The State in Ancient India: A Study in the Structure and Practical Working of Political Institutions in North India in Ancient Times c14.110

c14.110

The state should encourage immigration and emigration to remedy the scarcity of population or relieve congestion, and should found new villages. Land which the state cleared of forests should be given to cultivators for life. Crown-lands might be cultivated partly by slaves, prisoners, and hired labourers who, as well as their overseers, should be paid according to the work done. Those who did not cultivate the land themselves should employ labourers or forfeit the property. If the peasants promptly paid government dues, they should be supplied with grains, cattle or money on favourable terms to relieve their distress. Uncultivated land was to be used for pasture. Groups of ten, two hundred, four hundred and eight hundred villages should be guarded by fortresses of varying strength.³ Kauṭalya wants a meteorological department to study the weather in the interests of agriculture.