The Rise of the Marathas

1. The Big Questions of this chapter

The chapter opens with three guiding questions:

• Who were the Marathas and how did they become the largest pan-Indian power before the British took over?
• What were some features of their governance?
• What impact did the Maratha Empire leave on Indian history?

It begins with the words of Ramachandrapant Amatya, Shivaji's finance minister, in his 1715 work Adnyapatra ('The Royal Edict'), warning that the European traders — Portuguese, English, Dutch, French, Danes — were "not like other merchants" but intent on increasing their territory and spreading their religion. A remarkably accurate prediction of British rule.

2. Who are the Marathas?

The Marathas are a people native to the Deccan plateau, more specifically present-day Maharashtra. They are identified by the language they speak — Marathi — which has had a rich and continuous literary history (the development of writings in prose and poetry in a language) since the 12th century.

During the 13th century most of Maharashtra was ruled by the Yadava dynasty, with Devagiri (present-day Daulatabad) as its capital. In the early 14th century the Yadavas were overcome by the Khilji Sultanate of Delhi.

Amid these political changes, the bhakti tradition (devotion to the divine) kept the culture alive. Between the 7th and 17th centuries, saints from across India composed devotional songs and poetry in the people's own languages. In Maharashtra, saints like Dnyaneshwar, Namdev, Tukaram and Ramdas translated texts such as the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita into Marathi, focusing also on social organisation and political awareness (much like the Sikh gurus). This gave society a solid cultural foundation that later helped the Marathas organise themselves into a political power.

3. Foundation of Maratha power — the rise of Shivaji

By the 17th century some Maratha chiefs made early attempts at sovereignty but failed — until Chhatrapati Shivaji brought the Marathas together.

• Born 1630 in the Bhonsle clan to Shahji and Jijabai.
• Shahji served the Deccan sultanates and was often away; Shivaji grew up in his jagir at Pune under the watchful eyes of Jijabai and trusted officials, receiving good values and education.
• (A jagir is a piece of land given by a ruler to a noble or soldier as a reward; the holder could collect its taxes to meet his needs and the ruler's.)
• The Deccan sultans were constantly fighting, causing hardship to the common people.

At just 16, Shivaji launched military campaigns — first consolidating Pune by capturing neglected and unoccupied forts and strengthening their defences. His vision of a sovereign kingdom — 'Swarajya' (self-rule) — grew over the years to cover political, economic and cultural life.

4. The Maratha navy and guerrilla warfare

As his kingdom reached India's west coast, Shivaji felt the need for a navy to secure access to coastal resources — a revolutionary step for the time. The Bijapur Sultanate (the Adil Shahi dynasty) kept merchant ships but no full-time naval force, and even the Mughals barely used a navy. Thus the legendary Maratha Navy was born, supported by coastal forts like Sindhudurg.

To defeat bigger armies, Shivaji used guerrilla warfare — small groups striking with speed, surprise and knowledge of the terrain. His successes invited the wrath of Bijapur, which sent the veteran general Afzal Khan. Shivaji lured Afzal Khan into a one-on-one meeting at the foot of Pratapgad fort and killed him (using the wagh nakh, a "tiger's claw" weapon, in close combat); the Marathas then routed the Khan's army with guerrilla attacks.

5. The Mughal challenge — Shaista Khan, Surat and Agra

• Shaista Khan, a Mughal noble, invaded Shivaji's territories with a big army for three years. In a daring night raid with only a few soldiers, Shivaji attacked his camp; the Khan barely escaped, losing a few fingers, and left Maharashtra. The chapter compares this to a modern-day "surgical strike."
• Sack of Surat: Shivaji raided the rich Mughal port of Surat (present-day Gujarat), obtaining treasure worth almost one crore of rupees. He carefully spared religious places and the house of the charitable Mohandas Parekh. The events were even reported in the English London Gazette.
• Treaty of Purandar: The insult made Aurangzeb send the Rajput general Jai Singh. Defeated at Purandar Fort, Shivaji had to give up a large part of his kingdom and send his son Sambhaji into Mughal service.
• Escape from Agra (1666): Persuaded to visit Aurangzeb's court at Agra, Shivaji was insulted, stormed out, and was placed under house arrest. He sent out daily baskets of sweets and gifts to holy men and generals until the guards stopped checking — then hid in the baskets with Sambhaji and escaped. Aurangzeb could never capture him again.

