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Royal Income and Expenditure System during the Gupta period: An Assessment of Literary and Inscriptional Data*
Ankit Agarwal**
Koamulo hi rajeti pravadah sarvalaukikah - Kamandakiya Ntisara, XXI, 83. (It is a universal saying that the treasury is the root of any state)

A strong treasury increase the possibility of the growth of a state and development of their economy. How much this possibility is converted into reality depends upon the best utilization of their funds. Royal income and expenditure system plays a very significant role in economic growth. In this paper, an attempt has been made to assess the status of royal income and expenditure system during the Gupta period, compare them with the modern principles of public finance and its relevance in the overall growth of the contemporary society. After the formation of Magadha Empire, the whole power of state was concentrated in the administrative class under the leadership of the king. Keeping in view the possibility of the autocracy, contemporary thinkers bound the king with his duties for their subjects and created the principles of revenue collection and expenditure. Mahabharata elucidates the eternal duties of a king1 and suggests a king should devote his life in the service of his subjects2 and establishing Dharma (righteousness)3 as a foundation of governance. Mahabharata also emphasizes on a prosperous treasury and ample reserve funds of the state.4

In the Mauryan period, there was a centralised goverment and the revenue theories were strengthened. According to Kautilya, king should collect taxes from their subjects in return of his services. However the king should also take care before levying the taxes in the same way as a gardener collects fruits from the garden. Kautilya also alerts that imposing excess tax on public may cause an uprising against the king.5 Arthaastra emphasizes that a king should surrender his own interest in the interest of his subjects.6 In the tenth rock edict, Aoka stated that monarch and high officials should always be available for their subject and work for the welfare of their people.7 During the post-Mauryan period, political scenario and administrative system were changed but the principles of royal income and expenditure were the same. Manu said that just like a calf and bee draw not only small-butvery-small quantities from their respective feeds, similarly a king should levy very small taxes.8 Further, Manu warns the king against excessive tax-greed, and said that it will destroy the productive base of the system.9

* Thanks are due to my colleagues Manjil Hazarika, Kulbhushan Mishra and Ravi Shankar Gupta for their support and guidance. ** Research Associate, Indian Archaeological Society, New Delhi. Email: agarwal.ankit1982@gmail.com

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Political thinkers of Gupta period accepted almost similar doctrine of royal income and expenditure. Contemporary poet Kalidasa said that just as the sun takes moisture from the earth to give it back a thousand fold, so the king gathers taxes from the people only to provide for their welfare.10 Narada declares the kings revenue to be his fee for the protection of his subjects.11 On the basis of these statements, it can be said that contemporary intellectuals gave advice to the king for utilising their resources for human empowerment. Kamandaka also stated that the way a cowherd nourish his cows primarily then extract their milk, similarly a king should secure and help their people first then take taxes from them,12 which shows the continuity of this principle in later periods too. From the earliest times to later Gupta period, the political thinkers deliberated strong treasury as a backbone of the state. Kamandaka concurs with this view and accepted the importance of strong treasury and sound financial structure of the state.13 1. The principles embodied in the above mentioned verdicts could be explained by these maxims: 2. The taxation should not destroy the substructure of the public, but should leave sufficient margin for their subsistence. 3. The taxes should be slowly levied by the state, almost imperceptible. 4. The subjects of every state should contribute towards the support of the government according to their convenience, which they procured under the protection of the state. The taxes should be levied at the time and place most suited for the subjects. These maxims were well established during the Gupta period and followed by most of the kings later on. Even in modern context, classical economists Sismondi14 and Adam Smith15 gave almost similar maxims related to the tax collection and the state responsibilities, which considered as a base of the still existing revenue systems. During the Gupta period, excellent blend of centralization and decentralization was clearly shown. King was the main entity and supreme of the administration16 and was responsible for controlling the administrative officers. Kalidasa described the public welfare works, which were done by the king and their officials.17 From Junagadh rock inscription of Rudradaman, it is gleaned that he built the dam of the Sudarsana Lake

