Administration and Social Life under Vijayanagar c7.t2.95

c7.t2.95

The above list clearly shows the multiplicity of the taxes levied on articles of trade and on commercial transactions. The gross income from such duties levied on articles coming into and going out of the various important places in the empire was enormous. According to Nuniz the city of Nāgalāpura alone yielded forty-two thousand pardaos of duties for the things which entered into it. He says : "The duties in this land being (are) very great ; since nothing comes through the gates that does not pay duty, even men and women as well as headloads and merchandise."111 If that city alone yielded so much, it is not difficult to imagine that the gross collection from this source should have been considerable. There were a large number of business centres in the empire. An inscription already referred to mentions as many as twenty-six important cities.¹¹² But as said earlier the duties were imposed only on the articles that were sold, and not on all articles carried for sale. But this obviously refers to the sthalādāyam of Rice's classification.