07 Kośa

CHAPTER VII

KOSA (TREASURY OR FINANCE)

Kaut (II. 1) states that a king whose treasury is depleted preys upon the citizens and the rural population and (II. 8) very 231 rightly remarks that all undertakings depend upon kośa (financial position of the king), therefore the king must pay the first attention to kośa. Gautama (as cited by 8. V. p. 46 ) holds that kośa is the basis or support of the other six elements of the State. The Sāntiparva 119. 16 calls upon the king to guard his finances with great effort, since kings depend upon kośa, which tends to the prosperity ( of the kingdom). Kām. XIII. 33 states that it is on the lips of all that the king is dependent on koga. Sānti 133 contains a eulogy of kośa. The Viṣṇudharmottara II. 61, 17 says that kośa is the root of the tree of State. The two great pillars of the Indian States in ancient India were the revenue and the army. Manu VII. 65 says that kośa and the government of the realm depend on the king i. e. they should be the personal concern of the king. Yāj. (I. 327-328) recommends that the king should personally look into the income and expenditure every day and keep in his treasury buildings whatever is brought by those who are appointed to bring gold and wealth. Kām. V.77 and Sukra I. 276-278 say the same. The Rājataran gini (VII. 507-508) tells us that king Kalasa of Kashmir (1063–1089 A. D.) kept accounts like a merchant, closely watched income and expenditure and had a clerk by his side with chalk and bhūrja ( birch leaf) to write upon. The principal means of filling the treasury is taxation. It is therefore neces sary to consider first the principles of taxation as evolved by our writers. The first principle was that the king could not levy, according to the smrtis, taxes at his pleasure or sweet will, that the rates of taxes which the king was entitled to lovy were fixed by the smrtis and varied only according to the

  1. traer: margar avitur: 4 aparelli Fieratater i whasa II. 2 ; कोश सततं रक्ष्यो यरनमारथाय राजभिः । कोशमला हि राजानः कोशोपदिकरो भवेत् ॥ An 119. 16; 197 St Pet R ura: Ano : 1 XIII. 33. This tast occurs in gue. P. 36; $TTEET PAUL STATE prane RITHI I PHITHE IM. R. P. 46.

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commodity and also according as the times were normal or there was danger of invasion or some other calamity impending. For example, Gaut. X. 24, Manu VII. 130, Viṣṇu Dh. S. III. 22-23 declare that the king may ordinarily take a sixth part of the grain-crops or produce of the soil, but Kaut. (V. 2), Manu (X. 118 ), Santi 87, Sukra IV. 2. 9-10 permit the king to take even one-third or one-fourth part of the crops in times of dis tress (āpad). It has however to be noted that Kautilya requires the king to beg (yāceta ) of the people for this heavy taxation, he employs the word pranaya ( request) for such demands, such taxation was not to be levied from inferior lands, and he expressly says that such a demand for excessive taxation is to be made only once and not twice in the same distress. 282 Santi ( 87. 26-33 ) contains a specimen of a long address to be given to the people when a king demands higher taxation in danger (such as ‘if the enemy invades you, you will lose all including even your wives, the enemy will not restore to you what he robs you of’ &c.). The word ‘pranaya’ occurs in this sense in the Junagadh Inscription of Rudradāman (E. I. vol. VIII. p. 36 ll. 15-16). Another principle laid down in somewhat poetical and picturesque language is that taxation should be felt by those taxed as light and not heavy or excessive. The Udyogaparva 233 ( 34. 17-18 ) states ’ just as a bee draws honey but at the same time leaves the flowers uninjured, so the king should take wealth from men without harming them. One (a bee ) may search each flower (for honey) but should not cut the very root just like a garland-maker, but not like a coal maker’. Manu (VII. 129 and 140 ) laconically puts the matter thus just as the leech, the calf and the bee take their sustenance little by little, so must the king draw from his kingdom annual taxes little by little. Let the king not cut up his own root (by levying no taxes ) nor the root of others by 234 excessive greed’. Śānti (88

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  1. prilar: peyman : FTRITT i operare AETHETORTOR TI देवमातुर्क मभूतधान्यं धान्यस्यांशं तृतीयं चतुर्थ वा पाचेत।… इति कर्षकेषु प्रणयः। … इति *Terity pora: 1 … 6 : 4159 1 BUTT V.2.

  2. पथा मधुसमादत्ते रक्षन पुष्पाणि षट्पदः। तदर्थान्मण्येभ्य आवद्यादपिस्सिया पुष्पं पुष्पं विचिन्वीत मूलच्छदं न कारयेत् । मालाकार इवारामे न यथाङ्गारकारकः ॥ उद्योग 34, 17-18. OTT I. 62 is the same as the last of the two. Compare - पद 49 ‘यथापि भमरो पुष्फ वण्णगन्धं अहेठयं । पलेति रसमादाय एवं गामे मुनी बरे,

  3. यथा राजा च कर्ता च स्याता कर्मणि भागिनो। संवेक्ष्य तु तथा राज्ञा प्रणेपाः सततं करा: मोविन्यादात्मनो मूलं परेषां चापि तृष्णया । ईशाहाराणि संकाय राजा #i t # 87. 17-18; # VII. 139 bas the half titurum &c.