without oppressing the inhabitants of towns and country by taxes (Kara), forced labour (Visti) and benevolences (pranya-kriya).18 Gupta Kings knew the importance of strong Rajakosa for such contingencies, which are called public receipts in modern context. Public Receipts during the Gupta Period The term public receipts indicates all the income procured by public authorities19 either collected as taxes or punishments or incomes generated from industrial and business activities. Revenue was considered an important source of public income. Terms related to revenues such as bhag, bhog and kara etc. are found in contemporary inscriptions and manuscripts such as Na r ada 20 and YajnavalkyaSmrti21. According to D.C. Sircar, bhag was the portion allocated for the king from the total product. The meaning of bhog was related to materials like fruits, flowers, milk, wood etc, which were given as gifts to the king and their officers by the people occasionally.22 Kara has been described as tax out of the profit made by merchants.23 Taxes were levied on every kind of the income. Contemporary jurisprudents also suggest that the tax should be taken from the public which they could afford easily. During the Gupta period, land revenue was the largest source of state revenue. Contemporary literary24 and inscriptional25 sources suggest that king was to receive one-sixth portion of the yield but some manuscripts26 mention three different rates of land revenue on the basis of land types and irrigation needs. So, it is difficult to spell whether all types of land revenue were included in this one-sixth portion of the yield or not. More likely, there were different rates of the land revenue on the basis of fertility, means of irrigation and other environmental factors. Some Gupta inscriptions refer to hiranya as a type of revenue allocated for the state and confined it with Bhagabhogakara.27 Manu28 prescribed its rate at 1/50. Ghoshal considered hiranya as tax in cash form on certain crops.29 It may be suggested that some miscellaneous parts of land-taxes were collected in cash. Udranga and uparikara were the two contemporary fiscal terms, which were mentioned first in contemporary inscriptions such as Damodarpur copper plate 30 and Sohwal copper plate31. Fleet and Ghoshal interpreted udran g a as revenues imposed upon the permanent tenants, and uparikara as taxes levied on the temporary cultivators.32 Other scholars such as Maity33 and Pushpa Niyogi34 accept their views on the term uparikara but

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they give different interpretation of the term udranga and recognize it as a water tax or as a sort of police tax. Contemporary land grant inscriptions mentioned another fiscal term halikakara.35 Modern historians give various interpretation of this term. Maity suggests that halikakara was collected from the income of agricultural produce, which could be cultivated by a single plough,36 while U.N. Ghoshal explains halika k ara as tax on ploughs.37 Another historian Y.B. Singh gives a different interpretation and connects this term with hari and begari system.38 If one can examine these suggestions in the light of Gupta literary and inscriptional description then he finds that the suggestion of Ghoshal is more appropriate. During the Gupta period, state gave credit to needy farmers for fulfilling their needs like seeds and equipments. Probably, halikakara was a tax on agricultural equipments, which provided by the state. Revenue was also generated from the commercial sector. Manuscripts39 and inscriptions40 of such period mentioned ulka as a tax on commercial activities. Contemporary lexicon Amarkoa refers to ulka as what is payable at the ferries like chungi.41 Historian like Ghoshal42 and Maity43 also interpret ulka as a toll tax. Yajnavalkya44and Brhaspati45 emphasize on the actual evaluation of commodities and advise the king to appoint a person, who would be able to estimate the value of commodities and charge 1/20th portion of total price as a ulka. Bihar stone inscription of Skandagupta mentions aulkika as an officer.46 For collecting ulka, state was formed ulkaala similar to the present toll-houses. Paying ulka was the moral responsibility of traders.47 Another fiscal term, related to traders, was kara, which was levied on the profits of merchants. Hence, one may define ulka as sale tax and kara as income tax. During the Gupta period, not only the farmers and merchants gave taxes but cattle breeders also paid tax. Brhaspatisuggests the king for obtaining 1/100th portion of the value of animals as tax. Gaya copper plate inscription of Samudragupta suggests that the artisans were also taxed.48 The Smrtis contemplate the artisans and craftsmen for paying their contributions in two forms, viz. service and also in cash.49 Law books allowed gambling, but with restrictions. According to Yajnavalkya, gambling should be brought under the control of a single officer appointed by the king for detecting thieves. The keeper of the gambling-house was to give the stipulated share to the king.50 Narada 51 and Brhaspati Smrti also mentioned similar views on the dues

