Maratha Empire

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Maratha Empire Maratha Confederacy Marāṭhā Sāmrājya
1674–1818
Flag Royal Seal of Shivaji I
Motto: "हर हर महादेव" "Har Har Mahadev" (English: "Praises to Mahadev (Shiva)")
The Maratha Confederacy in 1760, near its peak (Yellow)
Status	Empire (Early) Confederacy (Late)
Capital	Raigad Jinji[1] Satara Pune
Official languages	Marathi (court language, literature) Sanskrit (religious) Spoken languages: Other South Asian languages
Religion	State religion: Hinduism Minority: Pratap Singh
Peshwa
• 1674–1683 (first)	Moropant Pingle
• 1803–1818 (last)	Baji Rao II
• 1858–1859	Nana Saheb (claimed titular)
Legislature	Maratha-Mysore Wars	1763–1799
• Anglo-Maratha Wars	1775–1819
• Dissolution of the Maratha Confederacy	1818
Area
1760[2]	2,500,000 km2 (970,000 sq mi)
Currency	Rupee, Paisa, Mohur, Shivrai, Hon
Preceded by Succeeded by Mughal Empire Bijapur Sultanate Company rule in India Satara state Sikh Empire
Today part of	India Pakistan

The Maratha Empire (

A large portion of the Maratha empire was coastline, which had been secured by the potent Maratha Navy under commanders such as Kanhoji Angre. He successfully kept foreign naval ships at bay, particularly those of the Portuguese and British.^[24] Securing the coastal areas and building land-based fortifications were crucial aspects of the Maratha's defensive strategy and regional military history.^{[citation needed]}

Nomenclature

The Maratha Empire is also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy. The historian Barbara Ramusack says that the former is a designation preferred by Indian nationalists, while the latter was used by British historians. She notes, "neither term is fully accurate since one implies a substantial degree of centralisation and the other signifies some surrender of power to a central government and a longstanding core of political administrators".^[25]

Although at present, the word Maratha refers to a particular caste of warriors and peasants, in the past the word has been used to describe all Marathi people.^[26][27]

History

Shivaji and his descendants

The Maratha dominion under him comprised about 4.1% of the subcontinent, but it was spread over large tracts. At the time of his death,[12] it was reinforced with about 300 forts, and defended by about 40,000 cavalries, and 50,000 soldiers, as well as naval establishments along the west coast. Over time, the kingdom would increase in size and heterogeneity;^[29] by the time of his grandson's rule, and later under the Peshwas in the early 18th century, it was a full-fledged empire.^[30]

Shivaji had two sons:

In early 1689, Sambhaji called his commanders for a strategic meeting at Sangameshwar to consider an onslaught on the Mughal forces. In a meticulously planned operation, Ganoji and Aurangzeb's commander, Mukarrab Khan, attacked Sangameshwar when Sambhaji was accompanied by just a few men. Sambhaji was ambushed and captured by the Mughal troops on 1 February 1689. He and his advisor, Kavi Kalash, were taken to Bahadurgad by the imperial army, where they were executed by the Mughals on 21 March 1689.^[33] Aurangzeb had charged Sambhaji with attacks by Maratha forces on Burhanpur.^[34]

Upon Sambhaji's death, his half-brother Rajaram ascended the throne. The Mughal siege of Raigad continued, and he had to flee to Vishalgad and then to Gingee for safety. From there, the Marathas raided Mughal territory, and many forts were recaptured by Maratha commanders such as Santaji Ghorpade, Dhanaji Jadhav, Parshuram Pant Pratinidhi, Shankaraji Narayan Sacheev and Melgiri Pandit. In 1697, Rajaram offered a truce but this was rejected by Aurangzeb. Rajaram died in 1700 at Sinhagad. His widow, Tarabai, assumed control in the name of her son, Ramaraja (Shivaji II).^{[35][page needed]}

After Aurangzeb died in 1707, Shahu, the son of Sambhaji (and grandson of Shivaji), was released by Bahadur Shah I, the new Mughal emperor. However, his mother was kept a hostage of the Mughals to ensure that Shahu adhered to the release conditions. Upon release, Shahu immediately claimed the Maratha throne and challenged his aunt Tarabai and her son. The spluttering Mughal-Maratha war became a three-cornered affair. This resulted in two rival seats of government being set up in 1707 at Satara and Kolhapur by Shahu and Tarabai respectively. Shahu appointed Balaji Vishwanath as his Peshwa.^[36] The Peshwa was instrumental in securing Mughal recognition of Shahu as the rightful heir of Shivaji and the Chhatrapati of the Marathas.^[36] Balaji also gained the release of Shahu's mother, Yesubai, from Mughal captivity in 1719.^[37]

During Shahu's reign,

Shaniwar Wada palace fort in Pune, it was the seat of the Peshwa rulers of the Maratha Empire until 1818.

Shahu appointed

Just prior to the battle of Panipat in 1761, the Marathas looted "Diwan-i-Khas" or Hall of Private Audiences in the Red Fort of Delhi, which was the place where the Mughal emperors used to receive courtiers and state guests, in one of their expeditions to Delhi.

