Rise Of The Marathas

Shivaji attacking on Afzal Khan and ripped his bowel with tiger claw.

Birth of Shivaji – Shivaji and Jijabai

Night attack on Shaista Khan

Meeting of Shivaji and Raja jai singh.

Shivaji coronated in A.D. 1674 and assumed the title of “Chatrapati.”

htapradhan Mandal – Shivaji appointed 8 council of ministers to assist him in the administrative system.

NOTE – The above images are some of the important events of the life of Shivaji which made him one of the powerful rulers of the Maratha empire.

Shivaji’s tutor was Dadaji Khonda Dev. When Shahji Bhonsle, father of Shivaji married for the second time, he neglected his first wife and son Shivaji. Shivaji was then brought up by his tutor Dadaji Khonda dev, who trained him in warfare tactics and administration.

Shivaji had a council of eight ministers called ‘’Ashtapradhan’’. To help him in the smooth functioning of the administrative system, he appointed 8 councils of ministers, which came to be known as “Ashtapradhan” mandal.

NOTE- The 8 council of ministers are – Peshwa – Prime minister, Mantri - Chronicler, Sachiv – Home Secretary, Sumant – Foreign Secretary, Senapthi – Commander-in-Chief, Amatya – Finance Minister , Panditrao – Ecclesiastical head (deals with religious matters) , Nayaydish – Chief Justice.

The First Peshwa was Peshwa Balaji Vishwanath. Maratha Emperor Shahu appointed him, and he became the founder of the Peshwa rule.

Treaty of Purandhar was signed between Raja Jai Singh and Shivaji. Raja Jai Singh was sent by Aurangzeb to fight against Shivaji. Shivaji was captured and was forced to sign the treaty of Purandhar.

Guerilla warfare is also known as the irregular tactic of warfare. Marathas were excellent in the guerilla warfare and adopted this method to subdue their enemy. Individual hide in mountains or hills and make a sudden attack on his enemy. This tactic will be useful only in those areas which are hilly regions and to attack the large groups.

There are many other countries who adopted this tactic. It is believed that this method is commonly adopted by those countries to increase the impact of attacking by the small army or group.

Some of the countries are as follows:-

• The Chinese under Mao Zedong used this method in the second revolutionary civil war. They adopted basic methods of guerrilla warfare and continued until the enemy retreats,

• In the 19th century, an American civil war also known as People’s war adopted guerilla tactic. They were considerably successful in this tactic which enabled the government to provide the measure of legitimacy to the guerrilla groups.

• In the Mexican revolution from 1910 to 1920, their revolutionary leader Emiliano Zapata adopted this method. Their method of blending their own soldiers among the general population was effective. They met considerable success.

• In the Philippine-American war, the Filipino adopted guerilla warfare to attack as they considered this as their only option. But the American troops were superior enough to suppress them. Later, they made an attack on the American army by hiding in the jungles.

• Boer republics in South Africa used this method in the first and the second Boer war. Boers believed in stealth and speed rather than formation and discipline.

Guerilla

Explanation: The Marathas adopted Guerilla warfare. Marathas lived in the hilly regions of Deccan which enabled them to use the method of guerrilla warfare. This is an irregular warfare tactic where the individuals hide in between the mountains and make a sudden attack on the enemy. They were excellent in this warfare.

Afzal Khan

Explanation: The Sultan of Bijapur sent Afzal Khan to subdue Shivaji. Due to the Shivaji’s continues activity of conquest and plunder, sultan of Bijapur sent Afzal Khan to bring Shivaji dead or alive. But Shivaji killed Afzal Khan, and it was a great victory for Shivaji.

Peshwa

Explanation: The prime minister of the Maratha Empire was called Peshwa. Peshwa Balaji Vishwanath became the first Peshwa, and their rule started from A.D. 1713.

Bahadur Shah

Explanation: After Aurangzeb’s death Bahadur Shah became the Mughal Emperor. Bahadur Shah became the 7th Mughal ruler on the Mughal Empire.

