201-658: The Maratha Confederacy , also referred to as the Maratha Empire , was an early modern polity in the Indian subcontinent . It comprised the realms of the Peshwa and four major independent Maratha states often subordinate to the former. It was established in 1674 with the coronation of Shivaji as the Maratha Chhatrapati and recognised by Emperor Bahadur Shah I as a tributary state in 1707 following
402-540: A Hindu religious and intellectual resurgence is known as the Classical or Golden Age of India . Aspects of Indian civilisation, administration, culture, and religion spread to much of Asia, which led to the establishment of Indianised kingdoms in the region, forming Greater India . The most significant event between the 7th and 11th centuries was the Tripartite struggle centred on Kannauj . Southern India saw
603-643: A prolonged rebellion . Following this, the Marathas continued to recognise the Mughal emperor as their nominal suzerain , similar to other contemporary Indian entities, though in practice, imperial politics at Delhi were largely influenced by the Marathas between 1737 and 1803. Although Shivaji came from the Maratha community , the Maratha government also included warriors, administrators, and other nobles from
804-702: A counterattack which proved to be decisive. The rest of the Hyderabad army fled to the fort of Kharda. The Nizam started negotiations and they were concluded in April 1795. The British had travelled thousands of miles to arrive in India. They studied Indian geography and mastered local languages to deal with the Indians. At the time, they were technologically advanced, with superior equipment in several critical areas to that available locally. Chhabra hypothesizes that even if
1005-549: A direct descendant of Shivaji as the ceremonial head of the Maratha Confederacy. Raghuji Bhonsle III , then not even ten years old, was appointed as the ruler of Nagpur under British guardianship. The Peshwa adopted a son, Nana Sahib , who went on to be one of the leaders of the Rebellion of 1857 . After 1818, Mountstuart Elphinstone reorganized the administrative divisions for revenue collection, thus reducing
1206-527: A dispute regarding revenue collection. The envoy, Gangadhar Shastri, was under British protection. He was murdered, and the Peshwa's minister Trimbak Dengle was suspected of the crime. The British seized the opportunity to force Baji Rao into a treaty. The treaty (The Treaty of Pune ) was signed on 13 June 1817. Key terms imposed on the Peshwa included the admission of Dengle's guilt, renouncing claims on Gaekwad, and surrender of significant swaths of territory to
1407-419: A highly diverse one, second only to Africa in human genetic diversity. According to Tim Dyson: Genetic research has contributed to knowledge of the prehistory of the subcontinent's people in other respects. In particular, the level of genetic diversity in the region is extremely high. Indeed, only Africa's population is genetically more diverse. Related to this, there is strong evidence of 'founder' events in
1608-677: A nationwide struggle for independence was launched by the Indian National Congress , led by Mahatma Gandhi . Later, the All-India Muslim League would advocate for a separate Muslim-majority nation state . The British Indian Empire was partitioned in August 1947 into the Dominion of India and Dominion of Pakistan , each gaining its independence. Hominin expansion from Africa is estimated to have reached
1809-784: A political mediator and sought an alliance with Awadh to keep the Marathas out of Rohilkhand. He bound himself to pay on behalf of the Rohillas. However, after he refused to pay, Oudh attacked the Rohillas. Shah Alam II , the Mughal Emperor spent six years in the Allahabad fort and after the capture of Delhi in 1771 by the Marathas, left for his capital under their protection. He was escorted to Delhi by Mahadaji Shinde and left Allahabad in May 1771. During their short stay, Marathas constructed two temples in Allahabad city, one of them being
2010-526: A separate treaty on 26 July 1802, supported the new regime. He made a treaty with the British. Also, Yashwant Rao successfully resolved the disputes with Scindia and the Peshwa. He tried to unite the Maratha Confederacy but to no avail. In 1802, the British intervened in Baroda to support the heir to the throne against rival claimants and they signed a treaty with the new Maharaja recognising his independence from
2211-637: A small estate at Bithur , near Kanpur . Most of his territory was annexed and became part of the Bombay Presidency . The Maharaja of Satara was restored as the ruler of his territory as a princely state . In 1848 this territory was also annexed by the Bombay Presidency under the doctrine of lapse policy of Lord Dalhousie . Bhonsle was defeated in the battle of Sitabuldi and Holkar in the battle of Mahidpur . The northern portion of Bhonsle's dominions in and around Nagpur, together with
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#17327811268862412-443: A storming party captured the fort. In early 1819, almost all of the forts had been taken, with the lone holdout being Asirgarh Fort , which was under the command of qiladar Jeswant Rao Lar. In March of that year, a massive British contingent lay siege to Asirgarh, capturing and occupying the town next to the fort to serve as a temporary base of operations. The 1,200-strong garrison was subject to constant artillery bombardments before
