The Political Institutions and Theories of the Hindus: A Study in Comparative Politics c11.t30.11

c11.t30.11

And as for the salaries paid by the government they were liberal enough to satisfy the officers' appetite. They were indeed, humanly speaking, calculated to prevent the desire for "squeeze".¹ The common soldier of the Maurya Empire received 500 *paņas* ($ 125) per year. The highest salary in the third and fourth centuries B. C. e. g. that for the generalissimo was 48,000 *paņas* ($12,000) a year. The *samâhartâ* (collector-general) was paid at half this rate. The earning of a middle class man e. g. of an accountant in southern India under the Cholas was 16⅔ Rupees per month, i. e. 60 dollars a year.² Payments were either in kind or in money. The Cholas used to pay even handicraftsmen often in land for customary work. Under the Mauryas payment in gold might be commuted for that in kind at fixed rates.³