Chaf. III.] HINDOO GOVEKNMENT. 89
means necessary for the suppression of any evils existing in them could be pro- a.d. —
vided. The salary or perquisite paid to the lord of one town consists of " such
food, drink, wood, and other articles as should be given each day to the king civii admin-
, istration.
by the inhabitants of the township." The payment of the other officers is arranged as follows: — To the lord of ten towns "the produce of two plough- lands" — that is, according to the commentator, the produce of as much ground as can be tilled with two ploughs, each drawn by six bulls ; to the lord of twenty towns, the produce of ten plough-lands; to the lord of a hundred town.s, the produce of a village ; and to the lord of a thousand, the produce of a large town. It is easy to conceive the abuses to which such a system must give ri.se, and hence to understand the necessity of an additional appointment explained as follows: — " In every large town or city let him (the king) appoint one superintendent of aU. affiiirs, elevated in rank, formidable in powei', distin- guished as a planet among the stars ; let that governor from time to time survey the rest in person, and b}^ means of his emissaries, let him perfectly know their conduct in their several districts. Since the servants of the king whom he has appointed guardians of districts are generally knaves, who seize what belongs to other men, from such knaves let him defend his people ; of such evil-minded servants as wring wealth from subjects attending them on business, let the king confiscate all the possessions, and banish them from his realm."
One of the principal duties assigned to these lords of towns was the collec- sources of tion of the public revenue, and to it therefore our attention must now be turned. The different sources from which it is derived are pointed out in the Institutes of Menu; but considerable changes have taken place since their date; and it will therefore be necessary, after making an abstract of the information which the Institutes furnish, to render it more complete by having recourse to later authorities. According to the Institutes the public revenue consisted of taxes on all kinds of agricultural produce and merchandise, a trifling annual exaction from petty traffickers, a day's work every month from " low handicrafts- men, artificers, and servile men, who support themselves by labour;" and a twentieth part, or five per cent, (not, as Elphinstone erroneously says, twenty per cent.^) on the estimated profit, of all sales. The mode in which the revenue was to be levied is thus explained : — "As the leech, the suckling calf, and the bee take their natural food by little and little, thus must a king diaw from his dominions an annual revenue." " Let him not cut up his own root, nor the root of other men by excess of covetousne.ss ; for by cutting up his own root lie makes both himself and them wretched." The taxes on traffic were to be levied after " having ascertained the rates of purchase and sale, the length of the way, the expenses of food and of condiments, the charges of securing the goods carried, and the nett profits of trade." On produce, and various other specified articles, the taxes were to be as follows: — "Of cattle, of gem.s, of gold and
' Elphinstoue's India, vol. i. p. 41. Vol. II. f . i jQj
revenue.
