Maratha Empire- Shahuji Bhonsle, Balaji Vishwanath and others

The Rule of Shahuji Bhonsle (1708–1749) 

• Shahuji holds prime importance as the grandson of the greatest warrior, Chhatrapati Shivaji. That’s why Shahuji Bhonsle was also known as Chattrapati Shahu. He was held captive under Aurangzeb’s rule from 1689 and was released after Aurangzeb’s death around 1707 by Bahadur Shah I, the last Mughal Emperor
• There was also a civil war between Shahuji Bhonsle and Tarabai, his aunt as both wanted to dominate the Maratha Empire
• Tarabai initiated a revolt against the Mughals at Kolhapur. It was as a tribute to her son Shivaji II. It was recently after her husband passed away in 1700
• History repeated itself once again. The rise of Mughal nobles in politics was quite common at that time. The same uprising started in the Maratha Empire as well
• Maratha Sardar started to take sides by bargaining; they increased their strength and significance. They even conspired against them with Mughal viceroys
• This dispute provoked a new policy of the Maratha government which developed under the supervision of Peshwa of Shahu, Balaji Vishwanath
• This whole time marks the start of Peshwa domination in Maratha History. It can be rightfully said that it started after Shahuji Bhonsle. After the Peshwa system came into existence, the Maratha Raj was modified into an Empire
• Peshwa was the chief minister among the Maratha people. The Peshwa originally headed the advisory council of Raja Shivaji
• After Shivaji’s death, the council broke up and the office lost its importance. However, it was renewed when Shivaji’s grandson Shahuji Bhonsle elected Balaji Visvanath Bhat, a Chitpavan Brahman, as Peshwa in 1714. Balaji‘s son Peshwa Baji Rao I secured the hereditary succession to the Peshwaship

The Rule of Balaji Vishwanath (1713- 1720) 

• Balaji Vishwanath was a Brahmin who began his career as a nominal revenue officer and then rose to the position of an official gradually. He had assisted Shahuji Bhonsle to restrain his enemies and adversaries
• Balaji Vishwanath surpassed everyone through his diplomatic skills and won over numerous influential Maratha Sardars. Shahu rendered Balaji Vishwanath as Peshwa or Mukhya Pradhan in 1713
• Vishwanath strengthened his and Shahu’s grip over most of Maratha sardars. He had a good hold over all of Maharashtra except Kolhapur. Kolhapur had Aunt Tarabai who was not in their favour
• Balaji Vishwanath had boosted Maratha strength by taking advantage of inner conflicts between the Mughal officials. He persuaded Zulfiqar Khan to compensate Chauth and Sardeshmukhi of Deccan
•  This allowed them to collect Sardeshmukhi and Chauth in 6 provinces of Deccan
• In return, Shahuji Bhonsle decided to place a body of 15000 cavalry troops at emperor duty and an annual tribute of 10 lakh rupees
• Balaji Vishwanath also helped the Sayyid brothers in defeating Farrukh Siyar

The Rule of Peshwa Baji Rao I (1720-40) 

• After Balaji Vishwanath’s death, his son Baji Rao I was elected as the Peshwa by Shahu. Hence, he was known as Peshwa Baji Rao
• Peshwa Baji Rao arranged the policy of northward growth of the Marathas so that “the Maratha flag shall fly from Krishna to Attock”
• Peshwas Baji Rao I, after resolving issues at home, finally defeated the Nizam near Bhopal. Under the Convention of Durai Sarai, Peshwa Baji Rao I coerced the Nizam to surrender the whole of Malwa, complete sovereignty over the territory between the Chambal and the Narmada rivers and to pay 50 lakh as a war indemnity
• Peshwas Baji Rao captured Bundelkhand, Gujarat, Malwa, and Bassein and reached Gujarat in 1737
• The decline of Bassein marked the end of Portuguese rule in the Northern Konkan region
• He also severely throttled the power of the Siddis of Janjira (Raigad district of Maharashtra)
• He made Poona (now Pune) the headquarters of his activities and it soon came to be known as the seat of the Peshwas
• However, his policy of northward expansion landed the Marathas in the disastrous third battle of Panipat
• During this period, Ranoji Scindia established the Scindia dynasty in Malwa and made Ujjain his headquarters
• Malhar Rao Holker was also given a part of Malwa. He founded the Holker house of Indore
• The Gaikwars established their base in Gujarat with headquarters at Baroda
• Two other kingdoms of Kolhapur were ruled by the junior members of the Shivaji family and Bhonsle of Nagpur claimed close kinship ties with the Maratha king Shahu
• Peshwa Baji Rao founded the Maratha empire through his conquest, but he failed to strengthen it through managerial organisation

The Rule of Peshwa Balaji Baji Rao or Nana Sahib (1740-61)

• At the very young age of 40, Peshwa Baji Rao I died and was succeeded by his son Balaji Bajirao, popularly called Nana Saheb
• Nana Saheb remained dangling on the advice and guidance of his cousin Sadashiv Rao Bhau throughout his tenure 
• One of the earliest achievements of Nana Saheb was better financial management of the Maratha empire by careful supervision of all financial transactions
• He was keenly interested in the expansion of the Maratha Empire in North India and he discussed the matter with Sindhia and Holker and in April 1742 marched northward to strengthen the Maratha council in Bundelkhand
• In 1743, he marched towards the north to help Alivardi Khan (in Bengal) whose territories had been attacked by Raghuji Bhonsle
• Nana Saheb reached Murshidabad and met Alivardi khan who agreed to pay Shahu the Chauth for the Bengal region and twenty-two lakhs to Peshwa in return for this expedition
• This arrangement proved beneficial for Alivardi Khan as his territories were freed from Raghugi’s forces
• On December 15, 1749, Shahu died childless. But Shahu had nominated Rama Raja, a grandson of Tarabai, as his beneficiary

The Marathas were vanquished in 1818 after a series of conflicts with the British. Various princely entities sprang from its ruins under British control. The spirit of the Maratha Empire, however, lives on in the Indian state of Maharashtra, which was established in 1960 as a Marathi-speaking state. Life in this portion of India is still characterised by traditions such as social mobility regardless of caste and religious plurality. Although the kingdom had been fought against the Muslim Moghul Empire for many years, it was distinguished by a policy of religious tolerance, which had been one of Shivaji’s primary convictions. In a world that seems to be more divided by religion and class, the narrative of a polity in which anybody with skill could achieve and where people were free to practise their religions without fear of persecution or discrimination must be told. Only by juxtaposing such narratives with those of intolerant cultures and religious strife can a more balanced history of how people of various faiths interact be built.

Conclusion

The Maratha Empire (sometimes spelled Mahratta) or the Maratha Confederacy was a Hindu empire in modern-day India. It was active from 1674 through 1818. The empire’s holdings encompassed 250 million acres (1 million km2), or one-third of South Asia, at its height. The state was headed by a succession of Prime Ministers who were guided by an eight-member Council. As the British increased their influence in India, the Marathas posed a significant challenge to their territorial aspirations.