The Maratha Empire (also spelled Mahratta) or the Maratha Confederacy was a Hindu state in

modern-day India. It was active from 1674 to 1818. The empire’s territories covered 250 million acres (1
million km2), or one-third of South Asia, at its peak. The state was ruled by a series of Prime Ministers
who were advised by an eight-member Council. As the British increased their presence in India, the
Marathas posed a significant threat to their territorial ambitions.

The Maratha Empire

● The Marathas were the warrior group who spoke Marathi and belonged to the Western Deccan
Plateau region, presently called Maharashtra. Origin of the Maratha Empire came into existence
when they established Hindavi Swarajya (The self-rule of Hindu)
● The Maratha Empire or the Maratha Confederacy ruled a large section of the Indian subcontinent
in the 18th century
● After Shivaji was crowned, the empire was established officially in 1674. However, the rule
ended in 1818 when BajiRao II lost its power to the British East India Company
● The Marathas came to power in the 17th century when Shivaji was leading a revolt against the
Adil Shahi Dynasty and made Raigad his empire’s capital
● The father of Shivaji also had made history by conquering Thanjavur, which was later inherited
by Shivaji’s stepbrother Venkoji Rao (aka Ekoji). The kingdom was famous as the Thanjavur
Maratha kingdom
● There was much appreciation of the rise of Marathas for ending the rule of Mughal over the
Indian Subcontinents

How did Marathas rise to power?

● What made the Mughal Empire decline was the Maratha Empire which was the most powerful
force than others. It possessed the strength to make up for the political vacuum that the Mughal
Empire created by disintegration
● For this purpose, the Maratha Empire also put its attention into including capable commanders
and brilliant statesmen. However, one downside of Maratha Sardars was they lacked unity. Also,
they were short on outlook and program, which was the base of founding an Indian Empire
● Important positions in the military and administrative positions of Ahmednagar and Bijapur
contained the Marathas
● The Marathas did not hold any large, well-established state. But some of the powerful Marathas
family exercised the power of local authority. The names of the families were the Ghatages, the
Mores, the Nimbalkars, etc
● Shahji Bhonsle, the Maratha Emperor, worked along with his son, Shivaji, to strengthen the
Maratha Kingdom. The emperor also ruled Ahmednagar as kingmaker and denied obeying the
Mughals
● There was also a massive role of Shahji behind introducing a semi-independent principal in
Bangalore. He was successful in doing so by taking advantage of unsettled matter while Mir
Jumla, the noble leader of Golconda, was attempting to carve out principality on the Coromandel
Coast. At the later stage, Shivaji also worked in eliminating large principality in Poona
Maratha Leaders and their journey:

Shri Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj (c. 1627-1680)

The Hindu Marathas, who lived in the Desh region around Satara, in the western portion of the Deccan
plateau, where the plateau meets the eastern slopes of the Western Ghats mountains, had successfully
resisted Muslim Mughal rulers of northern India’s incursions into the region.

Sambhaji (Sambhaji) (c. 1681-1689)

Shivaji was the father of two sons, Sambhaji and Rajaram. The elder son, Sambhaji, was well-liked by the
courtiers. He was a poet as well as a competent politician and a great warrior. Sambhaji was crowned in
1681 and resumed his father’s expansionist policies. Sambhaji had previously defeated the Portuguese
and Mysore’s Chikka Deva Raya.

Tarabai and Rajaram (c. 1689-1707)

Rajaram, Sambhaji’s brother, ascended to the throne. Satara, Rajaram’s capital, was besieged in 1700 and
was eventually surrendered to the Mughals. Rajaram, who had sought refuge in Jinji nine years before,
died around the same time. Tarabai, his widow, took control in the name of her son Shivaji.

Shahu (c. 1707-1749)

Following the death of Emperor Aurangzeb in 1707, the next Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah, released
Shahuji, the son of Sambhaji (and grandson of Shivaji). He claimed the Maratha throne right away and
challenged his aunt Tarabai and her son. . As a result, the Mughal-Maratha war became a three-front
conflict. Satara and Kolhapur were established in 1707 as a result of a succession dispute over the
Maratha throne. By 1710, two distinct principalities had established themselves as facts, which were later
confirmed by the Treaty of Warna in 1731.

Bawdekar, Amatya Ramchandra Pant (1650-1716)

Pant Ramchandra Amatya Bawdekar was a court administrator who rose through the ranks from local
record-keeper (Kulkarni) to become one of the eight members of Shivaji Maharaj’s Ashtapradhan
(advisory council). He was a prominent Peshwa during Shivaji’s reign, before the rise of the later Peshwas
who ruled the empire after Shahuji.

Peshwa Baji Rao (1720-1740)

After Balaji Vishwanath’s death in April 1719, Chattrapati Shahuji, one of the most lenient emperors,
appointed his son, Baji Rao I, as Peshwa. Shahuji had a fantastic ability for recognising talent, and by
putting capable people in positions of power regardless of social status, he inadvertently caused a social
revolution. This was an indication of the Maratha empire’s high social mobility, which enabled its rapid
expansion.
Baji Rao, Peshwa Balaji (1740-1761)

Shahu appointed Baji Rao’s son, Balaji Bajirao (Nanasaheb), as a Peshwa. The period between 1741 and
1745 in the Deccan was relatively calm. Shahuji passed away in 1749.

