Shahu appointed Balaji Vishwanath as Peshwa. The Peshwa
was instrumental in securing Mughal recognition of Shahu as the rightful heir
of Shivaji and the Chatrapati of the Marathas. Balaji
also gained the release of Shahu's mother, Yesubai, from Mughal captivity in
1719. During Shahu's reign, Raghoji Bhosale expanded the empire Eastwards,
reaching present-day Bengal.
Khanderao Dabhade and later his son, Triambakrao, expanded it Westwards into
Gujarat.] Peshwa Bajirao and his three
chiefs, Pawar (Dhar), Holkar (Indore),
and Scindia (Gwalior), expanded it
Northwards up to Attock.
During this era, Peshwas belonging
to the Bhat family controlled
the Maratha Army and later became de facto
rulers of the Maratha Empire till 1772 . In due course of time, the Maratha
Empire dominated most of the Indian subcontinent.
Shahu appointed Peshwa Balaji Vishwanath in 1713. From his time, the
office of Peshwa became supreme while Shahu became a figurehead. His first
major achievement was the conclusion of the Treaty of Lonavala In
1714 with Kanhoji Angre, the most powerful naval chief on
the Western Coast. He later accepted Shahu as Chhatrapati. In 1719, an army of Marathas marched to Delhi after
defeating Sayyid Hussain Ali, the Mughal governor of Deccan, and deposed the
Mughal emperor. The Mughal Emperors became puppets in the hands of their
Maratha overlords from this point on.
After Balaji Vishwanath's death in
April 1720, his son, Baji Rao I, was appointed Peshwa by Shahu.
Bajirao is credited with expanding the Maratha Empire tenfold from 3% to 30% of
the modern Indian landscape during 1720–1740. He fought over 41 battles before
his death in April 1740 and is reputed to have never lost . Battle of Palkhed was a land battle that took
place on 28 February 1728 at the village of Palkhed, near the city of Nashik,
Maharashtra, India between Baji Rao I and Qamar-ud-din
Khan, Asaf Jah I of
Hyderabad. The Marathas defeated the Nizam.
The battle is considered an example of brilliant execution of military
strategy. In 1737, Marathas under Bajirao I raided the suburbs of Delhi
in a blitzkrieg in the Battle
of Delhi (1737).
The Nizam set out from the Deccan to rescue the Mughals from the invasion of
the Marathas, but was defeated decisively in the Battle of Bhopal. The
Marathas extracted a large tribute from the Mughals and signed a treaty which
ceded Malwa to the Marathas.The Battle of Vasai was fought between the
Marathas and the Portuguese rulers of Vasai, a village
lying on the northern shore of Vasai creek, 50 km north of Mumbai.
The Marathas were led by Chimaji Appa, brother of Baji Rao. The Maratha
victory in this war was a major achievement of Baji Rao's time in office.
Baji Rao's son, Balaji Bajirao (Nanasaheb), was appointed as the next Peshwa by
Shahu despite the opposition of other chiefs. In 1740, the Maratha forces,
under Raghoji Bhosale, came down upon Arcot and
defeated the Nawab of Arcot, Dost Ali, in the pass at
Damalcherry. In the war that followed, Dost Ali, one of his sons Hasan Ali, and
a number of other prominent persons lost their lives. This initial success at
once enhanced Maratha prestige in the south. From Damalcherry, the Marathas
proceeded to Arcot, which surrendered to them without much resistance. Then,
Raghuji invaded Trichinopoly in December 1740. Unable to resist, Chanda Sahib surrendered the fort to
Raghuji on 14 March 1741. Chanda Saheb and his son were arrested and sent to
Nagpur.Rajputana also came under Maratha
domination during this time.In June 1756 Luís Mascarenhas, Count of Alva(Conde
de Alva), the Portuguese Viceroy was killed in action by the Maratha Army in
Goa.
After the successful campaign of
Karnataka and the Trichinopolly, Raghuji returned from Karnataka.
He undertook six expeditions
into Bengal from 1741 to 1748. Raghuji was able to annex Odisha to
his kingdom permanently as he successfully exploited the chaotic conditions
prevailing in Bengal after the death of its governor Murshid Quli Khan in 1727. Constantly harassed
by the Bhonsles, Odisha, Bengal and parts of Bihar were economically ruined.
Alivardi Khan, the Nawab of Bengal made peace with Raghuji in
1751 ceding Cuttack (Odisha) up to the river Subarnarekha, and agreeing to pay
Rs.1.2 million annually as the Chauth for Bengal and Bihar.