attributed to gambling. Tax from gambling has not been described in the contemporary inscriptions, probably due to the lesser prevalence of gambling and not much appreciated in the society and also the revenue collected as tax might be very minimal. Literatures and inscriptions also described some other forms of tax during the Gupta period, levied on specific time and place. Achaabhaapraveya was a fiscal term referred in contemporary inscriptions. According to Upadhyay, the word achaa-bhat was used for police and soldier. During the visit of the king, local people had to bear the expenses of the officers.52 Smrtis describe some special emergency taxes at the time of war, disaster etc., however these taxes have not been mentioned in contemporary inscriptions. Probably, the state levied these special taxes according to the requirements or in any emergency. Besides the compulsive taxes, de y a (voluntary taxes) and gifts were also the parts of the state income. Patanjali clarifies the difference between kara and deya and stated that deya was a voluntary responsibility and kara was compulsory.53 At the same time, public arranged food for the army at the time of marching and halting at places for the campaign of conquest, which was known as avalgaka.54 Generally, avalgaka was not a compulsory tax and the public would offer the same as gift to the king or their officers. Allahabad stone inscription states that during the campaigns, subservient rulers and officers also offered gifts to the king, which was known as upayana.55 Fines were also important means of income for the royal treasury. Manuscripts gave the provisions for economic fines on irregularity or faults related to the moral responsibility. Even, Yajn a valkya describes the fines on such people, who made condemnable statement and abusive language.56 These fines maintained the level of morality in the society and provided funds for the state. Fines were also imposed on social offence such as fraud, robbery, theft etc. Fahien stated that uttama or madhyama sa h asa dan d a (economic fines) were levied to the criminals according to their crime.57 Fines also imposed on such people, who were accused of trade related frauds. According to Narada, if any merchant did not pay ulka, then the king should impose eight times penalty of the ulka to the offender.58 An officer was recruited by the state for recovering these penalties. Hidden treasures also helped in increasing the royal income. Law books permitted the king to procure a major portion of treasure recovered beneath the earth. According

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to Yajnavalkya, when someone (other than brahmans or religious organisations) finds buried treasures, then the king should take the treasures by virtue of his ensuring protection after paying one-sixth portion to the finder.59 Narada states that when a brahman finds treasure troves, he may possess the same, but he must inform the king.60 Probably, treasures founded by the brahmans were completely owned by them. Unclaimed assets were also the sources of royal income. According to Brhaspati, state should occupy all assets of such ksatriya, vaiya or udras, who did not have any child or brother, after their death.61 State was also involved in commercial activities and earned income for the royal treasury. State maintained a monopoly on some commercial sectors, which were mostly related to the security, morality and empowerment. According to Yajn a valkya, mining was fully controlled by the state and generated income for the state.62 In his book Raghuvama, Kalidasa also considers mines as a source of royal income.63 Salt was also under the control of the state. According to Kalidasa, miscellaneous commodities derived from forest such as ivory, herb, woods etc. were also the parts of royal income.51 These commodities and related products were also exported under the control of the state. State also ran some industries individually or with the partnership of private sector. Thus, it is clear that state earned income from different means and created a rich exchequer (Rajakosa). Public Expenditure of Gupta Period While throwing light on the importance of ko s a , Yajnavalkya stated that the exchequer (kosa), strength (bala) and resources (artha) are the basic elements for the growth of the state (rastra).64 For utilising their funds in righteous and positive manner, states prepared the financial statement and accounts of public (rajakya) expenditure and spent funds accordingly. In this statement, they included various important aspects of the public expenditure such as salaries of employees, security of the state and subjects, development of infrastructure, upliftment of the economically weak people and expansion of morality and education etc. For maintaining the royal treasury and fulfilling their basic responsibilities such as security of the people, maintaining law and developing basic infrastructure etc., king appointed his ministers and officers, and maintained legal, judicial and punitive departments. Salaries of these employees were spent from the royal expenditure. According to Fahien, companions and officers of the

