Question

Why did marathas fail to find a strong power to replace mugahals?

Answer 1

The only Indian Power that possessed the strength and ability to step into the imperial shoes of the Mughals after the latter’s fall was the Marathas. But the Marathas could not take advantage of the situation as a result that the fullest opportunity was taken by the English. Gradually the Marathas were pushed into the back­ground of the political scene in India.

Upto the middle of the eighteenth century the Maratha Power in India was in the ascendant. But from after the Third Battle of Panipath decline set in in the Maratha Power. Although the Maratha Power saw a temporary revival yet it was from the defeat at the Third Battle of Panipath (1761) that the decline and fall of the Marathas have to be traced. The Third Maratha War had not only destroyed the solidarity of the Maratha Confederacy but denigrated the position and prestige of the Peshwa. True, that the Maratha Power recovered within a short time and acquiring sufficient strength, took part in the political field in northern India, yet this revival of power and strength did riot last long. The result was that the Marathas not only failed to build up an empire but also became in­capable of defending themselves.