The State in Ancient India: A Study in the Structure and Practical Working of Political Institutions in North India in Ancient Times c14.116

c14.116

Frauds in this matter should be punished heavily according to the amounts involved. Combinations among capitalists for fraudulent purposes and any other attempts at deception, or adulteration of goods were to be severely dealt with. Rates of interest on loans and mortgages should be fixed at 15 and 12½ per cent.¹ Kauṭalya would so regulate the customs as to secure the effective control of the market. All sales must be transacted in the marketplace. All imports and exports are to be taxed. On flowers, fruits, vegetables, roots, bulbous roots, dried meat and dried fish, 16⅔ per cent. should be charged; on fibrous garments, cotton cloths, silk, mail armour, red arsenic, vermilion, metals, colouring ingredients, sandals, pungents, ferments, dress and so forth, wine, ivory, skins, raw materials for fibrous or cotton garments, carpets or curtains, products from worms, goats, and sheep—10 or 6⅔ per cent.; on some cloths, quadrupeds, bipeds, threads, cotton, scents, medicines, wood, bamboo, fibres, skins, clay-pots, grains, oils, sugar, salt, liquor, cooked rice and so forth, 4 or 5 per cent. The tolls on conch-shells, diamonds, precious stones, pearls, corals, and necklaces should be determined by experts according to the time, cost and finish of the articles. It is emphasised that the sales in the market-place should be made by public proclamation. Smuggling, fraudulent combinations, adulterations were to be severely punished. Besides the principal dues, there are some minor tolls, ferry-charges, road-cesses, from which a number of articles are, according to their destination and purpose, exempted.² The state is to provide, manage and regulate the Rāja-mārga or the king's highway, Rāṣṭra-patha or the state road, and paths for animals, paths for asses and camels, cart-tracks, foot-paths, pasture-paths, shop-paths, defile-paths cremation-paths, etc.