The Military System of the Marathas, with a Brief Account of Their Maritime Activities c6.60

c6.60

While the Marathas exacted *chauth* on an extensive scale, the practice was not confined to them alone. According to Lal Kavi, the author of *Chhatra Prakash*, ‘Raja Chumput levied the chouth from all the neighbouring Umeers and Soobahders, who hastened to transmit it to his camp in order to avert the impending calamity. On receiving that tribute from every contiguous country, province and city, he discontinued hostilities, and granted them peace and protection.’¹ When Chhatrasal resolved to wage war against the Emperor, he decided, as Lal tells us, to levy *chauth* on the Emperor’s subjects. ‘Thus at the head of a powerful army, I shall wage war, levy contributions, and grant no respite till the enemy consents to pay the chouth. He may then remain unmolested.’ This was the plan disclosed by Chhatrasal to his brother Ratan Shah.² The Sikhs in the cis-Sutlej provinces also maintained themselves at the expense of their less warlike neighbours, and the reports of Maratha envoys at the court of Delhi show that Mahadaji Sindhia scarcely knew how to shield the imperial districts from their depredations. They demanded a contribution called *rakhi* which formed a proportion of the revenue of the district. At first it was two annas in the Rupee or 12½ per cent. of the entire revenue; but with the growth of their power their demand increased, and they sometimes demanded as much as eight annas in the Rupee or 50 per cent. of the revenue. In one letter we read that the Sikhs also claimed *chauth* from their victims.³