The Marathas who were hard pressed for money stripped the ceiling of Diwan-i-Khas of its silver and looted the shrines dedicated to Muslim maulanas.^[55]

During the Maratha invasion of Rohilkhand in the 1750s

The Marathas defeated the Rohillas, forced them to seek shelter in hills and ransacked their country in such a manner that the Rohillas dreaded the Marathas and hated them ever afterwards.^[55]

In 1760, the Marathas under

Delhi had been reduced to ashes many times due to previous invasions, and there was an acute shortage of supplies in the Maratha camp. Bhau ordered the sacking of the already depopulated city.[55]^[57] He is said to have planned to place his nephew and the Peshwa's son, Vishwasrao, on the Mughal throne. By 1760, with the defeat of the Nizam in the Deccan, Maratha power had reached its zenith with a territory of over 2,500,000 square kilometres (970,000 sq mi).^[2]

Signature Maratha helmet with curved back, front view

Signature Maratha helmet with curved back, side view

Maratha armour from Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia

Shah Alam II, the Mughal Emperor spent six years in the Allahabad fort and after the capture of Delhi in 1771 by the Marathas, left for his capital under their protection.^[66] He was escorted to Delhi by Mahadaji Shinde and left Allahabad in May 1771. During their short stay, Marathas constructed two temples in Allahabad city, one of them being the famous Alopi Devi Mandir. After reaching Delhi in January 1772 and realising the Maratha intent of territorial encroachment, however, Shah Alam ordered his general Najaf Khan to drive them out. In retaliation, Tukoji Rao Holkar and Visaji Krushna Biniwale attacked Delhi and defeated Mughal forces in 1772. The Marathas were granted an imperial sanad for Kora and Allahabad. They turned their attention to Oudh to gain these two territories. Shuja was, however, unwilling to give them up and made appeals to the English and the Marathas did not fare well at the Battle of Ramghat.^[67].The Maratha and British armies fought in Ram Ghat, but the sudden demise of the Peshwa and the civil war in Pune to choose the next Peshwa forced the Marathas to retreat.^[68]

Madhav Rao died in 1772, at the age of 27. His death is considered to be a fatal blow to the Maratha Empire and from that time Maratha power started to move on a downward trajectory, less an empire than a confederacy.^[citation needed]

Confederacy era

In a bid to effectively manage the large empire,

In 1791, irregulars like lamaans and pindaris of the Maratha army raided and looted the temple of Sringeri Shankaracharya, killing and wounding many people l, including Brahmins, plundering the monastery of all its valuable possessions, and desecrating the temple by displacing the image of goddess Sāradā.^{[citation needed]} The incumbent Shankaracharya petitioned Tipu Sultan for help. A bunch of about 30 letters written in Kannada, which were exchanged between Tipu Sultan's court and the Sringeri Shankaracharya were discovered in 1916 by the Director of Archaeology in Mysore. Tipu Sultan expressed his indignation and grief at the news of the raid:^[92]

People who have sinned against such a holy place are sure to suffer the consequences of their misdeeds at no distant date in this Kali age in accordance with the verse: "Hasadbhih kriyate karma rudadbhir-anubhuyate" (People do [evil] deeds smilingly but suffer the consequences crying).^[93]

Tipu Sultan immediately ordered the Asaf of

The Maratha Empire soon allied with the British East India Company (based in the Bengal Presidency) against Mysore in the Anglo-Mysore Wars. After the British had suffered a defeat against Mysore in the first two Anglo-Mysore Wars, the Maratha cavalry assisted the British in the last two Anglo-Mysore Wars from 1790 onwards, eventually helping the British conquer Mysore in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War in 1799.^[95] After the British conquest, however, the Marathas launched frequent raids in Mysore to plunder the region, which they justified as compensation for past losses to Tipu Sultan.^[96]

British intervention

In 1775, the

In 1799,

The Second Anglo-Maratha War represents the military high-water mark of the Marathas who posed the last serious opposition to the formation of the British Raj. The real contest for India was never a single decisive battle for the subcontinent, rather, it turned on a complex social and political struggle for the control of the South Asian military economy. The victory in 1803 hinged as much on finance, diplomacy, politics and intelligence as it did on battlefield manoeuvring and war itself.^[96]

Ultimately, the

The Third Anglo-Maratha War was fought by Maratha warlords separately instead of forming a common front and they surrendered one by one. Shinde and the Pashtun Amir Khan were subdued by the use of diplomacy and pressure, which resulted in the Treaty of Gwalior^[100] on 5 November 1817.^{[citation needed]} All other Maratha chiefs like Holkars, Bhonsles and the Peshwa gave up arms by 1818. British historian Percival Spear describes 1818 as a watershed year in the history of India, saying that by that year "the British dominion in India became the British dominion of India".^[101][102]

The war left the British, under the auspices of the British East India Company, in control of virtually all of present-day India south of the

In 1760, the peace of the Peshwa government was held to ransom by a repetitive uprising of Kolis under their Naik Javji Bamble who withdrew to the hills and organised a series of gang robberies, causing widespread terror and misery throughout the country. For twenty years he held out bravely, defeating and killing the generals of the Peshwa's Government sent against him. At last he was so hotly pursued that, on the advice of Dhondo Gopal, the Peshwa's governor at Nasik, he surrendered all his forts to Tukoji Holkar and, through Holkar's influence, was pardoned and placed in military and police charge of a district of sixty villages with powers of life and death to outlaws. In 1798, a fresh disturbance took place among the Kolis. The leader of this outbreak was Ramji Naik Bhangria, who was an abler and more daring man than his predecessors and succeeded in avoiding all the efforts of the Government officers to seize him. As force seemed hopeless, the Government offered Ramji a pardon and gave him an important police post.^[105]

In 1763, the Peshwa Raghunathrao had appointed Abha Purandare who was an anti koli as Sarnaik, due to which the Chivhe Kolis revolted against the Peshwa and captured Purandar and Sinhagad forts. Because the Kolis did not like Abha Purandare, he removed them from the fortification and posted new Kiledars, due to which the Kolis attacked and captured the forts on 7 May 1764. Five days later, Rudramal Fort was also captured and presented a challenge to the Peshwa Raghunathrao.^[106] A few days later the Peshwa came to the fort to worship the deity inside the Purandar fort but got caught up by the Kolis. The Kolis looted all the belongings and weapons of the Peshwa and took him prisoner but released him after some time. After this, the Kolis started collecting revenue from the surrounding area. Then, the chief of the Kolis, Kondaji Chivhe, sent a letter to the Peshwa, in which it was written, "What now sir, what is the condition, how is the government doing, have fun". After reading this letter, the Peshwa felt a bit humiliated and in a fit of rage ordered the Maratha army to attack, but the army could not do anything because the Kolis themselves were Subedars and had fortified the forts well and the Peshwa faced failure. The humiliated Peshwa started taking the Kolis of Chivhe clan as captives. All those Chivhe kolis who were living in the territory of the Peshwa were declared rebels and started being captured. After this, the Chivhe Kolis sent a letter to Madhavrao and explained the whole matter, after which the Kolis handed over the forts to Madhavrao who returned them to the Chivhe Kolis.^[107]