1. Balaji Rao Forward policy

2. Nadir Shah Persia

3. Nyayadhish Ashtapradhan

4. Ahmad Shah Abdali King of Afganistan

Explanation: 1 – Peshwa Balaji Rao, son of Balaji Vishwanath, became the second Peshwa. He came to be known as the “greatest of the Peshwa.” He was the one who believed that the Maratha Empire should be expanded further in the north. Thus, he followed this policy which came to be known as the forward policy.

2 – Nadir Shah was the greatest warrior of Persia who rose to power because of his abilities. He showed his interest in the wealth of India and wanted to attain name and fame by conquering the territories.

3 – Shivaji introduced a new administrative system for the smooth functioning of the government, which came to be known as Ashtapradhan mandal. He appointed 8 councils of ministers and Nyaydish is the Chief Justice in the Ashtapradhan mandal. He was in charge of the civil and criminal cases.

4 – After the death of the Nadir Shah, Ahmad Shah Abdali became the King of Afghanistan. He was the head of the Abdali tribe of the Afghans.

TIMELINE

1664 Shivaji Maharaj, the Marathas freed themselves from the Muslim sultans of Bijapur to the southeast and became much more aggressive and began to frequently raid Mughal territory, ransacking the Mughal port of Surat.

1674 Shivaji Maharaj proclaimed himself as emperor and assumed the title Chhatrapati.

1680 The Marathas had spread and conquered some of central India by Shivaji Maharaja's death but later lost it to the Mughals and the British.

1681 Sambhaji crowned himself and resumed his father's expansion policy.

1689 Sambhaji was killed by Aurangzeb with the help of Sambhaji's own relatives, who betrayed him.

1713 The post of the state Peshwa was given to Balaji Vishwanath.

January 14, 1761 The Peshwa sent an army to challenge the Afghan-led alliance of Indian Muslims that included Rohillas, Shujah-ud-daulah, nizab-ud-daulah and the Maratha army was decisively defeated, at the Third Battle of Panipat.

1767 Madhavrao I crossed the Krishna River and defeated Hyder Ali in the battles of Sira and Madgiri.

1771 Mahadji recaptured Delhi and installed Shah Alam II as a puppet ruler on the Mughal throne receiving in return the title of vice-regent of the Empire, the Mughals also gave him the title of Amir-ul-Amara Maratha king of Gwalior.

March 1786 to March 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 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.

1788 Mahadji's armies defeated Ismail Beg, a Mughal noble who resisted the Marathas.

1795 Another achievement of the Marathas was their victories over the Nizam of Hyderabad's armies including in the Battle of Kharda

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 recognizing his independence from the Maratha empire in return for acknowledging British paramountcy.

1803-1805 In the Second Anglo-Maratha War, the Peshwa Baji Rao II signed treaty acknowledging British paramountcy.

1817-1818 The Third Anglo-Maratha War resulted in the loss of Maratha independence. It left Britain in control of most of India

1857 The last Peshwa, Nana Sahib, born as Govind Dhondu Pant, was the adopted son of Peshwa Baji Rao II. He was one of the main leaders of the battle against British rule.

In A.D. 1761, the third battle of Panipat was fought. It was fought between the Ahmad Shah Abdali, King of Afghanistan and the Marathas. Ahmad Shah with the help of the Nazib-ud-Daulah of Rohilkhand and Shuja-Ud-Daulah of Oudh invaded India and defeated Marathas in the third battle of Panipat. This gradually led to the downfall of the Maratha Empire.

Nadir Shah who was the greatest warrior of Persia invaded India in A.D. 1739 to plunder the wealth of India and to conquer distant territories to attain name and fame.

The treaty of Purandhar was signed in A.D. 1665 between Raja Jai Singh and Shivaji. Sent by Aurangzeb, Raja Jai Singh forced Shivaji to sign this treaty as he captured him and made him agreed to various terms.

Shivaji was known as the “Mountain-Rat.” Shivaji was constantly expanding his area of the rule which became the cause of disturb for Aurangzeb. He used to call him “Mountain-Rat.” Many times he tried to suppress him, but he succeeded each time. When Shivaji came to meet him, Aurangzeb jailed him, but he escaped. This made Shivaji one of the greatest enemies of Aurangzeb.