king were paid salary.65 After salary, the principal royal expenditure was made for the maintenance of the security of the state. This included not only the maintenance of an adequate armed force (infantry, cavalry, chariots and elephants) and navy, with proper equipments, both for offence and defence but also the maintenance of a whole organisation of secret service, store-houses, armouries, and the war-chest under the same head.66 Some portions of the royal income were saved for the king and his family from which they also made donations to the public. Some portions of the income known as vyaya-pratyaya were accumulated for emergency period. According to ukrantisara, the king should make arrangements for storing and preserving the excess and surplus food resources for emergency, up to a period of three years.67 Gupta state also ensured the citizen against climatic disaster such as famine, flood etc. The king spent a huge portion of the rajakosa for fulfilling ordinary obligations like building roads and keeping them free from robbers, wild beasts, and other dangers, constructing bridges, rest-houses, institutions of public welfare, such as schools, hospitals etc. Efforts for development of irrigation were also carried out at the state level.68 The state built the lakes, canals and dams to fulfil the irrigation needs of lesser rainfall area. It is attested by the description of Junagadh inscription of Skandgupta (455-457 CE)69. Gupta society knew the importance of forests especially in providing a healthy environment and raw materials for some industries such as ship building, construction industry and medicines etc. 70 State maintained a forest department and appointed capable officers. The salaries and other relevant expenditure of the forest department were paid by state exchequer. In Meghaduta, Kalidasa mentioned the word amrkua (area of surplus mango trees) for the area between Chitrakoot to Amarkantak.71 Manuscripts also described jambuvan and chandanvan,72 which show the orderliness of the forests. State not only maintained the forest but also endeavoured for increasing the arable land. Gupta state rewarded those farmers, who could change a wasteland into an agricultural land.73 For increasing yield, state encouraged regular and systematic markets of agricultural equipments and good seeds. State also gave credits to the needy farmers to fulfil farming needs like seeds and equipments. Gupta rulers spent their funds for founding and patronizing colleges and universities.74 For instance, Nalanda University was established during the Gupta

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period and became a major centre of learning.75 Gupta kings such as akraditiya, Buddhagupta, Tathagatagupta and Baladitya were the patrons of the Nalanda University.76 They also offered scholarships to the economically weak students.77 Due to these efforts of Gupta rulers, universities have gained the high standard of education and India became an important centre of learning for the students/ researchers across the world. Gupta kings also gave donations to intellectuals ( bra h man a ) and socio-religious organisations, who were engaged in human empowerment. The lands donated to the religious institutions (mahas) and to the intellectuals were called as devabhumi and agrahara respectively.78 Not only king but their officials79, traders and public80 also gave donations to them. Indore plates of Pravarasena II (circa500 CE) records a grant of half of a village to brahmanas by a merchant (vanika).81 These organisations got huge support and sufficient donations from the public and state. The primary source of their income was donation, but they also earned their income from commercial sectors. Considering the primary source of their funding, it is also necessary to understand their process of expenditure. It was quite common for these organisations to use some of their funds towards developing basic infrastructure such as educational institutions, public gardens, tanks, hospices or assembly halls as well as providing funds for marriages or samskara etc. to economically weaker section of the society.82 They not only encouraged the materialistic development but also initiated the spiritual

development of the society. They were responsible for promoting moral education in the society. These organisations were not only connected with moral education but they also provided technical education and commercial training. Mandasor inscription of Kumargupta mentioned a silk weavers organisation which provided professional education of silk-weaving.83 Gupta king and high officials also deposited their funds with economic organisations and the interest accrued from the deposits was primarily used for charitable and religious purposes. According to Gadwa stone inscription, Chandragupta II had deposited 20 dinar with two guilds in the form of akshaynv and the interest accrued on this was to be spent on religious activities.84 Thus, the economic organisations received funds for their investment and the king fulfilled their responsibility of empowerment. Concluding Remarks The above analysis clearly shows that Gupta kings not only spent their funds for administration and fulfilment of their basic responsibility. but they were also actively engaged in works, which were necessary for human empowerment and social and moral upliftment. King gave sufficient land and funds for such organisations or intellectuals, who encouraged different aspects of human empowerment. These organisations and people used their funds very wisely. They engaged landless farmers for cultivating their land on the basis of yield sharing method. Thus, landless farmers got resources for their survival, which were necessary for social equality,

Fig.1: Circle of Income and Expenditure and Human Empowerment

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peace and development. This can be considered as an example of the utilisation of manual labour in a positive manner. Every part of the society contributed significantly in human empowerment. Contemporary political thinkers knew that state development and stability are not possible without human empowerment and it is possible only by the collective efforts of all parts of the society including state, organisations, intellectuals and general public. For fulfilment of the above motives, they created a circle of income and expenditure (Fig. 1), of which the ultimate aim was human empowerment through peoples income.

