The Mauryan Polity c10.s1.t9: Classification of villages
The Mauryan Polity c10.s1.t9
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Classification of villages
c10.s1.t9.1
The administrative classification of the villages is not without interest to the antiquarian. Kauṭalya speaks also of three-fold classification of the villages.¹ These were, first, villages exempted from taxation (parihāraka), secondly, villages supplying soldiers āyudhīya), and thirdly, villages liable to taxation in cash or kind.² In the same chapter³ a further sub-division of the villages according to the quality of the soil is given. These are again classified under three heads—the superior, the middling and the inferior. Apparently such considerations weighed with the settlement officers in regard to the assessment of the revenue. Barring this the central administration did not interfere in the rural politics which were in the hands of the village communities. These villages, economically self-sufficient, enjoyed complete rural autonomy.
c10.s1.t9.2
¹ For a correct interpretation of the term grāma see K. A. Nila-kanta Śāstri's article in the J.O.R. (1930), part 3, being a reply to the ingenious interpretation of Prān Nāth in his A Study in the Economic Condition of Ancient India.
c10.s1.t9.3
² See the excellent comment of Gaṇapati Śāstri on this passage Vol. I, pp. 344-45.
c10.s1.t9.4
³ Bk. II, ch. 35.
Linked texts (1)
- Kauṭilīya Arthaśāstra — Kauṭilya, Sanskrit