Tag: Battle of Panipat

Introduction

In the Mughal empire, the Maratha union was one of the most formidable kingdoms. Between 1674 and 1818, the Marathas ruled. During this period, they controlled the Deccan region of India. During the eighteenth century, they posed a serious threat to the Mughals and the British Empire.  Guerilla warfare was well mastered by these Marathas. The Maratha confederacy was divided into different states under different chieftains such as Gaikwad, Sindhias, Holkars, and Bhonsle’s. Bhonsle was a powerful clan in Maratha, and Shahji and Shivaji were two of its important warriors.

The Maratha empire

The Bhonsle chief Shivaji laid the foundation for the Maratha empire. Before him, the Marathas were scattered among many confederacies in Deccan. He thus unified all the confederacies and gave them a hard time to the Mughals. The Marathas expanded from the Deccan to northern India after Mughal rule ended, leading to the establishment of the Maratha Empire. In 1761, Ahmad Shah Abdali challenged Maratha’s authority at the Third Battle of Panipat to determine who would inherit the Mughal dominion.

Other than the weak and waning Mughal rule, other factors that contributed to the rise of the Marathas included: the Maratha nationalism fostered by Bhakti movement leaders like Tukaram, Eknath, and Ramdas; their geographic location, which gave them access to ready-made rock forts to govern their kingdoms; and the political unrest in the south.

Who ruled the Maratha Kingdom?

The Maratha empire was divided into five confederacies; Peshwas of Pune, the Gaekwads of Baroda, the Bhonsles of Nagpur, the Holkars of Indore, and the Scindhias of Gwalior. Shivaji brought together all of these confederacies under the Maratha Empire. Under his leadership, the Marathas were always a political threat to the Mughals and the British. Maratha power passed to Sambhaji after Shivaji died. He was also among the strongest warriors, never losing a battle to the Mughals. Aurangzeb executed him in the end. A civil war broke out between Shahu and Tarabai after Sambhaji.

Shahu ascended to the kingdom with the aid of Balaji Vishwanath, and in exchange, he named Balaji Vishwanath Peshwa or Chief Minister. Because Shahu was a weak leader, Peshwa gradually began to gain control of the realm. The first Peshwa who established Maratha dominance was Balaji Vishwanath.

 What was the title of Shivaji?

In 1674, the Maratha warrior Shivaji received the honorific title “Chhatrapati.” The Sanskrit name Chhatrapati was employed by the Marathas to designate a ruler. The word chatra in this title alludes to the top of an umbrella, and pati denotes the owner or master. Therefore, the term “Chatrapati” refers to a particular type of ruler who served as an umbrella to cover and secure his subjects. Shivaji used this title because it indicated a monarch who was also a protector, as opposed to the titles Raja or Maharaja, which only indicate a ruler.

Maratha empire during Peshwas Era

Territories that were formerly a part of Shivaji’s empire but had been seized by Aurangzeb were returned by Balaji Viswanath, the first Peshwa of Shahus. He also assisted the Sayyid brothers in deposing Farrukhsiyar, the Mughal emperor. Six Mughal provinces in the Deccan received the Sardeshmukhi and Chauth taxes from him. His son Baji RaoI succeeded him as Peshwa. The Maratha kingdom became an empire during his rule. He also overcame Nizam-ul-Mulk and signed the Durai Sarai pact, which gave him control of Malwa and Bundelkhand.

Balaji Baji Rao, commonly known as Nana Saheb, succeeded his father, Baji Rao I, as Peshwa. He extended Maratha territory into Punjab and Delhi. The Marathas’ conquest of Punjab also brought them into conflict with Ahmed Shah Abdali, and in the Third Battle of Panipat, which took place in 1761, the Marathas suffered a crushing defeat that resulted in the deaths of several Maratha leaders, roughly 28,000 soldiers, and Vishwas Rao and Sadashiv Rao Bhau.