In the year 1776, a large number of the Shelkande

The Marathas were requested by

Territorial evolution

Year	Expanse	Background
1680		Except for the Portuguese possessions of Goa, Chaul, Salsette, and Bassein, the Abyssinian pirate stronghold of Janjira, and the English settlement on Bombay Island, Sivaji had complete control over the entire Konkan region from Daman in the north to Karwar in the south at the time of his death in 1680. His eastern boundary extended through the districts of Nasik and Poona, encompassing the entire Satara region and most of Kolhapur. Additionally, he held territories in Bellary, Kopal, Sira, Bangalore, Kolar, Vellore, Arni, and Gingi, along with a share in his brother's principality of Tanjore.[115]
1700		Sambhaji, who succeeded Shivaji, was captured and subsequently executed by Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb in 1689. However, by the beginning of the 18th century, the Marathas had managed to regain their power.[116]
1785		After Aurangzeb, Marathas conquered a significant portion of India, stretching from the Chenab River to the borders of Bengal.[117] The involvement of the Bombay Government in advocating Raghoba's claim to the Peshwaship of the Maratha confederacy resulted in the First Anglo-Maratha War, ultimately concluding with the signing of the Treaty of Salbai (1782).[118]
1798		In 1795, the Marathas overwhelmed the Nizam of Hyderabad at Kharda. The Maratha frontier was expanded all the way to the Tungabhadra River.[119]
1805		The Scindia relinquishing the Upper Doab, his forts and territories northeast of the Rajput States, the districts of Broach and Ahmadnagar, as well as his possessions south of the Ajanta hills. Asirgarh, Burhanpur, and certain districts in the Tapti Valley were returned to Scindia. The Peshwa received the fort and district of Ahmadnagar, while the Nizam acquired the district south of the Ajanta hills. Furthermore, the western part of Berar, lying west of the Wardha River and south of the fortress of Gawilgarh, was also granted to the Nizam.[120]
1836		During the final and Third Anglo-Maratha war (1817-19), the British achieved widespread success in their military endeavours. They successfully removed the Peshwa from power, confiscated his territories, and compelled him to reside in Bithur near Cawnpore. The Raja of Satara was permitted to retain a small portion of his ancestral domains until it eventually came under British control during the time of Dalhousie. The independence of Scindia, Holkar, and Berar was completely dismantled, leading to significant territorial reductions for these states. Holkar was compelled to relinquish Ajmer, which held strategic importance in Rajputana. The pirate leaders of the Konkan were coerced into surrendering their coastal holdings. Treaties were established with significant Rajput States such as Jaipur, Jodhpur, and Mewar, as well as with smaller Rajput States like Banswara, Dungarpur, Partabgarh, Jaisalmer, and Kotah. Additionally, British protection was extended to Bhopal, the States of Bundelkhand, Malwa, and Kathiawar.[121]
1856		The British territory expanded by incorporating the following States under Dalhousie's rule, following the doctrine of lapse: Satara (1848), Jaitpur (1849) situated northeast of Jhansi, Sambalpur (1849), Jhansi (1853), and Nagpur (1854).[122]

Government and military

Administration

The

• Prime Minister
  , general administration of the Empire
• Finance Minister, managing accounts of the Empire^{[124][unreliable source?}
  ]
• Sachiv – Secretary, preparing royal edicts
• Interior Minister
  , managing internal affairs especially intelligence and espionage
• Commander-in-Chief
  , managing the forces and defense of the Empire
• Sumant –
  Foreign Minister
  , to manage relationships with other sovereigns
• Nyayadhyaksh –
  Chief Justice
  , dispensing justice on civil and criminal matters
• Panditrao –
  High Priest
  , managing internal religious matters
• Chitnis - Personal Secretary and senior writer of the Chhatrapati. Sometimes considered second to the Peshwa in their absence, not in the Ashta Pradhan Mandal but equal to them.

With the notable exception of the priestly Panditrao and the judicial Nyayadisha, the other pradhans held full-time military commands and their deputies performed their civil duties in their stead. In the later era of the Maratha Empire, these deputies and their staff constituted the core of the Peshwa's bureaucracy.^{[citation needed]}

The Peshwa was the titular equivalent of a modern Prime Minister. Shivaji created the Peshwa designation in order to more effectively delegate administrative duties during the growth of the Maratha Empire. Prior to 1749, the Peshwas held office for 8–9 years and controlled the Maratha Army. They later became the de facto hereditary administrators of the Maratha Empire from 1749 till its end in 1818.^{[citation needed]}

Under the administration of the Peshwas and with the support of several key generals and diplomats (listed below), the Maratha Empire reached its zenith, ruling most of the Indian subcontinent. It was also under the Peshwas that the Maratha Empire came to its end through its formal annexation into the British Empire by the British East India Company in 1818.^{[citation needed]}

The Marathas used a secular policy of administration and allowed complete freedom of religion.^[125]

Shivaji was an able administrator who established a government that included modern concepts such as cabinet, foreign policy and internal intelligence.^[126] He established an effective civil and military administration. He believed that there was a close bond between the state and the citizens. He is remembered as a just and welfare-minded king. Cosme da Guarda says of him that:^[85]

Such was the good treatment Shivaji accorded to people and such was the honesty with which he observed the capitulations that none looked upon him without a feeling of love and confidence. By his people he was exceedingly loved. Both in matters of reward and punishment he was so impartial that while he lived he made no exception for any person; no merit was left unrewarded, no offence went unpunished; and this he did with so much care and attention that he specially charged his governors to inform him in writing of the conduct of his soldiers, mentioning in particular those who had distinguished themselves, and he would at once order their promotion, either in rank or in pay, according to their merit. He was naturally loved by all men of valor and good conduct.