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4-6 ) states that the king should draw (taxes ) from the realm lightly in the way the bee draws honey from the trees, he should do so in the way of the calf and should not bruise the udders (as the calf does not ). Those verses also refer to the action of the leech, of the tigress carrying her cuba between her jaws and the rat gnawing at the feet of sleeping men. These ideas pervaded society so much that the same figure of the bee is instanced as regards the Buddhist bhikkhu’s importu nity for alms in the Dhammapada (verse 49). The king should act like a gardener who prepares garlands without harming the trees and their leaves and should not act like one who prepares coals from trees (Santi 71,20) 235. Manu VII. 139 requires that the king should not through greed tax the subjects heavily, as he would thereby cut off the roots (i. e. prosperity and content ment) of the people, nor should he cut off his own roots (i. e. reduce himself to bankruptcy) by levying no taxes. A third principle of taxation was that when increasing taxes the rise should be gradual and a little at a time ( Santi 88. 7-8). Taxes were to be recovered at a proper time and proper place (Santi 88. 12 and Kam. V. 83-84)226. When taxing traders the king should make allowance for the price they had to pay, for the chances of selling the commodity (in his kingdom ), the dis tance over which the merchandise was brought, what they must have spent for their food and condiments and the cost of guard

  1. APARICai *** AFTA: 1 ṣirin 71.20; vide ganfaat IV, 2. 113 for the same figure.

  2. hrain ā FT Brigita gunt: dreva 751 # FIATT V. 83-84, One may note the Moscow decree that all male and female peasants between 18 and 45 years were to work six days yearly without pay on roadwork. With the above principles of taxation one may compare Adam Smitb’s famous canons: (1) the subjects of every state ought to contribute towards the support of the Government as nearly as possible in proportion to their respective abilities i. e, in proportion to the revenue which they respectively enjoy under the protection of the State. (2) The tax which each individual is bound to pay ought to be certain and not arbitrary. The time of payment, the manner of payment, the quantity to be paid ought to be clear and plain to the contributor and to every other person. (3) Every tax ought to be levied at the time or in the manner in which it is nost likely to be convenient for the contributor to pay it, (4) Every tax ought to be so contrived as both to take out and keep out of the pockets of the people as little as possible over and above what it brings into the public treasury (vide. Wealth of nations’ ed. by Rogers, 1869, vol: II. pp. 414-416.)

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ing the merchandise (Manu VII. 127=Santi 8713-14)237 In the case of artisans, before taxing them, the king has to pay regard to the labour and skill involved and to the necessaries of life required by them (Santi 87, 15). Every one, however poor, must contribute something to the finances of the realm. Manu (VII. 137-138) says that even a very poor man who maintains himself by following some occupation should be asked to contribute every year something in the nature of kara ( a tax), while workers (like cooks ), artisans (like blacksmiths ), śūdras who subsist by manual labour (like porters ) should be asked to contribute one day’s work to the king in a month. Vide Gaut. X. 31-34, Viṣṇu Dh. Ś. III. 32 for the same. But Sukra IV.2. 121 says that workers and artisans should do one day’s work for the king gratis in a fortnight. Gaut. X. 34 adds that the king must supply them with food on the day they work gratis. The importance of a gold and silver reserve was well understood. Kām. (IV. 62-64) says 238 that the king’s kosa should have many sources for filling it, but few outlets of expenditure, it should be full of all desired kinds of wealth, guarded by trusty officers, rich in pearls, gold and jewels, it should have been acquired according to sāstric rules, be capable of bearing great strain of expenditure and that kośn is to be preserved only for the purpose of securing the two goals viz. dlarm and artha, for affording maintenance to the servants engaged by the king and as a safeguard against calamities. Sukra IV. 2-3 remarks that kośa is accumulated for the upkeep of the army and for the benefit of the people and for performing sacrifices. Gaut. X. 28-29, Manu VII. 128, VIII. 306-308, Nār. (prakirnaka 48 ) and others say, als has beon already stated, that taxation is meant for the protection of the subjects and that it is the king’s wages ( petan) for the protection he affords. Manu IX. 305 compares the king taking taxes to the sun that produces vapour from the seas (in order to return it in the form of rain, as the Raghu vamsa I. 18 very happily puts it). Kām. (V. 78-79) enumerates eight principal sources (called aṣtenarija) of filling the treasury

  1. P **** ** FTITUI T

forut #m7 TIT* TT 87,13, Manu VII. 127 reads pen 17, PT forest RU THUE i fer fra Prieda: ATT TOGETTE 87, 15.

  1. graisseforum: OTT: gro : pitam TOT ru write पिडिता ॥ मुक्ताकमकररमाया पितपैवामहोषितः । ध जितो ग्यपसह कोषः कोषासमता । धर्महतोताथाय भरपाना भरणाय आपद बसंरक्ष्पः कोका कोषषता सदा ॥ काम. IV. 62-64 quoted in rurfrirati p. 34.