2613-449: A system of weights, punch-marked coins , and the introduction of writing in the form of Brahmi and Kharosthi scripts. The language of the gentry at that time was Sanskrit , while the languages of the general population of northern India are referred to as Prakrits . Many of the sixteen kingdoms had merged into four major ones by the time of Gautama Buddha . These four were Vatsa, Avanti, Kosala, and Magadha. Magadha formed one of
2814-477: A treaty with the British on 27 May 1816. He ignored the request of the British Resident Jenkins to refrain from contact with Baji Rao II. Jenkins asked Appa Saheb to disband his growing concentration of troops and come to the residency, which he also refused to do. Appa Saheb openly declared support for the Peshwa, who was already fighting the British near Pune. As it was now clear that a battle
3015-480: A treaty. The treaty was the cause of the start of the First Anglo-Maratha War . This war was a Maratha victory and almost a stalemate, with no side strong being able to completely defeat the other. The war concluded with the treaty of Salabai in May 1782, mediated by Mahadji Shinde . The foresight of Warren Hastings was the main reason for the success of the British in the war. He had destroyed
3216-515: A truce but this was rejected by Aurangzeb. Rajaram died in 1700 at Sinhagad . His widow, Tarabai , assumed control in the name of her son, Ramaraja (Shivaji II). After Aurangzeb died in 1707, Shahu , the son of Sambhaji (and grandson of Shivaji), was released by Bahadur Shah I , the new Mughal emperor. However, his mother was kept a hostage of the Mughals to ensure that Shahu adhered to the release conditions. Upon release, Shahu immediately claimed
3417-522: A vast army, consisting of 200,000 infantry , 20,000 cavalry , 2,000 war chariots and 3,000 war elephants (at the lowest estimates). The Maurya Empire (322–185 BCE) unified most of the Indian subcontinent into one state, and was the largest empire ever to exist on the Indian subcontinent. At its greatest extent, the Mauryan Empire stretched to the north up to the natural boundaries of
3618-514: A war cost to the Marathas and an annual tribute of 1.2 million rupees, in addition to returning all the territory captured by Hyder Ali . In 1791–92, large areas of the Maratha Confederacy suffered a massive population loss due to the Doji bara famine . In 1791, irregulars like lamaans and pindaris of the Maratha army raided and looted the temple of Sringeri Shankaracharya , killing and wounding many people, including Brahmins, plundering
3819-580: Is described in the texts of Vedas , still sacred to Hindus, which were orally composed and transmitted in Vedic Sanskrit . The Vedas are some of the oldest extant texts in India. The Vedic period, lasting from about 1500 to 500 BCE, contributed to the foundations of several cultural aspects of the Indian subcontinent. Historians have analysed the Vedas to posit a Vedic culture in the Punjab , and
4020-901: Is heavily mentioned in Jain and Buddhist texts. It is also mentioned in the Ramayana , Mahabharata and Puranas . The earliest reference to the Magadha people occurs in the Atharva-Veda where they are found listed along with the Angas , Gandharis , and Mujavats. Magadha played an important role in the development of Jainism and Buddhism . Republican communities (such as the community of Rajakumara) are merged into Magadha kingdom. Villages had their own assemblies under their local chiefs called Gramakas. Their administrations were divided into executive, judicial, and military functions. Early sources, from
4221-424: Is noted for its cities built of brick, and its roadside drainage systems, and is thought to have had some kind of municipal organisation. The civilisation also developed an Indus script , the earliest of the ancient Indian scripts , which is presently undeciphered. This is the reason why Harappan language is not directly attested, and its affiliation is uncertain. After the collapse of Indus Valley civilisation,
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#17327811268864422-412: Is today Nepal and Bihar state); reaching its prominence under the king Janaka , whose court provided patronage for Brahmin sages and philosophers such as Yajnavalkya , Aruni , and Gārgī Vāchaknavī . The later part of this period corresponds with a consolidation of increasingly large states and kingdoms, called Mahajanapadas , across Northern India. The period between 800 and 200 BCE saw
4623-519: The Vedanta (conclusion of the Vedas ). The increasing urbanisation of India in the 7th and 6th centuries BCE led to the rise of new ascetic or "Śramaṇa movements" which challenged the orthodoxy of rituals. Mahavira ( c. 599–527 BCE), proponent of Jainism , and Gautama Buddha ( c. 563–483 BCE), founder of Buddhism, were the most prominent icons of this movement. Śramaṇa gave rise to