Conclusion

The Peshwa sent an army to challenge the Afghan-led alliance of Indian Muslims, which included
Rohillas, Shujah-ud-dowlah, and Nujeeb-ud-dowlah, and the Maratha army was decisively defeated at the
Third Battle of Panipat on January 14, 1761. Suraj Mal and the Rajputs deserted the Maratha alliance at a
critical juncture, resulting in the great battle. With their supply lines cut off, the Marathas attacked the
Afghans in desperation, as their forces had not eaten in three days. The defeat at Panipat stifled Maratha
expansion and splintered the empire. The Maratha confederacy never fought as a single unit again after
the battle. Mahadji Shinde of Gwalior was in charge of Delhi/Agra, and Central India was in charge of
Holkars from Indore and Western India was controlled by Gaikwad’s from Baroda.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
● Shivaji’s Maratha Empire stretched from Maharashtra to Carnatic and Tamil Nadu
● Shivaji’s dominion was divided into two parts: mulk-i-qadim (ancient territory) or swaraj (own
kingdom), and an unspecified stretch of land that paid Chauth but was not under Shivaji’s
authority
● Shivaji abolished the Jagir system and began paying his officers in cash to fortify the
administration. Despite abolishing the Jagirdari system, he provided land grants for schools and
temples
● Hereditary occupation of a post was not authorized under Shivaji’s rule
● Furthermore, the Zamindari system was not supported by Shivaji

General features under Shivaji’s Administration

● To maintain balance and equality among people, he employed people of all tribes and castes
● He made no office hereditary
● Separate responsibilities were assigned to the ministers under his administration
● Special attention was given to the forts by the ruler shivaji
● In administration matters, he gave superior positions to his civil officers than military officers

Central Administration

The Chhatrapati Shivaji government was characterized by the Ashta Pradhan system. He had a council of
ministers to advise him on matters related to the state but he was not bound by it. Appointment or
dismissal powers were in his hand and the appointment was subject to the efficiency of them. The Peshwa
was the first among ministers. Peshwa meant the leader or the senior one.
Ashta Pradhan (Council of Eight Ministers)

Ashta Pradhan Mandal is a group of eight powerful officials. Except the senapati, all other ministers were
brahman and except pandit rao and nyaydhish, all were allowed to command the army. Those eight
powerful officials were:

● Peshwa: The King’s Prime Minister

● Amatya or Majumdar: Finance Minister
● Waq-i-Nawis: Home Minister
● Dabir or Sumant: Work of the foreign department
● Sachiv: The official correspondence
● Pandit Rao: He was a religious officer
● Sar-i-Naubat or Senapati: The army affairs
● Nyayadhish: The chief justice

Other Aspects

Each minister was aided by an eight-person staff to carry out departmental duties: The list is as follows:

● Diwan: Secretary
● Mujumdar: Auditor and accountant
● Fadnis: Deputy auditor
● Sabnis or Daftardar: Office in-charge
● Karkhanis: Commissary
● Chitins: Correspondence clerk
● Potnis: Cashier
● Jamdar: Treasurer

There were many 18 departments overseen by ministers under the direction of the king.

Shivaji had direct control over the Swaraj realm, which was divided into three provinces and administered
by the viceroy. These three provinces were split into several parts (group of districts).

Judicial Administration

The judicial system under Shivaji was simple, primitive and crude. The system was founded on ancient
Hindu rules. The highest court was ‘Hazar Majils’ of the court of the king. The Panchayats handled
disputes between various parties in the communities and the criminal cases were decided by the village
‘Patel’.

Military Administration

The army’s administration under Shivaji was very efficient. The army people were well-trained, patriotic,
efficient and extremely mobile.
The following reforms were introduced by Shivaji in the army:

● Regular Army: under the traditional military organization, the soldiers were allowed to serve the
army for only six months and thereafter served in their fields. Now, the soldiers were allowed to
serve for the year
● Payment In Cash: the soldiers were paid in cash except the big chief and military commander
who were paid through jagir grants
● Merit Based Recruitment: he recruited the soldiers on merit basis
● Discipline: strict discipline was enforced by him
● Patriotism: he inspired the soldiers with patriotism
● Forts Maintenance: particular attention was given to the forts under his administration. Old forts
were repaired and new forts were built. It is said that ‘people were taught to regard them as their
mother’. The forts also served as military cantonments. There were around 280 forts
● Muslim Soldiers: about seven hundred muslim soldiers were also peresnt in the army

Divisions in the Army

The army had six divisions , namely the cavalry, infantry, camel battalions, elephant battalions, artillery
and navy.

● The cavalry: with the number of around 40,000 the cavalry forms the main part of the army

Revenue Administration

The jagirdari system was replaced with the ryotwari system in which the revenue was directly collected
from farmers. by shivaji and he strictly supervised the mirasdards who had hereditary rights in land. He
also introduced the collection of two taxes namely the chauth and sardeshmukhi.

Taxation System: Chauth and Sardeshmukhi

● There are two most important Taxation Systems such as Chauth and Sardeshmukhi
● Chauth, which means 1/4 of total revenue, was a yearly tax. Chauth was a form of military tribute
in exchange for protection from a third-power invasion
● This taxation system, however, did not sit well with Jadunath Sarkar. He believed that paying
Chauth just freed a location from the unpleasant presence of Maratha warriors and that it did not
obligate Shivaji to protect the region from foreign attack or domestic instability
● The Sardeshmukhi was a ten percent additional levy demanded from areas outside the kingdom,
based on the legal fiction that Shivaji was the hereditary Sardeshmukh (top headman) of all
Deshmukhs
● Sardeshmukhi was gathered from Mughal territories that the Maratha Kingdom considered being
inherited

Conclusion
The system of maratha administration was largely borrowed from the administrative practices of the
deccan states. Hence, the marathas had significant positions among military and administrative systems in
the contemporary kingdoms especially ahmednagar and bijapur