The Decline of Martha’s empire

The subsidiary alliance signed by Baji Rao II at the tail end of the 18th century and the beginning of the first quarter of the 19th century marked the beginning of the Maratha kingdom’s decline. The decline of the Marathas was caused by several factors, including the following:

• Internal strife among Maratha chiefs from various confederacies jeopardized the empire’s unity. British people used this shortcoming to their advantage to advance their imperial goals.
• Instead of attempting to establish a structured empire, the Marathas were constantly used to pillage areas outside their control. As a result, they never made an effort to improve their subjects’ social, economic, or cultural circumstances. As a result, their people’s allegiance was lost.
• After the 18th century, the Marathas lacked effective leaders and were forced to engage the outstanding English generals in several conflicts, which served as another major factor in the fall of the Maratha empire.

Summary

One of the most powerful regional kingdoms to emerge in Deccan following the fall of the Mughal Empire was the Maratha empire. By extending its rule from the Deccan to the northern regions of India when Shivaji assumed the Maratha throne, the kingdom began to resemble an empire. The Peshwas, who always posed a severe threat to the Mughal rule after Shivaji, also contributed significantly to the growth of this kingdom. The British could see the kingdom’s fragility after the Marathas were crushed in the Third Battle of Panipat. And finally, the Maratha chieftain’s submission to the East India Company in 1818 marked the end of this kingdom.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What were Chauth and Sardeshmukhi?
Ans. Chauth was one-fourth of the total production that was given as a tax to the Marathas by non-Maratha territories as a token of safeguard for not invading these territories. Sardeshmukhi was the extra tax of 10% over Chauth that was to be paid as a homage to the Maratha ruler for ruling over non-Maratha lands.

2. What was the Guerilla warfare technique?
Ans. Guerilla warfare describes a style of conflict in which fighters with limited weapons participated rather than conventional military forces. These battles involved ambushes, raids, and surprise attacks.

3. Who was Ahmed Shah Abdali?
Ans. Afghanistan’s current government was established by Ahmed Shah Adali, who also served as king of the Durrani Empire. Eight times between 1748 and 1767, he invaded India. The Mughal empire suffered as a result of his repeated invasions.

Introduction

India displayed political division and factionalism around the start of the sixteenth century. The strong Delhi Sultanate was afflicted with many issues. Their power was only limited in the vicinity of Delhi. Bahmani, Vijayanagar, and Deccan kingdoms were split up into smaller pieces. This was a golden opportunity for the Central Asian kings, who had been waiting to invade India and increase their dominance in this region. Babur was one such invader from Central Asia who, after losing power over his paternal principality of Farghana, set out to conquer the Indian subcontinent. Babur was the man who established the Mughal dynasty in India. He was the descendant of Genghis Khan and Amir Timur and was responsible for establishing the Mughal empire in India.

The Mughal Empire

After defeating Ibrahim Lodi in the initial Battle of Panipat in 1526, Babur laid the foundation for the Mughal Empire. The majority of the Indian subcontinent was covered in this empire until 1707, after which it began to wane due to weaker Mughals who were incapable to extend it. The Mughal kings governed India for more than three hundred years. The Mughal Empire was the first to exploit gunpowder technology to establish its dominance in India, hence it was also known as the “Gunpowder Empire.”

One of the largest empires in medieval India, the Mughal empire had strongmen like Babur, Humayun, Akbar, Jahangir, Shahjahan, and Aurangzeb.

Birth of the Mughal state

• The final Tughlaq monarch was vanquished by Babur in 1526, and he establishes the Mughal Empire.
• It was well maintained by his successors Akbar, Shahjahan, Jahangir, and Aurangzeb, who strengthened the empire by conquering challenges that stood in the way of its growth. To create a strong Mughal empire, they developed an effective administrative and bureaucratic structure.
• Akbar used a diplomatic strategy to gain the trust of his Hindu competitors as well as a policy of religious tolerance, which assisted him in establishing a sizable and powerful state.
• As a result of the Mughal era’s cultural advancement, advancement in architecture, and efficient administrative practices, emperors were able to consolidate their control over nearly the entirety of India, as well as portions of Afghanistan and Baluchistan.
• They developed a network of trade with other countries, hence bringing prosperity to India.

