State and Government in Ancient India c20.197

c20.197

Waste-lands, being under nobody's occupation, were naturally regarded as state property. Steps were taken to induce enterprising persons to bring them under cultivation by guaranteeing a total or partial exemption from the land tax for the first four or five years.¹ The administration of waste lands was often left to the local bodies; in the Gupta administration their sale was usually effected with their consent and approval.² It appears that in South India the village assemblies not only administered these lands, but also claimed their ownership. We often find them selling or mortgaging common lands to tide over calamities like famines or floods.³