Our period begins with the near collapse of the Mughal power centre in 1739 along with a breaking away of the provinces.
While I have retained GS Sardesai’s ‘Marathi Riyasat Vol 4’ as the foundational source for my narrative, I have also referred to Dr Uday S Kulkarni’s ‘The Extra-ordinary Epoch of Nanasaheb Peshwa’ to augment the narrative so that the story is enriched. This is a full disclosure at the beginning of the series itself to avoid any accusations of plagiarism later. All rights laid at the feet of my Gurus, and I do not have any ambition to make commercial use of the story anywhere.
After Nadir Shah’s attack on Delhi in 1739, the Marathas emerged a clear successor state to the Mughals. Of the contenders to replace the Mughals, the Marathas were the most powerful and well-poised to replace them as the new central power, and for most of this period, they did. Soon after, the real power was transferred from the Maratha Chhatrapati to the Peshwa. Over the centuries, although predominantly a Persian-Turkish aristocracy, the Timurids had become part of the Indian psyche, and in their plighted times after the brutal attack of Nadir Shah, the Maratha rulers did not extinguish their dynasty. Letting the Mughals reign while the Marathas ruled was the form practised, to the extent that the protection of the Badshah was undertaken by the Peshwa. This was also the time when in the south and the east of India, European powers began to assert themselves and grabbed political power. Using intrigue as much as military power, Nanasaheb Peshwa subdued his enemies. The entire period saw an interesting mix of powers growing from the south, the east and the west. However, it fell to the Marathas to face the invasions from the Afghans and protect the effete Mughals. Standing on the edge of this extraordinarily eventful epoch was the man at the helm of the Maratha power: Balaji Bajirao Pandit Pradhan or Nanasaheb Peshwa.
It is interesting to see how and why the Maratha power spread during this period. There was the momentum, carried forward from Bajirao’s two decades as the Peshwa, and the desire to grow and bring in more resources to the ‘parched’ region of the Deccan, as Nanasaheb eloquently writes in a letter. More than that, the forces tearing the Mughal Empire apart signalled the rising Maratha power to occupy the power vacuum. Besides the weakening Mughals, there was a need to succour the Bhosale rulers of Tanjore that led to the Carnatic Wars. Again, it was Aliwardi Khan’s usurping of Bengal from Murshid Quli Khan’s dynasty that threw Bengal open to Maratha invasions. The Badshah’s weakness for attacks from the northwest drew in the Marathas to Delhi as protectors of a weak regime. The eventual outcome of these events was the spread of the Marathas across most of the Indian land mass. From Attock to Cuttack, from Peshawar to Tanjavur (Tanjore), and from Kathiawad to Kolkata.
Casting an eye on the entire extent of the eighteenth century, one is struck by the influence of the Marathas. Once tillers of the land on the plateau in western Deccan, they adopted the martial tradition as if born into it, and made inroads into province after province, until they grew to be the paramount power in India. It was no longer the oppression of the early days that fuelled their rise, but the strength they had gained during their long struggle for Swarajya. Smaller rulers largely submitted and accepted their protection and there were others who were subjugated.
In the reign of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, one can hardly find a paucity of funds. He earned his funds by plundering the enemy realms and brought prosperity to the treasuries and warehouses of food-grains atop his forts. His rules with respect to plunder and economic practices were so strict and perfect, that they did not have any place for disorder. Therefore, not a single instance of paucity of funds is seen in the events at the time of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s reign.
It was during the last decade of the seventeenth century that the centralised administration of the Maratha kingdom splintered. To obtain the help of various Sardars, Saranjams (benefices, derived from a Persian word meaning any apparatus needed to start an undertaking) were farmed out to them. The Saranjam in the Maratha context was an allotment of land from the revenue based on which, troops were to be maintained and sent whenever needed for a campaign. The Saranjam was obtained on the payment of a Nazar (offering), after which an order was passed allotting it to the Sardar. Once allotted it became exceedingly difficult to enforce the other conditions of payment of revenue and maintenance of an adequate army. Over time, this practice spread through the kingdom, and the weak king became dependent on his Sardars.
To be continued…
NDHistories 