In this essay, I attempt to build a typology of how warfare was financed in ancient India. During the period discussed in this article (1500 BCE–800 CE), most of the polities of the subcontinent followed continental strategy. Hence, they focused on maintaining armies rather than navies. Loot and plunder were adequate for maintaining irregular forces and mercenaries temporarily. Some polities which depended on taxing overseas commerce and gathering tributes proved to be rickety. For maintaining a standing disciplined, trained and loyal army, a regular income in cash from taxation of settled agriculture with the aid of a centralised hierarchical bureaucracy was necessary.

在这篇文章中，我试图建立一个关于古代印度如何资助战争的类型学。在本文讨论的时期（公元前 1500 年至公元 800 年），次大陆的大多数政体都遵循大陆战略。因此，他们专注于维护军队而不是海军。战利品和掠夺足以暂时维持非正规部队和雇佣军。一些依靠对海外商业征税和收集贡品的政体被证明是摇摇欲坠的。为了维持一支纪律严明、训练有素、忠诚的军队，在集中的等级官僚机构的帮助下，有必要从定居农业的税收中获得稳定的现金收入。