Considering the above discussion, it can be easily said that the processes of human empowerment was based on the efforts of the entire society rather than a single person or institution. Two advantages are clearly seen by the direct involvement of the public, firstly, the possibility of corruption and mistakes were minimized in the process of empowerment, and secondly, the pride of every person was increased as they had important roles to play in human empowerment and the state. Ultimately, harmony and coordination were increased in the society and the state was progressive.

References
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Mahabharata, XII.63.11 Ibid, XII.85.2 Ibid, XII.85.16-17 Ibid, XII.119.16- Koamula hi Rajanah Kosho brdhikaro bhavato Arthaastra, V.2.70 Ibid, I.19.34 Hultzsch, E., Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum, Inscriptions of Aoka, Vol. I, New Delhi, Archaeological Survey of India, 1991 (reprinted), pp. 17-18. Manu Smrti, VII.129 Ibid, VII.139. 19 Dalton, Hugh, Principles of Public Finance, Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited, London, 1935, P. 25. 20 Narada Smrti, XVIII.48 21 YajnavalkyaSmrti, I.335 22 Sircar, D.C., Select Inscriptions, Vol. I, 1965, Calcutta University, Calcutta, pp. 372. 23 Ghoshal, U.N., Hindu Revenue system, University of Calcutta, Calcutta, 1929, p. 81. 24 Narada Smrti, XVIII.48; YajavalkyaSmrti, I.335 25 Sircar, D.C., op.cit., pp. 363-70. 26 Gautam Smrti, X.24; Manu Smrti, VII.130 27 Fleet, John F., Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum: Inscriptions of the Early Guptas, Vol. III, Government of India, Central Publications Branch, Calcutta, 1888, No. 27; No. 29. 28 Manu Smrti, III.25 29 Ghoshal, U.N., op.cit., p. 213 30 Chabra, B.C. and G.S. Gai (eds.), Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarnm, Vol. III, No. 22; Epigraphica Indica, No. XV, pp. 114 31 Epigraphica Indica, No. XIX, p. 21. 32 Ghoshal, U.N., op.cit., p. 210; Fleet, John F., op.cit., pp. 97-98 33 Maity, S.K., Economic life of Northern India in Gupta period, IInd edition, Delhi, 1970, p. 62 34 Niyogi, Puspa, Contribution to the Economic History of Northern India, Progressive Publishers, Calcutta, 1962, p. 187 35 Epigraphica Indica, No. XIX, l. 21

8 9

10 Raghuvama, I.18 11 Narada Smrti, XVIII.48 12 Ntisara, V.84 13 Ibid, XIII.33 14 Bastable, C.F., Public Finance, Macmillan and co., London, 1895 (IInd Revised edition), p. 387. 15 Smith, Adam, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, Book V (II), Part II, W. Strahan and T. Cadell, London, 2005 (first published in 1776), pp. 676-677. http://www. rrojasdatabank.info/adamsmith/wealthp1.pdf 16 Raghuvama, III.4 17 Ibid, IX.4, XVI.2, XVII.64 18 Epigraphia Indica, No. VIII, pp. 45-49.