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through the action of the heads of the departments viz. agricul ture, trade-routes (both on land and water ), the capital, water embankments, catching of elephants, working mines and collect ing gold &c., levying wealth (from the rich ), founding towns and villages in uninhabited spots. The Mānasollasa (II. 4 verses 539-540 p. 77) advises the king to spend ordinarily three-fourths of the yearly revenues and save one-fourth. Sukra (I. 315-317 ) prescribes that the king should save 1/6 of his total annual income and should spend 1/2 of the whole on the army and one-twelfth each on charity (to the learned, the poor and helpless &c.), ministers, inferior officials, and his private purse or expenses. Sukra IV. 2. 26 requires the king to have as much stock of grain as would be required for three years’ consumption in his country. In IV. 2. 13 he sets before the king the impossi ble ideal that his treasury should be so full that he can support his army for 20 years if no taxes from agriculture or tolls were raised or no fines were recovered. The Mānasollāsa (II. 4. 394, 397 p. 64 ) says that the king’s treasury should be always full of gold, silver, jewels, ornaments and costly clothes, that pure gold in the form of niṣkas (coins ) or bars or ornaments should be held in the treasury. Kaut. (IV. 3) as stated above permitted the king in famines to make the rich disgorge their wealth, In V.2 he remarks that if after making special requests for additional taxation, when the treasury is empty and some danger is impending, to the cultivators, merchants, wine-sellers, prostitutes and those who rear pigs, poultry, cattle &c., the king may request the rich to give as much of their gold as they can and the king may honour them by bestowing on them a post at his court, or the dignity of an umbrella, a turban or some decoration in return for their wealth239. He permits the king in calamities to take away the wealth of the corporations (sanghas) of heretics and of temples also, to set up all of a sudden on one night a god or a platform ( caitya) for a holy tree or a sacred place for a man of miraculous powers and provide for fairs and merry gatherings there and secure the necessary money. He

  1. Frant a FERRATGIran I Terari FTUSIT T quate: futa. Urdunn art ferdiyeva i sestra V. 2.

  2. Compare note 164 above about the Mauryas who wanting money set up images, according to Patañjali. The Rājatarangiṇi (V. 166-177) describes the exactions of king Śhaṅkara-varman of Kashmir (883-902) A. D. He plunder. ed 64 temples under the pretext of supervision. He imposed taxes on grhaksiya (1. e. on upanayana, marriages &c.). In tbe 11th century king Harna of Kashmir plundered most of the temples (Rājatarangini VII, 1090).

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recommends many other tricks and dodges for securing money, which ere passed over. Perhaps the only redeeming feature of these devices is that Kautilya is careful to point out that they were to be employed only against the seditious and the irreligi ous and not against others (V.2 ’evum dūśyesvadhārmikeșu varteta netareṣu’). Vide Nitivākyāmsta (kosa-saniuddesa) p. 205 for similar provisions to replenish a depleted treasury. The Paraśurāmapratāpa (Rājavallabhakānda, folio 27b) quotes a verse which recommends resort to alchemy for replenishing the treasuryesla. Sukra IV.2. 11 advises the king when in financial difficulties to promise interest to the rich and take their wealth and to return it with interest when the difficulties are got over$41. Sānti ( 88. 29-30) asks4% the king to honour the wealthy men in his kingdom, since they constitute an important element of the realm and are the most eminent among all beings and to request them ‘confer along with me favours on the people’.

Several reasons are assigned for people’s payment of taxes to the king. Gaut. X. 28 says that they should do so because he protects them. In some places the idea put forward is that taxes are the wages (vetana ) of the king and that the subjects made a contract with the king Manu to that effect. Vide santi 67 and 70.10, Baud. Dh. S. I. 10. 1, Nār. 18. 48, Kaut. I. 13 (quoted on p. 21 above). Kāt. 243 (verses 16-17) states that as the king is the owner of the earth but not of other kinds of wealth, he is entitled to get the sixth part of the produce of land and that since human beings reside on land they are declared to be owners (in ordinary parlance, but they have only a qualified ownership). Several kinds of taxes are mentioned in the dharmaśāstras, arthaśāstras and the inscriptions. The oldest

240 a. uiara ainsa rafata utangiareto Fryderauf # FTY

#. (7 folio 27b). 241. धमिकेम्पो भर्ति दस्था स्थापत्तो वद्धनं हरेत् । राजा स्वात्पत्समुत्तीर्णस्तत्वं qurch 11 9IV. 2. 11,

  1. vieta geratu aparata: 19 RTU 1571: FE - ति ॥ अहमेतन्महवाज्ये धानिनो नाम भारत । ककुदं सर्वभूतानां धनस्थो मात्र संशयः। START 88. 29-30.