Due to the growing power of Shivaji, the sultan of Bijapur appointed Afzal Khan to suppress Shivaji. Afzal Khan invited Shivaji for the meeting. Shivaji became very alert and agreed to meet him. When Shivaji arrived at the meeting place, Afzal Khan advanced a few steps forward and embraced Shivaji and tried to attack him. However, the Maratha leader had armor under his coat, immediately recovering from the shocking attack, he took his Baghnak (Tiger claws) and attacked Khan from the back and ripped open his bowels and brought him instantly down to the ground. This incident brought prestige and honor to the Marathas and Shivaji.

The Mughal emperor, Aurangzeb appointed his maternal uncle, Shaista Khan as the governor of Deccan with the instruction to destroy the newly established Maratha power. Shaista Khan took the possession of Poona. Hearing this, Shivaji reached Poona with his chosen troop and entered in Shaista Khan’s camp. Shivaji reached Khan’s room and made a surprising attack on him. Shaista Khan was asleep and got up, and tried to arm himself when the attack was made but he managed to escape in darkness by losing his thumb. Meanwhile, Mughal troops became alert and awake; Shivaji with his soldiers left the camp immediately. Night attack on Shaista Khan brought prestige to the Shivaji while Shaista Khan was humiliated.

There were various causes for the defeat of the Marathas in the third battle of Panipat which are as follows:-

• The focus of the Marathas was to plunder the neighboring territories. They followed the policy of aggression where they attacked other territories to bring them under their control. This led to the downfall of Maratha power.

• This policy made the people of their own religion to dislike them.

• Maratha army was inefficient and undisciplined as compared to the army of Ahmad Shah Abdali.

• Marathas were gradually losing their power which affected their regular supplies.

• After the death of the Bajirao, the Maratha leaders were weak, and they continued to rule inefficiently after the third battle of Panipat.

Nadir Shah considered to be one of the greatest warriors of Persia. He wanted to acquire the wealth of India. He was aware that Muhammad Shah, the ruler in India was incompetent and sent a messenger to Muhammad Shah to tell him not to provide shelter to the Afghans fleeing from Kandahar, but Muhammad Shah didn’t respond to him, so Nadir Shah invaded India in A.D. 1739. He captured Peshawar and defeated Mughal emperor and acquired the money he bound to receive from war and plundered Delhi. This caused violence in the city. He returned with a huge amount of booty but was later killed by his soldier.

The various reasons why Shivaji was such a powerful ruler of Marathas are as follows: -

• The son of Shahji Bhonsle, Shivaji dreamt of establishing an independent and powerful Maratha empire. So, he decided to plunder the neighboring territories and at the same time tries to maintain friendly relation with Mughals.

• He was very well trained in warfare and in administration which enabled him to form a unique administrative system called Ashtrapradhan mandal.

• He became a powerful Maratha ruler and established an independent kingdom due to his efficient military administration.

• He maintained his power as he had an effective and efficient spy system. The spies of Shivaji provided him with the information of the enemy’s strength and weakness.

• He believed in Swaraj which helped him to maintain good relationships with the people.

• The revenue system of Shivaji was a unique one. He believed that land under his Swaraj should be secure and accordingly, suitable measures were taken for the improvement of agriculture.

• He was the first Indian ruler who attempted to organize a strong navy.

The various factors that led to the downfall of the Maratha Empire under the Peshwas are as follows:-

• Shahu during his rule appointed a Prime Minister who came to be known as Peshwas. After the death of Shahu, the administration of the Maratha Empire was managed by the Balaji Bajirao, son of Baji Rao. He extended the Maratha territories. But the Peshwas that ruled after him were involved in the policy of aggression which led to the downfall of the Maratha Empire.

• After the defeat of the Marathas in the third battle of Panipat, the Maratha Empire was continued by the weak and inefficient Peshwas.

• Due to this, the Maratha Sardars were constantly involved in revolts against each other. Peshwas were unable to control them which ultimately led to their downfall.

• Later Peshwas were unable to maintain an efficient administrative system.

• The army of the Marathas which was later maintained by the Peshwa was not well trained and disciplined as compared to the Britisher’s army. Their defeat in the third battle of Panipat paved the way for the British East India Company.