Discuss the rise of the Maratha power under the Peshwas.

What led to the decline of the

The rise of a powerful Maratha movement during the 17 th century, and the emergence of
the Marathas as the most potent political entity in India by the end of the first quarter of
the 18th century, represents a remarkable social and political phenomenon.

Maharashtra was converted into a military nation by Shivaji. After Shivaji’s death, his
eldest son, Sambhaji and his family were captured by the Mughals in 1689. After the
execution of Sambhaji, his infant son Shahu and his family were taken captive by
Emperor Aurangzeb. The young Maratha prince had since been brought up at the
Mughal court. Shivaji’s younger son, Rajaram, became the head of the Maratha state.

The development of the Maratha movement can be divided into three phases. The first
phase was the struggle for the establishment and defence of Shivaji’s swarajya, and
recognition of Maratha claim for the chauth and sardeshmukhi of the Deccan. This
phase ended with Balaji Vishwanath’s journey to Delhi in 1719, and the issue of the
formal rescripts by the Mughal Emperor for the grant of swarajya, and chauth and
sardeshmukhi in the Deccan to Shahu. The second phase began with Baji Rao’s accession
to the post of Peshwa in 1720, and the Maratha bid for the conquest of Malwa and
Gujarat. This phase ended in 1741 with the virtual transfer of these two provinces to the
Marathas. The third phase, beginning in 1741 saw the Maratha bid for the domination of
Rajasthan, parts of doab, and Punjab upto Attock. It climaxed in the Third Battle of
Panipat in 1761.

After the death of Shivaji, the links between the political and the socio-religious reform
movement of the Marathas were weakened. The Mughal assault shattered the state
structure built by Shivaji, and enabled the various Maratha sardars to engage themselves
in a kind of a guerilla warfare.

Shahu, son of Sambhaji, who was earlier captured, was released after Aurangzeb’s death
as the Mughal princes thought of securing themselves of Maratha incursions. It was
hardly likely that the powerful sardars would subordinate themselves to Shahu after his
return. Tarabai, Rajaram’s widow, had carried on the struggle against the Mughals in
her son’s name- Shivaji II. The Maratha sardars played between Shahu and his rival,
Tarabai, for preserving their powers and status.

Maharashtra at this time was a house divided against itself. There were disputes
between ministers and generals. “Next to the great founder Shivaji, Shahu played the
most important part in the development of the Maratha state”, writes Sardesai. His
greatest gift to his country was his discovery of the Peshwas and the patronage he
bestowed upon them.

Peshwas were the ministers of the Chatrapati or Maratha Raja. In the time of Shivaji and
his immediate successors, the office was not officially hereditary, but it became so under
Shahu. This was due to the personal relationship between Shahu and Balaji
Vishwanath Bhat. The hope of effective political unity among the Marathas centred
more and more in institution of Peshwaship which became a prime factor in Maratha
politics. Thus, the Peshwas gradually became de facto inheritors of the political legacy of
Shivaji.

Balaji Vishwanath, a Chitpavan Brahman from Konkan, had served Shahu since 1707
so ably and devotedly that Shahu entrusted the conduct of all state affairs to him. He
was appointed Peshwa in 1713. The Mughals had realized how powerful the Marathas
already were in the Deccan. This led the Mughal Emperor to reward the Marathas with
all that Balaji demanded. Shahu was recognized as ruler of Shivaji’s home dominions,
including the possessions in Karnataka, and he was allowed to collect chauth and
sardeshmukhi in six subahs of the Deccan. In return, the Marathas were expected to
maintain a contingent of 15,000 horses in the service of the Emperor and maintain order
in the Deccan. Thus, the imperial grant converted the Marathas from the status of mere
marauders into authorized agents of the sovereign of Delhi.

Balaji had also rendered valuable services to Shahu in the settlement of his home affairs.
The power of Tarabai was overthrown even in Kolhapur. He reorganized the finances,
created a legitimate field in the Mughal provinces for the turbulent Marathas to lay the
foundations of a Maratha Empire, and thereby gave definite shape and direction to the
chaotic inheritance of Shahu. Moreover, he made the Peshwa the most important office
and minister in the Maratha state. Balaji also attempted a journey to Delhi. However, he
did not long survive his strenuous journey to Delhi. He returned in 1719 and died the
next year. Shahu appointed Balaji’s son, Bajirao, as the next Peshwa.

