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There is little information about the method and nature of taxation before the time of Aladdin kalji. There is no uniformity in imposing taxes all over the periods. In many cases taxes were collected through tax farmers. The first references to imposition of taxes were provided by Barani (1357). He informed us that Aladdin khalji imposed three types of taxes. They are land tax, ghari and charai. Ghari was a tax of house. In western Rajasthan a tax commonly known as jhumpis was levied on pastoral communities. The Levi was 1/40^th of a rupee per jhumpi. In Maharashtra it was known as ghartaka.

Charai:-Alauddin khalji imposed a tax called charai on milk cows. It continued till firuz shah’s reign who forbade collection both ghari and charai. In Maharashtra it was customary to pay ½ a seer of butter and the owner of flock of sheep gave 1 sheep to the watandar on yearly basis. vijayanagar ruler collected a separate goat tax called adatere.

Pasture-taxes: taxes were also paid for the use of pastural lands. In western Rajasthan it was known as ghasmari, pancharai and karabghas. The tax levied on livestock feeding on grass was known as ghasmari, while pancharai was imposed on animals feeding on leaves. It was collected from camel owners.

Irrigational tax: firuz established a vast network of canals in his empire. The villages which were served by canals had to pay haqq-i-shurb (water tax). It amounted to 1/10^th of the produce. Mal was a kind of irrigation tax imposed on Persian wheel in western Rajasthan it amounted to less than 5 percent of the total land revenue. The rate of imposition was highest in khalisa territories than in the pattas.

Sardeshmukhi: this tax was levied and collected by shibaji in his own dominion, collected swaraj on the basis of his claim as the sardeshmukh of the dominion. Thus it was claimed by shibaji as a matter of right unlike chauth it was 10 percent of the total revenue realized. Sardeshmukhi was fixed along with Jama bandi.

Chauth: chauth was another tax levied by shibaji. But the koli Rajas were collecting chauth from the Portuguese much before shivaji levied it.it was ,evied on mughal terrirories also which were under the indirect control of the Marathas.it was a tax amounting to 1/4^th of the revenue realized by the Maratha state.

Peshkush: all zamindars and the tributary chiefs were liable to pay peshkush as a mark of submission. The revenues collected went directly to the imperial treasury. In the deccan we have seen that official had to pay a price for retaining their posts. In Hyderabad they had to shed off 7 and half year income to the treasury. In Orissa areas under the native princes who surrendered paid a fixed annual peshkash known as garhjats.

Jiziya: jiziya as a tax was levied as early as mohammad bin quasim’s time. Prior to firuz’s reign jiziya formed part of kharaj and was commonly known as kharaj-o-jiziya. Firuz shah tughlug introduced a poll ta side by side kharaj. Thus from firuz’s reign onwards the two were assessed separately and not together. Jizia was first abolished by Akbar in 1564 and finally in 1579. From first class it was extracted at the rate of 48 dirham’s; on second 24 and on the third 12 dirham’s. After mughal occupation of Golconda in 1687 Aurangzeb imposed this tax in the Deccan.

Salt tax: it was imposed by shivaji in 1671 at the rate of 12 rukas per maund. Nainsi records the state’s income for pachpadra pits alone ( western rajastan) at 10,000 duganis/Rs250. Taxes to the meet the expenditure of the army were varied type like Faujbad,ghasadana,kapur paik,gadcavani, karsai, mohimpatti, vartaria, padai-kanikkai etc.

On the occasion of festival like holy, rakshabandhan, diwali etc separate taxes were paid.

Marriage tax: taxes were also collected for getting married. It was ¼ rupee in maharastra called varadtaka or lagnataka. In Vijayanagara period pendli-sunka or maduveyasunka was the tax realized at the time of marriage.