History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v5.c81.s3.1

v5.c81.s3.1

Up to the year 1687, the faujdari of Marwar† had been added to the subahdari of Ajmir. But Ajmir was a small province, governed by a third-rate noble with a poor income and small army. Hence, the Ajmir subahdar (Inayet Khan) had not been able to cope with the Rathors with his normal resources. But now Shujaet Khan, in addition to the faujdari of Marwar, held the subahdari of Gujrat, —one of the three great frontier provinces of the Mughal empire and famous in those days as a recruiting ground of brave soldiers (*lashkar-khez*). Shujaet Khan's contingent and income were much larger than those of the Ajmir subahdar, and he also knew how to put them to the best use. He always kept his retainers to their full number and was prompt and quick in his movements. He used to spend six months (sometimes eight) every year in Marwar and the other six in Gujrat. Thus, he succeeded in checking the Rathors when it came to fighting, while he made an understanding with them, paying them one-fourth of the imperial custom duties on all merchandise if they spared the traders on the roads (1688). This was another form of the *chauth*, which a few years afterwards many Mughal officers in the Deccan, conscious of their own helplessness and the hopelessness of succour from the Emperor, were glad to pay to the Maratha roving bands as a yearly blackmail.