Question

Who were
Marathas ? 04 marks ​

Answer 1

Answer:

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

Answer 2

For 04 MKS write this answer:

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 Maratha emerged as an important kingdom under the rule of Shivaji in the mid-17th century. The Marathas were successful because of their ability to mobilise the peasants. The Maratha polity was an enlightened centralised autocratic monarchy. Some of the features of the Maratha administration are as follows:

• (1) King as the head: The king was the in charge of all affairs. To assist him, there was a council of state ministers known as ashtapradhan. Later, the Peshwas became the civil and military heads.

• (2) Division of the territory: For ease of administration, the territory was divided into three provinces, with each province headed by a viceroy. The provinces were subdivided into prants, each of which was further divided into parganas and tarafs. The lowest unit was the village headed by a headman called patel.

• (3) Revenue collection: Revenue was assessed after a thorough survey of the lands. It was collected from peasants, either in cash or in kind. Further, chauth and sardeshmukhi were collected in the form of protection money from areas outside the Maratha kingdom.

The Marathas ruled for a long time, but the power gradually weakened over the time because of internal strife between different Maratha chiefs.

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