The Marathas carried out many sea raids, such as plundering

Mughal Naval ships and European trading vessels. European traders described these attacks as piracy

, but the Marathas viewed them as legitimate targets because they were trading with, and thus financially supporting, their Mughal and Bijapur enemies. After the representatives of various European powers signed agreements with Shivaji or his successors, the threat of plundering or raids against Europeans began to reduce.

Military

Main articles: Maratha Navy and Maratha Army

The Maratha Army under Shivaji was a national army consisting of personnel drawn mainly from his empire which corresponds to present-day Maharashtra. It was a homogeneous body commanded by a regular cadre of officers, who had to obey one supreme commander. With the rise of the Peshwas, however, this national army had to make room for a feudal force provided by different Maratha sardars.^[127] This new Maratha Army was not homogeneous, but employed soldiers of different backgrounds, both locals and foreign mercenaries, including large numbers of Arabs, Sikhs, Rajputs, Sindhis, Rohillas, Abyssinians, Pashtuns, and Europeans. The army of Nana Fadnavis, for example, included 5,000 Arabs.^[128]

Some historians have credited the Maratha Navy for laying the foundation of the Indian Navy and bringing significant changes in naval warfare. A series of sea forts and battleships were built in the 17th century during the reign of Shivaji. It has been noted that vessels built in the dockyards of Konkan were mostly indigenous and constructed without foreign aid.^[129] Further, in the 18th century, during the reign of Admiral Kanhoji Angre, a host of dockyard facilities were built along the entire western coastline of present-day Maharashtra. The Marathas fortified the entire coastline with sea fortresses with navigational facilities.^[130] Nearly all the hill forts, which dot the landscape of present-day western Maharashtra were built by the Marathas. The renovation of Gingee Fort in Tamil Nadu, has been particularly applauded, according to the contemporary European accounts, the defence fortifications matched the European ones.^[131]

The Marathas prioritized technical advancement over establishing a modern command structure, resulting in a trade-off. While they excelled as craftsmen and technicians, successfully replicating the latest foreign military technology, their ability to govern as nation-builders was hindered because they struggled to effectively manage the intricate workings of command and failed to address the shortcomings in their general staff system. The fragmented Maratha state was unable to unite due to political divisions, undoing the progress made through technology.^[132][133]

Afghan accounts

The Maratha Army, especially its

Ahmad Shah Abdali.^{[citation needed]} After the Third Battle of Panipat, Abdali was relieved as the Maratha Army in the initial stages were almost in the position of destroying the Afghan armies and their Indian Allies, the Nawab of Oudh and Rohillas. The grand wazir of the Durrani Empire, Sardar Shah Wali Khan was shocked when Maratha commander-in-chief Sadashivrao Bhau launched a fierce assault on the centre of the Durrani Army, over 10,000 Durrani soldiers were killed alongside Haji Atai Khan, one of the chief commander of the Durrani Army and nephew of wazir Shah Wali Khan. Such was the fierce assault of the Maratha infantry in hand-to-hand combat that Afghan armies started to flee and the wazir in desperation and rage shouted, "Comrades whither do you fly, our country is far off".^[134] Post battle, Ahmad Shah Abdali, in a letter to one Indian ruler claimed that Afghans were able to defeat the Marathas only because of the blessings of the almighty and that any other army would have been destroyed by the Maratha army on that particular day even though the Maratha Army was numerically inferior to the Durrani Army and its Indian allies.^[135]

Though Abdali won the battle, he also had heavy casualties on his side. Hence, he sought immediate peace with the Marathas. Abdali wrote in his letter to Peshwa on 10 February 1761:

There is no reason to have animosity amongst us. Your son Vishwasrao and your brother Sadashivrao died in battle – it was unfortunate. Bhau started the battle, so I had to fight back unwillingly. Yet I feel sorry for his death. Please continue your guardianship of Delhi as before, to that I have no opposition. Only let Punjab until Sutlaj remain with us. Reinstate Shah Alam on Delhi's throne as you did before and let there be peace and friendship between us, this is my ardent desire. Please grant me that desire.[136]

European accounts

Similarly, Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, after defeating the Marathas, noted that the Marathas, though poorly led by their generals, had regular infantry and artillery that matched the level of that of the Europeans and warned other British officers from underestimating the Marathas on the battlefield. He cautioned one British general: "You must never allow Maratha infantry to attack head on or in close hand-to-hand combat as in that your army will cover itself with utter disgrace".^{[137][citation needed]}

He summarised Maratha tactics as follows: the Mahrattas employ two methods in their operations. They primarily rely on their cavalry to disrupt the enemy's supplies, causing distress in their camp and forcing them to retreat. Once the retreat begins, the Mahrattas unleash their infantry and formidable artillery to relentlessly pursue the enemy. By depriving the opponent of provisions, they compel them to hasten their march, while remaining confident in their own safety from counterattacks. They trail the enemy with their cavalry during marches, and when the enemy halts, they encircle and assault them using their infantry and cannons, making escape nearly impossible. Under no circumstances should you allow the enemy to engage you with their infantry. The Mahrattas possess such powerful artillery that it would be impossible to maintain your camp against it. If you receive word of their approach when they are close and ready to attack, it would be advisable to secure your baggage in any way possible and initiate an attack against them. It is crucial to prevent them from launching an attack on your camp at all costs.^[138]

Even when Wellesley became the Prime Minister of Britain, he held the Maratha infantry in utmost respect, claiming it to be one of the best in the world. However, at the same time, he noted the poor leadership of Maratha Generals, who were often responsible for their defeats.^{[137][citation needed]}

Wellesley Charles Metcalfe, one of the ablest of the British Officials in India and later acting Governor-General, wrote in 1806:

