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Land-Ownership and Grants : In the section on Administration, it has been already stated how the king collected tax from the land tillers for maintaining the boundaries of the farms (mera) 2. Sometimes villages were donated to Brahmin families who enjoyed the revenue of the village and are referred to as Bhoiga ³. Private donation of land to Brahmins has also been referred to 4. Wages and Earnings : The example of Viniyaka serving in the house of a trader has already been referred to in connection with hired labour. He was given clothes and shelter and was treated as a member of the family 5. Persons who worked as unskilled labour like cutting wood and providing fuel 1. Vasudevahindi by Dharmadasa, II.194b. 2. Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 91. 3. Ibid., 182. 4. Ibid., 30. 5. Ibid., 51.

401 had a very low income. The contrast is shown by the example of a trader who was skilled in his art. A wood cutter at the end of the day may get, it is said, at the most a kahavana, while a trader with his skill and less physical labour gathers enormous wealth ¹. The personnel in royal service was, it seems, most well placed, next to the traders. An instance of a door-keeper can be cited in this connection. Gamgarakkhiya, who was the son of such a door-keeper at the palace, could afford to squander away money at the house of a courtezan continuously for twelve years at the rate of eight hundred dinaras a day 21 Earnings of a courtezan : Another class of affluent business people was that of the courtezans. The amount of fees received, as given in the Vasudevahindi is too fabulous to be believed 3. Apart from Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa 1. ibid., 268. 2. Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 289. 3. That the amount of one thousand as the fees of a courtezan was something like a convention in the literature can be made out from examples in the Jaina Canonical literature (See Jain, op. cit., p. 164), Jatakas (See Mehta, op. cit., pp. 294-96) and the Silappadikaram (See trans. by Dikshitar, V.R.R., p. 105). the

402 the example of a courtezan given above, there are other instances given in the Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa which state the fees of the courtezans being five hundred (addhasahassa) 1, or one thousand and eight (sahassam atthahiyam) 2 coins for a night. Carudatta is said to have squandered away sixteen crores (solasa kodio) during his stay for twelve years in the house of a courtezan³. The figures might be imaginery, but it can be said that the courtezans could amass ample wealth. Such a view becomes fair in the light of the observation made by the author of the Vasudevahindi by Dharmadasa in connection with the income of musicians and persons playing on instrumental music (gamdhavva talayaradayo). He says that these people acquire wealth in an easy manner (suhovanatavibhava) and hence generally squander it away (pariccagasala) 4. Usury : The setthis, being rich, also practised usury. After the renunciation of Setthi Bhanu, it is related in the Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, Carudatta's mother did not know how much of money was invested in deposits (nihanapautta) and how much 1. Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 29. 2. Ibid., 144. 3. Ibid. 4. Vasudevahindi by Dharmadasa, II.177b.

403 loaned on interest (vaddhipautta) 1. In other context in the Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, a cheating Setthi has been described to be maintaining false accounts of income and expenditure (aya-vvaya-pariyatti) 2. This remark is possibly in connection with the loans given to others by him.