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.

The Peshwa

Nanasaheb encouraged agriculture, protected the villagers and brought about a marked improvement in the state of the territory. Continued expansion saw Raghunath Rao, the brother of Nanasaheb, pushing into Punjab in the wake of the Afghan withdrawal after Ahmad Shah Abdali's plunder of Delhi in 1756. In Lahore as in Delhi, the Marathas were now major players. By 1760, with a defeat of the nizam in the Deccan, Maratha power had reached it's zenith.

Related Topics:
Punjab - Ahmad Shah Abdali - 1756 - 1760 - Deccan

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