History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v4.c63.s20.44

v4.c63.s20.44

Outside these settled or half-settled parts of his kingdom, there was a wide and very fluctuating belt of land subject to his power but not owning his sovereignty. It consisted of the adjacent parts of the Mughal empire (Mughlai in Marathi), which formed the happy hunting-ground of his horsemen. In these he levied blackmail (*khandani*, i.e., ransom, in Marathi), as regularly as his army could repeat its annual visit to them. The money paid was popularly called *chauth*, because it amounted to one-fourth of the standard assessment of the land-revenue of a place. The payment of the *chauth* merely saved a place from the unwelcome presence of the Maratha soldiers and civil underlings, but did not impose on Shivaji any corresponding obligation to guard the district from foreign invasion or internal disorder.