crown’s share of produce which is indicated by melvaram in Tamil, nor with
bhoga. Since the term upari means ‘upon’ or ‘extra’, it has been explained as
an extra cess. The interpretation of the term, however, remains inconclusive.
    The term udranga, which appears along with uparikara, is also difficult
to explain. Two explanations of this term are noteworthy. If it is the same as
dranga which according to the Rajatarangini is a watch station; it can be
taken as a sort of police tax, levied on the district for the maintenance of the
local police station. It might also be suggested that it is an anamolous
derivative of the Sanskrit word udaka, and in that case it may be a water tax.
However, in view of the fact that it is recorded along with other normal royal
dues like uparikara, udranga also may have been a levy over and above the
usual grain share.
    There are some other fiscal terms such as ditya, meya and dhanya. The
word ditya means exempt from all dues, forced labour and making gifts.
Accordingly ditya did not denote any particular tax, and many taxes may
have been included in it.
    The term meya also appears in some of the inscriptions from eastern and
central India. It has been explained as the taxes, including the share of the
produce and the cash money paid in lieu of the produce in proper time. The
word meya may also be taken to be a substitute for the general land tax
known as bhaga.
    The term dhanya also appears to have denoted the general land tax. The
Kurud plates (5th century AD) mention dhanya with bhoga and bhaga. It may
be said that dhanya was also an unspecified tax.
    Thus, in the Gupta period several new taxes, such as udranga and
uparikara appear along with bhogabhaga, dhanya and hiranya. In addition to
these there may have been other taxes in the inscriptions as we get the word
adi (meaning et cetera). These terms continue in the post-Gupta period in
almost all parts of northern India, though we find variations in the list of
taxes.
Fiscal Units
The various territorial divisions along with a host of officers mentioned in the
land grants from all parts of northern India from AD 400 to 700 indicate an