Studies in Ancient Hindu Polity (Based on the Arthashastra of Kautilya), Vol. I c11: Chapter VII. The Census
Studies in Ancient Hindu Polity (Based on the Arthaśāstra of Kauṭilya), Vol. I c11
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Chapter VII. The Census
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It is interesting to know that there was some form of census current in India over two thousand years ago. Megasthenes hints at this in the following extract we make from his account:—
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"The third body of superintendents consists of those who inquire when and how births and deaths occur, with the view not only of levying a tax but also in order that births and deaths among both high and low may not escape the cognizance of Government."¹
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¹ Megasthenes, Bk. III, Fragment xxxii.
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The testimony of Megasthenes is amply confirmed by the details of census and similar operations preserved in the Arthaśāstra. The necessity to Government of an intimate knowledge of the places and people under it goes without saying, and it is no wonder that in the effective administrative organization of Chandra Gupta there was found a place for census operations, the scope and aims of which were, however, necessarily different from those of similar operations in modern times.
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The distinguishing feature of Chandra Gupta’s census appears to be that it was not periodical, but a permanent institution—a department of the State run by permanent officials. The department was a large one, manned by several officers. The head of the department was called समाहर्ता, i.e. collector-general, who combined in himself, besides those connected with the census, various other functions, such as collection of revenue, checking accounts, land survey, and the like. The area under his administration was in the first instance divided into four districts, and each district into a number of villages. Each district was placed under an officer (स्थानिक), and under him was appointed a number of subordinate village officers (गोप), whose work was supervised by their superiors, the district officers. The village officer was put in charge of five or ten villages, according to the directions of the collector-general.¹ Besides these, inspectors (प्रदेशा) were appointed for checking both the work and methods of the village and district officers. But this inspection was not enough. Over and above the inspectors, a special batch of officers was appointed by the collector-general to work as spies and "overseers" under various disguises on their own independent lines and supply information on their own account. The sphere of work of the spies was not identical with that of the village officers, for it included certain points of inquiry to which the village officers had to attend, and at the same time a few independent heads of inquiry, as will be explained below.
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¹ समाहर्ता चतुर्धा जनपदं विभज्य ज्येष्ठ-मध्यम-कनिष्ठ-विभाजेन ग्रामार्ध परिहारकमायुधीयं धान्यपशुहिरण्यकुप्यविष्टिकर-प्रतिकरमिसेतावदिति निबन्धयेत् । तत्रदिष्टः पञ्चग्रामीं दशग्रामीं वा गोप्यधिकुर्यात् । एवं च जनपदचतुर्भागं स्थानिकः चिन्तयेत् । गोपस्थानिक-ज्ञानेषु प्रदेशाः कार्यकरणं वक्ष्यप्रपञ्चं च कुर्युः ।—Bk. II, समाहर्तृप्रचारः, pp. 141, 142.
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The functions of the village officers (excluding those in connection with the land survey) were these²:—To number the inhabitants of all the four castes in each village; to count the cultivators, cowherds, merchants, artisans, slaves, the young and old men and women of each house, and ascertain their character (चरित्र), occupation (कर्म), income (आजीव) and expenditure (व्यय)¹; to number the biped and quadruped animals in each house, the taxpaying and non-taxpaying houses, and determine the amounts of gold, free labour, tolls and fines collected from each house.
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² तेषु चैताभ्यातुर्वंशेतावजाः कर्षक-गोरक्षक-वैदेहककारककर्म-
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¹ कुलानां च स्त्रीपुरुषाणां बालवृद्धककर्मचरित्राजीवव्यय परि-माणं विद्यात् ।—*Ibid.*
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The functions of the spies, besides their duties in connexion with land survey and revenue collection, were²:—To number the total of inhabitants in each village, to number the houses and families in it, to ascertain the caste and profession of each family;
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² समाहर्तृप्रदिष्टाश्च गूढपुरुषा येषु ग्रामेषु प्रविष्टास्तेषां ग्रामाणां क्षेत्रसङ्ख्यां विदुः । मानसङ्ख्याताभ्यां क्षेत्रादि, भोजपरिहाराभ्यां म्र्त्यादि वर्ष-कर्मभ्यां कुलादि च । तेषां जङ्घापं आयव्ययौ च विदुः ।—*Ibid.*
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करदाश्चैतावच्च द्विपदचतुष्पदमिदं चैव हिरण्य-विष्टि-शुल्क-
दण्डसमुद्दिष्टनीति ।
म्र्त्यानां च करदाकरदसंख्याने ।
—Bk. II, समाहर्तृप्रचारः, p. 142.
