Maratha Ascendancy under the Peshwas | History Optional for UPSC (Notes) PDF Download

Introduction

After the death of Shivaji in 1680, the kingdom faced internal conflicts and external pressures.

• Dynastic Factionalism: The kingdom experienced factionalism among Shivaji's successors, causing instability.
• Mughal Pressure: The Mughal Empire continued its policy of conquest in the Deccan, putting constant pressure on the Maratha kingdom.

Local deshmukhs(revenue officers) and zarnindars(land revenue officials) exploited the chaos by shifting allegiances between the Mughals and the Marathas.

• Shambhaji's Rule: Shivaji was succeeded by his son Shambhaji, who lacked his father's skills. His offer of asylum to the fugitive prince Akbar led to a strong offensive against him by Aurangzeb.
• Shambhaji's Downfall: In 1689, Shambhaji was defeated by Aurangzeb and executed.
• Rajaram's Leadership: Rajaram, another son of Shivaji, provided nominal leadership to the Maratha chiefs after Shambhaji's death.
• Tarabai's Rule: After Rajaram's death in 1699, his queen Tarabai ruled in the name of her infant son Shivaji II.
• Aurangzeb's Death: In 1707, Aurangzeb died and was succeeded by Bahadur Shah, who released Shahu from captivity.
• Shahu's Ascendancy: Shahu was accepted as the Chatrapati(King) of the Marathas and the successor to Shivaji’s Swarajya.
• Civil War: A civil war broke out between Shahu and Tarabai, who aimed to rule in the name of Shivaji II.
• Battle of Khed: Shahu defeated Tarabai at the Battle of Khed(1707), strengthening his claim.
• Appointment of Balaji Vishwanath: In 1713, Shahu appointed Balaji Vishwanath as his Peshwa, who proved to be a capable leader.
• Peshwa Dominance: Balaji Vishwanath and his successors eventually became the real power in Maratha politics, marking the start of the Peshwa's dominance.

This era was marked by a transition from dynastic conflict to a more centralized Peshwa-led governance.

Balaji Vishwanath (1713-20)

Rise of Balaji Viswanath as Peshwa:

• Balaji Viswanath justified the trust placed in him by Shahu and won over many Maratha chiefs, consolidating Shahu's power across Maharashtra, except for the Kolhapur region.
• Shahu’s headquarters at Satara became central to Maratha politics.
• The conflict with the Tarabai faction was resolved through the Treaty of Warna in 1731, granting Kolhapur to Shivaji II.

Expansion of Maratha Influence:

• Balaji Viswanath expanded Maratha influence beyond the Deccan into North India, leveraging the Mughal court's internal strife and the emperor's weakness.
• He engaged in conflicts with the Nizam and Husain Ali Khan, the Sayyid brother, both of whom eventually made peace with the Peshwa due to their own issues in Delhi.

Securing Rights and Treaties:

• In 1719, by assisting the Sayyid brothers in installing a puppet emperor in Delhi, Balaji secured a Mughal sanad for Shahu, recognizing his right to chauth and sardeshmukhi in several provinces.
• The treaty required Shahu to pay Rs. 10 lakhs annually to the emperor and maintain a 15,000 soldiers for imperial service.
• This treaty significantly enhanced Shahu’s position.

Territorial Administration and Its Consequences:

• Balaji Viswanath reorganized the newly acquired territories for the collection of Chauth and Sardeshmukhi, which attracted many Maratha chiefs to Shahu’s side.
• However, this led to a weaker central government and encouraged regional chiefs to become increasingly unruly.
• The central government lost control over these areas, which were effectively governed by rebellious chiefs.
• These issues became more pronounced under Balaji’s son, Baji Rao, who succeeded him in 1720.

Rise of the Peshwa Authority:

• Over time, the control of the state shifted to the Peshwas, with the office of the Peshwa gaining power and becoming the main source of authority and patronage in the Maratha kingdom, starting from Balaji Viswanath's tenure.