During their occupation of western Bengal, the Marathas perpetrated
atrocities against the local population. The Maratha atrocities were recorded
by both Bengali and European sources, which reported that the Marathas demanded
payments, and tortured and killed anyone who couldn't pay. Dutch sources
estimate a total of 400,000 people in Bengal were killed by the Marathas. According
to Bengali sources, the atrocities led to much of the local population opposing
the Marathas and developing support for the Nawabs.
Maratha's
Afghan conquests :Balaji Bajirao
encouraged agriculture, protected the villagers and brought about a marked
improvement in the state of the territory. Raghunath Rao, brother of
Nanasaheb, pushed into the wake of the Afghan withdrawal after Ahmed Shah Abdali's plunder of
Delhi in 1756. Delhi was captured by the Maratha army under Raghunath Rao in
August 1757, defeating the Afghan garrison in the Battle of
Delhi. This laid the foundation for the Maratha
conquest of North-west India. In Lahore, as in Delhi, the Marathas were now major players.[43] After
the Battle
of Attock, 1758, the Marathas captured Peshawar defeating
the Afghan troops in the Battle of
Peshawar on 8 May 1758.[13]
Maratha
invasion of Delhi and Rohilkhand: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 ". 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".
Third
battle of Panipat
In 1759, the Marathas under Sadashivrao Bhau (referred to as the Bhau or
Bhao in sources) responded to the news of the Afghans' return to North India by
sending a large army north. Bhau's force was bolstered by some Maratha forces
under Holkar, Scindia, Gaikwad and Govind Pant
Bundele.
The combined army of over 100,000 regular troops re-captured the former Mughal
capital, Delhi, from an Afghan garrison in August 1760. 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. He is said to have planned to place his nephew and the
Peshwa's son, Vishwasrao, on the Mughal throne. By 1760,
with defeat of the Nizam in the Deccan,
Maratha power had reached its zenith with a territory of over 2,500,000 square
miles (6,500,000 km2).
Ahmad Shah
Durrani called
on the Rohillas and the Nawab of Oudh to assist him in driving out
the Marathas from Delhi. Huge armies of Muslim forces and Marathas collided
with each other on 14 January 1761 in the Third
Battle of Panipat.
The Maratha Army lost the battle, which
halted their imperial expansion. The Jats and Rajputs did not support the Marathas. Historians have criticised the
Maratha treatment of fellow Hindu groups. Kaushik Roy says "The treatment
of Marathas with their co-religionist fellows – Jats and Rajputs was definitely
unfair and ultimately they had to pay its price in Panipat where Muslim forces
had united in the name of religion." The Marathas had antagonised the Jats
and Rajputs by taxing them heavily, punishing them after defeating the Mughals
and interfering in their internal affairs. The Marathas were abandoned by Raja
Suraj Mal of Bharatpur and the Rajputs, who quit
the Maratha alliance at Agra before
the start of the great battle and withdrew their troops as Maratha
general Sadashivrao Bhau did not heed the advice to
leave soldier's families (women and children) and pilgrims at Agra and not take
them to the battle field with the soldiers, rejected their co-operation. Their
supply chains (earlier assured by Raja Suraj Mal and Rajputs) did not exist.
Peshwa Madhav Peshwa Madhavrao I was the fourth Peshwa of the Maratha Empire. It
was during his tenure that the Maratha Resurrection took place. He worked as a
unifying force in the Maratha Empire and moved to the south to subdue Mysore
and the Nizam of Hyderabad to assert Maratha power. He sent generals such as Bhonsle,
Scindia and Holkar to the north, where they re-established Maratha
authority by the early 1770s. Prof G. S. Chhabra wrote:
Young though he was, Madhav Rao
had a cool and calculating head of a seasoned and experienced man. The
diplomacy by which he could win over his uncle Raghoba when he had no strength
to fight and the way he could crush his power when he had the means to do so
later on proved in him a genius who knows when and how to act. The formidable
power of the Nizam was crushed, Hyder Ali, who was a terror even to the
British, was effectually humbled and before he died in 1772, the Marathas
were almost there in the north where they had been before Panipat. What could
not have the Marathas achieved if Madhav had continued living just for a few
years more? Destiny was not in favour of the Marathas, the death of Madhav
was a greater blow than their defeat of Panipat and from this blow they
could never again recover. 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.
