4. What was the difference between Chauth and Sardeshmukhi?
5. Elucidate the mtuiling of censorship.
Answers
Answer:
Chauth and Sardeshmukhi were two types of taxes collected in South India, particularly Maratha Empire during medieval times. These two taxes became important sources of revenue for Maratha administration. However, Chauth and Sardeshmukhi were neither introduced by Marathas nor were original sources of revenue for them.
Explanation:
Background
In 1664 and 1670, Shivaji had organized two plundering raids on Surat, which was a part of Mughal territory. These plunders led to origin of an unconventional source of revenue called “Mulkgiri” for Marathas. Mulkgiri is an Arabic term made from Mulk (country) and griftan (take), signifying a plundering raid on foreign lands. The examples of Mulkgiri were first set in India by Muslim invaders such as Muhammad bin Qasim, Mahmud Ghazni, Muhammad Ghori, Alauddin Khalji etc. For Marathas, this was the raid money from non-Maratha lands.