History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c62.335.1

v4.c62.335.1

As regards the emoluments of the officers in charge of a village, ten villages &c. Manu (VII. 118-119) has some interesting rules: 'The headman of a village should obtain (as his emoluments) those articles which the villagers have to furnish every day to the king viz. food, drink, fuel and the like. The officer over ten villages should enjoy one *kula*¹⁸⁸, that over twenty villages should enjoy five *kulas*, the superintendent of a hundred villages should receive the revenue of one village and the high officer over a thousand villages should enjoy (the revenue of) a town. All this, as Medhātithi says, is only approximate and recommendatory and was not literally followed, but only means that a salary commensurate with the position and responsibilities of each officer should be received by him. Vide Śānti 87. 6-8 for rules similar to Manu's (where the officer over a thousand villages gets as his salary the revenues of a śākhānagara). Kauṭilya (in V. 3) sets out the salaries of many officers and servants as follows: the salary paid to the chief mantrin, purohita and a few others has been already stated above (p. 120); the dauvārika, the superintendent of the harem (antarvaṁśika), the praśāstṛ, the samāhartṛ and the sannidhātṛ were to receive 24000 paṇas;