INDIA. HISTORY OF records connected with the purgunnah. The other PART V. divisions may also be faintly traced, but the occupaModern traces tions of the respective officers appear to have altogether passed away. of other divi. sions. Emoluments of the District Officers in the time of Manu. Governors of cities. 23 The emoluments of the several provincial officers are clearly specified in the code. The head of a village was to receive as his daily perquisite, the fees of food, drink, fuel, and other articles, which according to the law ought to be presented by the villagers to the Raja. The fees from every village being thus appropriated by its respective head-man, a separate provision had to be made for the lords of many villages. The lord of ten villages was to receive the produce of two ploughed lands; the lord of twenty villages was to receive the produce of ten ploughed lands; but why the one should receive five times as much as the other is somewhat unintelligible. The lord of a hundred villages was to receive the entire produce of one village; and the lord of a thousand villages was to receive the produce of one large town.24 Besides these lords of villages, or districts, a Governor was to be appointed in every city or 23 Elphinstone's History of India. The head-man of a village is called Patel in the Dekhan, and in the centre and west of Hindústan; Mandel in Bengal; and Mokaddam in many other places, especially where there are, or have lately been, hereditary village landholders. The accountant is called Patwari in Hindústan; Kulkarni and Karnam in the Dekhan and south of India; and Tallati in Guzerat. The watchman is called Pasban, Gorayet, Peik, Douraha, etc., in Hindútan; Mhar in the Dekhan; Tillari in the south of India; Paggi in Guzerat. The lord of ten or twenty villages was called Naikwari, Tarref, etc. The lord of a hundred villages, or Purgunnah, is called Desmuk or Desai in the Dekhan, and his registrar is called Despandi; in the north of India they are called Choudris and Canongos. The lords of a thousand villages were called Sirdesmuks in the Dekhan, and their provinces are called Sirkars. Their hereditary registrars are still to be found under the name of Sir Despandis. See Elphinstone's Appendix. 21 Manu, vii. 118, 119. INDIA. PART V. capital, with high rank and authority, for the HISTORY OF supervision of the provincial administration, and especially to watch the proceedings of the lords and villages. This supervision appears to have been very necessary. According to the code, the servants of the Raja who were appointed to guard the villages, were generally knaves, who seized what belonged to other men; and it was suggested that the Raja should confiscate the property of such knaves, and banish them from the realm.25 ation in return traders. The system of taxation is so clearly indicated System of taxin the code, that it would appear to have been for protection. universally understood and recognized by the entire community. The principle is laid down in the first instance, that the taxes should be so adjusted that whilst merchants and others should gain a fair profit, the Raja should receive a just compensation for the protection which he afforded to the whole community. Accordingly, in levying a tax upon Tax upon trades, the Raja was to consider not only the prime cost of the goods and the prices at which they are sold, but also the cost of conveyance and travelling, the expense of subsistence, the outlay necessary for insuring the security of goods, and the net profits which remained after all these charges had been defrayed. In this manner the Raja was to draw an annual revenue from his dominions by little and little; just as the leech, the bee, and the sucking calf take in their natural food. Here a new idea is expressed, which is unknown to modern taxation. The assessment was made not on the incomes of the Assessment on ycarly savings. people; but on what might be regarded as their 25 Manu, vii. 121–124. PART V. HISTORY OF yearly savings. Thus the Raja was to take oneINDIA. fiftieth of all the cattle, gems, and gold and silver, which his subjects added every year to their capital stock; a law which not only furnished a convenient pretext for oppression and confiscation, but probably originated those habits of hoarding wealth in concealment, which have characterized the people for ages, but which are now fast disappearing from all parts of the country under British rule. As Land revenue. regards land revenue, the Raja was to take onesixth, one-eighth, or one-twelfth of the grain pro duce, according to the difference of soil. He was Raja's share of also to take one-sixth of the clear annual increase of manufactures. trees, flesh-meat, honey, ghee, perfumes, medicinal