India contains no more than two great powers, British and Mahratta, and every other state acknowledges the influence of one or the other. Every inch that we recede will be occupied by them.^[139][140]

Third Anglo-Maratha war in 1818, Britain listed the Marathas as one of the martial races to serve in the British Indian Army. The 19th-century diplomat Sir Justin Sheil

commented about the British East India Company copying the French Indian Army in raising an army of Indians:

It is to the military genius of the French that we are indebted for the formation of the Indian army. Our warlike neighbours were the first to introduce into India the system of drilling native troops and converting them into a regularly disciplined force. Their example was copied by us, and the result is what we now behold. The French carried to Persia the same military and administrative faculties, and established the origin of the present Persian regular army, as it is styled. When Napoleon the Great resolved to take Iran under his auspices, he dispatched several officers of superior intelligence to that country with the mission of General Gardanne in 1808. Those gentlemen commenced their operations in the provinces of Azerbaijan and Kermanshah, and it is said with considerable success.

— Sir Justin Sheil (1803–1871).^[141]

Rulers, administrators and generals

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Imperial houses

• Shivaji (1630–1680)
• Sambhaji (1657–1689)
• Rajaram Chhatrapati
  (1670–1700)

Satara:

• Shahu I (r. 1708–1749) (alias Shivaji II, son of Sambhaji)
• Ramaraja
  II (nominally, grandson of Rajaram and Queen Tarabai) (r. 1749–1777)
• Shahu II (r. 1777–1808)
• Pratap Singh (r. 1808–1839) – signed a treaty with the East India Company ceding part of the sovereignty of his kingdom to the company^[142]

Kolhapur:

• Tarabai (1675–1761) (wife of Rajaram) in the name of her son Shivaji II
• Shivaji II (1700–1714)
• Sambhaji II
  (1714 to 1760) – came to power by deposing his half-brother Shivaji II
• Shivaji III
  (1760–1812) (adopted from the family of Khanwilkar)

Peshwas

• Moropant Trimbak Pingle (1657–1683)
• Nilakanth Moreshvar Pingale (1683–1689)
• Ramchandra Pant Amatya (1689–1708)
• Bahiroji Pingale (1708–1711)
• Parshuram Trimbak Kulkarni (1711–1713)

Peshwas from the Bhat family

From Balaji Vishwanath onwards, the actual power gradually shifted to the Bhat family of Peshwas based in

Poona

.

• Balaji Vishwanath (1713–1720)
• Bajirao
  (1720–1740)
• Balaji Bajirao
  (4 Jul 1740 – 23 Jun 1761) (born 8 Dec 1721, d. 23 Jun 1761)
• Madhavrao Peshwa
  (1761 – 18 Nov 1772) (born 16 Feb 1745, d. 18 Nov 1772)
• Narayanrao Bajirao
  (13 Dec 1772 – 30 Aug 1773) (born 10 Aug 1755, d. 30 Aug 1773)
• Raghunathrao
  (5 Dec 1773 – 1774) (born 18 Aug 1734, d. 11 Dec 1783)
• Sawai Madhava Rao II Narayan
  (1774 – 27 Oct 1795) (born 18 Apr 1774, d. 27 Oct 1795)
• Baji Rao II (6 Dec 1796 – 3 Jun 1818) (died 28 Jan 1851)

Federal houses of Maratha Confederacy

• Holkars of Indore
• Scindias of Gwalior
• Gaekwads of Baroda
• Nagpur
• Bhonsles of Thanjavur
• Pawars of Dewas and Dhar
• Patwardhans
• Bhoites of Jalgaon, Aradgaon
• Jhansi
• Vinchurkars

See also

• Thanjavur Maratha kingdom
• Battles involving the Maratha Empire
• List of Maratha dynasties and states
• List of people involved in the Maratha Empire
• Maratha titles
• Maratha War of Independence
• Malleshwaram Ekoji Inscription

Notes

1. ^ Some historians^[6] may consider 1645 as the founding of the empire because that was the year when Shivaji captured a fort from the Adilshahi sultanate.
2. Chitpavan Brahmin community.^[8][9]

1. ^ (excluding Sind)