  2. कात्यायन: । भूस्वामी तु स्मृतो राजा नान्यदत्यस्य सर्वदा । तत्फलस्य हि TUTUI HOT*40, oli WT AETIFETIFUN #Firangi . p. 271. Vide H. Db, vol. II. pp. 865-869 on the question of the king’s owner ship of land. rating. explains’ Ina praferar i na T

after. I interpret differently,

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word for a tax paid to the king is’ bali’. Rg. VII. 6. 5844 and X. 173. 6 speak of the common people as ‘ballhrt’ (bringers of bali, tribute or tax for the king). In the Tai. Br. (II. 7. 18. 3 ) it is said the people bring ball to him’. In the Ait. Br. (35.3 ) the raibya is characterized as ‘balikrt’ (payer of taxes tu another), since brahmanas and kṣatriyas were mostly exempt from taxat ion. Vide Prof. Hopkins’ Social condition of the ruling class’ J. A.O. 8. vol. XIII. p. 89 and Fick p. 119 (as to the evidence of the Jātakas on taxation). Manu VII. 80, Matsya 215. 57, Rāmāyana III. 6. 11, Viṣṇu Dh, S. III. 22 employ the word “bali’ in the sense of the 6th part of the produce of land that the king levied as tax. In the Rummindei Pillar Inscription of Asoka (Corpus I. I. vol. I. p. 164 ) it is said that the village of Lummini was made free from the payment of ‘bali’, but had to pay one-eighth share. 148 Here ‘bali’ is contrasted with ‘bhāga’ which is a general term. The word ‘kara’ appears to mean a tax in general. Vide Ap. Dh. S, II. 10. 26. 10, Manu VII. 128, 129, 133, Vas. 19. 23, Viṣṇu Dh. S. III. 26-27. The word ‘bhāga’ (share) is also general and means the king’s dues on land, trees, drugs, cattle, wealth &c. Vide Manu VII. 130-131, VIII. 305, Vispu Dh. S. III. 25. This meaning of

· bhāga ‘is ancient. We saw above (p. 112 ) that bhāgadugha is one of the ratnins of the king. The Amarakosa treats buli, kara, and bhāgn as synonymous.

The word ‘sulka’ generally means the tolls or customs duties levied from vendors and purchasers on merchandise carried into or out of the kingdom (Sukranītisāra IV. 2. 108). The Mahābhāṣya on the vārtika āyasthanebhyasthak’ on Pān. IV. 2. 104.gives saulkika and gaulmika as examples, indicating thereby that sulka or toll was levied as a source of income (āya) at the toll-gate.

The principal and perennial sources of income to the state were three viz. the king’s share of the produce of land, tolls and customs duties, fines levied from wrongdoers or defeated litigants (vide Santi 71.10 and Sukra IV. 2. 13). From this and from Manu X. 119-120 it appears that the principal tax-payers

  1. #farretaget out frontera oferta : i . VII. 6.5; seit a fi retragit THEATE #. X. 173. 6; STRAH F orfa #. m. II. 7. 18. 3.

  2. CATATA TE (Type :) e mowita (MEHE:) ! Corpus I. 1. vol. I. p. 164.

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were agriculturists, traders, manual workers and artisans. In Manu VIII. 307 quoted in the Dandaviveka of Vardhamāna (p. 5) it is said that the king who, without affording protection, levies buli, kara, śruku, pratibhogu (pratibhāga in the printed smrti ) and cança (fines) goes at once to hell and Vardhamāna explains kuru as the dues recovered every month from villagers and city-dwellers ( every month or twice a year in Bhadrapada or Pausa according to Kullūka ), sulka as the twelfth share re cuvered from traders, pratibhuga as the dues in the form of fruits, flowers and vegetables presented every day. A few remarks on these and other taxes inust be made here. Manu VII. 130, Gant. X. 24, Viṣṇu Dh. S. III. 22, Mānasollāsa ( 11. 3. 163 p. 44 ) and several others prescribe that the king is entitled to the 6th, 8th or 12th part ( only sixth in Viṣṇu, also 10th in Gaut.) of the yield of grain from land. Bphaspati and the Viṣṇudharmot tara + ( II. 61. 60-61 ) quoted in the Rājanitiprakāśa (pp. 262 263) make it clear under what circumstances these different shares are to be taken: viz. the king, takes 16 of $ūkudhanya (awned or bearded grain like wheat and barley ), 1/8 from simbidhānya (grain in pods), 10th part from crops grown on land that was fallow for many years, 1/8th from lands sownin the rainy season and one-sixth from land: that have spring crops. The tax was to be paid once every year or once in six months according to the custom of the country. The varying rates prescribed by Kautilya have been indicated in describing the duties of the sitādhyaksa. Sukra (IV. 2. 121-122 ) gives a salutary rule that if a cultivator constructs a tank, a well or an artificial water-course or brings under cultivation land previously fallow, the king should not levy a tax thereon till the person making the expenditure has recovered twice the amount spent by him. Kaut. (II. 1 ) provides that the king may show favour (thugrulu ) to the cultivators by supplying them with seed, cattle and money and that they should return the advances by easy instalments and that the king shall bestow favours and romissions (parihūra) in such a way that they might tend to swell the treasury and not tend to its

  1. Raya furat runt frestur ToTUTEARI TOT ETU मायादेशकालाहरूपतः ॥ शूकशिमयतिरिक्त धाम्पे महगौतमोक्को हादशो दशमो वा भागः। तथा बहस्पतिः । दशाटप वपतेर्भाग दयाकृषीवलम् । खिलावर्षावसन्तान ज्य. APTUURFREU … … #gan FATIFURTI EFT T PPATH

