War in Ancient India c8.52

c8.52

*War loans*: Funds for military purposes were raised in exceptional circumstances. The *Mahābhārata*³¹ says that in the face of sudden attacks and in the absence of the necessary wealth in the treasury, a king can appropriate part of the private property of his wealthy citizens by levying more taxes. From the same source we learn that the people who could really afford it voluntarily contributed towards the expenses of a war, for it was realised that in the safety of the king or kingdom lay, the safety of the subjects. Sometimes recourse was had to loans by the State and these were returned after the danger was over. The appeal to funds³² was made in the least offensive but most con-