Indian Antiquary Vol 34

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 56

THE INDIA F ASTIQUERY.
[MANCA, 1905.
In the case of white garments, sális, silk-garments, Ardenie oxide, asafoetida, metals, pigmonte, minerals, sandal of various kinds, raw produce of various kinds, wines and other intoxicating liqaida, ivory, skins, woollen cloths, and carpets, the toll shall be from one tenth to one-fifteenth their value.
In the case of coloured garments, cotton threads, erndal,cades, medicines, timber, bamboos, clothing made of fibre, leather, earthcn. pots, grains, oils salts, alkalies, intoxicante of inferior quality and cooked rice, the toll shall be from one-twentieth to one-twenty-fifth their value.
Note. From the above rules and regulations, it is elear that tolls on commodities were levied only when they were brought for sale and that toll was paid only when there was actual sale. Caltivators and manufacturers could, therefore, carry their commodities from the places of production to their stores or granaries without paying any toll on them. This would naturally lead to emuggling and people would be clever enough to purchase commodities far outside the forts and bring them as their own and not intended for sale. To ward off this evil, the ancient legislators forebade, on penalty of a heavy fine, the sale of commodities in the places where they were manufactured,
Sale of commodities shall not be carried on in the places where they had been grown or manafactured: Purohase of minerals and other commodities from mines shall be punishable with a fine of 603 paņas. Persons pnrohasing flowers and fruits in gardens shall pay a fine of 50 panas. Persona purchasing vegetables in vegetable gardens shall pay a fine of 100 panas. Purchase of grains in the fields where they are grown shall be punishable with a fine of
150 panas.
Apart from payments near the Toll-gate of tolls and gate-dues on all kinds of trafio brought for sale, all kinds of vegetable produce that sock admission into the forts, whether for sale or not, shall pay i pana and a quarter as atyaya, fine for unknown guilt.
8. Tolls on commodities shah generally be determined by taking into consideration whether the commodities are old or fresh and where and how the commodities have been manufactured.
(D) Weights and Measuresi
Notes. Coming next to weights and measures, we can easily imagine from the following rules and regukutions that the revenue which Indian kings of yore realised from Government monopoly of weights and measures 11 could not be less than the revenue derived from tolls. Tradors were forbidden, on penalty of a beavy fine, to have their own weights and measures, whether they might be true or false in the sense of their being or not being equal to those of Government manufacture. This is not all. Traders were required, on penalty of a fine to have their weights and measures stamped, afresh every day on payment of a fixed charge for stamping.
11 [All this shows that there was really hardly any money in circulation; whore this was or is the case, the only way of making commercial profit or of controlling revenue is to control the weights in use, and such control always exists whero commerce is carried om in kind, even by mrages. The merchant bas his "weight in" and "weight out," the difference being his profit. The king has his "royal weight" differing from the merchants' weight, the difference is his revende. It is all quite understood by those who nee it and sounds much worse than it is in practice. With a goneral currency in coin the processes are called "differeuce in buying and sehing price!" and "tax." - ED.]