: Flera: miut ; # Fors. pp. 262-263 and trenog p. 63

(for last two versos ). . . ,192

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depletion. 27 It has already been stated that according to the smrtis the ordinary share of the king was one-sixth, but that in case of the danger of invasion or similar calamity he was allow ed to raise it to one-fourth. Megasthenes (Fragment I, p. 42 ) says that no person is permitted to own land and that besides the land tribute people pay into the royal treasury a fourth part of the produce. This shows that the tax on land was very heavy in the times of Candragupta probably owing to his wars to drive away the Greeks and the huge armies that he had to employ. Manu VII. 130, Gaut. X. 25, Viṣṇu Dh. S. III. 24, Mānasollāsa ( II. 3. 163 p. 44 ) hold that the king is entitled to the 50th part of the cattle reared by herdsmen and of the interest earned by those who lend money at interest. This last appears to be analogous to modern income-tax. The Sukranitisāra IV. 2. 128 makes the tax to be ’s on the interest earned by money-lending, 248 Viṣṇu adds cloth to these two. Manu VII. 131-132, Gaut. X. 27, Viṣṇu Dh. S. III. 25, Viṣṇudharmottara II. 61. 61-63 and Mānasollāsa lay down that the king is entitled to a sixth part of trees, meat, honey, clarified butter, perfumes (like sandal-wood ), medicinal plants (like gudūci), rasa ( salt &c.), flowers, roots (like turmeric), fruits, leaves ( like palm leaves), vegetables, grass, hides, articles manufactured from bamboo slips, earthenware, articles prepared from stones. Viṣṇu adds deer hides to these.

· Sulka is of two kinds, what is levied on goods carried by land and what is levied on goods carried by water (Mit. on Yāj. II. 263). Gaut. X. 26 and Viṣṇu Dh. S. III. 29 state that the sulka is 1/20th part on merchandise for sale ( bought and sold in the country itself) which is interpreted by some (like Haradatta and Nandapandita ) as meaning that 5 per cent of the price of articles sold should be taken by the king as tax, while the Rājanitiprakaśa (p. 264 ) explains that the king is entitled only to five per cent of the difference between the cost price and the sale price of merchandise. Manu VIII. 398 also is susceptible of these two interpretations, as the commentaries of Medbātithi and Kullūka show. The Viṣṇu Dh. S. (III. 29-30) prescribes that the king takes one-tenth on merchandise produced in his own country and one-twentieth on goods imported from a foreign

  1. uretirementioneage quNYHEDER * Hartfan quia intiasa II. 1. p. 47.

  2. Aytmay HIV niet ing: 194, IV, 2. 128.

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country. Yāj. II. 261 says that the sulka on goods is twentieth part of the prices of the goods. Kaut. (II. 21 ) in his chapter on the superintendent of tolls ( sulkādhyaksa ) sets out several rules, of which a few interesting ones are given here. Com modities intended for marriage or taken by a bride from her parents to her husband or meant as presents or for the purpose of sacrifices or the accouchement of women or for the worship of gods, or for the ceremonies of caula, upanayana, godūna, or for the observance of a vrata or for the consecration of a person for a sacrifice and for other special ceremonies shall be allowed to go free of tolls. Whatever commodities would cause harm to the realm or are useless should be destroyed; whatever is of great benefit and seeds not easily available should be allowed to be imported without charge 249 He further says (II. 22 ) that sulka is levied on exports and imports of merchandise and that on imports the tax will be one-fifth of the price of the commodities ( as a general rule ) and prescribes varying rates (1/6, 1/10, 1/15, 1/20, 1/25 ) on different kinds of articles. In II. 28 (on the superintendent of shipping ) Kautilya gives further rules some of which have been already noted. He prescribes rules for ferries also, viz. that brāhmanas, ascetics, children, very old people, sick men, messengers, pregnant women are to be provided with free passes by the superintendent enabling them to use the ferries. A man with a load and small animals were to pay one māsa at a ferry, a cow or a horse two māsas and so on. The Mānasollāsa (II. 4. vy. 374-376 p. 62 ) prescribes that the king should well guard all harbours (velā-pura) that are near the sea, that when the boats of sailors residing in his own country return to the harbour the king should charge one-tenth (of the price of goods brought ) as the duty and that when foreign boats are driven to his harbour by an unfavourable wind, the king should confiscate all their merchandise or may give a little to the owners of those boats. In this connection a very interesting inscription may be referred to. The Motupalli pillar Inscription 850 of the Kakatiya king Ganapatideva (of

  1. fieri prægrefurahi L I ETT Nur surga n iet II. 21, verse at end.

  2. gerrara: glearter Targ rran paruftrag without संगतेषु च संभूतानि करितुरगरस्नादीनि पस्तूनि सकलानि बलादपहरन्ति । वयमपि प्राणे ज्योति मरीयो धनमिति समुदयानकतमहासाहसेग्यस्तेम्पा क्लतकालकारते कृपपा कीत्यै watc h TAI agrarof, then a Telugu passage about the duos. Vide E. I. vol. XII, p. 195.

