Exploring Society I · Chapter 3 — The Rise of the Marathas

Stand on a hilltop in the Sahyadri ranges near Pune and you see steep ridges, deep valleys, thick forests and, far to the west, the sea. This rugged land would shape one of the most remarkable stories in Indian history.

The people. The Marathas are people native to the Deccan plateau, especially present-day Maharashtra. They are identified by their language, Marathi, which has a rich and unbroken literary history from the 12th century onwards. In this chapter you will see them grow from local chiefs into the largest Indian power before the British took over.

Earlier rulers. In the 13th century most of Maharashtra was ruled by the Yadava dynasty, with its capital at Devagiri (later Daulatabad). Early in the 14th century the Yadavas were overcome by the Khilji Sultanate of Delhi. Later the region came under the Bahmani Sultanate and then the Deccan sultanates, and many Maratha families served these sultans as soldiers and officials.

Bhakti: devotion in the people's language. While rulers changed, culture carried on. Between the 7th and 17th centuries, saints in many parts of India chose bhakti, loving devotion to the divine, over mere outward ritual. They came from all sections of society and composed songs and poems in the everyday languages of the people, so their message travelled far.

Saints of Maharashtra. In Maharashtra, saints such as Dnyaneshwar, Namdev, Tukaram and Ramdas became widely loved. They brought ideas from texts like the Upaniṣhads and the Bhagavad Gītā into Marathi, so ordinary people could understand them. Some also encouraged social organisation and political awareness, rather like the Sikh Gurus in Punjab.

Why this mattered. These saints gave Maratha society a strong shared culture and a sense of identity. A people who share songs, stories and values find it easier to unite. In the 17th century several Maratha chiefs tried to set up their own independent rule, but they failed, until one leader brought the Marathas together: Chhatrapati Shivaji.

Key dates to anchor the story.

At just 16, an age when most of us are in Class 10 or 11, a young man in Pune began capturing forts that rulers had neglected. Within a few decades he had built a kingdom.

Early life. Chhatrapati Shivaji was born in 1630 into the Bhonsle family, to Shahji and Jijabai. Shahji served the Deccan sultanates and was often away. Shivaji grew up on his father's jāgīr (an estate granted for service) at Pune, guided by Jijabai and trusted officials who gave him values and a good education. The Pune region suffered badly from constant fighting among the Deccan sultans, and the common people bore the hardship.

The first forts. From about 1646 Shivaji began campaigns, first taking hold of the Pune region by seizing neglected and empty forts and strengthening them. His aim grew into Swarājya, self-rule: a kingdom of his own people, free of outside control, with political, economic and cultural sides.

Guerrilla warfare. Facing much larger armies, Shivaji used guerrilla warfare: small, fast groups striking by surprise and using deep knowledge of the hills and forests. His successes angered the Bijapur Sultanate, which sent its veteran general Afzal Khan. Shivaji and his advisers arranged a one-to-one meeting at the foot of Pratapgad fort, in thick forest. There Shivaji killed Afzal Khan, using a small claw-shaped weapon called the wāgh nakh (tiger's claw), and Maratha soldiers hidden in the hills routed the Khan's army.

A navy: a revolutionary step. As his kingdom reached the west coast, Shivaji saw that coastal trade and resources needed protection at sea. In 1657 he began building a navy. This was unusual: Bijapur had merchant ships but no full-time navy to guard the coast, and even the Mughals made little use of naval power. Sea forts such as Sindhudurg near the Maharashtra-Goa border guarded the coast. The navy's exploits soon became legendary.

Why geography helped. The Sahyadri mountains offered hill forts, hidden paths and ambush points; the coast offered ports and sea forts. Shivaji turned his homeland's rough geography into a weapon that big, slow armies could not easily overcome.

Leadership. Courage alone did not make him successful. He chose able advisers, planned carefully, rewarded loyalty and protected ordinary people, which won him their support.

A nighttime raid, a treasure worth nearly a crore of rupees, a daring escape hidden in baskets of sweets: the middle years of Shivaji's life read like an adventure story, but each event had a clear purpose.

The raid on Shaista Khan. The Mughal noble Shaista Khan attacked Shivaji's lands with a big army for three years. Finally Shivaji, with only a few soldiers, raided the Khan's camp at night. Shaista Khan barely escaped, losing some fingers, and left Maharashtra. The raid was like a modern surgical strike: a precise attack on one target with little harm to others.

