Hindu Administrative Institutions c12.s5.4

c12.s5.4

*Sīta-adhyakṣa* is the superintendent of agriculture or crown lands. The grains produced therein are sent to the king's treasury by the superintendent of crown lands. The very fact that the superintendent attends to the choice of seeds, the sowing and the gathering of the agricultural produce,² and also the fact that the lands are given to tenants for life, or for a period of time on contract³ and are confiscated at any moment, bear testimony to the regulations of public lands only. A further evidendce that confirms our view is the expression ‘खमू’ in the chapter entitled the *sīta-adhyakṣa*. It means ‘the king's land’. This meaning is evident from another expression in the same chapter ‘खसेतुभ्यः’ ‘sources of irrigation established by the king for the use of which special water-taxes were paid by the enjoyers for their own private lands.’⁴