Chapter 3: The Rise of the Marathas

Why this chapter matters for UPSC: The Marathas are a high-yield GS1 topic — Shivaji's state-building and administration, guerrilla warfare, the Peshwas, the Maratha confederacy, and the Third Battle of Panipat (1761) are recurring Prelims facts and Mains themes on indigenous state formation and the decline of the Mughals. The Marathas were the most significant indigenous power between the Mughal and British eras.

PART 1 — Quick Reference Tables

PART 2 — Detailed Notes

The Setting: A Power Born in the Deccan

In the 17th century, as the Deccan Sultanates and the Mughal Empire contested western and southern India, a new indigenous power arose among the Marathas of the western Deccan (modern Maharashtra) — a hardy people of the hill country, organised around forts and led by deshmukhs (local chiefs). Out of this society emerged one of the most capable state-builders in Indian history.

Shivaji and the Making of a Maratha State

Shivaji (born 1630 at Shivneri) built an independent kingdom from the territories of the Bijapur Sultanate and the Mughals. His strengths were not just military but organisational:

• Forts and mobility: he captured and built a network of hill forts, and used guerrilla warfare (Ganimi Kava) — swift, mobile, hit-and-run tactics suited to the Deccan terrain — to offset larger enemies.
• A navy: unusually for an Indian power of the time, he built a naval force to guard the Konkan coast.
• Confrontation and negotiation with the Mughals: by the Treaty of Purandar (1665) with Raja Jai Singh I, Shivaji ceded several forts; he later famously escaped from Aurangzeb's court at Agra (1666).
• Coronation (1674): at Raigad he was crowned Chhatrapati (sovereign king), formally establishing an independent Maratha kingdom — a major assertion of indigenous sovereignty.

Shivaji's Administration

Shivaji is remembered as an able administrator, not only a warrior:

• He governed with the help of the Ashtapradhan, a council of eight ministers (each with defined duties, headed by the Peshwa as chief minister).
• He developed an efficient revenue system and levied chauth (roughly one-fourth of revenue) and sardeshmukhi (an additional levy) on territories.
• He is noted for a relatively tolerant policy towards different communities and for protecting peasants and places of worship — points the chapter highlights, and which should be presented as historical assessment rather than legend.

After Shivaji's death in 1680, his successors — Sambhaji, Rajaram, and others — kept the Maratha state alive through a long, grinding struggle against Aurangzeb's Mughal armies in the Deccan (the wars that drained the Mughal Empire).

The Peshwas and the Maratha Confederacy

In the early 18th century, real power shifted from the Chhatrapati to the Peshwas (prime ministers, of the Bhat family, based at Pune). Under energetic Peshwas — especially Bajirao I — the Marathas expanded dramatically across central and northern India, becoming the dominant power as the Mughal Empire crumbled. Maratha rule increasingly took the form of a confederacy: powerful chiefly houses governed different regions while acknowledging Maratha leadership —

• Scindia (Shinde) at Gwalior, Holkar at Indore, Gaekwad at Baroda, and Bhonsle at Nagpur, alongside the Peshwa at the centre.

The Third Battle of Panipat (1761) and After

Maratha expansion brought them into conflict with Ahmad Shah Abdali (Ahmad Shah Durrani) of Afghanistan. At the Third Battle of Panipat (1761), the Marathas suffered a catastrophic defeat with enormous loss of life. Though they recovered much of their strength within a decade under Peshwa Madhavrao, the confederacy was weakened by internal rivalries. Over the following decades, the British (East India Company) exploited these divisions, and through the Anglo-Maratha Wars eventually broke Maratha power in the early 19th century.

[Additional] 3a. State Formation, Identity, and Decline

UPSC synthesis: Marathas = chief indigenous power as the Mughals declined. Shivaji (b.1630; coronation 1674 Raigad as Chhatrapati; d.1680): forts, navy, Ganimi Kava, Ashtapradhan, chauth/sardeshmukhi; Treaty of Purandar 1665. Peshwas (Pune) → real power; Bajirao I → expansion. Confederacy: Scindia/Holkar/Gaekwad/Bhonsle + Peshwa. Third Panipat 1761 (vs Abdali) = big defeat; recovery then decline via internal rivalry + Anglo-Maratha Wars.

Exam Strategy

Prelims pointers:

• Shivaji's coronation = 1674 at Raigad; title Chhatrapati.
• Ashtapradhan = council of eight ministers; the Peshwa later became the de facto ruler.
• Chauth (~one-fourth) and sardeshmukhi (~one-tenth) are the two Maratha levies.
• Third Battle of Panipat = 1761, Marathas vs Ahmad Shah Abdali (NOT the British).
• Confederacy houses: Scindia–Gwalior, Holkar–Indore, Gaekwad–Baroda, Bhonsle–Nagpur.

Mains / Essay angles:

• The Marathas as indigenous state-builders and the administrative legacy of Shivaji (GS1).
• Causes of Maratha decline: internal rivalry, Panipat 1761, and British strategy (GS1).

Practice Questions

Prelims:

1. The Third Battle of Panipat (1761) was fought between the Marathas and:
   (a) The Mughals
   (b) Ahmad Shah Abdali (Durrani)
   (c) The British East India Company
   (d) The Nizam of Hyderabad

2. The "Ashtapradhan" in Shivaji's administration was:
   (a) A type of land tax
   (b) A council of eight ministers
   (c) A military rank
   (d) A fort-building guild

Mains:

1. "Shivaji was as much an administrator as a warrior." Discuss the institutions of the Maratha state under Shivaji. (GS1, 15 marks)
2. Account for the rise and the eventual decline of Maratha power in 18th-century India. (GS1, 15 marks)

Sources: NCERT, Exploring Society: India and Beyond — Textbook for Grade 8 (2026, Reprint 2026-27), Chapter 3; standard Maratha history (Shivaji's coronation 1674, Treaty of Purandar 1665, Ashtapradhan, chauth/sardeshmukhi, Third Battle of Panipat 1761) — Stewart Gordon, The Marathas (New Cambridge History of India); Satish Chandra, Medieval India.