Baji Rao’s accession to peshwaship saw a change in the character of the Maratha
movement from defensive to offensive, from one of struggle for national survival to
empire building. The change in the character of the struggle was becoming apparent
during the last years of Aurangzeb’s reign when the Marathas began regular raids into
Gujarat and Malwa. But the new trend was given the shape of a definite policy only with
the coming of Baji Rao to the scene.

A prolonged controversy at the Maratha court between Baji Rao and the Pratinidhi
Shripat Rao preceded the adoption of the new policy. The main issues posed were: (i)
the direction and timing of Maratha expansionist activities, (ii) the attitude of Nizam-ul-
Mulk and the possibility of maintaining friendly relations with him, and (iii) internal
administration, and particularly the problem of controlling the Maratha sardars and
of putting the finances and the army in order. Lastly there was the question of power,
that is who was to dominate the councils of the King, the Peshwa or the Pratinidhi.

The Pratinidhi was not opposed to an expansionist policy as such, but he wanted that
attention should be first given to the over-running of the Konkan and the completion of
the conquest of the Karnataka begun by Shivaji. After consolidating Maratha positions
in the Deccan, they could think of conquest further afield in northern India. The
Pratinidhi emphasized the necessity of caution, and of not provoking the Mughals too
far lest it bring another invasion of the Maratha homeland. Moreover, he was keen to
befriend the powerful Nizam-ul-Mulk. Hence, he wanted the expansionist activities to
be deferred till the finances had been placed on sound basis and a strong army and a
stable administrative system created.
On the other hand, Baji Rao dismissed the conquest of the Karnataka as a domestic
affair. He discounted the power of the Nizam, offering to hold him in check as well as to
affect a northward drive. Finally, he appealed to the predatory instincts of the Maratha
sardars by pointing to the riches of northern India, the Deccan having been reduced to
ruin by prolonged warfare.

However, it would be incorrect to assume that Baji Rao’s policy of northward expansion
implied that he was disinterested in the south. In 1724, when the Emperor had asked for
Maratha help against Nizam-ul-Mulk, Baji Rao had demanded the cession of the subah
of Hyderabad, and the virtual right to nominate the Mughal viceroy of the Deccan.
Thus, Baji Rao too, was interested in Maratha supremacy over the Deccan.

However, Baji Rao was determined of over-running and bringing under Maratha
domination the rich and flourishing provinces of Malwa and Gujarat. Maratha sardars
had raided and regularly exacted contributions from these provinces since the early part
of the century. Baji Rao gave to these sporadic raids a systematic form and political
context, for he perceived the political and strategic value of these provinces as well. With
the Marathas securely established in Malwa and Gujrat, a wedge would be interposed
between the Nizam and Delhi. The Marathas would then surround the Nizam’s
territories on three sides, and could at their convenience, turn against the Nizam without
fear of him getting help from Delhi, or raid the doab and the regions to the east and west
of it.

Thus, the establishment of a Maratha domination in Malwa and Gujarat was the first
step to the establishment of a large and powerful Maratha empire.

A study of the Maratha activities in Malwa and Gujarat first requires an examination of
the Maratha relations with Nizam-ul-Mulk, which passed through a number of phases
and had considerable bearing on the Maratha activities in Malwa and Gujarat.

As the Viceroy of the Deccan, from 1715 to 1717, Nizam-ul-Mulk resisted the Maratha
claims for the chauth and sardeshmukhi of the Deccan, and was constantly at war with
them. However, after his successful rebellion against the Saiyids, the Nizam-ul-Mulk
accepted the imperial farman granting the chauth and sardeshmukhi of the Deccan to
the Marathas.

In 1728, affairs between Nizam-ul-Mulk and the Marathas moved towards war. Nizam-
ul-Mulk was apprehensive at the growing sweep of Maratha operations in Malwa and
Gujarat. He also resented Maratha encroachments in the Karnataka, the most important
point of conflict between the Marathas and Nizam. After a brief campaign, Baji Rao
brought Nizam-ul-Mulk to bay at Palkhed. By the treaty of Mungi Shivagoan in 1728,
Nizam reaffirmed Shahu’s claim for the chauth and sardeshmukhi of the Deccan, and
agreed to not to offer any protection to Sambhaji of Kolhapur.

While it is historically wrong to imagine that the treaty established Maratha supremacy
in the south, it did place the claims of Shahu to the chauth and sardeshmukhi of the
Deccan beyond dispute. It also enabled Baji Rao to finally supplant the Pratinidhi at
Shahu’s court, and to devote his undivided attention to the affairs of Malwa and
Gujarat.