Mahadaji
Shinde restored
the Maratha domination of northern India: In a bid to effectively manage the
large empire, Madhavrao
Peshwa gave
semi-autonomy to the strongest of the knights. After the death of Peshwa Madhavrao I, various chiefs and statesmen became de
facto rulers and regents for the infant Peshwa Madhavrao II. Thus, semi-autonomous Maratha states came into
being in far-flung regions of the empire: Peshwas of Pune,
Gaekwads of Baroda, Holkars of Indore, Scindias (aka Shindes) of Gwalior (Chambal region) and Ujjain (Malwa Region), Bhonsales of Nagpur (no blood relation with Shivaji's or Tarabai's family),Puars (or Pawars) of Dewas and Dhar, Even in the
original kingdom of Shivaji itself, many knights were given semi-autonomous
charges of small districts, which led to princely states like Sangli, Aundh, Bhor, Bawda, Phaltan, Miraj, etc. The Pawars of Udgir were also part of the confederacy
In
early 1771, ten years after the collapse of Maratha authority over North India
following the Third Battle of Panipat, Mahadji recaptured Delhi and
installed Shah Alam II as a puppet ruler on the Mughal throne[ receiving in return the title of deputy Vakil-ul-Mutlak or
vice-regent of the Empire and that of Vakil-ul-Mutlak being at
his request conferred on the Peshwa. The Mughals also gave him the title
of Amir-ul-Amara (head of the amirs After taking control of
Delhi, the Marathas sent a large army in 1772 to punish Afghan Rohillas for their involvement in Panipat. Their army
devastated Rohilkhand by looting and plundering as well as
taking members of the royal family as captives. After the growth in power of
feudal lords like Malwa sardars, landlords of Bundelkhand and Rajput kingdoms
of Rajasthan, they refused to pay tribute to Mahadji, so he sent his army to
conquer the states such as Bhopal, Datiya, Chanderi, Narwar, Salbai and Gohad. However,
he launched an unsuccessful expedition against the Raja of Jaipur, but withdrew
after the inconclusive Battle of Lalsot in 1787.The Battle of Gajendragad was fought between the Marathas under the
command of Tukojirao Holkar (the adopted son of Malharrao Holkar) and Tipu Sultan from March 1786 to March 1787 in which Tipu
Sultan was defeated by the Marathas. By the victory in this battle, the border
of the Maratha territory extended till Tungabhadra river.
The strong fort
of Gwalior was then in
the hands of Chhatar Singh, the Jat ruler of Gohad. In 1783, Mahadji besieged the fort of Gwalior and
conquered it. He delegated the administration of Gwalior to Khanderao Hari
Bhalerao. After celebrating the conquest of Gwalior, Mahadji Shinde turned his
attention to Delhi again.[58]
In 1788,
Mahadji's armies defeated Ismail Beg, a Mughal noble who resisted the Marathas.[59] The Rohilla chief Ghulam Kadir, Ismail Beg's
ally, took over Delhi, capital of the Mughal dynasty and deposed and blinded
the king Shah Alam II, placing a puppet on the Delhi throne. Mahadji intervened
and killed him, taking possession of Delhi on 2 October restoring Shah Alam II
to the throne and acting as his protector.Jaipur and Jodhpur, the two most powerful Rajput states, were still out
of direct Maratha domination. So, Mahadji sent his general Benoît de Boigne to crush the forces of Jaipur and Jodhpur at
the Battle of Patan. Marwar was also captured on 10 September 1790.
Another achievement of the Marathas was their victories over the Nizam of Hyderabad's armies including in the Battle of
Kharda. In 1788, Mahadji's
armies defeated Ismail Beg, a Mughal noble who resisted the Marathas. The
Rohilla chief Ghulam Kadir, Ismail Beg's ally, took over Delhi, capital of the
Mughal dynasty and deposed and blinded the king Shah Alam II, placing a puppet
on the Delhi throne. Mahadji intervened and killed him, taking possession of
Delhi on 2 October restoring Shah Alam II to the throne and acting as his
protector.
The Marathas came into conflict
with Tipu Sultan and his Kingdom of Mysore, leading to the Maratha–Mysore
War in
1785. The war ended in 1787 with the Marathas being defeated by Tipu
Sultan. In 1791–92, large areas of the Maratha Confederacy suffered
massive population loss due to the Doji bara famine.
In 1791, irregulars like lamaans and pindaris of the Maratha army raided
and looted the temple of Sringeri Shankaracharya, killing and wounding many people
including Brahmins, plundering the monastery of all its valuable possessions,
and desecrating the temple by displacing the image of goddess Sarada. 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:
"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.