products and Tax on petty traders and artisans. substances, liquids, flowers, roots, fruit, gathered leaves, potherbs, grass, earthen pots, articles made of leather and cane, and all things made of stone. The meaner inhabitants of the Raj, who lived by petty traffic, were only to be required to pay a mere trifle to the Raja as an annual tax; whilst those who supported themselves by labour, such as low handicraftsmen, artificers, and others, were required to give one day's labour every month to the Raja. Exemption of But even though the Raja might be dying of want, he was never to receive any tax from a Bráhman who was learned in the Veda.26 Brahmans. Paramount duty of a Raja to jects. But whilst the right of the Raja to levy taxes protect his sub- is duly maintained, the corresponding duty of protection on his part is asserted with a persistency which seems to intimate that it was frequently neglected. "The Raja," says Manu, "who takes a sixth part of the 26 Manu, vii. 127–138. INDIA. grain, together with the market duties and tolls, and the HISTORY OF small daily presents for his household, and the fines for offenders, and yet fails to protect his subjects, the same will fall after death into a region of horror. By protecting his people a Raja obtains a sixth part of all their religious merits; but by failing to protect them he will be visited by a sixth part of all their iniquities."27 tration of The administration of justice, which finds ex- 3rd, Adminis pression in the code of Manu, seems to be little justice. more than a Brahmanizing of the old patriarchal system, in which the Raja dispensed justice according to his own rude and primitive notions of right and wrong. A scheme is laid down by which the Raja may administer justice, or employ a deputy who is a Bráhman; but in the former case he is to be guided by the interpretations of the Bráhmans. The laws themselves refer to trust property, property which has no owner, lost property, treasure trove, and stolen goods; also to debts, money lending, sureties, deposits, false testimony, oaths, and ordeals; and finally, to damage to cattle, neglect of lands, and inheritance in the case of undivided and divided families. These may now be indicated in due order. The administration of justice by a Raja, assisted Brahmanizing by Bráhmans, is thus laid down in the code: "A Raja," says Manu, "should enter his Court of Justice with a grave and composed demeanour, and be accompanied by Bráhmans and Counsellors capable of advising him. There he should take his seat in suitable attire, with his mind attentively fixed, and should decide cases according to the law. Should he desire it, a Brahman who of the old patriarchal system. 27 Manu, viii. 302-311. PART V. HISTORY OF is not a sacrificial priest, may interpret the law to him; but INDIA. if a Raja looks stupidly on whilst cases are being decided by a Súdra, his Raj will be troubled like a cow who is Court of Brah sinking in deep mire. When the Raja cannot preside in person, he should appoint a Bráhman of eminent learning to be Chief Judge, accompanied by three Brahmans to sit as Assessors; and this assembly is called the Court of Brahma with four faces."28 ma with four faces. "The Raja, or the Chief Judge appointed by the Raja, should commence proceedings by doing reverence to the deities who guard the world, and then enter on the trial of causes. He should understand what is expedient or inexpedient, but he should consider only what is law or not law; and in this spirit he should examine all disputes between parties in the order of their several castes. He should see through the thoughts of men by their voice, colour, countenance, limbs, eyes, and action; for the internal workings of the mind are to be discovered from the limbs, the look, the motion of the body, the gesticulation, the speech, and the changes of the eye and face."29 The more important precepts of Manu as regards property are as follows: Property should be held in trust by the Raja, when it belongs to a Brahmachári or an infant, until the Brahmachári has ceased his studentship, or until the infant has attained his sixteenth year. In like manner, property must be held in trust by the Raja when it belongs to a barren woman, or to a woman without sons, or to women without kindred, or to women whose husbands are in distant places, or to widows who are true to their lords, or to women who are afflicted with sickness. Such kinsmen as appropriate the property of women who are yet living should be punished by a just Raja with the severity due to thieves." 30 Property for which no owner appears may be detained 28 Manu, viii. 1—-11; 20-22. 29 Manu, viii. 23-26. 30 Manu, viii. 27-29. |
