State and Government in Ancient India c18.s1.77

c18.s1.77

Let us now briefly survey the functions of the village council. Several records from south India make it quite clear that the ultimate responsibility for collecting the land revenue was fixed upon the village council. It was this body which negotiated with government for concessions in the usual demand in the case of famine and similar calamities. But when the acount was once settled, the village council had to collect the dues from the land-owners and even proceed to auction their land, if they were in default for a long time. The council had even the power to exempt a piece of land from the taxation of the central government, if its owner deposited with it the capitalised value of the annual tax. The tax was of course paid by the council itself out of the interest of the capitalised fund.