Tipu Sultan immediately ordered
the Asaf of Bednur to supply the Swami with 200 rahatis (fanams) in cash and other gifts and
articles. Tipu Sultan's interest in the Sringeri temple continued for many
years, and he was still writing to the Swami in the 1790s.[
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
defeat against Mysore in the first two Anglo-Mysore War, 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.[69] 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.
In 1775, the British
East India Company,
from its base in Bombay, intervened in a succession struggle in Pune, on behalf
of Raghunathrao (also called Raghobadada),
who wanted to become Peshwa of the empire. Marathas forces under Tukojirao
Holkar and Mahadaji Shinde defeated a British expeditionary force at the Battle of Wadgaon, but the heavy surrender terms,
which included the return of annexed territory and a share of revenues, were
disavowed by the British authorities at Bengal and fighting continued. What
became known as the First
Anglo-Maratha War ended
in 1782 with a restoration of the pre-war status quo and the
East India Company's abandonment of Raghunathrao's cause.
In 1799, Yashwantrao
Holkar was
crowned King of the Holkars and he captured Ujjain. He started campaigning
towards the north to expand his empire in that region. Yashwant Rao rebelled
against the policies of Peshwa Baji Rao II. In May 1802, he marched towards
Pune the seat of the Peshwa. This gave rise to the Battle of Poona in which the Peshwa was
defeated. After the Battle of Poona, the flight of the Peshwa left the
government of the Maratha state in the hands of Yashwantrao Holkar.(Kincaid & Pārasanīsa 1925, p. 194) He appointed
Amrutrao as the Peshwa and went to Indore on 13 March 1803. All except Gaikwad,
chief of Baroda, who had already accepted British
protection by a separate treaty on 26 July 1802, supported the new regime. He
made a treaty with the British. Also, Yashwant Rao successfully resolved the
disputes with Scindia and the Peshwa. He tried to unite the Maratha Confederacy
but to no avail. In 1802, the British intervened in Baroda to support the heir
to the throne against rival claimants and they signed a treaty with the new
Maharaja recognising his independence from the Maratha Empire in return for his
acknowledgment of British paramountcy. Before the Second
Anglo-Maratha War (1803–1805),
the Peshwa Baji Rao II signed a similar treaty. The defeat in Battle of
Delhi, 1803 during
the Second Anglo-Maratha War resulted in the loss of the city of Delhi for the
Marathas.
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 maneuver and war
itself.[70]
Ultimately, the Third
Anglo-Maratha War (1817–1818)
resulted in the loss of Maratha independence. It left the British in control of
most of the Indian subcontinent. The Peshwa was exiled to Bithoor (Marat,
near Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh) as a pensioner of the British.
The Maratha heartland of Desh, including Pune, came under direct British rule,
with the exception of the states of Kolhapur and Satara,
which retained local Maratha rulers (descendants of Shivaji and Sambhaji II
ruled over Kolhapur). The Maratha-ruled states of Gwalior, Indore, and Nagpur
all lost territory and came under subordinate alliances with the British Raj as princely states that retained internal
sovereignty under British paramountcy. Other small princely states of Maratha
knights were retained under the British Raj as well.[ Peshwa Baji Rao II signing of the Treaty
of Bassein with
the Britishhe Third Anglo-Maratha War was fought by Maratha war lords
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[73] 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. 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 Sutlej River. The famed Nassak Diamond was looted by the Company as
part of the spoils of the war. The British acquired large chunks of territory
from the Maratha Empire and in effect put an end to their most dynamic
opposition. The terms of surrender Major-general John Malcolm offered to the Peshwa were
controversial amongst the British for being too liberal: The Peshwa was offered
a luxurious life near Kanpur and given a pension of about 80,000 pounds]
During the 17th century through
late 18th century, the Maratha emperors, prime ministers, and dominion/fiefdom
chiefs contributed on military as well as non-military fronts such as building
forts, naval facilities, development of towns, constructing and patronising
temples, among others. During the 19th and 20th centuries, when Maratha
principalities ruled as feudatories of the British, Maratha rulers built palaces,
contributed towards fine arts, introduced social reforms, and developed civic
amenities in their territories. 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, constructed without foreign aid. 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. Nearly all
the hill forts, which dot the landscape of present-day western Maharashtra were
built by the Marathas. The renovation of Gingee fortress in Tamil Nadu, has been particularly applauded.