Surat. In return for the three years of attacks, Shivaji sacked Surat, a rich Mughal port in present-day Gujarat, taking treasure worth almost one crore rupees, a vast sum then. He avoided religious places and spared the house of a well-known charitable merchant. He raided Surat again a few years later. The news reached an English newspaper, the London Gazette.

Purandar and Agra. Surat was an insult to Mughal prestige, so Aurangzeb sent the able Rajput general Jai Singh. Shivaji had to accept defeat at Purandar fort near Pune and sign a treaty, giving up a large part of his kingdom; his son Sambhaji entered Mughal service. Jai Singh persuaded Shivaji to visit the Mughal court at Agra in 1666. There he was denied the honour he expected and was made to stand in the court alongside a Mughal general he had defeated earlier. Angry at the insult, he walked out and was put under house arrest. He began sending baskets of fruit and sweets as gifts to holy men and nobles; once the guards stopped checking them, Shivaji and Sambhaji escaped hidden inside. Aurangzeb never captured him again.

Coronation, 1674. At the mountain fortress of Raigad, Shivaji was crowned with full Vedic rites and took the title Shri Raja Shiva Chhatrapati. He started a new era, the Rājyābhiṣheka shaka. The coronation announced to the world that the Marathas had a sovereign king, not just a rebel chief.

Conquest of the South, 1677. Shivaji's dakṣhiṇa-digvijaya brought present-day northern Tamil Nadu and parts of Karnataka under his control. This gave the Marathas strategic depth: land far from the Mughals to fall back on. In the south he also forbade the Dutch from trading in slaves, at a time when Europeans were capturing and selling Indians.

Death and fame. Shivaji died of fever in 1680, aged fifty. Europeans compared him with Alexander. The Bundela prince Chhatrasal was inspired to win an independent Bundelkhand, and the Hindi poet Bhushan came to Maharashtra to write poems in his praise.

Aurangzeb marched into the Deccan expecting to crush the Marathas. He spent his last 25 years there and died without succeeding. Within decades the Marathas were in Delhi.

Sambhaji and Rajaram. After Shivaji, his son Sambhaji became Chhatrapati. The Marathas were now the only obstacle to complete Mughal control of the Deccan. Aurangzeb conquered the Bijapur and Golconda sultanates, captured Sambhaji, tortured and executed him, and took Raigad. Sambhaji's brother Rajaram became Chhatrapati and moved to Gingee in present-day Tamil Nadu, so the war spread south. Maratha forts held out and Maratha forces often had the upper hand. This was where the southern conquest's strategic depth paid off.

Tarabai. After Rajaram's death his queen Tarabai led the Marathas. Seeing that north India lay unguarded while the Mughal army was tied down in the Deccan, she sent large armies into Mughal lands. She is often called the architect of the northward expansion.

The Peshwas. As the Marathas expanded, their state changed. Shivaji's centralised kingdom became a looser structure, still in the name of the Chhatrapati but with powerful chiefs. The most powerful was the Peshwa (a Persian word for prime minister), who came to hold great influence even over the Chhatrapati. Peshwa Bajirao I and his son Nanasaheb Peshwa drove expansion across India. The Marathas generally governed well, though greater power for regional chiefs sometimes brought indiscipline.

North and northwest. In 1754 Maratha control over Delhi began. They briefly held Lahore, Attock and even Peshawar. Fighting the Afghans, they suffered a terrible defeat at Panipat in 1761, but recovered under Peshwa Madhavrao I. Led by Mahadji Shinde (Scindia) they retook Delhi in 1771 and held it until the British captured it about three decades later.

Against the British. In the late 18th century the Marathas were the main rivals of the British in India. Three Anglo-Maratha Wars were fought between 1775 and 1818. The Marathas won the first (1775 to 1782). Nana Phadnavis, a senior official under the Peshwas, is credited with forming the first all-India alliance against the British, even joining old rivals Hyder Ali of Mysore and the Nizam of Hyderabad. But growing disunity among Maratha chiefs, and British organisation and technology, led to defeat in the Third War in 1818.

A big conclusion. The British took India from the Marathas more than from the Mughals or any other power, because by then the Marathas controlled much of central and northern India.

Imagine a government officer who owns the land he governs and passes it to his son. Over time he may care more about his family's power than the king's orders. Shivaji designed his government to avoid exactly this.

Salaries, not estates. Under the sultans and Mughals many posts were hereditary and officials were paid with land. Shivaji ended hereditary posts and land assignments for officials and paid every official a salary from the state treasury. Many officials were transferred from time to time, so none could build up enough local power to dictate terms to the king.

