3.5 The Maratha Confederacy

After Aurangzeb’s death in 1707, the Marathas went from survival to expansion, and at astonishing speed. Within a few decades they spread across much of the subcontinent. But the leadership of this great expansion passed from the Chhatrapatis to their prime ministers, the Peshwas, and the empire took a new shape: a confederacy of allied Maratha families.

The rise of the Peshwas

From King’s Minister to Real Ruler The Peshwa was originally the chief minister in Shivaji’s Ashta Pradhan council. In the 1700s, the office became hereditary and immensely powerful, and the Peshwas, based at Pune, became the real leaders of Maratha expansion. Under able Peshwas such as Bajirao I, Maratha armies carried their power far across India.

Bajirao I (Peshwa from 1720) was a brilliant general who is said never to have lost a battle. Under him and his successors, Maratha influence pushed north into Malwa, Gujarat, Bundelkhand and beyond, reaching toward Delhi itself.

What a “confederacy” means

As the Marathas spread over a huge area, no single ruler could govern it all directly. Instead, power was shared among several great Maratha families, each ruling a large region while owing loyalty to the Peshwa and the Chhatrapati. This loose alliance is called the Maratha Confederacy.

The Great Maratha Families The Confederacy was led by powerful clans, each based in a different part of India:

  • the Peshwas at Pune (the centre);
  • the Scindias (Shinde) at Gwalior;
  • the Holkars at Indore;
  • the Bhonsles at Nagpur;
  • the Gaekwads at Baroda (Vadodara).

Together they extended Maratha power across central and northern India.

The Marathas reach their peak

At their height, the Marathas were the dominant power in India. Their armies ranged from the Deccan to the north-west, and at times they controlled Delhi itself and reached as far as Lahore, Attock and Peshawar, near the edge of the subcontinent. Under leaders like Mahadji Shinde (Scindia), the Marathas again held sway over Delhi in the later 1700s, effectively becoming the protectors of the weakened Mughal emperor.

Think About It A confederacy of several strong families could expand very fast, each clan conquering its own region. But what is the weakness of sharing power this way? Think about what might happen in a crisis if the families do not fully trust or obey one another. (You will see the answer in the decline section.)

A Truly Pan-Indian Power The Marathas began as a regional power in the western Deccan, yet within a century they shaped events from Tamil Nadu to Punjab and from Gujarat to Bengal’s borders. Few Indian powers before them had projected influence across such a vast stretch of the subcontinent.

Let’s Explore On an outline map of India, mark the five Confederacy centres, Pune, Gwalior, Indore, Nagpur, Baroda, and the cities the Marathas reached in the north: Delhi, Lahore, Attock. Looking at how spread out they are, write one strength and one weakness this spread gave the Marathas.

The Marathas were not only conquerors. As they spread, they also became patrons of art, temples and culture, the subject of the next short section.