Here is a link to an excerpt from The Cambridge Economic History of India[Edited by Tapan Raychaudhuri, Irfan Habib]
Page 57 onwards is particularly interesting. It talks about the establishment of a new aristocracy in the 14th century; the chaudharies being the chieftains of the local people and foremost representatives of this new class. Indeed, the title predates the Mughal Empire.
Link: birring.net/tej/files/CBO9781139054515A010.pdf