Bali
Topic: The Vedic Age · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Bali was an offering or tribute given to the chief in early Vedic times. In the Ṛigvedic period it was mostly voluntary, a gift of cattle, grain or other goods from the people or from defeated groups. As kings grew more powerful in the later Vedic period, bali became a regular, compulsory tax. The change shows how a clan chief slowly turned into a ruler of a territorial state.
Example
Emperor Aśhoka's Lumbinī pillar inscription (3rd century BCE) says the village of Lumbinī, the Buddha's birthplace, was freed from bali. It also says the village had to pay only one-eighth of its produce. By then bali had clearly become a formal tax.
Don't confuse with
- Bhāga: the king's share of the harvest, usually one-sixth. It was a fixed land tax. Bali began as a looser gift and only later turned into a regular due.