Page:History of India Vol 2.djvu/151

 LAND REGULATIONS AND REVENUE 121 rent, or " land revenue," amounting to a considerable portion, either of the gross produce or of its cash value. Even the English laws, which, contrary to ancient cus- tom, recognize private property in culturable land, in- sist that the land revenue is the first charge on the soil, and permit the enforcement of the charge by sale of the land free of all incumbrances, in the event of default. The land revenue is still the mainstay of Indian finance. So it must have been in the days of Chandragupta. The details of his system of " settlement," or valuation and assessment of the land, have not been preserved, and it is not known whether a fresh valuation was made annually, or at longer intervals. The normal share of the gross produce taken by the Crown is said to have been one-fourth; but in practice, no doubt, the propor- tion taken varied largely, as it does to this day, and all provinces could not be treated alike. Certain other unspecified dues were also levied. Since the army was a professional force, recruited from the fighting castes, the agricultural population was exempt from military service, and Megasthenes noted with surprise and ad- miration that the husbandmen could pursue their calling in peace, while the professional soldiers of hostile kings engaged in battle. The proper regulation of irrigation is a matter of prime importance in India, and it is much to the credit of Chandragupta that he maintained a special Irriga- tion Department, charged with the duty of measuring the lands and of so regulating the sluices that every one should receive his fair share of the life-giving water.