Why the rulers collect taxes?what they …

As the rulers of the mahajanapadas were (a) building huge forts (b) maintaining big armies, they needed more resources. And they needed officials to collect these. So, instead of depending on occasional gifts brought by people, as in the case of the raja of the janapadas, they started collecting regular taxes.

• Taxes on crops were the most important. This was because most people were farmers. Usually, the tax was fixed at 1/6th of what was produced. This was known as bhaga or a share.
• There were taxes on crafts persons as well. These could have been in the form of labour. For example, a weaver or a smith may have had to work for a day every month for the king.
• Herders were also expected to pay taxes in the form of animals and animal produce.
• There were also taxes on goods that were bought and sold, through trade.
• And hunters and gatherers also had to provide forest produce to the raja.