India history and geography

Source: What is India: Inscriptions of the Śilāhāras

Kumāragadyāṇa refers to tax levied on gold-coins, and was a major source of income during the rule of the Śilāhāra dynasty (r. 765-1215 A.D.).—Kumāragadyāṇa was levied on every village in Koṅkaṇ as it was in the kingdom of the Gāhaḍavālas in North India. This term has been explained variously.

1) Some take it to mean a tax on gold coins known as kumāragadyāṇas. Gadyāṇa as a gold coins is well-known. Gadyāṇa as a gold coins is well-known. According to the Līlāvatī, its standard weight was 48 rattis or 87.84 grains. Kittel found , in Bellāri and occasionally in Mysore, gold coins called gadyāṇas of the weight of a ruvvi or a farthing. But no coins named kumāra-gadyāṇas are known.

2) Another explanation of the term kumāragadyāṇa is that it was the tax of a gadyāṇa required to be paid as a nazarāṇā on the birth of a prince (kumāra) to the ruling king. But such a nazarāṇā would be leviable on rare occasions and, therefore, the income from it would be insignificant. There is, therefore, no point in specially mentioning it in land-grants.

3) A third interpretation proposed is that the kumāra-gadyāṇa was a tax imposed on what is known as kumrī cultivation which is in vogue in some places such as hill areas and forest tracts. But this explanation also is not plausible; for the tax was levied both in North and South India and on all villages whether they lay in the hilly and forest tracts or not.

While the other taxes were paid to the rājan (king) for the maintenance of law and order and for the execution of other royal duties, this tax (kumāra-gadyāṇa) was levied and paid in the name of the Crown-prince.

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Indian Epigraphical Glossary

Kumāra-gadyāṇa.—(IE 8-5; EI 4; HRS), probably, a tax of one gadyāṇa (i. e. the coin of that name) payable on the occasion of a prince's birth. See kumāra-gadiāṇaka, komarina- gadyāṇa, etc. Cf. Tamil kumara-kaccāṇam (EI 21), supposed to be a tax payable in coin for the maintenance of the temple of Kumāra or Subrahmaṇya (SITI). But kumāra-gadyāṇa is found in the records of the Gāhaḍavālas of Vārāṇasī, in whose dominions the god in question was not as popular as in the South. Note: kumāra-gadyāṇa is defined in the “Indian epigraphical glossary” as it can be found on ancient inscriptions commonly written in Sanskrit, Prakrit or Dravidian languages.

context information

The history of India traces the identification of countries, villages, towns and other regions of India, as well as mythology, zoology, royal dynasties, rulers, tribes, local festivities and traditions and regional languages. Ancient India enjoyed religious freedom and encourages the path of Dharma, a concept common to Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism.

See also (Relevant definitions)

Partial matches: Gadyana, Kumara.

Full-text: Komarina-gadyana, Kumara-gadianaka, Kumara-kaccanam, Vatodariya.

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