Question

Give an account of various types of taxes as applicable in chola empire.

Answer 1

Answer:

Under the Chola dynasty, there were around 400 different types of taxes, from which vetti (forced labour), and kadamai (land revenue) were the most common. The reasons of collecting taxes were; to fulfil the finance of the king's establishments, to build temples and forts, and to fight wars.

Answer 2

Land revenue & trade tax were the main source of income. The reasons of collecting taxes were; to fulfil the finance of the king's establishments, to build temples and forts, and to fight wars.

Explanation:

• There were approximately 400 tax types during the Chola Dynasty, the most common being ""vetti (forced labour) and "Kadamai" (land revenue). Taxes were levied on the thatching of the property, use of a ladder to scale palm trees, cess on family property succession, among others
• During the Chola period, several types of professions were taxed. Levy taxation on the skilled artists like  gold-smiths, black-smiths, stone cutters, carpenters, etc were quite common in the Chola period. In Tondaimandalam as well as Cholamandalam a tax levied on a gold-smith known as  "tattar-pattam," was very common.
• A toll was levied on the commodities passing highways ('peruvazhi"). This fee was usually referred to as "ulku and sungam". In some areas of Cholamandalam, a tax on products"imported & exported" from the nation was also levied. The tax was also imposed on merchants,  goods, & shops. Traders were assessed for the duty known as "vanikar-perkadamai".
• The "cetirai" is levied on  foreign traders (Arabs mostly) & Chetty merchants. The duties of these merchants on the merchant guilds were individually and sometimes jointly assessed. There is also the word "ankadi-kuli," which refers to the levy in the shop and literally means the rent in the shop. Duty on goods sold in the shops were also levied.
• "Kollar-ulai-pattam" was a black-smith levy imposed in the Chola state. A loom tax for the looms used by the weaver was another significant  tax levied on weavers known as "tari-irais". The shepherds were the subject to tax known as "itaip-pattam". There was also a tax payment in oil presses known as "cekkiraip-pattam". The washermen payed tax to the state of Cholas  which was known as "vannak-kuli".
• In addition, some other important taxes were levied on different categories of people on the basis of their occupation;

1. Ilaikkanam (tax on betel nut cultivator)
2. Ilamputchi (tax on toddy droppers)
3. Kusakkaanam (tax on potter)
4. Nilanirpattam (taxes for using water from tank)
5. Odakkudi (tax on boatman)
6. Porvari (war tax)
7. Sangam (export and import taxes)
8. Sekkirai (tax on oil-mongers)
9. Tarigurai (tax on weavers)
10. Vannarapparai (tax on dhobi)