Baji Rao (1720-40)

Baji Rao's Expansionist Policies and Achievements:

• Consolidated his father’s achievements and pursued involvement in Mughal court affairs and north India.
• Faced opposition from some chiefs who preferred consolidating Maratha power in the Deccan.
• Firm in his resolve despite opposition.
• Accompanied his father to the Mughal court in 1719, witnessing factional fighting and believing in the empire's vulnerability.
• Credited with the idea of Hindu pad padshahi, advocating Hindu rule under the Maratha banner.
• Assisted Bundela chief Chatrasal against the Mughals and sought Rajput involvement against Mughal forces.
• Engaged in struggles against Maratha and other Hindu chiefs in central India.

Military Campaigns and Territorial Expansion:

• Baji Rao’s reign marked by intense and successful military campaigns until 1740.
• Maratha state expanded significantly, controlling large territories of the Mughal empire.
• Main adversary became the Nizam of Hyderabad, leading to conflicts over Karnataka, Khandesh, and Gujarat.
• Battle of Palkhed (1728): Marathas defeated the Nizam, solidifying Shahu’s position as the sole Maratha monarch.
• Baji Rao led campaigns to acquire Malwa, reaching Rajasthan by 1729.
• In Gujarat, Maratha bands collected taxes in the countryside, diminishing Mughal control.
• Governor of Gujarat ceded 60% of revenues to Shahu and Peshwa through a treaty.
• Gained control over Konkan territories, driving out the Sidis of Janjira and the Portuguese from Salsette, Bassein, and Chaul.
• 1737: Attacked Delhi, briefly capturing the Mughal emperor.
• 1738: Defeated a large Mughal army led by the Nizam, leading to the Treaty of Bhopal.
• Treaty ceded the subah of Malwa and sovereignty over lands between the Narmada and Chambal rivers to the Peshwa.
• Negotiated tributes with local zamindars in newly acquired territories.

Consolidation of Power and Challenges:

• Dealt with rival chiefs like Dabhade, Agre, Gaekwad, Bhonsle, and others.
• 1731: Defeated dissenting chiefs in the Battle of Dabhoi, strengthening his position.
• Formed subordinate alliances with various Rajput chiefs, further consolidating power.
• Baji Rao credited with transforming the Maratha kingdom into a large empire with a stronghold in north India.

Limitations and Legacy:

• Military campaigns imposed a heavy financial burden, leading to a financial crisis.
• By the end of his reign, the state incurred a debt of 20 lakhs rupees.
• Failed to develop a sound administration in newly acquired areas, allowing Maratha chiefs autonomy.
• Rise of major Maratha power centers (Gaekwad of Baroda, Bhonsle at Nagpur, Scindia at Gwalior, Holkar at Indore) during this period.
• Under his son Balaji Baji Rao, the Maratha kingdom transformed into a confederacy of autonomous chiefs with nominal Peshwa leadership.

Balaji Baji Rao (1740-61)

After the death of Baji Rao in 1740, Shahu appointed his son Balaji Bajirao, better known as Nana Saheb (1740-61), in his place.

• More experienced in administration than in military campaigns, he was, however, the most successful among the peshwas.
• Nana Saheb became the supreme authority in the Maratha polity after the death of Shahu in 1749.
• As long as Shahu remained alive, Balaji Baji Rao acknowledged his suzerainty.
• But with Shahu’s death in 1749, he made his headquarters at Poona the capital of the Marathas while a descendent of Shivaji, named Raja Ram, succeeded Shahu at Satara.
• This was indeed the peak period of Maratha glory when all parts of India had to face Maratha depredations.

In the east, from 1745 onwards Maratha bands under Raghuji Bhonsle of Nagpur regularly raided Orissa, Bengal and Bihar.

• A treaty in 1751 stopped these raids, as Alivardi surrendered Orissa and agreed to pay Rs. 120,000 as annual chauth payment for the three provinces.
• Near at home, the Maratha forces regularly raided the nizam’s territories in Konkan exacted tributes, but never succeeded in completely subduing them.
• He defeated the Nizam in the baltle of Udgir (176O) and compelled Haider Ali of Mysore to pay tribute.
• He continued with his father’s policy in north India.
• By the treaty of Bhalke in 1751, Salabutjung, the new nizam, practically ceded the entire control of Khandesh.
• Further north, the Maratha bands regularly raided the Rajput kingdoms of Jaipur, Bundi, Kotah and Udaipur and the Gond kingdom of Deogarh.
• They intervened in their wars of succession, exacted annual tributes from their rulers, but never tried to have any permanent conquest in the region.