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to determine which house was tax-free; to determine the occupiers of houses; to ascertain the income and expenditure of each family; to count the number of domesticated animals (जङ्गम) of each house. It will be seen that these points of inquiry are in common with those of the village officers; over and above these, there were a few independent heads of inquiry,¹ viz. to find out the causes of emigration and immigration, to ascertain the number of men arriving and departing, and to watch the movements of men and women of suspicious character. It should be remarked that they had to perform the above duties under the guise of householders (गृहपतिकव्यञ्जनाः). Disguised as ascetics (तापसवञ्जनाः), they watched the movement of cultivators, cowherds, merchants, and superintendents of Government departments.² Sometimes, also, under the guise of thieves (चोरव्यञ्जन), the spies, with their followers, frequented places of pilgrimage, bathing-places, deserted tracts, mountains, ancient ruins, etc.,¹ to detect thieves, enemies and wicked persons.
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¹ प्रस्थितप्रस्थितानां च प्रवासावासकारणमन्वेषणां च जीपपथानां चारप्रचारं च विदुः।—*Ibid.*
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² एवं समाहर्तृप्रदिष्टास्तापसवञ्जनाः कर्षकमोरचकदेवेष्टकानां-अवासां च शौचाशौचं विदुः।—*समहहप्रचारः*, p. 148.
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¹ पुराद-चोरवधनावासेवासिनश्चैत्य-चतुष्पथ-पुण्यापदोद-पान-नदी-निपानतीर्थायतनायमारण्य-शैलवनगहनेषु सेनामिष-प्रवीरपुरुषाणां च प्रवेशनागमनप्रयोजनान्युपलभेरम्.—*Ibid.*
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The census of cities and the metropolis was the work of departments under officers called नागरक.² Every city had its नागरक, and was, like the province, divided into four quarters, each administered by an officer known as स्थानिक. Under him worked the minor officers called Gopas (गोप), who had to keep the account of ten, twenty, or forty households as the case might be. They had not only to ascertain the caste, *gotra*, name and occupation of both men and women of those households, but also to ascertain their income and expenditure. To minimize the difficulty of keeping account of travellers and other non-residents,³ managers of charitable institutions were required to send information to the census offices in case any such person arrived to reside therein.¹ Masters of households were also similarly required to send reports of the arrival and departure of strangers. If they failed to make such reports they were fined. Merchants, artisans, physicians, etc., had also, under the city rules, to make reports to the officer in charge of the capital regarding people violating the laws of commerce, sanitation, etc., for better management of the city affairs; but as these fall outside the scope of the census, we need not take note of them.
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² समाहर्तृवन्नागरको नगरं चिन्तयेत् । दशकुलीं गोपो, विंशतिकुलीं चत्वारिंशत् कुलीं वा । स तेषां स्त्रीपुरुषाणां जाति-गोत्रनामकर्माभिः अङ्क-पमायव्ययौ च विद्यात् । एवं दुर्गचतुर्भागं स्थानिकश्चिन्तयेत् ।—Bk. II, नागरकप्रविधिः, pp. 148, 144.
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³ धर्मावसथिनः पाषण्ड-पषिकानावेसयेयुः ।—*Ibid.*, p. 144.
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¹ प्रक्षितागतौ च निवेदयेत् । अन्यथा राजदोषं भजेत् । चेम-राचिषु विपर्यं दद्यात् ।—Ibid.
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It has been already pointed out that the work of land survey was entrusted to those very officers who conducted the census operations. The duties of the officers in regard to land survey were mainly those of setting and fixing the boundaries of villages, classification and numbering of plots of land as cultivated and uncultivated, plain and upland, wet and dry, and so forth. An account was also kept of gardens and forests, temples and places of pilgrimage, feeding-houses, irrigation works, roads and crematories, storages for travellers, and pastures.¹ The supplementary body of officers or “overseers” had also to examine the accounts of this department regarding the fields, houses and families of such villages.
