the village, or the government.⁷ The king’s share of a householder’s income in kind was called *puṭṭi-koluchu* and that of its income in cash, *puṭṭi-pahiṇḍi*.⁸ The government also collected a nominal rent even on lands which had been granted to gods and brāhmans. That which was collected from wet land was called para and that from dry land, paṅgamu. Paṅgamu, according to the Telugu dictionaries, means one-fourth part of the rent and para meant probably one-eighth part. Even this minimum rent was remitted in certain cases and the land was listed as entirely tax-free. The general term for land tax was ari, and those ryots who were subject to it were called arigāpulu.