Study sheet: The Rise and Legacy of the Marathas

📋 Course Outline

1. Maratha Origins and Bhakti Foundations
2. Shivaji’s Early Life and Swarajya
3. Guerrilla Warfare and Naval Power
4. Shivaji’s Expansion and Coronation
5. Mughal-Maratha Conflict and Expansion
6. Maratha Administration and Society
7. Military, Forts, and Maritime Supremacy
8. Justice, Trade, and Cultural Revival
9. Women, Thanjavur, and Maratha Legacy

📅 Key Dates

1. 1674Chhatrapati Shivaji was coronated with full Vedic rites at Raigad and adopted the formal title ‘Shri Raja Shiva Chhatrapati’.
2. 1761The Marathas suffered a disastrous defeat at Panipat.
3. 1775–1818The three Anglo-Maratha wars were fought and ended Maratha power.

📖 1. Maratha Origins and Bhakti Foundations

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Marathas : A group native to the Deccan plateau, especially present-day Maharashtra, identified with the Marathi language.

★ Must-know

• Between the 7th and 17th centuries, bhakti saints from diverse social groups composed devotional songs and poetry in popular languages, allowing their messages to spread widely.

Further detail

• Marathi has had a rich and continuous literary history since the 12th century.

• Important Maharashtra saints included:

  • Dnyaneshwar
  • Namdev
  • Tukaram
  • Ramdas

💡 Memory Hook

Bhakti culture → social organisation → Maratha political power

📖 2. Shivaji’s Early Life and Swarajya

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Swarajya : Chhatrapati Shivaji’s vision of a sovereign kingdom involving political, economic, and cultural independence.

📝 Essential Points

• Chhatrapati Shivaji was born in 1630 in the Bhonsle clan to Shahji and Jijabai.

• 🔄 Shivaji’s early consolidation involved:

  1. capturing neglected or unoccupied forts
  2. strengthening their defences
  3. consolidating the Pune region

💡 Memory Hook

A sixteen-year-old Shivaji securing mountain forts around Pune

📖 3. Guerrilla Warfare and Naval Power

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Guerrilla warfare : Uses small groups that rely on speed, surprise, and knowledge of terrain to defeat larger armies.

★ Must-know

• Chhatrapati Shivaji established the Maratha Navy to secure access to the resources of the west coast, a revolutionary step because the Bijapur Sultanate had merchant ships but no full-time coastal defence force and the Mughal navy was very limited.

Further detail

• At Pratapgad, Chhatrapati Shivaji killed Afzal Khan during a one-on-one meeting, after which hidden Maratha forces routed the Bijapur army through guerrilla attacks.

• With only a few soldiers, Chhatrapati Shivaji raided Shaista Khan’s camp at night, causing the Khan to lose fingers and leave Maharashtra.

💡 Memory Hook

Small, fast forces and coastal forts versus larger armies and European fleets

📖 4. Shivaji’s Expansion and Coronation

★ Must-know

• After being placed under house arrest at Agra, Chhatrapati Shivaji escaped with Sambhaji by hiding in baskets of fruits and sweets distributed as gifts.

• The dakshina-digvijaya extended Shivaji’s power into northern Tamil Nadu and parts of Karnataka, giving the Marathas strategic depth against Mughal invasion.

Further detail

• Chhatrapati Shivaji sacked Surat and obtained treasure worth almost one crore rupees, while sparing religious places and the house of the charitable Mohandas Parekh.

💡 Memory Hook

Agra escape → coronation at Raigad → dakshina-digvijaya

📖 5. Mughal-Maratha Conflict and Expansion

📝 Essential Points

• After Shivaji’s death, Sambhaji became Chhatrapati, Rajaram succeeded him and fled to Gingee, and Tarabai then led major incursions into Mughal territories.

• Aurangzeb captured and executed Sambhaji, captured Raigad, but died without subduing the Marathas after decades of conflict in the Deccan.

📌 The centralised state of Shivaji’s time later became more decentralised, with chiefs gaining autonomy and the Peshwa acquiring influence even over the Chhatrapati.

💡 Memory Hook

Sambhaji → Rajaram → Tarabai → Peshwas

📖 6. Maratha Administration and Society

★ Must-know

📌 Chhatrapati Shivaji abolished hereditary posts and land assignments, paid officials from the state treasury, and periodically transferred them to limit their independent power.

• The eight ministerial offices were:

  • Prime Minister
  • Finance Minister
  • Intelligence Minister
  • Land Revenue Minister
  • Chief Justice
  • Head of Religious Affairs
  • Commander-in-chief
  • Minister for Foreign Affairs

• The Marathas levied chauth at 25 per cent and sardeshmukhi as an additional 10 per cent on provinces outside their direct rule in return for protection and non-interference in internal administration.

Further detail

• Chhatrapati Shivaji supported soldiers’ families by giving pensions to widows of soldiers killed in battle and offering military posts to their sons.

💡 Memory Hook

AMPT: Ashta Pradhana, taxes, pensions

📖 7. Military, Forts, and Maritime Supremacy

★ Must-know

📌 The Maratha armed forces consisted of infantry, cavalry, and navy, while cavalry soldiers were either bārgīrs whose horses and equipment the state paid for or shiledārs who paid for their own.

• Maratha forts controlled strategic routes, sheltered armies during guerrilla warfare, and were considered the core of the state because they enabled survival during invasions.

• Under Kanhoji Angre, the Maratha Navy won naval battles by using geography and tactics despite having ships less technologically advanced than European vessels.

Further detail

• By 1770, the Marathas were using metal-tube rockets, in addition to swords, lances, guns, and earlier rockets.

💡 Memory Hook

Forts protected the land while the navy contested European control of the sea

📖 8. Justice, Trade, and Cultural Revival

★ Must-know

• The panchayat was a local gathering of officials and prominent men that delivered justice, and appeals could be made to a Maratha chief.

• Chhatrapati Shivaji promoted Marathi and Sanskrit through the Rājya-Vyavahāra-Koṣha, which supplied Sanskrit equivalents for Persian diplomatic terms.

Further detail

• Maratha ships regularly reached:
  • Mocha in Yemen
  • Muscat in Oman
  • Malacca in Malaysia

💡 Memory Hook

Stable administration → trade networks → cultural revival

📖 9. Women, Thanjavur, and Maratha Legacy

★ Must-know

• Tarabai organised Maratha armies against Mughal territories and preserved Maratha independence during a critical period after Rajaram’s death.

• Ahilyabai Holkar governed for thirty years after losing her husband and son, built and restored temples, ghats, wells, and roads, and promoted the Maheshwar weaving industry.

• The Marathas established the largest Indian empire before the British, challenged Mughal dominance, promoted efficient administration and cultural confidence, and inspired later ideas of self-rule.

Further detail

• Ekoji’s conquest of Thanjavur in the late 17th century began Maratha rule there and contributed to a syncretic culture combining Tamil, Telugu, and Marathi influences.

• Serfoji II contributed to:

  • modern Carnatic music
  • early Bharatanatyam
  • free Indian and Western medical treatment
  • a printing press

📊 Synthesis Tables

Maratha Military Organisation

Element	Main feature	Purpose
Forts	Controlled routes and sheltered armies	Defence and guerrilla warfare
Cavalry	Bārgīrs used state equipment; shiledārs supplied their own	Rapid land operations
Navy	Protected the west coast and challenged European passes	Maritime security and trade