 Trade 

• During the Mughal era, an abundance of agricultural products drove the growth of a global commerce network.
• The Mughals encouraged trade both inside and outside their kingdom. They also offered international traders the necessary protection.
• Various reductions were made on the inland tax and customs fees.
• India used to export textiles made of silk, wool, and cotton back then, as well as spices, opium, and indigo.
• Horses, bullion, and opulent items like wine, corals, and perfumes were among the things they used to import for the royal family.

Bureaucracy and Division of the kingdom

• The Mughal government featured a centralized administration, with the King serving as the ultimate decision-maker.
• A group of ministers and officials, including Wazir, Mir Bakshi, Qazi, and Mir Saman, among others, aided him.
• The empire was further divided into 15 provinces called subas, each of which was governed by a subedar.
• These provinces were further subdivided into districts or sarkars and were governed by a faujdar.
• Furthermore, Parganas, which were managed by shiqdars, were used to split districts into smaller groups.
• Under the control of the Panchayats, muqaddams were in charge of all the villages in the parganas.
• The “Mansabdari” system was developed by the Mughals for effective military management. The Emperor hired, evaluated, and demoted the Mansabdars from their position as and when required.

Beginning the End of the Mughal empire

• Internal problems

By the conclusion of Aurangzeb’s reign, a lot of internal strife had already begun.

These tensions included a succession battle, problems administering a big empire, flaws in the Mansabdari system, an increase in the power of the nobles, and rebellions by Rajputs, Sikhs, Jats, and Satnamis.

• Fragments of the Mughal Empire

During the eighteenth century, the Mughal empire spread in northern and southern India, and hence managing them was difficult. Along with this, internal conflicts and persistent outside threats set the road for the empire’s decline.

The Mughal empire eventually broke up into two separate types of provincial states. The destabilization of the Mughal centralized political structure led to the rise of successor states like Bengal, Awadh, and Hyderabad.

The other was “new states,” which were founded by Mughal dynasty rebels such as the Maratha Confederacy, Jats, and Sikhs, who declared to be independent of Mughal dominion. The Mughal empire was divided into various pieces by the end of Aurangzeb’s rule.

• External rivals for power

By the second half of the eighteenth century, the weak Mughal kings after Aurangzeb were exploited by their foreign competitors. The Empire was utterly destroyed by foreign invaders like Ahmad Shah Abdali from Afghanistan and Nadir Shah from Iran.

The English East India Company (EEIC), which came for trading, was made aware of the Mughal Empire’s frailty. This gave them confidence that by controlling political matters, the British Empire may grow in India. Finally, the last Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar, was expelled by the British in 1857, thereby ending the Mughal era.

 Summary

India displayed political division and factionalism around the start of the sixteenth century. Delhi Sultanate was afflicted with problems. The lack of a centralized government and ongoing internal strife offered Babur the chance to end the Delhi Sultanate and usher in the Mughal Empire. The empire was at its height under the early Mughals’ control, but after Aurangzeb, when his successors proved unable to maintain the empire, it began to decline. Additionally, ongoing external obstacles include many invasions from the northwest and the eventual rise to power of the English which shook the foundation of the Mughal empire.

Frequently Asked Questions 

1. Explain the Mansabdai system.
Ans: Mansab is the Arabic word for an office or rank. A mansabdar was a high-ranking officer. The Mansabdar was in charge of sustaining order and providing soldiers with instruction. The mansab, or rank, was assigned based on the significance and nature of the employment.

2. What was the Deccan policy of Aurangzeb? What effects did this policy have?
Ans: To subjugate the independent kingdoms in the south, Aurangzeb spent the last half of his reign in the Deccan.

His actions had the following results:

• Although he annexed Bijapur and Golconda, it was challenging for him to rule these kingdoms from Delhi.
• The state’s resources were depleted by his protracted conflict with the Marathas and his important time.
• During his absence in the north, various revolutions emerged.

3. What was the religious policy of Akbar?
Ans: Following is the religious policy of Akbar

• Akbar promoted religious tolerance, which was known as his Sulh-i-kul policy (universal peace).
• Jizyah (a tax on non-Muslims) and pilgrimage tax were eliminated by him.
• He constructed temples and even participated in Hindu holidays.
• Ibadat Khana was created by him for religious discourse.