Gujarat had been raided by the Marathas intermittently since 1705, and Malwa since
1699, but it was only after 1720 that the Maratha raids in these provinces became a
regular and organized feature. Claims to the chauth of Malwa and Gujarat had been
advanced as early as the reign of Shivaji. In 1717, Shahu raised the demand for the
recognition of the Maratha claims over Gujarat and Malwa. At the time of his visit to
Delhi in 1719, Balaji Vishwanath was instructed to try and secure the chauth of these two
provinces.

These claims were not granted, and Maratha raids into the two provinces assumed
larger and larger proportions. In 1724, when Nizam-ul-Mulk rebelled, both he and the
Emperor bid for Maratha support. The Marathas once again demanded the recognition
of their claims over Malwa and Gujarat. But in view of the financial and strategic
importance of these provinces, neither Nizam nor the Emperor was willing to fulfill such
demands. However, after his defeat by Baji Rao in 1728, Nizam-ul-Mulk was compelled
to disregard the Maratha advance in Malwa and Gujarat. Thus, it was not till 1728 that
the Mughals felt the full brunt of the Maratha strength in Malwa and Gujarat.

The Maratha conquest of Gujarat and Malwa proceeded in three stages. The first stage
was the establishment of the Maratha claim for chauth and sardeshmukhi. Next, this
claim was substituted by a demand for the cession of territory, and the provinces were
divided into spheres of influence among the Maratha sardars. The final stage was
outright annexation.

In Gujarat, the Maratha claim for the chauth and sardeshmukhi of the subah were
accepted by the Imperial governor in 1726. However, the grant of chauth and
sardeshmukhi did not mean the end of the plundering activities of the Maratha sardars.
They gradually seized 28 districts of south Gujarat. Thus, by 1732 the Marathas had not
only secured recognition of their right to chauth and sardeshmukhi of Gujarat from the
governor, but also obtained control of the districts from which they would effectively
realize their claims.

The stage was now set for the next step, annexation of the rest of the province. It only
remained to legalize the position by a formal grant from the Emperor. A last effort was
made by the Imperialists to recover Gujarat in 1749. The last traces of Mughal rule in
Gujarat disappeared with the fall of Ahmedabad in 1753.

The first move for the enforcement of the claim for chauth from Malwa was made under
the leadership of Baji Rao in 1723. In 1728, Baji Rao swept into Bundelkhand, and
besieged M. Khan Bangash, forcing the latter to relinquish all his conquests in
Bundelkhand. In return, the Raja agreed to pay chauth. Three years later, Baji Rao
divided the province into spheres of influence among his sardars.

The ever-extending sweep of the Maratha operations, and their growing demands and
aspiration caused serious concern to the Mughals and to the various semi-independent
or autonomous princes and nawabs of north India, such as the Kachhwahas of Amber,
the Rathors of Jodhpur, the Bundelas, Saadat Khan of Awadh, etc. None of these could
ignore the Maratha threat, or hope to repel it by their individual efforts. They need of
the hour was a united front. But their mutual jealousies and suspicions made the forging
of such a front a difficult task.

Lack of firmness at the Delhi court led many of the princes and the nawabs to make
individual deals with the Marathas, thereby accelerating the process of the
disintegration of the political and moral authority of the Emperor. Thus, the Maratha
advance towards north India accentuated the inner problems of the empire and
hastened its internal decay.

However, efforts were made by the Mughals to arrest the Maratha advance. The climax
of Imperial efforts was reached in 1734-5 in an attempt to drive the Marathas beyond the
Narmada. In 1734, at the instance of Jai Singh, the Rajput Rajas pledged of united
resistance to the Marathas. The Wazir Qamar-ud-Din commanded a force of 25,000 and
Khan-i-Duaran a force of 50,000 men. However, they found themselves helpless in the
face of the Maratha light cavalry. At last, Khan-i-Duaran opened negotiations with the
Marathas and agreed to pay them the chauth of Malwa. These campaigns demonstrated
once again the failure of the Mughals to find an answer to the Maratha light cavalry
tactics. Their failure opened up Rajasthan, and even the doab and Delhi to Maratha
raids.

The failure of three years of campaigning, and the growing sweep of the Maratha
incursions, led to the development of a “war” and “peace” party at the Mughal court.
The “war” party was led by Saadat Khan of Awadh, backed by the wazir Qamar-ud-
Din. It was supported by Nizam-ul-Mulk, whose policy was to engage with the
Marathas, and also try to limit their power. The “peace” party consisted of the Khan-i-
Duaran, Jai Singh and some of the other Rajput rajas. They believed that the Marathas
could not be subdued by fighting.