4824-590: The Atharvaveda . The Kuru state organised the Vedic hymns into collections and developed the srauta ritual to uphold the social order. Two key figures of the Kuru state were king Parikshit and his successor Janamejaya , who transformed this realm into the dominant political, social, and cultural power of northern India. When the Kuru kingdom declined, the centre of Vedic culture shifted to their eastern neighbours,
5025-659: The Battle of Kharda and was forced to cede Daulatabad , Aurangabad and Sholapur and pay an indemnity of Rs. 30 million. A French general, Monsieur Raymond , served as his military leader, strategist and advisor. The Battle of Kharda took place in 1795 between the Nizam and the Maratha Confederacy , in which the Nizam was badly defeated. Governor General John Shore followed the policy of non-intervention despite
5226-559: The Bombay Presidency and the territory seized from the Pindaris eventually became the nucleus of the Central Provinces of British India. The princes of Rajputana were effectively reduced to feudal lords who accepted the British as the paramount power. Thus Hastings redrew the map of India to a state which remained more or less unaltered until the time of Lord Dalhousie . The British recognised Pratap Singh (Raja of Satara) ,
5427-707: The British Raj as princely states that retained internal sovereignty under British paramountcy. Other small princely states of Maratha knights were retained under the British Raj as well. Early modern India Anatomically modern humans first arrived on the Indian subcontinent between 73,000 and 55,000 years ago. The earliest known human remains in South Asia date to 30,000 years ago. Sedentariness began in South Asia around 7000 BCE; by 4500 BCE, settled life had spread, and gradually evolved into
5628-574: The Chhatrapati of the Marathas. Balaji also gained the release of Shahu's mother, Yesubai , from Mughal captivity in 1719. During Shahu's reign, Raghoji Bhonsle expanded the kingdom eastwards. Khanderao Dabhade and later his son, Triambakrao, expanded it Westwards into Gujarat. Peshwa Bajirao and his three chiefs, Pawar ( Dhar ), Holkar ( Indore ), and Scindia ( Gwalior ) expanded it northwards. Shahu appointed Balaji Vishwanath as Peshwa in 1713. Balaji Vishwanath's first major achievement
5829-553: The First Anglo-Maratha War ended in 1782 with a restoration of the pre-war status quo and the East India Company's abandonment of Raghunathrao's cause. In 1799, Yashwantrao Holkar was crowned King of the Holkars and he captured Ujjain. He started campaigning towards the north to expand his dominion in that region. Yashwant Rao rebelled against the policies of Peshwa Baji Rao II . In May 1802, he marched towards Pune
6030-655: The Himalayas and to the east into what is now Assam . To the west, it reached beyond modern Pakistan, to the Hindu Kush mountains in what is now Afghanistan. The empire was established by Chandragupta Maurya assisted by Chanakya ( Kautilya ) in Magadha (in modern Bihar ) when he overthrew the Nanda Empire . Chandragupta rapidly expanded his power westwards across central and western India, and by 317 BCE
6231-464: The Hooghly River and during their occupation of western Bengal , the Marathas perpetrated atrocities against the local population. The Maratha atrocities were recorded by both Bengali and European sources, which reported that the Marathas demanded payments, and tortured or killed anyone who couldn't pay. Raghuji was able to annex Odisha to his kingdom permanently as he successfully exploited
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6432-577: The Indian subcontinent approximately two million years ago, and possibly as early as 2.2 million years ago. This dating is based on the known presence of Homo erectus in Indonesia by 1.8 million years ago and in East Asia by 1.36 million years ago, as well as the discovery of stone tools at Riwat in Pakistan . Although some older discoveries have been claimed, the suggested dates, based on
6633-827: The Indus Valley Civilisation of the third millennium BCE. According to Tim Dyson: "By 7,000 years ago agriculture was firmly established in Baluchistan... [and] slowly spread eastwards into the Indus valley." Michael Fisher adds: The earliest discovered instance ... of well-established, settled agricultural society is at Mehrgarh in the hills between the Bolan Pass and the Indus plain (today in Pakistan) (see Map 3.1). From as early as 7000 BCE, communities there started investing increased labor in preparing
6834-573: The Indus Valley Civilisation , one of three early cradles of civilisation in the Old World , flourished between 2500 BCE and 1900 BCE in present-day Pakistan and north-western India. Early in the second millennium BCE, persistent drought caused the population of the Indus Valley to scatter from large urban centres to villages. Indo-Aryan tribes moved into the Punjab from Central Asia in several waves of migration . The Vedic Period of
7035-531: The Portuguese and Chikka Deva Raya of Mysore . To nullify the alliance between his rebel son, Akbar, and the Marathas, Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb headed south in 1681. With his entire imperial court, administration and an army of about 500,000 troops, he proceeded to expand the Mughal empire, gaining territories such as the sultanates of Bijapur and Golconda . During the eight years that followed, Sambhaji led
