Question

Short essay on maratha state and maratha confederacy.​

Answer 1

Answer:

Maratha State or Maratha Confederacy, alliance formed in the 18th century after Mughal pressure forced the collapse of Shivaji’s kingdom of Maharashtra in western India. After the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb’s death (1707), Maratha power revived under Shivaji’s grandson Shahu. He confided power to the Brahman Bhat family, who became hereditary peshwas (chief ministers). He also decided to expand northward with armies under the peshwas’ control. In Shahu’s later years the power of the peshwas increased. After his death (1749) they became the effective rulers. The leading Maratha families—Sindhia, Holkar, Bhonsle, and Gaekwar—extended their conquests in northern and central India and became more independent and difficult to control.

Explanation:

The Maratha Empire or the Maratha Confederacy was a power that dominated a large portion of the Indian subcontinent in the 18th century. The empire formally existed from 1674 with the coronation of Shivaji as the Chhatrapati and ended in 1818 with the defeat of Peshwa Bajirao II at the hands of the British East India Company. The Marathas are credited to a large extent for ending Mughal rule over most of the Indian subcontinent.

The Marathas were a Marathi-speaking warrior group from the western Deccan Plateau (present-day Maharashtra) who rose to prominence by establishing a Hindavi Swarajya (meaning "self-rule of Hindu/Indian people").  The Marathas became prominent in the 17th century under the leadership of Shivaji Maharaj, who revolted against the Adil Shahi dynasty, and carved out a kingdom with Raigad as his capital. His father, Shahji had earlier conquered Thanjavur which Shivaji's half-brother, Venkoji Rao alias Ekoji inherited and that Kingdom was known as the Thanjavur Maratha kingdom. Known for their mobility, the Marathas were able to consolidate their territory during the Mughal–Maratha Wars and later controlled a large part of the Indian subcontinent.