6. Coronation and conquest of the South

In 1674, Shivaji was crowned with full Vedic rites at the mountain fortress of Raigad. His title became 'Shri Raja Shiva Chhatrapati', and he started his own era — the Rajyabhisheka shaka.

He then embarked on the dakshina-digvijaya (conquest of the South, around 1677), taking the ill-defended regions of present-day northern Tamil Nadu and parts of Karnataka. This southern extension later gave the Marathas great strategic depth against the Mughals. While in the South he even forbade the Dutch from trading slaves, showing his concern for his subjects.

A fever claimed Shivaji's life in 1680, at the age of fifty. A master strategist and visionary, his fame spread across India and beyond — Europeans compared him to Alexander, the Bundela prince Chhatrasal was inspired to create an independent kingdom of Bundelkhand, and the Hindi poet Bhushan came to Maharashtra to compose poems in his praise.

7. The Marathas after Shivaji — towards a confederacy

Shivaji had two sons, Sambhaji and Rajaram.

• Sambhaji became Chhatrapati. Aurangzeb invaded the Deccan, conquered the Bijapur (Adil Shahi) and Golconda (Qutb Shahi) Sultanates, captured Sambhaji, tortured and executed him, and took Raigad.
• Rajaram then became Chhatrapati and fled to Gingee (present-day Tamil Nadu), spreading the conflict south. The Marathas staunchly defended their forts and often had the upper hand.
• Aurangzeb was unable to leave the Deccan and died without subduing the Marathas. Now on the offensive, the Marathas under Tarabai (Rajaram's queen) made large-scale inroads into Mughal territory, eventually conquering large parts of India.

During this rapid expansion the Marathas underwent a structural transformation: the centralised state of Shivaji's time gave way to a more decentralised structure — still nominally centred on the Chhatrapati, but with the regional chiefs wielding more power.

8. The Peshwas and pan-Indian expansion

The Peshwa (a Persian term for 'prime minister') came to wield great influence — even over the Chhatrapati himself. In particular, Peshwa Bajirao I and his son Nanasaheb Peshwa were instrumental in the pan-Indian expansion of the Marathas.

The Marathas brought large parts of India under control and generally ruled well, but with regional chiefs gaining autonomy there was also occasional indiscipline and abuse — for example, their ten-year campaign in Bengal inflicted much cruelty (in stark contrast to Shivaji's values). In their northward push they briefly controlled Lahore, Attock and even Peshawar (modern Pakistan).

• 1754: beginning of Maratha control over Delhi.
• 1761: disastrous defeat at the Battle of Panipat against the Afghans — but they quickly recovered under Peshwa Madhavrao I.
• 1771: under Mahadji Shinde (Mahadji Scindia), they recaptured Delhi, holding it until the British took it three decades later.

Nana Phadnavis, a powerful official under the Peshwas, is credited with organising the first pan-Indian anti-British alliance, uniting even old rivals like Hyder Ali of Mysore and the Nizam of Hyderabad.

9. The Anglo-Maratha Wars and the end of Maratha power

In the latter half of the 18th century the chief rivals of the British in India were the Marathas. Three Anglo-Maratha Wars were fought:

• First Anglo-Maratha War (1775–1782): Maratha victory.
• Third Anglo-Maratha War (1818): end of Maratha power.

Owing to the Marathas' increased internal disunity and the British's superior organisation and technology, the British succeeded in ending Maratha power. As the chapter puts it: "the British took India from the Marathas more than from the Mughals or any other power."

10. Maratha administration — civilian and military

Civilian administration: Shivaji built a relatively centralised government. He abolished hereditary posts and land assignments (common under the Sultans and Mughals) and paid every official a salary from the state treasury. Officials were periodically transferred so none grew powerful enough to dictate to the king. He gave pensions to widows of fallen soldiers and military posts to their sons — showing care for soldiers' families. He minted gold and copper coins in his own name (in the Devanagari script), asserting both sovereignty and cultural identity.

