Maratha Chauth Tax

Timeline

1. 1650–1674Western Deccan highlands · DeccanOn the Bijapur and Mughal frontiers, Shivaji transformed the proceeds of raids into a predictable one-quarter revenue share, combining it with sardeshmukhi to fund light cavalry and the fort system, reducing reliance on one-off plunder.
2. 1674–1680Raigad · MaharashtraAfter Shivaji's coronation as Chhatrapati at Raigad in 1674, chauth ran alongside land tax in the core: levied by land within Swarajya, while on the periphery chauth was exchanged for an end to raids. Raids into Khandesh pushed the system to the Mughal gateway of the northern Deccan.
3. 1719–1761Six Deccan provinces · DeccanIn 1719 the Mughal court granted Chhatrapati Shahu rights to chauth and sardeshmukhi in the six Deccan provinces in exchange for providing troops. Revenue was further divided into shares such as babti and mokasa, sustaining the armies of the various sardars and making chauth the fiscal engine of Maratha confederacy expansion.
4. 1803–1818Pune · MaharashtraAfter the Second and Third Anglo-Maratha Wars, the Maratha Confederacy disintegrated, the British East India Company took over the revenues of the states, and chauth and sardeshmukhi as external levies of an independent polity came to an end.