The Military System of the Marathas, with a Brief Account of Their Maritime Activities c6.21
The Military System of the Marathas, with a Brief Account of Their Maritime Activities c6.21
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c6.21
In a letter to His Majesty the King of Portugal, dated 11 September 1638, the Viceroy, Pedro da Silva, defined *chauth*, which was paid by the inhabitants of Daman to the Raja of Sarceta, as ‘a kind of impost which obliges the said King not to harbour robbers in his dominions and to refrain from capturing men and cattle belonging to the farmers of the province of Daman.’⁵ The royal *alvara* or letter patent of 1604 states that the King has been informed that the captains of Daman do not treat the King Chauthia fairly, but pay his *chauth* in the form of overpriced old horses and other similar things. The King forbids this unfair practice on pain of severe penalties, and orders all persons concerned to pay *chauth* in cash.⁶