Maratha Empire

The Maratha Empire, (also spelled Mahratta), was also called the Maratha Confederacy, of India. It was founded by Shivaji in 1674 when he carved out an independent Maratha zone around Pune from the Bijapur Sultanate. After a lifetime of exploits and guerilla warfare with the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, Shivaji died in 1680, leaving a Maratha kingdom of great but strategically located. Mughal invasion started around 1682 and lasted till 1707. Thus for 25 years ,Marathas fought one of the longest battles in human history.Ultimately they defeated Mughals who were forced to withdraw from the maratha possessions. Shahu, a grandson of Shivaji became Chatrapati and till his death in 1749 remained as a nucleaus of Maratha power. After his death, power passed into the hands of the Peshawa. The battle of Panipat in 1761 crippled the Maratha empire and corroded power of Peshwa forever. Now the Maratha confedercy was the real authority in power with titular king and prime minister. The last Peshwa, Baji Rao II, was defeated by the British in the Third Anglo-Maratha War.But the memory of Shivaji kept their hurt burning and with late 19th century a wave of socio-political breakthrough revolutions caused transformation of the entire State and nation.

Shivaji's Successors

In 1681, Sambhaji, one of Shivaji's two competing sons, gained the upper hand, had himself crowned, and resumed his father's expansionist policies. To nullify any rajput-Maratha alliance, as well as to resume his long affair with the Deccan Sultanates, in 1682, the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb himself headed south with the entire imperial court, the imperial administration, and an army of about 180,000 troops, which proceeded to conquer the sultanates of Bijapur and Golconda. In 1688, Sambhaji was caught, duly tortured and then painfully dismembered.

Related Topics:
1681 - Sambhaji - 1682 - Aurangzeb - Golconda - 1688

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Rajaram, Sambhaji's brother and earlier rival, now assumed the throne. In 1700 Satara, to which place Shivaji had earlier moved the capital, came under siege and was eventually surrendered to the Mughals. At about the same time, Rajaram died. His widow, Tarabai, assumed control in the name of her son, Sambhaji II. A truce was offered which was promptly rejected by the emperor.Tarabai heroically led Marathas. By 1705, Marathas had crossed Narmada and entered Malwa ,then in Mughal possessions.

Related Topics:
Rajaram - 1700 - Satara - Tarabai - Marathas - 1705 - Mughal

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This battle was a decisive one.Mughals lost their eminent position in Indian sub continent forever.Marathas emerged as victorius after such long drawn and hardly fought

Related Topics:
Battle - Mughals - Indian sub continent - Marathas

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battle.The soldiers and commanders who participated in this war saw the real expansion of Maratha empire despite of their internal feuds which occured later on and continued till the Marathas, were defeated by British in 1818.

Related Topics:
Maratha empire - Marathas - British - 1818

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After the emperor?s death, Shahuji, son of the dismembered Sambhaji (and so grandson of Shivaji), was released by Bahadur Shah, the next Mughal emperor. He immediately claimed the Maratha throne and challenged his aunt Tarabai and her son Shambhaji II. This promptly turned the now spluttering Mughal-Maratha war into a three-cornered affair.

Related Topics:
Shahuji - Bahadur Shah

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