Care for soldiers. He gave pensions to widows of soldiers killed in battle and offered military posts to their sons.

Protecting the people. Shivaji strictly ordered officials not to mistreat subjects or seize even a blade of grass by force. In one letter he allowed teak to be cut from forests for the navy, with permission, but told officials not to touch mango and jackfruit trees, which villagers had raised over many years like their own children. He warned that whatever is gained by oppression soon perishes along with the oppressor.

The council of eight. Shivaji was assisted by the aṣhṭa pradhāna manḍala, a council of eight ministers. As shown in the textbook:

Coins. Shivaji minted gold and copper coins in his own name, a sign of sovereignty, using the Devanagari script as a statement of cultural identity. In the 18th century the Marathas often copied the popular Mughal style of coin but added their own symbols; one rare rupee carried Devanagari and Persian inscriptions, with an invocation to Gaṇapati on one side.

Chauth and sardeshmukhi. From provinces not directly under their rule, in the Deccan and north India, the Marathas collected chauth, 25% of the revenue, and sardeshmukhi, an additional 10%. In return they protected these provinces and did not interfere in their internal government. The Mughals accepted this through treaties, and in time some of these provinces joined the Maratha state.

Worked idea. If a province's revenue was 10 lakh rupees, chauth was 2.5 lakh and sardeshmukhi 1 lakh, so 3.5 lakh (35%) went to the Marathas.

Ask a historian what kept the Maratha state alive through decades of Mughal attacks and the answer may be one word: forts. Shivaji's finance minister said almost exactly that.

Forts as the core of the state. Shivaji controlled and built a large number of forts on hilltops, on land and along the coast. They guarded key routes, stored supplies and sheltered the army during guerrilla campaigns. Ramachandrapant Amatya, in his work Ādnyāpatra (The Royal Edict, 1715), argued that forts are the core of a state: without them the land is ravaged by invaders. He noted that Aurangzeb conquered great kingdoms like Bijapur and Golconda, yet the Maratha state survived decades of attack because of its forts.

Three branches. The Maratha forces had infantry, cavalry and a navy. The cavalry had two kinds of soldiers:

Learning from others. In the 18th century the Marathas saw the strength of European-style disciplined troops and artillery and began to raise such units. Mahadji Shinde built a large European-style army.

Weapons. Swords and lances were favourite weapons, but the Marathas also used guns in large numbers. Rockets were used in campaigns from Shivaji's own time, and by about 1770 metal-tube rockets were in use.

Why forts worked so well in Maharashtra. The Sahyadri hills are steep, with narrow paths and cliffs. A fort on such a hill needs only a small garrison, while attackers must climb under fire. A chain of forts meant that even if one fell, others held on, and an enemy had to capture them one by one, spending years and money. That is why Aurangzeb, with a huge army, could not finish the Marathas.

The weak side. A fort can be cut off and starved, and big cannons could breach walls. So forts worked best together with mobile cavalry that harassed the besiegers and cut their supply lines, which is exactly how the Marathas used them.

Visiting history. Raigad, Pratapgad, Sindhudurg and Gingee still stand. Each shows how location, walls, gates and water tanks were planned for defence.

In the 1600s and 1700s European ships ruled the Indian Ocean. An Indian merchant ship without a European pass could be seized. One Maratha admiral turned the tables.

Challenging European sea power. The Europeans' main strength in India was their navies. They forced Indian ships to buy trade passes, called cartaz by the Portuguese, and seized any ship without one. In the 18th century the Maratha admiral Kanhoji Angre won many sea battles through clever use of the coastline and good tactics, even though his ships were less advanced than European ones. The Marathas began demanding passes from the Europeans instead. Frustrated, the Europeans called Kanhoji a 'pirate'.

A show of strength at sea. In 1665, four of Shivaji's ships reached Muscat in Oman, where the ruler seized them and their crews and prepared to attack the Maratha coast. When he heard that Shivaji's navy had more than a hundred ships, he withdrew into his harbour.

Justice. The Maratha judicial system was known for being efficient and for using the death penalty sparingly. The main body that delivered justice was the panchāyat, a local gathering of officials and respected men (not the same as today's elected Panchayat). A person unhappy with a verdict could appeal to a Maratha chief. In important towns like Pune and Indore, a kotwāl (police chief) kept law and order.

Trade by sea. Shivaji encouraged trade and took part in sea trade himself. He and his officials owned ships that sailed regularly to Mocha in Yemen, Muscat in Oman and Malacca in Malaysia, carrying goods such as textiles and gold.

