The Military System of the Marathas, with a Brief Account of Their Maritime Activities c6.15

c6.15

These letters clearly prove that the Portuguese subjects of Daman used to pay a contribution called *chauth* to the Raja Chauthia as the price of his friendship; and this arrangement had been concluded sometime prior to 1677 with or without the knowledge of the Portuguese Government who were evidently not in a position to stop the depredations and the plundering raids of the Chauthia’s subjects. But as Shivaji had demanded *chauth* from the people of Surat as early as 1664, the pre-Maratha origin of this contribution cannot be satisfactorily established unless it is proved that the mutual arrangement between the villagers of Daman and the Raja Chauthia, mentioned in Antonio Paes de Sande’s letter, was concluded before that date. Fortunately, other Portuguese documents conclusively prove that this was the case.