Administration and Social Life under Vijayanagar c7.14

c7.14

(b) Tax on dry crops: Similarly a tax on the dry crops and edible vegetables (*maḷabraya*) was also levied.⁶ᵃ Here too a distinction was made between the dry crops raised on dry lands and dry crops raised on wet lands (*nañjai*).⁷ Further a difference was made between the various crops raised on the dry land. Of the *puṇpayir* (dry crops), *pāl*, *śāvi* and *aḷivu* were not counted as in the case of the wet crops. Areca palm (*kamuku*), cocoanuts, jack trees,⁸ *karṇṇu*, *vaippu* (margosa), *koḷundu*, *vāḷai* (plantain trees), karumbu (sugar-cane), mañjal (turmeric), iñji (ginger), śeṅ-kaḷunīr (flower) and other vānpayir (minor cultivation) were also taxed.⁹ According to a record of Ś 1311 from Tiruvenṇainallūr, a tax called tōṭṭapuravu (tax from garden lands) also seems to have been collected from the people.10 The above lists clearly show how, for purposes of assessment, the government carefully noted the nature of the crops raised and the nature of the land on which a particular crop was raised.