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SOCIAL LIFE AND EQONOMIO CONDITIONS 183 ! paigts, peacocks, quails, partridges, mallards, o etc., by means of snares that were sold in the markets..
The land was enjoyed by the cultivators by the payment of a tithe to the kings' in the monarchies. Tithe was caloulated as a sharel of the raw produce levied in kind, the amount' varied from 1/6 to 1/12 portion of the produce. It was levied according to the wish of the ruler and was collected at the barn doors 1 or in the
fields by the village syndicate, or headmah : (gâmabhojaka) or by an official (mahāmatta).
The king could dispose of all abandoned and forest lands, as he liked and all ownerless lands were acquired by the crown. The king could remit the tithe to any person. In case of cultivated lands, owners. could sell or dispose of them in any way they liked. · The agricultural produces and industrial goods were sold in markets, inland and foreign. The inland and foreign trades flourished side by side. The export and import of goods were carried on along land-routes and water-routes. Accordingly the merchants and traders were distinguished as thalapathakammikā or those who followed landsroutes, and jalapathakam. mikä or those who followed water-routes.
* Dagha, i, p. 87..
: 1. Jataka, ii, p. 378. ... 18 Jataka, iv, p. 169.. .
* Ibid., i, p. 121.