References

Citations

1. ^ Hatalkar (1958).
2. ^ ^{a b} Turchin, Adams & Hall (2006), p. 223.
3. ISBN 978-1-138-12566-7
   .
4. ISBN 978-0-7808-0098-4
   .
5. OCLC 46433686
   .
6. ^ Schmidt (2015), pp. 54–.
7. JSTOR 42931051
   .
8. ISBN 978-81-8290-132-2
   .
9. ISBN 978-0-521-03316-9
   .
10. ^ Pagdi (1993), p. 98: Shivaji's coronation and setting himself up as a sovereign prince symbolises the rise of the Indian people in all parts of the country. It was a bid for Hindavi Swarajya (Indian rule), a term in use in Marathi sources of history.
11. ^ ^{a b} Jackson (2005), p. 38.
12. ^ ^{a b c} Pearson (1976), pp. 221–235.
13. ^ Capper (1997): This source establishes the Maratha control of Delhi before the British
14. ^ Sen (2010), pp. 1941–: The victory at Bhopal in 1738 established Maratha dominance at the Mughal court
15. S2CID 221060782
    .
16. ISSN 0014-4983
    .
17. ISBN 978-1-64783-961-1
    .
18. ^ Ghosh, D. K. Ed. A Comprehensive History Of India Vol. 9. pp. 512–523.
19. ^ New Cambridge History of India. The Marathas - Cambridge History of India (Vol. 2, Part 4).
20. ^ Mehta (2005), p. 204.
21. ^ ^{a b} Sen (2010), p. 16.
22. ISBN 978-1-64783-961-1
    .
23. ^ Ghosh, D. K. Ed. A Comprehensive History Of India Vol. 9. pp. 518–520.
24. ^ Pagdi (1993), p. 21.
25. ^ Ramusack (2004), p. 35.
26. ^ Jones (1974), p. 25.
27. ^ Gokhale (1988), p. 112.
28. ^ Vartak (1999), pp. 1126–1134.
29. ^ Kantak (1993), p. 18.
30. ^ Mehta (2005), p. 707: quote: It explains the rise to power of his Peshwa (prime minister) Balaji Vishwanath (1713–20) and the transformation of the Maratha kingdom into a vast empire, by the collective action of all the Maratha stalwarts.
31. ^ Richards (1995), p. 12.
32. ^ Mehta (2005).
33. ^ Mehta (2005), p. 50.
34. ^ Richards (1995), p. 223.
35. ^ Mehta (2005), p. 53,706.
36. ^ ^{a b} Sen (2010), p. 11.
37. ^ Mehta (2005), p. 81.
38. ^ Mehta (2005), pp. 101–103.
39. ^ Mehta (2005), pp. 38–39.
40. ^ ^{a b} Sen (2010), p. 12.
41. ^ Agrawal (1983), pp. 24, 200–202.
42. ^ Mehta (2005), pp. 492–494.
43. ^ Montgomery (1972), p. 132.
44. ^ Mehta (2005), p. 117.
45. ^ Sen (2006), p. 12.
46. ^ ^{a b} Sen (2006).
47. ^ Sen (2010), p. 23.
48. ^ Sen (2010), p. 13.
49. ^ Mehta (2005), p. 202.
50. ^ ^{a b} Sen (2010), p. 15.
51. ^ Sarkar (1991).
52. ^ Chaudhuri (2006), p. 253.
53. ^ ^{a b c} Marshall (2006), p. 72.
54. ^ ^{a b} Roy (2004), pp. 80–81.
55. ^ ^{a b c d} Agrawal (1983), p. 26.
56. ^ Mehta (2005), p. 140.
57. ^ Mehta (2005), p. 274.
58. ^ Stewart (1993), p. 157.
59. ^ Mehta (2005), p. 458.
60. ^ ^{a b c} Rathod (1994), p. 8.
61. ^ ^{a b} Farooqui (2011), p. 334.
62. ^ Edwin Thomas Atkinson (1875). Statistical, Descriptive and Historical Account of the North-western Provinces of India: Meerut division. 1875–76. Printed at the North-western Provinces' Government Press. p. 88.
63. ^ The Great Maratha Mahadji Scindia by N. G. Rathod pp. 8–9
64. ^ Poonam Sagar (1993). Maratha Policy Towards Northern India. Meenakshi Prakashan. p. 158.
65. ^ Jos J. L. Gommans (1995). The Rise of the Indo-Afghan Empire: c. 1710–1780. Brill. p. 178.
66. Orient Longman
    . pp. 60–61.
67. ISBN 9788171545780
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68. ^ Chaurasia, Radhey Shyam (1947). History of Modern India: 1707 A.D. up to 2000 A.D.
69. ^ ^{a b} Stewart (1993), p. 158.
70. ^ Mahrattas, Sikhs and Southern Sultans of India: Their Fight Against Foreign (2001)
71. JSTOR 44145479
    .
72. ^ Mittal (1986), p. 13.
73. ^ Rathod (1994), p. 95.
74. ^ Sampath (2008), p. 238.
75. ^ Rathod (1994), p. 30.
76. ^ Sen (2010), p. 83: "By Mahadji Shinde's treaty of 1785 with the Sikhs, Maratha influence had been established over the divided Cis-Sutlej states. But at the end of the second Maratha war in 1806 that influence had been pass over to the British."
77. ISBN 9788131732021
    . Retrieved 21 July 2012 – via Google Books.
78. ^ ^{a b} Chaurasia (2004), p. 13.
79. ^ Wellesley, Arthur (1837). The Despatches, Minutes, and Correspondance, of the Marquess Wellesley, K. G. During His Administration in India. pp. 264–267.
80. ^ Wellesley, Arthur (1859). Supplementary Despatches and Memoranda of Field Marshal Arthur, Duke of Wellington, K. G.: India, 1797–1805. Vol. I. pp. 269–279, 319. "ART VI Scindiah to renounce all claims the Seik chiefs or territories" (p. 318)
81. ISBN 9781387044283
    .
82. ^ Rathod (1994), p. 106.
83. ^ Kulakarṇī (1996).
84. ^ Sarkar (1994).
85. ^ ^{a b} Majumdar (1951b).
86. ^ Barua (2005), p. 91.
87. ISBN 9781139055666
    .
88. ^ Hasan (2005), pp. 105–107.
89. ^ Naravane (2006), p. 175.
90. ^ Anglo-Maratha relations, 1785–96
91. ^ Imperial Gazetteer of India vol. III 1907, p. 502
92. ^ Hasan (2005), p. 358.
93. ^ Annual Report of the Mysore Archaeological Department 1916 pp. 10–11, 73–76
94. ^ Hasan (2005), p. 359.
95. ^ Cooper (2003).
96. ^ ^{a b} Cooper (2003), p. 69.
97. ISBN 978-1-315-27680-9
    . Retrieved 30 August 2023.
98. ^ "Battle of Wadgaon, Encyclopædia Britannica". Archived from the original on 23 June 2022. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
99. ^ Capper (1997), p. 28.
100. ^ Prakash (2002), p. 300.
101. ^ Nayar (2008), p. 64.
102. ^ Trivedi & Allen (2000), p. 30.
103. ^ United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals (1930), p. 121.
104. ^ Black (2006), p. 77.
105. ISBN 978-81-206-0488-9
     .
106. ISBN 978-0-295-74623-4
     .
107. ISBN 978-0-521-64078-7
     .
108. ^ Gāre, Govinda (1976). Tribals in an Urban Setting: A Study of Socio-economic Impact of Poona City on the Mahadeo Kolis. New Delhi: Shubhada Saraswat Publications. p. 26.
109. ISBN 978-1-905422-38-8
     .
110. ISBN 978-81-7154-807-1
     .
111. ^ Lindsay (1967), p. 556.
112. ^ Saini & Chand (n.d.), p. 97.
113. ^ Sen (2006), p. 13.
114. ^ Roy (2011), p. 103.
115. ISBN 978-0-19-635139-1
     .
116. ISBN 978-0-19-635139-1
     .
117. ISBN 978-0-19-635139-1
     .
118. ISBN 978-0-19-635139-1
     .
119. ISBN 978-0-19-635139-1
     .
120. ISBN 978-0-19-635139-1
     .
121. ISBN 978-0-19-635139-1
     .
122. ISBN 978-0-19-635139-1
     .
123. ^ Sardesai (2002).
124. ^ "Introduction to Rise of the Maratha". Krishna Kanta Handiqui State Open University. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
125. ^ Edwardes & Garrett (1995), p. 116.
126. ^ Singh (1998), p. 93.
127. ^ Kar (1980), p. ^{[page needed]}.
128. ^ Majumdar (1951b), p. 512.
129. ^ Bhave (2000), p. 28.
130. ^ Sridharan (2000), p. 43.
131. ^ Kantak (1993), p. 10.
132. S2CID 153841517
     . Retrieved 15 July 2023.
133. ^
     ISBN 978-0-7190-2974-5
     .
134. ^ Sarkar (1950), p. 245.
135. ^ Singh (2011), p. 213.
136. ^ Sardesai (1935):The reference for this letter – Peshwe Daftar letters 2.103, 146; 21.206; 1.202, 207, 210, 213; 29, 42, 54, and 39.161. Satara Daftar – document number 2.301, Shejwalkar's Panipat, page no. 99. Moropanta's account – 1.1, 6, 7
137. ^ ^{a b} Lee (2011), p. 85.
138. S2CID 153841517
     . Retrieved 15 July 2023.
139. ^ Metcalfe (1855).
140. ^ Nehru (1946).
141. ^ Sheil & Sheil (1856).
142. ^ Kulkarni (1995), p. 21.