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1244-45 A. D.) issues (E. I. vol. XII p. 195) a charter of security ( abhaya-śāsana) to the sailors who ply between towns in dif ferent countries, islands and continents : ‘when ships that made voyages from one country to another were driven or were shattered or touched at a place that was not meant as a place of call, owing to unfavourable winds, former kings forcibly took away all commodities therein such as gold, elephants, horses &c.; but we, considering that wealth is dearer than life itself, have with kindness decided to give everything except the fixed Sulka to those sailors who undertake the great venture of cross ing the sea, so that thereby we shall secure fame and righteous ness; the sulka fixed is as follows’. About sulka to be levied on goods brought by the sea the Baud. Dh. S. (1. 10.15-16) prescribes that it is 10 per cent of the cargo except one best article (which is totally exempted). In the Kharepatan grant of the Silāra king Rattarāja dated sake 930 it is provided that one golden gadiyūna was levied as duty on each vessel that came froni another country (dvipāntarāyāta-vahitrāt) and one golden dharana had to be paid on each vessel coming from the district of Kandalamūliya excepting Cemulya (modern Cheul) and Candrapura. Vide E. I. vol. III. p. 292 at p. 301. Sukra (IV. 2. 109-111) lays down some very reasonable rules viz. on the same commodity sulka is to be taken in the same country by the king only once and never more than once; the king may take either 1/16, 1/20 or 1/32 from the vendee or vendor; no śulka is to be taken from the vendor when he has to sell his goods at the same price at which he bought them or for less than the cost price; the king should always take from the buyer the proper gulka after seeing what profit he is going to make. Nār, (sambhūya-samutthāna verses 14-15 ) lays down that whatever is to be used by śrotriyas ( brāhmaṇas learned in the Vedas ) for domestic purposes is exempt, but not what they may employ in trade; the gifts received by brāhmaṇas, the property of stage players, whatever is carried on a man’s shoulderson all these no śulka must be levied. The exemption of brāhmaṇas and others from taxation has already been dealt with in H. Dh. vol. II. pp. 143-145. Gaut. X. 9-12, Ap. Dh. S. II. 10. 26. 10-16, Vas. I. 42-46 and 19. 23-24, Manu. VIII. 394 exempt a learned brahmana, the women of all varpas, all boys before the signs of puberty appear, all those who stay with a teacher for study, ascetics who are intent on dharma, sūdras that do menial work such as washing the feet of higher varṇas, the blind, the deaf and dumb, the diseased, the cripple, an old man of 70 years or

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more. Though these really required more protection than most people, humanity and higher feelings made them exempt from taxes from very ancient times. The claims to exemption were probably exaggerated and not respected in practice. For example, Nārada (VI. 14 ) states that the king is not to levy tolls or customs duties on articles required by śrotriyas for domestic use but if they engaged in trade they had to pay taxes on merchandise.251 The Mit. on Yāj. II. 4 states that the six exemp tions mentioned in Gaut. (VIII. 12-13) apply only to a very learned brāhmaṇa and not to all brāhmaṇas. Manu. VII. 133 provides that a king even when he has lost everything should not levy a tax on śrotriyas and relying on this the Vaijayanti explains Viṣṇu Dh. S. III. 26 as referring only to learned brāhmanas. The Rāmāyana (III. 6. 14)25 la states, differing from other authorities, that the king shares one-fourth of the merit of munis ( ascetics ) dwelling in his kingdom. There was a corresponding liability on the king ; viz. he shared half and half in the demerit due to the sins committed by the subjects that are not properly restrained by him (Yaj. I. 337). Manu and Viṣṇu. Dh. S. III. 28 and Viṣṇudharmottara II. 61. 25 say that he reaps the sixth part of the sin of his subjects.

Kaut, in II. 15 mentions numerous kinds of taxes or dues that were levied by the king. It is not possible to explain many of the terms used by him. In the ancient inscriptions, when making grants of a village and the like, it is usual for the kings to specify the exemptions from taxes and dues that went with the grant. Such exemptions were called parihūra, which word occurs in Kautilya and also in the Hāthigumpha Inscription of Khāravela ( in the 2nd century B.C., E. I. vol. xx at p. 9) where we read ‘bamhanānam jātim parihāram dadāti’. In certain

early records even, these exemptions are said to be eighteen, e. 8. in the Hirahadagalli plate of Śivaskandavarman ( E. I. vol. I. p. 6 ) and 258 the Omgudu plate of Vijayaskandavarman

  1. For usuala EETTE: WAT I utcalfar get a forse for H ATT VI. 14; W ara: Axami * ut figurqu III. 26. on which trunit says ‘pta mithra: 1 fararunt … Ara Arauri

251 a. Tento a Vā Bir T H: 1 TFT in: TT ROT (HT: # 77A100T, 3 4 6.14.

  1. The passage in the plate of Śivaskandavarman (E. I. vol. I. pp. 8–9) is rendered by Dr. Būhler as ’this garden …… is to be free from taxes, free from the taking of sweet and sour milk, free from troubles about

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[ Vol.