In the peace negotiations of 1735-36 during which hostilities were suspended by both
sides, and for which Baji Rao traveled to north India, Baji Rao demanded chauth of
Malwa and Bundelkhand, the subahdari of Malwa and Gujarat including control over
all the forts; mansabs and jagirs for himself and his chiefs, but also the grant of the
hereditary office of the sardeshpande of the Deccan which implied a charge of five
percent on the revenue. These demands were accepted. But the Peshwa put forward
fresh demands which included the virtual handing over of the Deccan to him. The
Peshwa demanded a jagir in Khandesh, Aurangabad and Bijapur, and the appointment
of the crown-prince as the viceroy of the Deccan with himself as the prince’s deputy. All
the administration was to be conducted through the latter and additional collections
were to be equally divided between the two.

Moreover, although the Marathas often talked of a Hindu-pad-padshahi, Baji Rao knew
that they could not displace the Timurids from the throne and set up a Maratha or even
a Rajput prince in his place without uniting the rest of India against them. Hence, the
objective of the Peshwa was to leave the Mughals on the throne of Delhi, and to utilize
their prestige to spread Maratha authority over the whole of India.
In 1737, the Peshwa had reached Agra. At Delhi, the “war” party had made preparations
for a confrontation with the Marathas. Baji Rao, however, succeeded in discrediting the
“war” party. But Baji Rao failed to induce the Emperor to make peace with him. The
Emperor was more inclined to listen to the overtures of the Nizam-ul-Mulk than to any
peace offers. Thus, the struggle between the Marathas and the Nizam virtually became a
struggle for the domination of both northern and southern India.

In 1737, Nizam-ul-Mulk was formally appointed the Governor of Malwa in place of Baji
Rao. The Nizam was determined to the end the threat posed by the Marathas. He had
30,000 troops and detachment from all the prominent chiefs of Rajasthan and
Bundelkhand. The Peshwa countered the Nizam with an army of 80,000 horses. The
Nizam’s heavily armed and slow-moving troops were surrounded by the numerically
superior Marathas, and hemmed in at Bhopal. The Nizam’s armies were unable to cope
with the swift, lightly armed Maratha cavalry. Following a hard battle, the Nizam in
1739 agreed to hand over the entire Malwa, including all jagirs to the Peshwa. He even
paid a heavy indemnity as war expenditure.

Dr Dighe has rightly observed, ‘The victory of Bhopal marks the zenith of the Peshwa’s
triumphant career…. By defeating the confederate armies at Bhopal, the Peshwa
established the supremacy of Maratha arms in India and announced the birth of a new
Imperial power.’ Sooner or later, the whole of India seemed destined to come under
Maratha domination.

This process was interrupted and given a new direction by the invasion of Nadir Shah.
For the Marathas, it was an unpleasant intrusion on their path to becoming an all-India
power. Nadir Shah’s invasion resulted in far-reaching changes. It revealed the weakness
of the Mughal Empire to the whole world. It also made the Marathas aware of the
danger of a foreign conquest of India.

Baji Rao died in 1740. The Emperor made one last effort to recover Malwa and Guajrat,
but failed. Faced with the renewed threat of invasion by the new Peshwa, Balaji Rao,
peace was finally made with the Marathas in 1741. The terms negotiated with the
Marathas were similar to those demanded by Baji Rao in 1736 and 1738. Malwa was
ceded, though the Pehswa was only granted the naib-subahdari of the province, an
imperial prince remaining the formal governor. The grant to the Peshwa included all
faujdaris, that is complete jurisdiction over the province including the states. The
demand about the right of levying chauth on all states south of the Chambal also seems
to have been accepted. The chauth of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa was also ceded to the
Peshwa. The Marathas virtually gained control over the whole of the Deccan, and, in
return, promised not to threaten the northern possessions of the Emperor and to render
him aid in case of renewed foreign danger.

The period between 1741 and 1761 can be divided into two phases. The first phase was
from 1741 to 1752. Its beginning coincided with the death of Baji Rao and the final
Mughal cession of Malwa and Gujarat, while 1752 saw a new turn in the politics of
northern India with the entry of the Marathas in the doab and of Ahmad Shah Abdali
into the Punjab. The second phase between 1752 and 1761 saw the preparation for the
final conflict between the Marathas and Abdali for mastery of north India.
During the first phase, the Marathas concentrated on establishing their claim to the
chauth of “frontier” areas. In 1741-42, Raghuji Bhonsle raided Bengal, Bihar and Orissa
for chauth. In this face of stiff opposition from Nawab Alivardi Khan, in 1751 an
agreement was made whereby chauth of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa was granted to
Raghuji. Raghuji was also authorized to appoint a governor to the province of Orissa.
Thus, in effect Orissa came under the control of the Marathas.