Royal Income and Expenditure System during the Gupta period

36 Maity, S.K., op.cit., p. 63 37 Ghoshal, U.N., op.cit., p. 214. 38 Singh, Y.B., Halikakara: Crystallization of a practice into a tax, I.H.C. Proceeding of 43rd session, 1982. 39 Manu Smrti, VIII.400; Narada Smrti, III.12-13; Yajavalkya Smrti, II.28-262 40 Fleet, John F., op.cit., Vol. V, No. 12 (Bihar stone inscription of Skandagupta), No. 7 (Sewani inscription of Vakataka monarch Pravarasena II). 41 Amarkoa, XI.8.28 42 Ghoshal, U.N., The Beginnings of Indian Historiography and Other Essays, Calcutta, 1944, p. 177 43 Maity, S.K., op.cit., p. 90 44 YajnavalkyaSmrti, II.261. 45 BrhaspatiSmrti, A}paddharma section, verse 6. 46 Fleet, John F., op.cit., Vol. III, No. 12, l.29 47 Narada Smrti, III.12 48 Fleet, John F., op.cit., Vol. III, No. 60; B.C. Chabra and G.S. Gai (eds.), op.cit., Vol. III, No. 4, pp. 228-231. 49 Ghoshal, U.N., Hindu Revenue system, University of Calcutta, Calcutta, 1929, pp. 101-02. 50 YajnavalkyaSmrti, II.200 51 Narada Smrti, XVI.8 52 Upadhyaya, Vasudev, Gupta Abhilekh, Bihar Hindi Granth Acadmey,Patna, 1974, p. 44. 53 Kaikavrtt, VI.3.10; Agnihotri, Prabhu dayal, op.cit., p. 338. 54 Gupta, Devendera Kumar, Prachin bharat me vyapaar, College book depo, jaipur, 2001, p. 104. 55 Chabra, B.C. and G.S. Gai (eds.), op.cit., Vol. III, No. 1, pp. 203220. 56 YajnavalkyaSmrti, II.18; II.204-205; II.208 57 Verma, Jagmohan, Fa-hien ka yatra vivran (in Hindi), Nagri Pracarni Sabha, Kashi, Samvat 1976, p. 21. 58 Narada Smrti, III.13 59 YajnavalkyaSmrti, II.35 60 Narada Smrti, VII.6-7 61 Brhaspati Smrti, XXVI.119 62 YajnavalkyaSmrti, II.200-203 63 Raghuvama, XVII.66 64 YajnavalkyaSmrti, I.327-28, 353 65 Verma, Jagmohan, op.cit., p. 21.

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66 Shah, K.T., Ancient Foundations of Economics in India, Bombay, VORA & Co. Publishers, 1954, p. 134. 67 ukrantisara, IV.2.26 68 Chabra, B.C. and G.S. Gai (eds.), op.cit., Vol. III, No. XXVIII, pp. 296-304. 69 Fleet, John F., op.cit., Vol. III, pp. 61-65. Satyadev, op.cit., p. 147; S.R. Goyal, Guptakalin Abhilekh, Kusumanjali Publication, Meerut, p. 228. 70 Shah, K.T., op.cit., p. 88. 71 Agnihotri, Prabhu dayal, Mahakavi Kalidass, Vol. I (in Hindi), Eastern Book Linkers, Delhi, 1998, p. 150. 72 Ibid, p. 423-24. 73 Brhaspati smrti, XXIII.5 74 Manu Smrti, VII.82; YajavalkyaSmrti, I.130 75 Altekar, A.S., Education in Ancient India, Nand Kishore and Bros., Banaras, 1944, p. 96. 76 Beal, S. (tr.), Travels of Hiouen-Tsang (Si-Yu-Ki): Buddhist records of the western world, Vol. III, New edition, Sushil Gupta India Ltd., Calcutta, 1958, pp. 383-385; Watters, T. (tr.), On Yuwan-Chwangs Travels in India (AD 629-645), Vol. II, T.W. Rhys David and S.W. Bushell (eds.), Delhi, 1961, p. 164-65. 77 ukranti, I.368 78 Mirashi, V.V. (ed.), Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum, Inscriptions of Vakatakas, Vol. V, New Delhi, Archaeological Survey of India,1963, pp. 38-42. 79 Ibid, No. VI. 80 Chabra, B.C. and G.S. Gai (eds.), op.cit., No. XXX. 81 Mirashi, V.V. (ed.), op.cit., pp. 38-42. 82 Brihaspati Smrti, XVII.11-12 83 Fleet, John F., op.cit., Vol. III, pp. 84-88; B.C. Chabra and G.S. Gai (eds.), op.cit., Vol. III, No. XXXV, pp.323-332. 84 Ibid, pp. 38-39; Ibid, Vol. III, No. VIII, pp. 244-252.