SOCIAL
SCIENCE (VIII) LESSON -3
RISE OF MARATHAS
(LESSON NOTES)
v Introduction
Ø This lesson tell us about who are martahaa and how they became so powerful and establish their kingdom from Attock to Cuttack start from Shivaji later on under Peshwas.
Ø We
also learn about their administration system, cultural development, and their
legacy.
v Content
of the chapter
Ø Foundation
of Maratha Power
Ø Marathas
after Shivaji
Ø Maratha
Administration
Ø Cultural
Revail
Ø About Thanjavur
v Who
are the Marathas?
Ø The
people who were identified with the language they speak — Marathi living in
present day Maharashtra.
Ø Till
13th century it was ruled by Yadava dynasty with Devagiri (Daulatabad)
but overcome by the Khilji in 14th century.
Ø Martathi
language had a rich and literary history from 12 century onwards. This time
many saints like Dnyaneshwar, Namdev, Tukaram, Ramdas, etc., gained
popularity at this time. They translate important texts like the Upaniṣhads and
the Bhagavad Gita into Marathi, making their philosophy accessible to the
people.
Ø Some
also focused on social organisation and political awareness, similar to the
Sikh gurus. It helps Shivaji to
establish a powerful kingdom.
v Foundation
of Maratha Power
Ø Early
life of Shivaji
§ Shivaji
was born in 1630 in the Bhonsle clan to Shahji and Jijabai.
§ His
father Shahaji served the Deccan sultanates his jāgīr at Pune,
Shivaji grew up under his mother
Jijabai and grandfarthe Konddev.
§ Pune
was attacked by the Deccani sultans. In the age of 16 Shivaji captured neglected
and unoccupied forts and strengthening their
§ defences.
Develop his vision of sovereign kingdom
or ‘Swarājya.
Ø Expansion
of kingdom
§ Shivaji
expended his kindoms toward west to access the coastal resources and establish
the Naval Force which was a new revolutionary step.
§ To
protect his people from powerful enemies, Shivaji had recourse to the tactic of
guerrilla warfare which means a small groups of people in a focused way, with
speed, surprise, and knowledge of the terrain defeat bigger armies.
Ø Confront
with Bijapur Sultan(Adil Shahi)
§ Due
to continuous success Bijapur Sultanate, sent the veteran general Afzal Khan
to confront him.
§ Shivaji
and his advisers managed to convince Afzal Khan to meet him for a one-on-one
meeting at the foot of the Pratapgad fort.
§ There,
Shivaji killed Afzal Khan by wāgh nakh (Tiger claw), and the Marathas,
hidden in the mountains, routed the Khan’s army with guerrilla attacks.
Ø Confront
with Mugahls
§ After
that Pune face the attack by Mughal nobleman Shaista Khan for three
years.
§ Finally,
with only a few soldiers, Shivaji raided like modern day surgical strike
Shaista Khan’s camp at night but he escaped and left Maharashtra.
§ After
that Shivaji Attacked on Surat and obtained enormous treasure which cause
terror not only to Mughals but also to Europeans agents but he didn’t attacked
on religious places.
§ Due
to this Aurangzeb sent Jai Singh, a distinguished Rajput general,
to defeat Shivaji.
§ Shivaji
had to concede defeat at Purandar Fort (near Pune) in 1664 and enter into a
treaty.
§ As
per treaty he had to give up a sizeable part of his kingdom, and his son
Sambhaji had to enter Mughal service.
§ In
Aurangzeb court Shivaji was insulted so he stormed out of the court so
Aurangzeb put him in house arrest.
§ Shivaji
and his son Sambhaji hid themselves in the baskets and made their escape after
that Aurangzeb could never capture Shivaji again.
Ø Coronation
of Shivaji
§ In
1674, Shivaji was coronated with full Vedic rites at the strong mountain
fortress of Raigad.
§ His
formal title after the coronation was ‘Shri Raja Shiva Chhatrapati’, and
tarted his own era, the Rājyābhiṣheka shaka.
§ After
that Shivaji conquest of the South, also referred to as the dakṣhiṇa-digvijaya,
which included northern Tamil Nadu and parts of Karnataka.
§ Shivaji
was a master strategist and a true
visionary. The Europeans compared him with Alexander, and the Bundela prince
Chhatrasal established independent kingdom of Bundelkhand by the
inspiration of Shivaji.
§ The
famous Hindi poet Bhushan composed poems in his praise.
v The
Marathas after Shivaji
Ø After
Shivaji’s death (1680), Sambhaji became the Chhatrapati.
Ø At
that time Aurangzeb invaded the Deccan and conquered the Bijapur (or
Ø Adil
Shahi) and Golconda (or Qutb Shahi) Sultanates.
Ø After
that he captured Sambhaji and, after torturing him brutally, executed him and
captured Raigad, the Maratha capital.
Ø After
Sambhaji, Rajaram became the Chhatrapati and fled to Gingee (in
present-day Tamil Nadu). The Mughal-Maratha conflict thus spread to south
India.
Ø The
Marathas has staunchly defended their fortresses and often had the upper hand
over the Mughals in battles and skirmishes.
Ø After
that Marathas led by Tarabai, Rajaram’s queen, made large-scale inroads
into Mughal territories, eventually conquering large parts of India.
v Marathas
under Peshwas
Ø After
Shivaji Marathas Kingdom become more powerful under a decentralised structure
where chiefs wield more power particularly Peshwas.
