Medieval India-The Maratha age

 6. THE MARATHA AGE

Qts1 Write about Shivaji (1627-80)

Shivaji (1627-80)0

1.  Born at Shivneri to Shahji Bhonsle and Jija Bai, he inherited the Jagir of Poona from his father in 1637.
2.  After the death of his guardian, Dadaji Konda Dev, in 1647, he assumed full charge of his jagir. At the age of 18, he conquered Torna, built forts at Raigarh and Pratapgarh (1645-1647).
3. Afzal Khan was deputed by the Adil Shah ruler to punish Shivaji, but later he murdered Afzal in 1659.
4.  Shaista Khan, governor of Deccan, was deputed by Aurangazeb to put down the rising power of Shivaji in 1660. Shivaji lost Poona and suffered several defeats till he made a bold attack on Shaista's military camp and plundered Surat (1664) and later Ahmadnagar.
5. Raja Jai Singh of Amber was then appointed by Aurangazeb to put down Shivaji (1665) and Jai Singh succeeded in besieging Shivaji in the fort of Purandhar.
6. The treaty of Purandhar (1665) was signed according to which Shivaji ceded some forts to the Mughals and paid a visit to the Mughal court at Agra. In 1674, he was coronated at Raigarh and assumed the title of Haindava Dharmodharak (Protector of Hinduism).
7. Shivaji died in 1680.

Qts2 Write about Shivaji's Administration

1.  Shivaji divided his territory under his rule into three provinces, each under a viceroy. Provinces were divided into Prams which were sub-divided into Parganas/Tarafs. The lowest unit was village headed by the Headman/Patel.
2.  Shivaji was helped by the ashtapradhan (eight ministers) which was unlike a council of ministers, each minister was directly responsible to Shivaji.
3.  Most of the administrative reforms of Shivaji were based on Malik Ambar's (Ahmadnagar) reforms.

Qts3 Write about  Revenue Administration

1. Chauth was one-fourth of the land revenue paid to the Marathas so as not to be subjected to Maratha raids.
2. A Sardeshmukhi was an additional levy of 10 per cent on those lands of Maharashtra over which the Marathas claimed hereditary rights, but which formed part of the Mughal Empire.

Qts4 Write about Sambhaji (1680-89)

 Sambhaji, the elder son, defeated Rajaram, the younger son of Shivaji, in the war of succession. He provided protection and support to Akbar, the rebellious son of Aurangzeb. He was captured at Sangamesvar by a Mughal noble and executed.

Qts5 Write about Rajaram (1689-1700):

 He succeeded the throne with the help of the ministers at Raigarh. He fled from Raigarh to Jinji in 1689 due to a Mughal invasion in which Raigarh was captured along with Sambhaji's wife son (Shahu) by the Mughals. Rajaram died at Satara, which had became the capital after the fall of Jinji to Mughals in 1698. Rajaram created the new post of pratinidhi, thus taking the total number of ministers to nine.

Qts6 Write about Shivaji II and Tarabai (1700-1707):

 Rajaram was succeeded by his minor son Shivaji II under the guardianship of his mother Tarabai.

Qts7 Write about Shahu (1707-1749):

 Shahu was released by the Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah. Tarabai's army was defeated by Shahu at the Battle of Khed (1700) and Shahu occupied Satara. But the southern part of the Maratha kingdom with its capital at Kolhapur continued to be under the control of the descendants of Rajaram (Shivaji II and later Sambhaji II). Shahu's reign saw the rise of Peshwas and transformation of the Maratha kingdom into an empire based on the principle of confederacy.

Qts8 Write about The Peshwas (1713-1818)

1.  Balaji Viswanath (1713-20): He began his career as a small revenue official and was given the title of Sena Karte (marker of the army) by Shahu in 1708. He became the first Peshwa in 1713 and made the post the most important and powerful as well as hereditary. He played a crucial role in the final victory of Shahu by winning over almost all the Maratha sardars to the side of Shahu and concluded an agreement with the Sayyid brothers (1719) by which the Mughal emperor (Farukh Siyar) recognised Shahu as the king of the swarajya.

Qts9  Write about Baji Rao I (1720-40): 

1. Baji Rao, the eldest son of Balaji Viswanath, succeeded him as Peshwa at the young age of 20. He was considered the greatest expert of guerrilla tactics after Shivaji and Maratha power reached its zenith under him. Under him, several Maratha families became prominent and got themselves entrenched in different parts of India- (a) the Gaekwad at Baroda (b) the Bhonsles at Nagpur, (c) the Holkars at Indore, (d) the Scindias at Gwalior and (e) the Peshwas at Poona.
2. After defeating and expelling the Siddhis of Janjira from the mainland (1722), he conquered Bassein and Salsetle from the Portuguese (1733). He also defeated the Nizam ul-Mulk near Bhopal and concluded the treaty of Durai Sarai by which he got Malwa and Bundelkhand from the latter (1737). He led innumerable successful expeditions into north India to weaken the Mughal empire and to make the Marathas the supreme power in India.

Qts10 Write about Balaji Baji Rao (1740-61)

1.  Popularly known as Nana Saheb, he succeeded his father at the age of 20. After the death of Shahu (1749), the management of all state affairs was left in his hands. In an agreement with the Mughal emperor (Ahmad Shah), the Peshwa (1752) was to protect the Mughal Empire from internal & external (Ahmad Shah Abdali) enemies. The Battle of Panipat (January 14, 1761) resulted in the defeat of the Marathas by Ahmad Shah Abdali and the death of Viswas Rao (son of Nana Saheb). Nana Saheb died in 1761.
2. Madhav Rao (1761-72), Narayana Rao (1772-73), Sawai Madhav Rao (1773-95), and Baji Rao (1795-1818) succeeded