(E. I. 15 p. 250 ). Vide H. Dh. vol. II. pp. 864-865 and notes thereon for grants containing names of numerous taxes that were remitted to the grantees and ‘Pandyan kingdom’ by Prof. Nilkanta Śāstri p. 217 on the same subject.

Fines as a source of revenue will be discussed in the next section about ’law and justice’. The king had numerous other sources of income. Kaut (II. 12 ) describes the duties of the superintendent of mines. Every thing dug up from mines belonged to the king ( Vispudharmasūtra III. 55). According to Manu VIII. 39 and Medhātithi thereon the king is entitled to a half (or some share , &c.) of the ore dug out of mines, as he is the lord of the earth and gives protection. In modern times under sec. 69 of the Bombay Land Revenue Code, Government have a right to all mines and minerals. The Parasuramapratāpa #sta quotes a verse : ‘Brahmā arranged that the king was ( to be ) the owner of all wealth and specially (wealth) that is inside the earth, while Kāt. (16-17) says ( vide note 243 ) ’the king is declared to be the lord of the land, but never of other kinds of wealth ; therefore he should secure the sixth part of the fruits of land, but not otherwise at all. Since human beings reside on it (land) their ( qualified ) ownership thereof has been declared’. For further discussion of the theory of the king’s ownership of all land, vide H. of Dh. vol. II. pp. 865-869. The State itself manufactured salt, took its share in salt manufactured by private persons and levied as State dues on imported salt. Kautilya mentions ten kinds of revenue from mines. The

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salt and sugar (alonagulacchobham-alavanaguda—k$obham), free from taxes, forced labour, … free from the taking of the oxen in succession, frec from the taking of grass and wood, free from the taking of vegetables and flowers; with these and other immunities of eighteen kinds it must be ex empted &c.’ (evamādikehi atthārasajātiparihūrehi). Vide Vilavatti grant of Pallava king Simbavarman for a long enumeration of taxes collected from villages in South India in E. I. vol. 24 p. 296 and a copperplate grant of the Silābāra king Aparajita dated sake 915, where in granting a garden to a brāhmaṇa occur the following words. AE: UUTTTTTTTTT: JUTA धानकदोषचामः इतरसमस्तापुत्रालीयक-कुमारीसाहसपतिदण्डदेोषसमन्वितः पूर्वदनदेष 9199 FRETTHFUTTET: …… 78: in ‘Important Inscriptions from Baroda’ vol. 1 edited by Mr. A. S. Gadre (p. 55 at p. 61). TAHIR appears to mean the ‘fine levied for violating a virgio or ber modesty.

252 a. stats that sum Intel: 1 viet nam xuất Argurua: 11 q. in HHQ folio 27a.

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Mānadollāba ( II. 3. verses 332 and 361 ) asks the king to guard mines of gems, gold and silver and declares that the Creator made the king the ruler over all wealth and especially over what is inside the earth. Rudradāman (150 A. D.) boasts that he filled his treasury by means of bali, sulka and bhāga levied according to the sāstras and that his treasury overflowed with heaps of gold, silver, diamonds, lapis lazuli and other gems ( E. I. vol. VIII. p. 36 at p. 44). Kaut (IV.1) says that those who sweep the dust ( near mines &c.) should get one-third of the valuable things found and the king should get two-thirds and all jewels. The king had also monopolies in certain matters. He alone could catch elephants. Kaut (II. 31-32 ) and Mānasollāsa (II. 3, pp. 44-58) deal with this matter, the latter describing several methods of catching elephants. Medhātithias3 on Manu VIII. 400 says that kings have a monopoly as to elephants because it is well-known that they are most useful to them and he specifies certain monopolies such as those in saffron, silken cloth and wool, horses, pearls and jewels. Megasthenes (Fragment XXXVI. p. 90) states that a private person was not allowed to keep an elephant or a horse and that those animals were held to be the special property of the king.

The king recovered a sort of road cess through officers called antapāla ( guardians of borders or boundaries ) viz. 11 pana on each cart loaded with merchandise, half a paṇa on each head of cattle, Ith pana on minor quadrupeds, and one māṣa on a load carried on a man’s shoulders (Kaut. II. 21 p. 111). Sukra IV, 2. 129 permits for the repairs to the roads a tax on those who use roads. Revenues were raised in numerous other ways such as by charging for stamping weights and measures, by fees levied from keepers of gambling balls, from players, singers and musicians, from prostitutes, from forests and pastures &c. Br̥hat-Parāśara X. p. 282 allows the king in a financial crisis to use even temple funds and make them good when freed from his difficult position. Similarly it allows the king ( in difficulty ) to take the wealth of usurers, of low people,

  1. पानि भाण्डानि राजोपयोगितया यथा हस्तिनः काश्मीरेषु मायेषु पढोर्णा i aldemar TIETOTIRONE APOTEyrarbra i felon #E VIII. 400. The passage as printed by Mandlik and Gharpure is corrupt, We should rather read (UT sfer: 1 F IT FÅ graag veronina, Saffron is still a monopoly in Kashmir, interrutt FTP r e ti wum IV. 1.

