Emergence of New States: The Marathas

The Marathas

• The Maratha kingdom was another powerful regional kingdom to arise out of a sustained opposition to Mughal rule
• Shivaji (1627-1680) carved out a stable kingdom with the support of powerful warrior families (deshmukhs)
• Groups of highly mobile, peasant-pastoralists (kunbis) provided the backbone of the Maratha army. Shivaji used these forces to challenge the Mughals in the peninsula
• After Shivaji’s death, effective power in the Maratha state was wielded by a family of Chitpavan Brahmanas who served Shivaji’s successors as Peshwa (or principal minister). Poona became the capital of the Maratha kingdom
• Under the Peshwas, the Marathas developed a very successful military organisation
• Their success lay in bypassing the fortified areas of the Mughals, by raiding cities and by engaging Mughal armies in areas where their supply lines and reinforcements could be easily disturbed
• Between 1720 and 1761, the Maratha empire expanded. It gradually chipped away at the authority of the Mughal Empire
• Malwa and Gujarat were seized from the Mughals by the 1720s. By the 1730s, the Maratha king was recognised as the overlord of the entire Deccan peninsula
• He possessed the right to levy chauth and sardeshmukhi in the entire region
  • Chauth is the 25 per cent of the land revenue claimed by zamindars. In the Deccan this was collected by the Marathas
  • Sardeshmukhi is the 9-10 percent of the land revenue paid to the head revenue collector in the Deccan
• After raiding Delhi in 1737 the frontiers of Maratha domination expanded rapidly: into Rajasthan and the Punjab in the north; into Bengal and Orissa in the east; and into Karnataka and the Tamil and Telugu countries in the south
• These were not formally included in the Maratha empire, but were made to pay tribute as a way of accepting Maratha sovereignty
• Expansion brought enormous resources, but it came at a price. These military campaigns also made other rulers hostile towards the Marathas
• As a result, they were not inclined to support the Marathas during the third battle of Panipat in 1761
• Alongside endless military campaigns, the Marathas developed an effective administrative system as well
• Once conquest had been completed and Maratha rule was secure, revenue demands were gradually introduced taking local conditions into account
• Agriculture was encouraged and trade revived
• This allowed Maratha chiefs (sardars) like Sindhia of Gwalior, Gaekwad of Baroda and Bhonsle of Nagpur the resources to raise powerful armies
• Maratha campaigns into Malwa in the 1720s did not challenge the growth and prosperity of the cities in the region
• Ujjain expanded under Sindhia’s patronage and Indore under Holkar’s
• By all accounts these cities were large and prosperous and functioned as important commercial and cultural centres. New trade routes emerged within the areas controlled by the Marathas
• The silk produced in the Chanderi region now found a new outlet in Poona, the Maratha capital
• Burhanpur which had earlier participated in the trade between Agra and Surat now expanded its hinterland to include Poona and Nagpur in the south and Lucknow and Allahabad in the east

Shivaji

• Towards the end of the 17th century a powerful state started emerging in the Deccan under the leadership of Shivaji which finally led to the establishment of the Maratha state
• Shivaji was born to Shahji and Jija Bai at Shivneri in 1630
• Under the guidance of his mother and his guardian Dada Konddev, Shivaji embarked on a career of conquest at a young age
• The occupation of Javli made him the undisputed leader of the Mavala highlands which paved the way for further expansion
• His exploits against the forces of Bijapur and the Mughals made him a legendary figure
• He often resorted to guerrilla warfare against his opponents
• By introducing an efficient administrative system supported by a revenue collection method based on chauth and sardeshmukhi he laid the foundations of a strong Maratha state