The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v2.c15.s3.t7.7

v2.c15.s3.t7.7

Cheluka or *Chelika bhūmi*, fallow land which had been newly brought under cultivation, was taxed progressively in proportion to the yield of the crop after a period of three or four years had passed, no tax being levied during the first two, three, or even four years. The tax was collected both in kind and in money. The expressions ‘at the rate of one *chinnamu* per *marturu* of sowable ploughed field’ and ‘one *chinnamu* per *puṭṭi* of dry land’ occur in inscriptions of this period.⁴ It cannot be said that these were the invariable rates at which money payments were assessed on wet and dry lands respectively but these records do furnish us with definite proof that taxes were assessed not only in kind but also in cash. The tax on dry land and garden land (*tōṭa-bhūmi* or *tōṭa-polamu*) was always paid in cash and was respectively known as *puṭṭi-pahiṇḍi* and *tōṭa-sunkamu*.⁵