land grants made to officers for their
bhagika and bhogapatika, and administrative units of the Gupta period
suggest that land revenues were granted for remunerating government
services.
Beginning of Subinfeudation
Gupta grants from Bengal and eastern India do not authorise the beneficiary
to alienate or grant his rents or lands to others. But the Indore grant of
Skandagupta in central India authorises the grantee to enjoy the land,
cultivate it and get it cultivated, so long as he observes the conditions of the
grant. This leaves clear scope for creating tenants on the donated land and
this provides perhaps the earliest epigraphic evidence of subinfeudation
which continued in the western part of central India in the fifth century AD
and which characterises the grants of the Valabhi rulers in the sixth and
seventh centuries AD.
List of Different Kinds of Taxes
Tax Meaning and Nature
Bhaga King’s customary share of the produce normally
amounting to one-sixth of the produce, paid by all
cultivators.
Bhoga Periodic supplies of fruits, firewood, flowers etc. which
the villagers had to furnish to the king.
Kara A periodic tax levied on the villagers. It does not appear to
be a part of the regular annual land tax, but a special tax
which might be remitted by conscientious kings.
Bali Originally it was a voluntary offering by the people to the
king, but later became compulsory. During the Gupta
period, it seems to have been an additional oppressive tax.
Udianga It could be either a sort of police tax for the maintenance
of police stations or a water tax. Hence it was also an extra
tax on the people.
Uparikara There is no unanimity about its meaning and nature, but it
was also an extra tax levied on all subjects.