Public Administration in Ancient India c23.14

c23.14

Under Chānakya’s system, villages were classified as of the first, second, or third rank.¹ Each village had a headman (grāmika, grāmādhipa, or grāmakūṭa) whose duty it was (1) to delimit the boundaries of the village and of the different plots of land within the village; (ii) to divide the village lands into cultivated lands, uncultivated lands, plains, wet lands, (flower) gardens, vegetable gardens, fenced lands, dwelling-houses, assembly halls, temples, irrigation works, cremation grounds, charitable houses, places of pilgrimage, and pasture lands; (iii) to enter in his books all sales, gifts, charities, and remissions of taxes which take place within the village; (iv) to divide houses in the village into revenue-paying and non-revenue-paying, mentioning the amount of taxes, rates, etc., payable by each; (v) register the number of inhabitants distributed by castes, and following different occupations, such as agriculture, pasturage, trade, arts, manufactures, manual labour, and menial service, together with an account of the conduct and character, income and expenditure, of each inhabitant.²