A study of Kakateeya Period Tax System ‘

( solely Based on Dr P V Parabramha Sastry’s Book titled ‘ Kakateeyas of Warangal ‘ )

Ch Kalyanachakravarthy, Research Associate

When we read history we understand that Bharath is rich in Wealth and Prosperity, hence all the Barbaric foreign forces attacked Bharath. Where from the wealth and prosperity is built?, the answer is very simple and easy to guess. The Society in Bharath at large is a highly productive society which could generate more that it can consume. There are a lot of evidences that we have traded worldwide. There could have been a system in which the Government might have collected some fee or such charge to help the trades. They need to establish market places or godowns for storing the produce. Obviously this all could not happen with out a formal government and systems are place.  What was the Basis of taxation earlier to the barbaric invasions. It is pertinent to understand the System of Taxation before the Barbaric foreign Invaders attacked Bharath. This paper presents the findings of Dr P V Parabramha Sastry in his book ‘ The Kakateeyas of Warangal ‘ in the chapter XII Economic Conditions, and try to extrapolate to the ancient system of taxation by ancient kings and Dharma Sastra.

Brief History of Taxation

The Taxation in Bharath is in force since time immemorial. The Ancient Smritis lays down that   traders and artisans should pay one-fifth of their profits in silver and gold, while agriculturists, depending upon their circumstances, were to pay one-sixth, one eighth or one-tenth of their produce. Kalidasa in the Raghuvansha says thus of King Dileepa: ‘It was only for the good of his subjects that he collected taxes from them, just as the Sun draws moisture from the Earth to give it back a thousand fold’. The word ‘kara’, which refers to taxes, finds mention in the SrimadBhagvatam .The Sanskrit word ‘danda’, is the manifest form of a government’s identity and consciousness. Chanakya mentions in the ArthaShastra, about ‘Koshamoolodanda’ and comments that the treasury and its inflows are the sources of a government’s might. Most of the taxes of Ancient India were highly productive and the combination of direct taxes with indirect taxes secured flexibility in the tax system.

The Taxation – “ Kakateeya’s of Warangal “  various references

‘ Although Kakateeyas inherited the system from Chalukya Administration ….’ Page 211 , Dr Parabramha Sastry mentions that the system was an inherited system but Kakatiyas introduced more number of taxes in their regime. Reclamation of wastelands and providing irrigational fecilities might have neccessitated the imposition of variety of taxation.During the Kakatiya period taxes were of broadly five categories.page 212

1.Land Taxes

All the lands were assigned to private cultivators, temples , brahmins, and nobles or Chiefs are subjected for taxation. All other un assigned lands called ‘ rachabhoomi ‘ and are not taxed. ( page 212 )

2.Industrial and property taxes

The oil man and the weaver are the common industrialists ( of course small scale ) they have to pay for setting up of industry , for running the industry and for selling any produce. ( Page 224 ) Cattle tax, House tax are few examples of Property tax ( page 225 )

3. Profession taxes

Existance of  system of levying tax on various professions during the Kakateeya period is borne out of more than one evidence. Profession in general includes not only livelihood but also some minor industries. ( page 227 )

4. Commercial taxes

It is the levy of tolls, most of commercial taxes are in toll  collection for all forms of merchandise. The amount of toll varies from place to place ( page 231 )

5. Miscelleneous taxes.

Under the main head of Sumkas of we come across a number of taxes of miscellaneous in nature.( page 238 )

The author reasoned out the system of taxation is well structured and there is a full fledged mechanism in place to implement the system. There used to be appointed officers looking after the collection of the tax.

Conclusion

When we read the book and go through the references we come across various terms which are in use even now. To cite few SUNKAMU, PANNU, PULLARI, PANGAMU, DARISHANAMU. Bharateeya Ancient and Medieval literature have references of these words too. All these terms were identified based on the Temple Grants or Donation Grants or Such Epigraphs mentioning the taxes ,The system of tax is evidently existed before Kakateeyas and after kakateeyas too.

Hence in the sense of study we can consider this as Indian ( Bharateeya ) Tax model. We can even safely consider that the rate of taxation is also just. There is no recorded evidence that because of the Heavy taxes there is a revolution in people. We hear the Foreign model of Religious based taxes like JIZIYA , KHIRAJ, USHRAF, ZAKAT only after the Medeival Religious fanatic invasions.

You can read the book ‘ Kakatiyas of Warangal ‘ by clicking here

References

1. N Pande, The evolution of Income Tax.
2. Academia article on ‘ A study on Indian Revenue Generators ‘
3. “ The Kakatiyas of Warangal “ Dr P V Parabramha Sastry