State and Government in Ancient India c20.74

c20.74

Land tax at 16% was, however, found insufficient for their needs by states which had chalked out a policy of imperial expansion. The testimony of the *Arthaśāstra*⁶ and the Greek writers⁷ shows that the Mauryan state charged 25% tax on agricultural incomes; the concession, which Aśoka showed to the inhabitants of Lumbinī, because the Buddha was born in their village, consisted in the reduction of this usual percentage to half.⁸ Under the Cholas in the 11th century, the taxation was 20%; a *veli* of land, yielding 500 *kalams* of paddy was taxed 100 *kalams*; sometimes, however, wet lands were charged 33%.⁹