Hindu Administrative Institutions c9.s1.84

c9.s1.84

skins, etc. There were no absolute and fixed rates for all time as one could easily gather from the several texts of the extant treatises on the Arthaśāstra.¹ Levies were also accepted in kind even in the case of clothes and heads of cattle. Artists and artisans who would not pay in cash were expected to work a day in a fortnight for the king, and thus commute their payment by labour.² That the artisans were also subject to certain kind of taxes is evident from the Mahābhārata.³ In taxing them the nature of their work of art, their difficulty, and their skill⁴ were taken into consideration.