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of heretics and prostitutes, as the continuance and prosperity of temples and the others depend upon the king, *

The Rājatarangiṇi (VII. 1008 ) notices that a tax was levied on Kashmirians performing grāddha at Gayā. An inscrip tion of Vikramāditya V found near Gadag dated sake 934 ( 1012-13 A. D.) refers to taxes levied on upanayana, marriages, vedio sacrifices &c. (E. I. vol. 20 p. 64). It appears that the king of Anahilavād, Siddharāja (1094-1143 A. D.), levied a tax on pilgrims going to Somanātha at the frontier town Bāhuloda and it is said that the tax yielded 72 lakhs of rupees a year, which Siddharāja remitted for the sake of and at the inter vention of his mother ; vide Bom. G. vol. I. part 1 p. 17% and Prabandha-cintāmaṇi (p. 84, Tawney). The amount is probably very highly exaggerated in order to glorify Siddharāja, but this shows that the yield of the pilgrim tax must have been substantial. The Mānasollāsa in its great desire to help the king with the accumulation of wealth advises the king even to resort to alchemy. 255

A question may be asked: what were the means of preven ting a king from being over-exacting and tyrannical in his taxes? Kaut. (VII. 5. pp. 276–277) cites at great length the causes that lead to the impoverishment of the subjects, to their being greedy and disaffected. Among these he mentions 256

not paying what ought to be paid and exacting what ought not to be exacted, not punishing the guilty and severely punishing the guilty, not protecting the people against thieves and robbing them of their wealth’. He then states that when the subjects become impoverished they become greedy and when greedy they become disaffected and voluntarily go over to the side of the king’s enemy or destroy their own king. In another

  1. उपस्य पदिजातानि देवदायाणि कोशवत् । आवाय क्ष्य चात्मानं ततस्तत्र च मात् क्षिपेत् । पिसं वाधुषिकाणां तु कदर्यस्यापि यजयेत् । पापण्डिगणिकावित्तं हरजातो न किल्पिषी । देवबामणपाणिगणका गणिकादयः । पणिग्वा(षिका: सर्व स्परथे राजनि

EFFUNT II TIETETT X. p. 282.

255, Uma n farabeara atdot kruda mu se pot #Tuah #THETH II, 4, verse 327 p. 63. Vide n. 240 above.

  1. अमदानश्च देवानामदेपानां च साधः । अक्षण्डनैश्च दण्डवानां दावानां पण … भरक्षणैध चोरेपा स्वानां च परिमोषणेः । … राज्ञा प्रमादालस्पाग्यां पोगोमविधावपि । प्रकृतीनां सपो लाभो वैराग्यं चोपजायते ॥ क्षीणा प्रकलयो लोभ लग्या GET FUTTATE TRUPA Tafi far UT FUTU stery VII. 5.

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place Kautilya (XIII. 1) suggests 258 that a conqueror may employ spies who should encourage the subjects of his enemy suffering from famine, depredations of thieves and wild tribes to tell their king, ‘we shall beg the king for favours (remission of taxes or help in the way of seeds &c.) but if he does not agree to bestow favours we shall go to another country’. So the threat of disaffection and migrating to another country were the deterrents against the tyranny of heavy taxation according to Kautilya. Sānti 87. 36 says 257a that if the vaisyas (gominah, who bore the brunt of taxation) were neglected, they may dis appear from the country and dwell in forests. Manu (VII. 111 112) warns kings who through folly rashly oppress their king doms that they may ere long lose their own lives and those of their relatives and also their kingdoms. Yāj. (I. 340-341 ) is even more emphatic and says that the king who seeks to increase his treasury with wealth extracted by unjust means from his realm loses his wealth in no time and meets destruction along with his relatives. The fire springing from the wrath caused by the harassment of the subjects does not coase without burning the family, the wealth and the life of the king.’ Katyāyana (v. 19) harps on the spiritual consequences: the king who unjustly takes from his kingdom taxes, fines, share of crops and tolls, incurs 868 sin.’ Sukra 259 (II. 319-321 and 370) emphasizes the keeping of daily, monthly and yearly accounts and the entering of the several items of income on the left side of the account and of those of expenditure on the right. The Nitivākyāmṛta esan refers to the appointment of auditors when there is discrepancy in the items of income and expenditure.

  1. g arzagaragama1GHTOFT: H To: i treh ONTAR FALTT: * TOTA: 1 piti. XIII. 1.

257a. Tirar tunitatcoutea: 1 her restaur T FTAT u srper 87. 36.

  1. अम्पायेन हि यो राष्ट्राकर दण्डं च पार्थिवः । सस्पभागं च शुल्क चाप्यावदीत # CT94196 79147 q. io watas. p. 276.

  2. H ai mana m ent fent from puTAI EN *19 संज्ञकम् ॥ पराधीनं तं पशु व्यपसंझंधनं चतत् ।… आपमादौ लिखेरसम्पर पर्ष पश्चात unter Tur tudi portar HI POHTC II. 321, 370. .. 259.8. mrgraafiaren garaiareggiatura e: i farmurga

p. 189 ( WATOT).