State and Government in Ancient India c20.69

c20.69

It is referred to in inscriptions, sometimes as *bhāgakara* and sometimes as *udranga*. Smṛitis lay down no uniform rate of taxation; the percentage they recommend varies from eight to thirty-three.¹ This variation must be due partly to the quality of land; it is clear for instance, that Manu could not have the same types of land in his view when in the same breath he recommends that the land taxation should be either 8 or 12 or 16 per cent.² Kulottuṅga Chola is known to have divided land into eight classes for the purpose of taxation.³ The non-agreement among the Smṛitis must be partly due also to the varying practices of the different states or to the different rates charged by one and the same government at different times to meet its varying needs.⁴ The normal procedure, however, was to charge one-sixth of the produce as the land tax; the tax collectors were often called *shasṭhādhikṛitas*, as in Bengal and Bundelkhand.