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¹ सीमावरोधेन ग्रामग्रं कूटस्थ-खलकेदारारामपण्य-वाट-वन-वास्तु-चैत्यदेवगृह-सेतुबन्धश्मशानसत्र-प्रपापुण्यस्थानविवीतपथ-सञ्ज्ञानेन क्षेत्रापं; तेन सीमां क्षेत्राणां च मर्यादाश्च-पथ-प्रमाणं सम्प्रदान विक्रयानुग्रहपरिहारनिबन्धान् कारयेत् । —समाहर्तृप्रचारः, p. 142.
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In conclusion, a few words should be said in regard to the scope and aims of the census operations in ancient India. The necessity of them appears to have rested on political as well as economic grounds. Politically, they were of great advantage to a Government like Chandra Gupta’s, surrounded as he was by quite a number of independent hostile kingdoms. The census system kept him and his officers fully informed of those facts that were necessary for the security of the empire. We find it laid down as one of the duties of the census officials that they should watch the movements of suspicious people, of foreign spies, the emigration and immigration of men and women of doubtful characters, and ascertain the causes thereof. These are facts of which an accurate knowledge is indispensable for the security of the State.
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The census helped them politically in another way. We see in a passage, already quoted in another connexion,¹ that villages were classified not only as of first, middle, and lowest rank, but also as those that were free from taxation (परिहारक), those that supplied soldiers (आयुधीय), those that paid taxes in grains, cattle, gold, forest produce (कुप्य), etc., and those that supplied free labour (विष्ट); so that the census was of help to Government by supplying information as to which villages formed the most convenient recruiting grounds for the imperial army.
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¹ समाहर्ता ज्येष्ठ-मध्यम-कनिष्ठ-विभाजेन ग्रामार्थ परिहारक-आयुधीय धान्यपशुहिरण्यकुप्यविष्टिकरप्रतिकरमिदमेतावदिति निबन्धयेत् ।—(समाहर्तृप्रचारः) ।
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Economically, the importance of the classification of villages and of the information as to the occupations of the people, their income and expenditure, etc., goes without saying, forming as it did a valuable aid to taxation and a most reliable index to the material condition of the people.¹
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¹ The *Encyclopædia Britannica*, vol. v, p. 662 (New Edition), gives the following account of census operations of a few other countries in ancient times:—
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"The fighting strength of the Children of Israel at the Exodus was ascertained by a count of all males of twenty years old and upwards, made by enumerators appointed for each clan. The Levites, who were exempted from military duties, were separately enumerated from the age of thirty upwards, and a similar process was ordained subsequently by Solomon, in order to distribute among them the functions assigned to the priestly body in connection with the Temple. The census unwillingly carried out by Joab at the behest of David related exclusively to the fighting men of the community, and the dire consequences ascribed to it were quoted in reprobation of such inquiries as late as the middle of the eighteenth century. It appears, too, that a register of the population of each clan was kept during the Babylonian Captivity, and its totals were published on their return to Jerusalem. In the Persian Empire there was apparently some method in force by which the resources of each province were ascertained for the purpose of fixing the tribute. In China, moreover, an enumeration of somewhat the same nature was an ancient institution in connection with the provincial revenues and military liabilities. In Egypt, Amasis had the occupation of each individual annually registered, nominally to aid the official supervision of morals by discouraging disreputable means of subsistence; and this ordinance, according to Herodotus, was introduced by Solon into the Athenian scheme of administration, where it developed later into an electoral record.
"It was in Rome, however, that the system from which the name of the inquiry is derived was first established upon a regular footing. The original census was ascribed to Servius Tullius, and in the constitution which goes by his name it was decreed that every fifth year the population should be enumerated along with the property of each family—land, live-
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stock, slaves and freedmen. The main object was to ensure accurate division of the people into the six main classes and their respective centuries, which was based upon considerations of combined numbers and wealth. With the increase of the city the operation grew in importance, and was followed by an official *lustrum*, or purification sacrifice, offered on behalf of the people by the censors or functionaries in charge of the classification. Hence the name of *lustrum* came to denote the intercensal term, or a period of five years. The word *census*, too, came to mean the property qualification of the class, as well as the process of registering the resources of the individual. Later it was used in the sense of the imposition itself, in which it has survived in the contracted form of *cess*."
Linked texts (2)
- Kauṭilīya Arthaśāstra — Kauṭilya, Sanskrit
- Ἰνδική — Λούκιος Φλάουιος Ἀρριανός, Ancient Greek