Ø Under
Peshwa Bajirao I and his son Nanasaheb Peshwa Marathas brought
large parts of India under their control but lose Shivaji’s values.
Ø They
controlled the areas of Lahore, Attock and Peshawar and fought with Afghans in
third battle of Panipat in 1761.
Ø After
that they rise again under Peshwa Madhavrao
I and Mahadji Shinde recapture Delhi in 1771.
v Marathas
and the Britishers
Ø In18th
century, the chief rivals of the British in India were the Marathas.
Ø Three
Anglo-Maratha wars were fought between 1775 and 1818.
Ø Owing
to the Marathas’ increased internal disunity and the superior organisational
and technological abilities of the British, they succeeded in ending the
Maratha power.
v Maratha
Administration
Ø Civilian
administration
§ Shivaji
instituted a relatively centralised administration for his kingdom.
§ He
abolished the hereditary posts and land assignments and paid a salary to every
government official..
§ Officials
were periodically transferred.
§ Shivaji
also gave pensions to widows of soldiers and offering military posts to their
sons.
§ He
also take care of forest and issue order to not to cut the trees.
§ Shivaji
also had an aṣhṭa pradhāna manḍala, or council of eight ministers
to assist him with administration.
§ The
Marathas often levied taxes called chauth (25 per cent) and sardeshmukhi
(an additional 10 per cent to chauth) from provinces that were not
directly under them and protect them.
Ø Military
administration
§ The
Maratha armed forces were divided into three parts — infantry, cavalry and
navy.
§ The
cavalry was made up of two types of soldiers — the bārgīrs, whose horses
and equipment were paid for by the state, and the shiledārs, whose
horses and equipment were paid for by the soldiers themselves.
§ In
the 18th they tried to raise and recruit Europeanstyle army, particular,
Mahadji Shinde had a large European-style army.
§ Swords
and lances were the preferred weapons of the Marathas
§ Rockets
were used in military campaigns from the days of Shivaji himself, and by 1770,
metal tube rockets were also being used.
§ Shivaji
controlled and built a considerable number of forts. Ramachandrapant
Amatya, the finance minister of Shivaji, in his work Ādnyāpatra (‘The
Royal Edict’)
Ø Maritime
supremacy
§ Shiva
ji created a navy to secure the west coast. In the 18th century, Kanhoji Angre
guided the Marathas to victory in Naval battles.
§ Europeans
forced Indians to purchase their naval trade passes (cartaz in
Portuguese) at a price; any ship without a pass was confiscated.
§ The
Marathas challenged this practice and started demanding passes from the
Europeans themselves.
§ The
Sindhudurg Fort near the Maharashtra-Goa border is one of the several naval
fortifications built by the Marathas.
Ø Judicial
system
§ The
Marathas had an efficient judicial system, remarkable for its moderation in
using capital punishment (the death penalty).
§ The
panchāyat (not to be confused with the current day Panchayat, a
governmental body) was a local gathering of officials and prominent men, and
the main body that delivered justice.
§ An
appeal could be made to a Maratha chief in case of an unsatisfactory verdict.
§ Additionally,
in prominent towns such as Pune, Indore, etc., the kotwāl or the police
was also deployed to ensure law and order within the city.
Ø Trade
networks
§ Shivaji
encouraged trade and actively participated foreign trade himself.
§ He
sent the ships to the ports as far away as Mocha in Yemen, Muscat in Oman, and
Malacca in Malaysia. These ships also
carried cargo like gold, textiles, etc.
§ Roads
were constructed and maintained. Bridges were built over rivers.
§ A
network of ferries was maintained for riverine transport.
v Cultural
Revival
Ø The Marathas
contributed many in India’s cultural developments:-
§ Shifting from Persian seal to Sanskrit inscription seal seal
like the new moon, revered by the world, reigns for the welfare of the people.
§ Developed the idea of Swarajya.
§ Shivaji also commissioned a treatise called Rājya-Vyavahāra-
Koṣha with the aim of promoting the Marathi language.
§ Shivaji was a
devout Hindu who respected other religions while upholding his own. His
saffron-coloured flag was adopted by all Marathas.
§ He rebuilt desecrated temples, promoted Sanskrit and
Marathi literature, religious institutions, and traditional arts.
§ Most impressive contribution came from a few remarkable
Maratha women as Tarabai and Ahilyabai Holkar.
v
In focus: Thanjavur
Ø Maratha kingdom spread in south in 17th
century by Emoji half-brother of Shivaji, Ekoji. He conquered
Thanjkavur.
Ø They were great patrons of the arts, and many of the
rulers themselves were poets and dramatists.
Ø Serfoji II who
known Indian and European languages and wrote a Marathi play named Devendra
Kuravanji, where he describes world geography in detail.
Ø The Carnatic music took shape in his time, which became
the early stages of the famous classical dance form of Bharatanatyam.
Ø He also established the Dhanwantari Mahal, a
centre of medicine that offered free treatment of diseases using both Indian
and Western medicine.
Ø He also started a printing press. He got the history of the Bhonsle family inscribed on the walls of the Brihadishwara temple at Thanjavur, which is one of the largest single inscriptions in India.
v
The Maratha
legacy
Ø The Maratha rule challenged Mughal dominance and established the largest
Indian empire before the British.
Ø They set up a new way of governing with an efficient administration.
Ø They also revived the local Hindu traditions without religious
discrimination.
Ø Their brave fight against oppressive rule and foreign power was driven by
the fiery ideal of Swarājya.
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