In the face of an Afghan invasion overrunning Lahore and Multan, a treaty in 1752 brought the Mughal emperor under the protection of the Marathas; and a succession dispute in 1753 gave them the opportunity to install their own chosen candidate on the Mughal throne.

• Marathas also assumed the responsibility of defending the Punjab against the invasions of Ahmad Shah Abdali of Kabul.
• In return they were conferred the Subedari of Ajmer and Agra and permitted to levy Chauth and Sardeshmukhi in the Punjab.
• In any case, the Mararhas by then had gained mastery over large parts of north India; but there was never any attempt to establish an empire.
• It was only in Khandesh, Malwa and Gujarat that they tried to put in place some kind of an administration; their conquest elsewhere would seldom go beyond plunder and levying of chauth and sardeshmukhi.
• As a result, it was difficult to maintain this mastery.
• The rising power of the Marathas aroused the hostility of the Turani nobles at the Mughal court while their bid to control the Punjab incurred the displeasure of Abdali.

In 1761, Abdali invaded the Punjab and the third battle or Panipat followed.

• In the Third Battle of Panipat fought on 14 January 1761, the Maratha forces under Sadasiv Rao Bhao were routed by Abdali, causing about fifty thousand casualties.
• This marked the beginning of the decline of Mararha power.
• The decisive defeat of the Marathas shattered their ambition of succeeding the Great Mughals as the overlords of India.
• It was a a deadly blow to Mararha glory.
• They lost mainly because they were still weak in fighting pitched battles, their artillery was not as elective as that of the Afghans.
• Moreover, they had alienated the sympathies of the other Indian powers by their policy of ruthless and senseless plunder.
• Their difficulties were further aggravated by Mutual rivalries and dissensions in their ranks.

The Peshwa, Balaji Baj Rao was himself responsible for many of these problems.

• He had given up the earlier policy of lightening raids in favour of pitched battles which became a major weakness of the Marathas.
• Under pressure of financial crisis, he sanctioned the plundering of neighbouring territories, even friendly ones, losing the support of many Indian, especially Rajputs, rulers.
• His occupation of Orissa was also resented by some Maratha chiefs who wanted to expand at the cost of Bengal.
• The death of Balaji Baji Rao (1761) soon after the defeat at Panipat further damaged the position of the Marathas.
• As the young peshwa Madhav Rao tried to gain control of the polity, factionalism among the Maratha sardars raised its ugly head.
• This faction fighting increased further after Madhav Rae’s death in 1772.
• His uncle Raghunath Rao seized power, but was opposed by a number of important Maratha chiefs.
• To consolidate his position, he found a new ally in the English.

Political structure under peshwas

Rise of the Peshwa and Changes in Maratha Polity:

The Peshwa's rise to power in the Maratha state did not significantly change the existing political structure. The Zamindars remained influential despite attempts to diminish their power, and state officials like the Pratinidhi and Pant Sachiv continued to hold hereditary positions.

• The general pattern of administration in the Swarajya territories remained consistent with the time of Shivaji.
• Village Patils played a crucial role in revenue administration until the time of Peshwa Baji Rao II, when land was auctioned to the highest bidders.

Expansion and Territorial Dominance

• The Maratha struggle shifted from national survival to seeking dominance over all of India under the first three Peshwas.
• The Peshwas pursued a policy of territorial expansion in both the north and south.
• In the north, the Marathas expanded at the expense of the decaying Mughal Empire, initially exploiting factionalism at the Mughal court and later positioning themselves as protectors of the Mughal Empire.
• The Peshwa sought grants from the Mughal emperor to collect Chauth and Sardeshmukhi in the Deccan Provinces.

