The Maratha Empire or the Maratha Confederacy was an Indian power that existed from 1674 to 1818 and ruled over a large area of the Indian sub-continent. The Marathas are credited to a large extent for ending the Mughal rule in India.[3][4][5]
The Marathas are the Hindu warrior group from the western Deccan Plateau ( present day Maharashtra) that rose to prominence by establishing a Hindavi Swarajya. The Marathas became prominent in the 17th century under the leadership of Shivaji who revolted against the Adil Shahi dynasty and the Mughal Empire and carved out a rebel territory with Raigad as his capital. Known for their mobility, the Marathas were able to consolidate their territory during the Mughal–Maratha Wars and later controlled a large part of India.
Chhattrapati Shahu, a grandson of Shivaji, was released by the Mughals after the death of Emperor Aurangzeb. Following a brief struggle with his aunt Tarabai, Shahu became ruler. During this period, he appointed Balaji Vishwanath, and later, his descendants, as the peshwas or prime ministers of the empire.[6] Balaji and his descendants played a stellar role in expansion of Maratha rule. The empire at its peak stretched from Tamil Nadu[7] in the south, to Peshawar ( modern-day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan[8] [a]) in the north, and Bengal and Andaman Islands in the east.[10] In 1761, the Maratha army lost the Third Battle of Panipat to Ahmad Shah Durrani of the Afghan Durrani Empire which halted their imperial expansion into Afghanistan . Ten years after Panipat, the young Peshwa Madhavrao I's Maratha Resurrection reinstated Maratha authority over North India.
In a bid to effectively manage the large empire, he gave semi-autonomy to the strongest of the knights, which created a confederacy of Maratha states. They became known as the Gaekwads of Baroda, the Holkars of Indore and Malwa, the Scindias of Gwalior and Ujjain, the Bhonsales of the Nagpur and the Puars of Dhar & Dewas. In 1775, the East India Company intervened in a Peshwa family succession struggle in Pune, which became the First Anglo-Maratha War. The Marathas remained the preeminent power in India until their defeat in the Second and Third Anglo-Maratha Wars ( 1805–1818) , which left the East India Company in control of most of India.
A large portion of the Maratha empire was coastline, which had been secured by a potent navy under commanders such as Kanhoji Angre. He was very successful at keeping foreign naval ships, particularly of the Portuguese and British, at bay.[11] Securing the coastal areas and building land-based fortifications were crucial aspects of the Maratha's defensive strategy and regional military history.