The ashta-pradhana (council of 8 ministers):

• Pradhan — Prime Minister
• Amatya — Finance Minister
• Sachiv — Land Revenue Minister
• Mantri — Intelligence Minister
• Sumant — Minister for Foreign Affairs
• Senapati — Commander-in-chief
• Panditrao — Head of Religious Affairs
• Nyayadhish — Chief Justice

At the centre stood the Chhatrapati, the sovereign king.

Military administration: The army had three parts — infantry, cavalry and navy. The cavalry had two kinds of soldiers: bargirs (horses and equipment paid for by the state) and shiledars (who paid for their own). In the 18th century the Marathas noticed the superiority of European-style disciplined troops and artillery; Mahadji Shinde raised a large European-style army. Swords and lances were preferred, but they used guns and even rockets (metal-tube rockets by 1770).

11. Chauth, sardeshmukhi and the role of forts

The Marathas levied two famous taxes on provinces not directly under them (in the Deccan and north India):

• Chauth — a tax of 25 per cent.
• Sardeshmukhi — an additional 10 per cent on top of chauth.

In return, the Marathas protected those provinces and did not interfere in their internal administration. The Mughals approved this through treaties, and over time many such provinces became part of the Maratha Empire.

Forts were the very core of the state. Shivaji controlled and built a huge number of forts — essential for controlling strategic routes and sheltering the army during guerrilla warfare. Ramachandrapant Amatya wrote in the Adnyapatra: "Forts are the core of the state… it was due to forts that the [Maratha] state survived despite decades of onslaught" by enemies like Aurangzeb.

12. Maritime supremacy, justice and trade

• Maritime supremacy: In the 18th century, Kanhoji Angre led the Marathas to victory in many naval battles using clever geography and tactics, even though Maratha ships were less advanced than European ones. Europeans forced Indian ships to buy naval trade passes (cartaz); the Marathas turned the tables and demanded passes from the Europeans — who angrily branded Kanhoji Angre a "pirate." (In 1665 Shivaji's fleet of more than a hundred ships even reached Muscat in Oman.)
• Judicial system: Efficient and remarkably moderate in using capital punishment. The panchayat — a local gathering of officials and prominent men — was the main body delivering justice; appeals could go to a Maratha chief. In towns like Pune and Indore the kotwal (police) maintained law and order.
• Trade networks: Shivaji actively encouraged and personally took part in maritime foreign trade, sending ships as far as Mocha (Yemen), Muscat (Oman) and Malacca (Malaysia) carrying gold and textiles. Roads, ferries and bridges were built and maintained.

13. Cultural revival and the mighty Maratha women

Cultural revival: Shivaji's seal carried a Sanskrit inscription (a departure from prevalent Persian seals), reflecting his vision of Swarajya. He commissioned the Rajya-Vyavahara-Kosha to promote Marathi by giving Sanskrit equivalents for Persian diplomatic words. A devout Hindu who respected other religions, he rebuilt desecrated temples, promoted Sanskrit and Marathi literature, and flew a saffron flag adopted by all Marathas. The Modi script (a cursive form of Devanagari) was used for correspondence.

The mighty Maratha women:

• Tarabai — fearless warrior queen (Rajaram's widow) who organised armies to invade the Mughal north; the architect of the northward Maratha expansion, she preserved Maratha independence during a critical period.
• Ahilyabai Holkar — of the Holkar dynasty; ruled around Indore for thirty years, governing wisely. A devout person, she built and restored hundreds of temples, ghats, wells and roads across India — most famously rebuilding the Kashi Vishwanath temple (Varanasi) and the Somnath temple (Gujarat), and reviving the Maheshwar weaving industry.

14. In focus: Thanjavur, and the Maratha legacy

Thanjavur: Ekoji, the half-brother of Shivaji, conquered the Thanjavur region (present-day Tamil Nadu) in the late 17th century, beginning Maratha rule there. The Thanjavur Marathas created a rich, syncretic, multilingual culture (Tamil, Telugu, Marathi). The most notable ruler, Serfoji II, wrote a Marathi play (Devendra Kuravanji), patronised the early stages of Carnatic music and Bharatanatyam, founded the Dhanwantari Mahal medical centre, and started one of India's first printing presses by a native ruler. The Bhonsles of Nagpur also revived the worship of Jagannath at Puri (Odisha).