In the Deccan, the Marathas clashed with Nizam and his successor for the control of the
Karnataka and Khandesh. However, the Nizam was successful in establishing his
domination in the Karnataka.

The contest between the Marathas and the French, who had dominated Hyderabad state
since the death of the Nizam in 1748, led to a war in which neither side prevailed.
However, by the Treaty of Bhalke signed in 1751, the French were forced to hand over
the remaining parts of the revenues of Khandesh, the western half of Berar, and the
small province of Baglana.

A third area in which the Marathas expanded was Rajasthan. Here the Peshwa’s
lieutenants, Holkar and Sindhia, were successful in forcing most of the states to agree to
pay chauth. The Marathas entry into Rajasthan can only be explained as a first step
towards preparing the ground for control of Agra, Delhi and the Punjab area.

Balaji Baji Rao, or Nana Sahib Peshwa as he had been called, devoted his energies for the
settling of the administration and of consolidating Maratha conquests in the Deccan.
From 1753, the Peshwa led annual expeditions into the Karnataka to free it of the control
of the Hyderabad state. Balaji, however, combined the policy of consolidation with an
aggressive, forward policy in north India although he had little knowledge of the
politics of north India.

With the rise of Ahmad Shah Abdali and his invasion of India in 1748, a new political
situation had risen in north India. In the same year, Safdar Jung, the governor of Awadh
and Allahabad, was appointed wazir. Jung gradually came to the conclusion that the
threat posed by Abdali could only be countered with the help of the Marathas. He was
thus sympathetic to some of the demands put forward by the Marathas. However, these
demands were rejected by the Emperor because he agreed to Abdali demand for the
grant of the subahdari of Lahore and Sind.

In 1753, the wazir, Safdar Jung, had a fall out with the Mughal Emperor, and a civil was
ensued. The opposition of the wazir was led by Imad-ul-Mulk, son of the former wazir,
Qamar-ud-Din Khan. Imad succeeded in defeating Safdar Jung and became the wazir.
This was also the period during which Maratha power in north India reached its climax
and the prestige of the Mughal Emperor declined.

The Peshwa launched three major campaigns in north India, the first two led by his
younger brother Raghunath Rao and the third by his nephew Sadashiv Bhau.
Raghunath Rao’s first expedition led Imad-ul-Mulk to grant the subahdari of Agra and
Ajmer to the Peshwa. He also raided the doab and then marched into Rajasthan which
had already come under the sway of Holkar and Sindhia.

During Raghunath Rao’s absence, in 1756-57 Ahmad Shah not only ravaged Delhi, but
extended his raids up to Mathura, Gokul and Vrindavan. What was at stake was not just
the battle against Ahmad Shah Abdali, but the establishment of Maratha supremacy in
north India.

Despite the threat posed by the Abdali, Raghunath Rao continued to establish Maratha
supremacy in north India. He reached Delhi in 1757 and moved in the Punjab alienating
the Nawab of Awadh and the Ruhelas. Although the Marathas marched up to the
Attock, it was obvious that the line of the Indus could not held against the Abdali
without a strong, well-knit army in the Punjab. Such an army had to be supported from
the doab and Delhi. However, Raghunath Rao’s expedition was bound to failure in the
absence of these conditions.

Sadashiv Bhau failed to win over the Awadh Nawab in the coming context with the
Abdali. Nonetheless, in 1760, Bhau advanced to Delhi. He went further and entrenched
himself at Panipat exposing his flank in the doab to the Abdali.

The defeat of the Marathas at Panipat, in 1761, showed the weaknesses in the Maratha
mode of warfare, and their inability to cope with new developments. While the artillery
had improved under the Peshwas, the Maratha soldiers still largely depended on the
lance and sword whereas the Afghans had been shifting to quick firing flint-lock
muskets. The artillery used by the Marathas at Panipat was a largely immobile artillery
which became useless unless protected by gun-firing cavalry. The Abdali’s artillery, on
the other hand, was highly mobile mounted on camels. The Maratha lack of
coordination was also a factor of weakness. The Maratha defeat at Panipat ended the
Peshwa’s bid for establishing a supremacy in north India.

Thus, the Maratha bid to replace the Mughal Empire by a new, all-India empire ended
up in failure.

Bibliography
Satish Chandra – Medieval India (Vol 2)
H.R. Gupta – Marathas and Panipat

By
Saudamini Jain
Sufia Khan