Roads, bridges and ferries. Roads were built and kept in repair, and bridges were put across rivers and streams. In 18th-century Odisha the Marathas ran a network of river ferries.

A warning from 1715. Ramachandrapant Amatya noted that European traders were not like other merchants: they wanted territory and to spread their religion, relied on navies and gunpowder, and should not be allowed to build strong buildings. History proved him right, as the next chapter shows.

Connecting the ideas. A navy protected trade; trade brought wealth; wealth paid for forts and armies; and fair justice kept the people loyal. Each part of Maratha government supported the others.

Rulers of the time stamped official papers with Persian seals. Shivaji's seal was different: it was in Sanskrit, and its message spoke of a rule that grows like the new moon and exists for the welfare of the people.

Language. Shivaji ordered a dictionary, the Rājya-Vyavahāra-Koṣha, which gave Sanskrit equivalents for the Persian words used in government and diplomacy. As a result, the share of foreign loanwords in Maratha official letters fell sharply. The Marathas wrote letters mainly in the Moḍī script, a running form of Devanagari.

Faith and culture. Shivaji was a devout Hindu who respected other religions while practising his own. His saffron flag was adopted by all Marathas. He rebuilt temples that had been damaged and supported Sanskrit and Marathi literature, religious institutions and traditional arts. His greatest cultural gift may have been confidence: he showed that mighty empires could be defeated and that Indians could build and run a state of their own.

Later support. The Bhonsles of Nagpur supported local culture, and with Maratha support the worship of Lord Jagannath at Puri, often interrupted under Mughal rule, was revived.

Tarabai. Queen of Rajaram, Tarabai ruled in the early 18th century. She saw that north India was unprotected while Aurangzeb's army was in the Deccan, raised large armies and sent them north. Her strategy and determination outwitted the Mughals and kept the Marathas independent at a dangerous time.

Ahilyabai Holkar. The Holkars helped lead Maratha expansion in the north and ruled a large kingdom around present-day Indore in the 18th century. After losing her husband and her son, Ahilyabai Holkar governed for about thirty years, wisely and with care for ordinary people. She built and restored hundreds of temples, ghats, wells and roads from Kedarnath in the north to Rameswaram in the south. She rebuilt the Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi, destroyed by Aurangzeb, and the Somnath temple in Gujarat, destroyed long before by Mahmud of Ghazni. She also encouraged the Maheshwar handloom industry in Madhya Pradesh, which still thrives.

Why these women matter. In an age when power was usually held by men, Tarabai led armies and Ahilyabai ran a state for three decades. Both are remembered for courage and good government.

Bharatanatyam and Carnatic music are among the glories of south India. Few people know that a Maratha king of Thanjavur played a part in shaping both.

Marathas in the far south. Ekoji, Shivaji's half-brother, conquered the Thanjavur region in present-day Tamil Nadu in the late 17th century and began Maratha rule there. The Thanjavur Marathas were great patrons of the arts, and several rulers were themselves poets and playwrights. A famous style of painting, Thanjavur painting with its shining gold-foil work, flourished under them.

Serfoji II. The most remarkable of these rulers knew many Indian and European languages. He wrote a Marathi play, Devendra Kuravanji, that described world geography as it was then known. He supported many fine musicians, and in his time modern Carnatic music took shape, along with the early form of Bharatanatyam.

Science and records. Serfoji set up the Dhanwantari Mahal, a medical centre giving free treatment using both Indian and Western medicine. He started a printing press, the first in India set up by an Indian ruler. He had the history of the Bhonsle family carved on the walls of the great Brihadishwara temple, one of the longest single inscriptions in India.

A meeting of cultures. Thanjavur was multilingual: the local Tamil culture, the Telugu culture of the earlier Nayaka rulers and the Marathi culture of the new rulers mixed freely, creating something new.

The Maratha legacy. Pulling the chapter together:

• They challenged Mughal power and built the largest Indian empire before the British, controlling much of central and northern India.
• They created an efficient administration with salaried officials, a council of ministers and fair local justice.
• They revived local traditions without discriminating on grounds of religion.
• They built a navy that stood up to European sea power for a long time without the latest technology.
• Their ideal of Swarājya later inspired Indians to believe they could govern themselves, planting early seeds of the freedom movement.

Thinking like a historian. When we call the Marathas 'the largest Indian power before the British', we should ask: largest by what measure? Area controlled, influence over Delhi, and the length of their struggle with the British all support the claim. Weighing evidence like this is how historians test a big statement.