[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Polity, law and society](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity) › [The State in Ancient India: A Study in the Structure and Practical Working of Political Institutions in North India in Ancient Times](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.prasad-1928) › c19.129 # The State in Ancient India: A Study in the Structure and Practical Working of Political Institutions in North India in Ancient Times c19.129 The State in Ancient India: A Study in the Structure and Practical Working of Political Institutions in North India in Ancient Times c19.129 - **Language:** English ### [c19.129](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.prasad-1928.c19.129) No. 15, the Suṅgal Copper Plate Inscription of Vidagdha, shows the fiscal system of Chambā and the neighbouring states to be the same as that of Kashmir. Here, as in the rest of India, justice was a source of revenue. The daśāparādhāḥ—ten offences, that is to say, the fines from ten offences, are enumerated among the privileges granted to favourites, with well-defined pieces of land. From the inscriptions of Chambā as from the others in the rest of India, it appears that the land was carefully measured and boundaries of fields and villages recorded with the most meticulous precision. The Sungal Copper Plate Inscription speaks of the “regular share and use, tax in kind and cash, and every other tribute due to the king,” showing that the royal dues were many. It appears that on extraordinary occasions the king’s officers demanded or perhaps forcibly appropriated many other perquisites. “Of our district officers and their subordinates and others,” so runs a passage in the royal Sungal grant, “no one will be allowed to alight at his (grantee’s) house, to cut or crush his corn, sugar-cane or pasture (?), whether green or ripe, nor to take rocika or ciṭolâ or to take cow’s milk, nor to carry off stools, benches or couches, nor to seize his wood, fuel, grass, chaff, and so on. Not even the slightest oppression or vexation should be inflicted on him, nor on his ploughmen, cowherds, maids, servants and all other people that are dependent on him.” It may be mentioned in passing that here as elsewhere grants were made sometimes to groups.¹ - [Previous: c19.128](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.prasad-1928.c19.128) - [Next: c19.130](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.prasad-1928.c19.130) - [Up: c19](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.prasad-1928.c19) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.prasad-1928.c19.129](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.prasad-1928.c19.129) · Pramāṇa