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• Barua, Pradeep (2005). The State at War in South Asia. University of Nebraska Press.
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• Farooqui, Salma Ahmed (2011). A Comprehensive History of Medieval India: Twelfth to the Mid-Eighteenth Century. Pearson Education India.
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• ISBN 978-0-19-562137-2
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• Hasan, Mohibbul (2005). History of Tipu Sultan. Delhi: Aakar Books.
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• Hatalkar, V. G. (1958). Relations Between the French and the Marathas: 1668–1815. T.V. Chidambaran.
• Imperial Gazetteer of India vol. III (1907), The Indian Empire, Economic (Chapter X: Famine, pp. 475–502), Published under the authority of His Majesty's Secretary of State for India in Council, Oxford at the Clarendon Press. Pp. xxx, 1 map, 552.
• Jackson, William Joseph (2005). Vijayanagara voices: exploring South Indian history and Hindu literature. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.
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• Jones, Rodney W. (1974). Urban Politics in India: Area, Power, and Policy in a Penetrated System. University of California Press. p. 25.
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• Kantak, M. R. (1993). The First Anglo-Maratha War, 1774–1783: A Military Study of Major Battles. Popular Prakashan.
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• Kar, H. C. (1980). Military history of India. Calcutta: Firma KLM. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
• Kincaid, Charles Augustus; Pārasanīsa, Dattātraya Baḷavanta (1925). A History of the Maratha People: From the death of Shahu to the end of the Chitpavan epic. Vol. III. S. Chand.
• Kulakarṇī, A. Rā (1996). Marathas and the Marathas Country: The Marathas. Books & Books.
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• Kulkarni, Sumitra (1995). The Satara Raj, 1818–1848: A Study in History, Administration, and Culture. Mittal Publications.
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• Lee, Wayne (2011). Empires and Indigenes: Intercultural Alliance, Imperial Expansion, and Warfare in the Early Modern World. NYU Press.
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• Lindsay, J.O., ed. (1967). The New Cambridge Modern History. Vol. VII The Old Regime 1713–63. Cambridge: University Press.
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• Metcalfe, Charles Theophilus (1855). Kaye, John William (ed.). Selections from the Papers of Lord Metcalfe: Late Governor-General of India, Governor of Jamaica, and Governor-General of Canada. London: Smith, Elder and Co.
• Mehta, Jaswant Lal (2005). Advanced Study in the History of Modern India 1707–1813. Sterling.
  ISBN 978-1-932705-54-6
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• Mittal, Satish Chandra (1986). Haryana: A Historical Perspective. New Delhi: Atlantic.
• ISBN 9780001921498
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• Naravane, M.S. (2006). Battles of the Honourable East India Company: Making of the Raj. New Delhi: APH Publishing.
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• Nayar, Pramod K. (2008). English Writing and India, 1600–1920: Colonizing Aesthetics. Routledge.
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• Nehru, Jawaharlal (1946). Discovery of India. Delhi: Oxford University Press.
• Pagdi, Setumadhavarao S. (1993). Shivaji. National Book Trust. p. 21.
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• Pearson, M. N. (February 1976). "Shivaji and the Decline of the Mughal Empire". The Journal of Asian Studies. 35 (2): 221–235.
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• Prakash, Om (2002). Encyclopaedic History of Indian Freedom Movement. New Delhi: Anmol Publications.
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• ISBN 978-1-139-44908-3
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• Rathod, N. G. (1994). The Great Maratha Mahadaji Scindia. New Delhi: Sarup & Sons.
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• Richards, John F. (1995). The Mughal Empire. Cambridge University Press.
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• Roy, Kaushik (2011). War, Culture and Society in Early Modern South Asia, 1740–1849. Taylor & Francis.
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• Roy, Kaushik (2004). India's Historic Battles: From Alexander the Great to Kargil. Orient Blackswan.
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• Saini, A.K; Chand, Hukam (n.d.). History of Medieval India. New Delhi: Anmol Publications.
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• Sampath, Vikram (2008). Splendours of Royal Mysore (Paperback ed.). Rupa & Company.
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• Sardesai, Govind Sakharam (1935). A History of Modern India ...: Marathi Riyasat. Vol. 2.
• Sardesai, H.S. (2002). Shivaji, the great Maratha. Cosmo Publications.
  ISBN 978-81-7755-286-7
  .
• Sarkar, Jadunath (1950). Fall of the Mughal Empire: 1754–1771. (Panipat). Vol. 2 (2nd ed.). M.C. Sarkar.
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• ISBN 978-81-250-0333-5
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• Schmidt, Karl J. (2015). An Atlas and Survey of South Asian History. Routledge.
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• Sen, S.N (2006). History Modern India (3rd ed.). The New Age.
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• Sen, Sailendra Nath (2010). An Advanced History of Modern India. Macmillan India. pp. 1941–.
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  .
• Sheil, Lady Mary Leonora Woulfe; Sheil, Sir Justin (1856). Glimpses of Life and Manners in Persia. John Murray.
• Singh, Harbakhsh (2011). War Despatches: Indo-Pak Conflict 1965. Lancer.
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• Singh, U.B. (1998). Administrative System in India: Vedic Age to 1947. APH Publishing. p. 93.
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• Stewart, Gordon (1993). The Marathas 1600–1818. New Cambridge History of India. Vol. II . 4. Cambridge University Press.
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• Trivedi, Harish; Allen, Richard (2000). Literature and Nation. Psychology Press.
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• Turchin, Peter; Adams, Jonathan M.; Hall, Thomas D. (2006). "East-West Orientation of Historical Empires and Modern States". Journal of World-Systems Research. 12 (2): 219–229.
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• United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals (1930), Court of Customs and Patent Appeals Reports, vol. 18, Washington: Supreme Court of the United States,
  OCLC 2590161
• Vartak, Malavika (8–14 May 1999). "Shivaji Maharaj: Growth of a Symbol". Economic and Political Weekly. 34 (19): 1126–1134.
  JSTOR 4407933
  .