The Maratha legacy: The Marathas challenged Mughal dominance and built the largest Indian empire before the British, set up an efficient new system of governance, and revived local Hindu traditions without religious discrimination. Their brave fight against oppressive and foreign rule, driven by the ideal of Swarajya, later inspired Indians to believe they could govern themselves — planting early seeds of India's freedom movement.

15. Key figures, terms and dates

Key figures: Shivaji (founder, 1630–1680); Shahji & Jijabai (parents); Sambhaji & Rajaram (sons); Tarabai (warrior queen, northward expansion); Ahilyabai Holkar (Indore, temple-builder); Bajirao I, Nanasaheb, Madhavrao I (Peshwas); Mahadji Shinde/Scindia (recaptured Delhi 1771); Kanhoji Angre (admiral); Nana Phadnavis (anti-British alliance); Ekoji & Serfoji II (Thanjavur); Ramachandrapant Amatya (finance minister, Adnyapatra).

Key terms: Swarajya (self-rule); Chhatrapati (sovereign king); Peshwa (prime minister); jagir (land grant); chauth (25% tax); sardeshmukhi (extra 10% tax); ashta-pradhana (council of 8); bargir/shiledar (cavalry types); wagh nakh (tiger-claw weapon); cartaz (naval trade pass); kotwal (police); Modi (script).

Key dates: 1630 birth of Shivaji · 1646 beginning of his rule · 1657 founding of the Maratha navy · 1666 imprisonment at and escape from Agra · 1674 coronation at Raigad · 1677 dakshina-digvijaya · 1680 death of Shivaji · 1682–1707 Mughal-Maratha wars · 1754 Maratha control over Delhi · 1761 Battle of Panipat (defeat) · 1771 recapture of Delhi · 1775–1782 First Anglo-Maratha War (victory) · 1818 Third Anglo-Maratha War (end of Maratha power).

16. Textbook "Questions and activities" — model answers

Q1. How did geography (mountains, coastlines) guide Maratha strategy? The hilly Deccan terrain was perfect for guerrilla warfare and hill forts, letting small bands defeat large armies; the long west coastline pushed Shivaji to build a navy and coastal forts (Sindhudurg) to control trade routes and resist Europeans.

Q4. What does "the British took India from the Marathas more than from the Mughals" mean? By the 18th century the Marathas — not the weakened Mughals — controlled most of central and north India. So when the British defeated the Marathas in the three Anglo-Maratha wars (1775–1818), they effectively took the subcontinent from the Marathas.

Q5. How did the Marathas treat people of different faiths? Shivaji was a devout Hindu who respected other religions — he spared religious places at Surat, rebuilt desecrated temples, and protected subjects of all faiths; Ahilyabai built temples and public works across India "without religious discrimination."

Q6. Why were forts "the core of the state"? Forts let the Marathas control strategic routes, shelter armies during guerrilla campaigns, and survive long sieges. As Amatya wrote, "it was due to forts that the state survived despite decades of onslaught" by Aurangzeb.

Q8. The Marathas' most important contribution. Arguably reviving the confidence of Indians — proving mighty empires could be defeated and that Indians could build, expand and govern an empire of their own — the early seed of the freedom movement.

17. Quick revision checklist

• Marathas = Marathi-speaking people of the Deccan; bhakti saints gave them a cultural foundation.
• Shivaji: born 1630, crowned Chhatrapati at Raigad 1674, vision of Swarajya.
• Three pillars: forts, navy, guerrilla warfare.
• Administration: salaried officials, transfers, soldiers' pensions, ashta-pradhana, own coins.
• Taxes on outside provinces: chauth 25% + sardeshmukhi 10%.
• After Shivaji → Peshwas → decentralised confederacy → pan-India expansion.
• Decline: Panipat 1761; three Anglo-Maratha Wars (1775–1818) end Maratha power.