Hindu Administrative Institutions c9.s1.14

c9.s1.14

There is also the fact of the existence of crown lands, (स्वभूमि:) that is, lands owned by the state and cultivated under the direct superintendence of the state³ (*sītādhyakṣa*). From the existence of this office certain writers have wrongly inferred that the state was the owner of all land. Such inference confuses the real issue involved. We must make a distinction between crown lands and private lands. If this were made, the other question is automatically solved. That the right of lordship to the private lands was confined only to protective control is further obvious from a statement of the *Kauṭalīya*.⁴ This means that if a king has received wages in the shape of taxes and does not afford protection, then, that king might be abandoned, and another might be chosen in his stead.⁵