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The Indian Analyst
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South Indian Inscriptions |
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA bharōlaka=store-house. If the king’s share of these articles was not delivered by the producers by the fullmoon day of Āshāḍha (which was, according to Kauṭilya, the last day of the financial year[1]), then to such objects the law of mortgage (grahaṇaka) was applied and they were subject to the payment of interest at the mortgage rate but no fine (daṇḍaka) ; or, such objects were confiscated and no fine was levied. 47. Rājakīya-gañjē Kalvapāla-vārikēṇa chāturtha-śōṭī-hastēna mēyaṁ muktvā n=ānyat=kiṁ-chit=karaṇīyam. The word gañja is used in the Rājataraṅgiṇī (IV, 589 ; VII, 125-26) in the sense of ‘a treasury’ or ‘a fund’, but may be taken here to signify ‘a store-house’ as in the lexicons. The vārika of the Kalvapāla community was apparently in charge of a store-house of wine. The word kalvapāla is no doubt the same as kalyapāla or kalyāpāla found in the lexicons in the sense of ‘a spirit-distiller’.[2] It is also found in the form kalpāla in Viśvarūpa’s commentary on the Yājñavalkya Smṛiti (Vyavahāra, verse 50) and is the same as Prakrit kallāla and Hindi and Gujarati kalāl. Śōṭī seems to mean a pot for measuring liquids like wine.[3] While measuring wine in chāturthas or quarter-measures at the royal store-house with the measuring pot in hand, the vārika or officer of the Kalvapāla community was possibly not allowed to divert his attention to some other work. The word chāturtha is also found in No. 45 above and No. 70 below. 48. Nīla-kuṭy-ādānaṁ ḍuṁphakēna dēyaṁ rūpaka-trayaṁ rū 3. Nīla-kuṭī may mean an indigo factory and ḍuṁphaka (cf. No. 19 above) its owner of supervisor. The ḍumphaka had to pay the tax of three silver coins for a nīla-kuṭī. 49. Ikshu-vāṭ-ādānaṁ rūpakāḥ dvātriṁśat rū 32 ; dhārmikē rūpaka-dvayaṁ sa-pādam. The tax for a sugar-cane plantation was 32 silver coins ; but it was only 2¼ silver coins if the field belonged to a religious establishment. The word vāṭa may have indicated a particular area of land. 50. Alla-vāṭasy=ātō=rdh-ādānam. The tax for an alla-vāṭa was half the amount prescribed in No. 49 above. Alla is the Prakrit form of Sanskrit ārdraka, ‘ginger’, and alla-vāṭa may possibly mean ‘a ginger plantation’. It should, however, be noticed that the word ārdraka itself occurs in No. 60 below. The word alla in Pali means ‘moist’ and alla-vāṭa may probably indicate ‘lowland’. But ikshu-vāṭa in No. 50 seems to suggest that alla was a produce like ikshu.
51. Yantra-kuṭy-ādānaṁ rūpaka-trayaṁ rū 3 ; dhārmikē rūpakaḥ sa-pādaḥ. Yantra-kuṭī may indicated an oil-mill or manufactory, for which the tax to be paid was three silver coins, although the tax was only 1¼ silver coins if the productions were meant for a religious cause. 52. Varsha-paryushitā vaṇijaḥ prāvēśyaṁ śulk-ātiyātrikaṁ na dāpanīyāḥ ; nairgamikaṁ dēyam. Merchants staying abroad for a year were not to pay any entrance fee while returning to their native place ; but they had to pay the exit tax when they went out again on business. Atiyātrika is no doubt connected with atiyātrā used in the Divyāvadāna[4] in the sense of ‘fare for crossing the boundary’. The āchāra may also refer to foreign merchants coming and staying in the kingdom for a year. 53. Bhāṇḍa-bhṛita-vahitrasya śulk-ātiyātrikē rūpakāḥ dvādaśa rū 12 ; dhārmikē rūpakaḥ sapādaḥ rū 1¼. For a boat full of vessels probably of metal, the crossing fare was 12 silver coins ; but, if the vessels were meant for any religious purpose, the tax was only 1¼ silver coins.[5] It is difficult to determine whether bhāṇḍa may here be taken in a general sense of manufactured articles or merchandise. __________________________________________________
[1] Arthaśāstra, II, 7.
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