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A History of Agriculture in India v1.c29.s7: Farmer's Land Revenue

A History of Agriculture in India v1.c29.s7

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Farmer's Land Revenue

v1.c29.s7.1

The wasteland probably belonged to the Crown, but in the Arthashastra, Bk. II, ch. I, we find the injunction that the king shall not take away unprepared lands from those who are preparing them for cultivation. Proprietary right thus obviously lay with those who cultivated the land. The owner was, however, responsible to the king, if he failed to sow his land or if the crops were damaged due to his own neglect or that of his servants. This meant only an economic benefit both from the standpoint of the owner of the land and of the State; and it would certainly be a mistake to try to assert anything more than that the king had no proprietary right on land with this qualification that no land was allowed to lie fallow permanently, and that he was entitled only to a defined portion of the gross produce as tax. Manu allows 1/12, 1/8 or 1/6 part.² It was usually one-sixth; but made variable up to one-twelfth to ensure against over-taxation. In the time of Chandra Gupta Maurya, the rate was one-fourth with an additional water rate of one-fourth.

v1.c29.s7.2

² VII, 130. Medhatithi, Kullukabhatta, Gobindaraga, Nandanacharya and Raghabananda—Commentators of Manu, are all unanimous that a sixth part of the harvest is the king's share. See also Gautama X, 24-27; Vasistha, XIX, 26-27; Baudhayana, 1, 18, I, 13, 15; Vishnu, II, 22-25, 29, 30; and Apastamba, II, 26, 9.

Cites (7)