Peshwa’s Authority and Nobility

• The Peshwa aimed to dominate the Ashtapradhan, consolidating his de jure supreme position, which led to intense factionalism among the Maratha nobles.
• The Peshwa succeeded in becoming the functional head of the state, reducing the Chhatrapati to a titular head. His office in Poona became the political center, while the King was isolated in Satara.
• Baji Rao I, the second Peshwa, strengthened his position by creating a powerful Maratha nobility through territorial grants outside Swarajya, allowing them to collect Chauth and Sardeshmukhi.
• These nobles, such as the Scindhias, Gaekwads, and Holkars, enjoyed autonomy and helped the Peshwa in military expeditions.

Conflicts and Decline

• The Peshwa played nobles against each other to prevent alliances, but this led to jealousy and ultimately the decline of both the Peshwa and the Maratha King.
• After 1748, central authority weakened, and confederacy became the reality.
• The third Peshwa abandoned the ideal of Hindu-Pad-Padshahi and incorporated non-Maratha mercenaries into the army.

Decline of Maratha Unity

• The unified Maratha movement transformed into a series of parallel movements by feudatory chiefs, cooperating only for specific purposes. This led to a breakdown of homogeneity in the Maratha movement.
• The first three Peshwas aspired to create a Maratha Empire but failed to establish institutions to assimilate their allies over the long term.
• Unlike the Mughals, who granted Mansab and Jagir to Rajput princes and treated them leniently, the Marathas distrusted their allies and collected exhaustive tributes.
• This antagonistic treatment alienated Rajputs and other groups like the Jats and Sikhs, contributing to the Maratha defeat in the Third Battle of Panipat in 1761.

Despite attempts at centralization, the political structure under the first three Peshwas remained largely feudal. The Peshwa became supreme, the king was isolated, and the Maratha movement lost its unity. The efforts to consolidate power and create a great Maratha Empire ultimately backfired, leading to the decline of the Peshwa and the emergence of the Maratha confederacy.

The Maratha Confederacy

Confederation is a union of self-governing political units working together towards shared objectives.

• The Maratha Confederacy, solidified in the 18th century, was influenced by the socio-political context of the Maratha movement, especially after Shivaji's death and the rise of the Peshwa.
• There was strong resistance to central authority throughout the Maratha movement, with powerful chiefs maintaining autonomy even during Shivaji's centralizing efforts.
• During Shivaji's reign, Maratha chiefs were seen as "Partners of King" and "co-sharers of sovereignty", indicating a decentralized power structure.
• After Shivaji's death and the turmoil involving Raja Ram and Shahu, his centralizing efforts were disrupted, leading to a fragmented political landscape.
• Various claimants to Shivaji's throne emerged, fostering factionalism within the Maratha court.
• Amidst political chaos, Shahu appointed Balaji Vishwanath as Peshwa, whose leadership helped stabilize the situation and reduce factional conflicts.
• The Peshwa's rise to power faced challenges from other chiefs and the Pratinidhi of the Ashatpradhan, but he eventually consolidated his position.
• The second Peshwa, Baji Rao, expanded Maratha territory and strengthened his influence by granting large watans outside Swarajya territory.
• Powerful chiefs like the Sindhias, Gaekwads, Holkars, and Pawars emerged, gaining autonomy and expanding their territories.
• The Peshwa played these chiefs against each other, fostering mutual distrust among them while preventing a united front against his authority.
• After Shahu's death in 1748, the Peshwa became the dominant figure, with the Maratha king as a nominal head.
• The Peshwa government, particularly under Nana Phadnis, was known as the "Bara-Bhai", a confederacy of twelve brothers.
• This confederacy significantly expanded Maratha territories, with the Peshwa and his lieutenants extending influence across India.
• However, the expansion led to internal friction, weakening the movement due to mutual jealousies and hostilities.
• Strong Peshwas like Madhav Rao and Nana Phadnis achieved victories despite these internal divisions.
• In 1818, Peshwa Baji Rao II was pensioned off, marking the decline of Maratha power.
• The Maratha confederacy was shaped by the socio-political nature of the Maratha movement, the conditions after Shivaji's death, and the Peshwa's efforts to consolidate power.
• While the confederacy initially expanded territories and strengthened the Peshwa's position, internal divisions ultimately made it vulnerable to British encroachments.