The State in Ancient India: A Study in the Structure and Practical Working of Political Institutions in North India in Ancient Times c17.129

c17.129

The remuneration of officers seems to have taken the form of grants of land, made according to the importance of the various positions. Yuan Chwang states that the king set apart 1/4th of the crown lands for the endowment of great public servants and another 1/4 for the expenses of government and state-worship. The two heads partly overlap and it appears that official remuneration consumed more than one-fourth of the revenue. "The governors, magistrates and officials have each a portion of land consigned to them for their personal support.” Yuan Chwang goes on to state that forced labour was “sparingly used.” The assertion may be accepted as true for Harṣa’s reign.¹ Bāṇa has recorded that on Harṣa’s rush from the north-west to the capital at the news of his father’s illness, footmen were sent ahead to secure a relay of villagers to show the way.² We are not told that the villagers were paid anything. Perhaps, it was on such occasions that the little forced labour, implied in Yuan’s statement, was exacted.