Further reading

• Ahmad, Aziz; Krishnamurti, R. (1962). "Akbar: The Religious Aspect". The Journal of Asian Studies. 21 (4): 577.
  S2CID 161932929
  .
• Apte, B.K. (editor) – Chhatrapati Shivaji: Coronation Tercentenary Commemoration Volume, Bombay: University of Bombay (1974–75)
• Bhosle, Prince Pratap Sinh Serfoji Raje (2017). Contributions of Thanjavur Maratha Kings (2nd ed.). Notion Press.
  ISBN 978-1-948230-95-7
  .
• Bose, MeliaBelli (2017). Women, Gender and Art in Asia, c. 1500–1900. Taylor & Francis.
  ISBN 978-1-351-53655-4
  .
• Breathing in Bodhi – the General Awareness/ Comprehension book – Life Skills/ Level 2 for the avid readers. Disha Publications. 2017.
  ISBN 978-93-84583-48-4
  .
• Chaturvedi, R. P. (2010). Great Personalities. Upkar Prakashan.
  ISBN 978-81-7482-061-7
  .
• Chhabra, G.S. (2005). Advance Study in the History of Modern India. Vol. 1: 1707–1803. Lotus Press.
  ISBN 978-81-89093-06-8
  .
• Desai, Ranjeet – Shivaji the Great, Janata Raja (1968), Pune: Balwant Printers – English Translation of popular Marathi book.
• Gash, Norman (1990). Wellington: Studies in the Military and Political Career of the First Duke of Wellington. Manchester University Press.
  ISBN 978-0-7190-2974-5
  .
• Ghazi, M.A. (2002). Islamic Renaissance In South Asia (1707–1867) : The Role Of Shah Waliallah & His Successors. New Delhi: Adam.
  ISBN 978-81-7435-400-6
  .
• Majumdar, R. C. (1951). The History and Culture of the Indian People. Vol. 7: The Mughul Empire [1526–1707]. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan – via G. Allen & Unwin.
• Manohar, Malgonkar (1959). The Sea Hawk: Life and Battles of Kanoji Angrey. p. 63.
  OCLC 59302060
  .
• McDonald, Ellen E. (1968), The Modernizing of Communication: Vernacular Publishing in Nineteenth Century Maharashtra, Berkeley: University of California Press,
  OCLC 483944794
• McEldowney, Philip F (1966), Pindari Society and the Establishment of British Paramountcy in India, Madison: University of Wisconsin,
  OCLC 53790277
• Mehta, Jaswant Lal (2009) [1984], Advanced Study in the History of Medieval India, Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd,
  ISBN 978-81-207-1015-3
• Rath, Saraju (2012). Aspects of Manuscript Culture in South India. Brill.
  ISBN 978-90-04-21900-7
  .
• Roy, Tirthankar (2013). "Rethinking the Origins of British India: State Formation and Military-fiscal Undertakings in an Eighteenth Century World Region". Modern Asian Studies. 47 (4): 1125–1156.
  S2CID 46532338
  .
• Sen, Sailendra Nath (1994). Anglo-Maratha Relations, 1785–96. Vol. 2. Bombay: Popular Prakashan.
  ISBN 978-81-7154-789-0
  .
• Serfoji, Tanjore Maharaja (1979). Journal of the Tanjore Maharaja Serfoji's Sarasvati Mahal Library.
• Thompson, Carl (2020). Women's Travel Writings in India 1777–1854. Vol. I: Jemima Kindersley, Letters from the Island of Teneriffe, Brazil, the Cape of Good Hope and the East Indies (1777), and Maria Graham, Journal of a Residence in India (1812). Taylor & Francis.
  ISBN 978-1-315-47311-6
  .
• Truschke, Audrey (2017), Aurangzeb: The Life and Legacy of India's Most Controversial King, Stanford University Press,
  ISBN 978-1-5036-0259-5
• Wink, Andre. Land and Sovereignty in India: Agrarian Society and Politics under the Eighteenth Century Maratha Swarajya, (Cambridge UP, 1986).