Administration and Social Life under Vijayanagar c7.t2.158

c7.t2.158

6. Military contribution : For the maintenance of the army and the forts in the empire certain taxes were imposed on the people. Such were the *daḷavili* (military contribution),¹⁷³ and *daṇṇāyakasvāmya*, the *daṇṇāyakarmagamai* (contributions to the military commander),¹⁷⁴ *paḍaikkāṇikkai* (contribution made for the maintenance of the army)¹⁷⁵ and the *sanāya* (*senāya* ?) perhaps also a tax paid for the maintenance of the army.¹⁷⁶ For the maintenance of the forts in the locality a *kōṭṭai magamai* (contribution to the fort) was collected.¹⁷⁷ An inscription at Nellorepet mentions the *bīraṅgi* tax (the tax for cannon).¹⁷⁸ There was another tax called the *kōṭṭaipaṇam* or *kōṭṭaippadivu* which was collected in those days in the Tinnevelly district and the modern Travancore State. The kings are said to have forcibly demanded one hundred and twenty-five *paṇams* per *kōṭṭai*. Evidently this was also a military contribution collected for maintaining the fortifications and defence walls.¹⁷⁹