During the 18th century, the Peshwas of Pune brought significant changes
to the town of Pune, building dams, bridges, and an underground water supply
system.[During the 18th century, misrule
and pursuance of oppressive policies by the Marathas have been noted in the
town of Ahmedabad. Queen
Ahilyabai Holkar
has been noted as a just ruler and an avid patron of religion. She has been
credited for building, repairing and patronising numerous temples in the town
of Maheshwar in Madhya Pradesh and across North India. Its
handloom industry is also said to have flourished under the rule of the Holkars.
The Bhosales
of Nagpur ruled the
present-day state of Odisha in the latter half of the 18th century where
the Maratha rulers patronised religion and religious institutions which made
Odisha a center of attraction.
Several Ghats in
Varanasi (in
present-day Uttar Pradesh) were repaired and re-constructed during the Maratha
rule of the 18th century. The Maratha rulers of Tanjore are said to have constructed several temples in
the town of Tanjore.
The Maratha rulers of Tanjore (present-day Tamil Nadu) were patrons of fine arts and their reign has been
considered as the golden period of Tanjore history. Art and culture reached new heights
during their rule. They also considered themselves as representatives
of Cholas referring
themselves as Cholasimhasanathipathi. They made significant
contributions towards Sanskrit and Marathi literature, Bharatanatyam (dance form), and Carnatic music. Several majestic palaces were built by Maratha
principalities which include the Shaniwar Wada (built by the Peshwas of Pune)
The Maratha army was not
homogenous, but employed soldiers of different backgrounds, both locals and
foreign mercenaries, including large numbers of Arabs, Sikhs, Rajputs, Sindhis, Rohillas, Abyssinians, Pathans,
Topiwalas and Europeans. The army of Nana Fadnavis, for example, included 5,000
Arabs.
The Maratha army, especially
its infantry, was praised by almost all the
enemies of the Maratha Empire, ranging from the Duke of
Wellington to Ahmad Shah Abdali. 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 Afghan Army, over 3,000 Durrani soldiers were killed alongside
Haji Atai Khan, one of the chief commander of Afghan 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” 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 almighty and
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 Afghan army
and its Indian allies. Though Abdali won the battle, he also had heavy
casualties on his side. So, 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. Grant me
that desire.
Similarly, the 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 that: "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" Even
when Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, 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. 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.
Norman Gash says that the Maratha
infantry was equal to that of British infantry. After the Third
Anglo-Maratha war in
1818, Britain listed the Marathas as one of the Martial Races to serve in the British
Indian Army.[104] 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).[105]
Ramchandra
Pant Amatya Bawdekar was a court administrator who rose from the ranks of
a local Kulkarni to the ranks of Ashtapradhan
under guidance and support of Shivaji. He was one of the prominent Peshwas from
the time of Shivaji, prior to the rise of the later Peshwas who controlled the
empire after Shahu.[78]
When Rajaram fled to Jinji in 1689 leaving the Maratha Empire, he gave a Hukumat
Panha (King Status) to Pant before leaving. Ramchandra Pant managed
the entire state under many challenges like influx of Mughals, betrayal from
Vatandars (local satraps under the Maratha state) and social challenges like
scarcity of food. With the help of the Pantpratinidhi, he kept the economic
condition of the Maratha Empire in an appropriate state.
He received military help from the
Maratha commanders – Santaji Ghorpade and Dhanaji Jadhav. On many occasions he himself
participated in battles against the Mughals
In 1698, he stepped down from the
post of Hukumat Panha when Rajaram offered this post to his
wife, Tarabai. Tarabai gave an important position to Pant among senior
administrators of the Maratha State. He wrote Adnyapatra (मराठी: आज्ञापत्र) in which he has explained different techniques of
war, maintenance of forts and administration etc. But owing to his loyalty to
Tarabai against Shahu (who was supported by more local satraps), he was sidelined
after the arrival of Shahu in 1707.
Nana Phadnavis
Nana Phadnavis was an influential minister
and statesman of the Maratha Empire during the Peshwa administration. After the
assassination of Peshwa Narayanrao in 1773, Nana Phadnavis
managed the affairs of the state with the help of a twelve-member regency council known as the Barbhai council
and he remained the chief strategist of the Maratha state till his death in
1800
AD. Nana Phadnavis played a pivotal role in holding the Maratha
Confederacy together in the midst of internal dissension and the growing power
of the British. Nana's administrative, diplomatic and financial skills brought
prosperity to the Maratha Empire and his management of external affairs kept
the Maratha Empire away from the thrust of the British East India Company.
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