The Military System of the Marathas, with a Brief Account of Their Maritime Activities c6.42

c6.42

The *chauth* in Shivaji’s time was, therefore, a military contribution paid by the defenceless subjects of enemy kingdoms and territories, for the protection of their lives and property from the invading Maratha army, which held them completely at its mercy. Shivaji did not claim it as a hereditary pension, to which he was legally entitled, nor did he base his claim on an imperial *farman*; his claim rested on a basis of might, and in cases where he failed to enforce his demand, he could not resort to the issue of a royal letter patent for the prosecution of his claim, as the Chauthia had done. Sambhaji and Rajaram in turn followed in the footsteps of their father, and the character of *chauth* remained unaltered and unaffected. During the twenty years of their reign the contribution, while continuing to bear the name of its Ramnagar prototype, did not properly conform to the characteristics of that impost, and it was not until the reign of their successor, Shahu, that a reversion to the ancestral type occurred.