7236-592: The Punjab from Central Asia in several waves of migration . The Vedic period is when the Vedas were composed of liturgical hymns from the Indo-Aryan people. The Vedic culture was located in part of north-west India, while other parts of India had a distinct cultural identity. Many regions of the Indian subcontinent transitioned from the Chalcolithic to the Iron Age in this period. The Vedic culture
7437-708: The Raja of Baroda of the House of Gaekwad , the Raja of Indore of the House of Holkar , and the Raja of Nagpur of the House of Bhonsle , (in order of territory and jurisdiction they hold), while the Peshwa's dominions included the territories that later became the Bombay Province and Central Provinces . After he was defeated by the Holkar dynasty in 1802, the Peshwa Baji Rao II sought protection from
7638-617: The Rohillas and the Nawab of Oudh to assist him in driving out the Marathas from Delhi. Huge armies of Muslim forces and Marathas collided with each other on 14 January 1761 in the Third Battle of Panipat . The Maratha Army lost the battle, which halted their imperial expansion. The Jats and Rajputs did not support the Marathas. Historians have criticised the Maratha treatment of fellow Hindu groups. Kaushik Roy says, "The treatment by
7839-618: The Shindeshahi and the Holkarshahi after the patronage they received from the respective Maratha leaders. The major Pindari leaders were Chitu, Karim Khan, and Wasil Mohammad and their total strength was estimated at 33,000. The Pindaris frequently raided villages in Central India and it was thought that this region was being rapidly reduced to the condition of a desert because the peasants were unable to support themselves on
8040-673: The Third Anglo-Maratha War (1817–1818) resulted in the loss of Maratha independence. It left the British in control of most of the Indian subcontinent. The Peshwa was exiled to Bithoor (Marat, near Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh ) as a pensioner of the British. The Maratha heartland of Desh, including Pune, came under direct British rule, except the states of Kolhapur and Satara , which retained local Maratha rulers (descendants of Shivaji and Sambhaji II ruled over Kolhapur). The Maratha-ruled states of Gwalior, Indore, and Nagpur all lost territory and came under subordinate alliances with
8241-703: The Treaty of Surat with him in March 1775. This treaty gave him military assistance in exchange for control of Salsette Island and Bassein Fort . The treaty set off discussions amongst the British in India as well as in Europe because of the serious implications of a confrontation with the powerful Marathas. Another cause for concern was that the Bombay Council had exceeded its constitutional authority by signing such
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8442-673: The Treaty of Surji-Anjangaon to the British East India Company leading to the Company rule in India . In 1788, Mahadaji's armies defeated Ismail Beg , a Mughal noble who resisted the Marathas. The Rohilla chief Ghulam Kadir , Ismail Beg's ally, took over Delhi, capital of the Mughal dynasty and deposed and blinded the king Shah Alam II, placing a puppet on the Delhi throne. Mahadaji intervened and killed him, taking possession of Delhi on 2 October restoring Shah Alam II to
8643-406: The treaty of Bassein . This made the Peshwa in effect a subsidiary ally of the British. In response to the treaty, the Bhonsle and Shinde attacked the British, refusing to accept the betrayal of their sovereignty to the British by the Peshwa. This was the start of the Second Anglo-Maratha War in 1803. Both were defeated by the British, and all Maratha leaders lost large parts of their territory to
8844-408: The 23rd Tirthankara , was a historical figure. The Vedas are believed to have documented a few Tirthankaras and an ascetic order similar to the Śramaṇa movement. The period from c. 600 BCE to c. 300 BCE featured the rise of the Mahajanapadas , sixteen powerful kingdoms and oligarchic republics in a belt stretching from Gandhara in the north-west to Bengal in
9045-633: The 4th century CE. The most famous clan amongst the ruling confederate clans of the Vajji Mahajanapada were the Licchavis . This period corresponds in an archaeological context to the Northern Black Polished Ware culture. Especially focused in the Central Ganges plain but also spreading across vast areas of the northern and central Indian subcontinent, this culture is characterised by the emergence of large cities with massive fortifications, significant population growth, increased social stratification, wide-ranging trade networks, construction of public architecture and water channels, specialised craft industries,
9246-412: The 6th century BCE is defined by the rise of Janapadas, which are realms , republics and kingdoms —notably the Iron Age Kingdoms of Kuru , Panchala , Kosala and Videha . The Kuru Kingdom ( c. 1200–450 BCE) was the first state-level society of the Vedic period, corresponding to the beginning of the Iron Age in north-western India, around 1200–800 BCE, as well as with the composition of
9447-416: The 8th century, followed by the invasions of Mahmud Ghazni . The Delhi Sultanate was founded in 1206 by Central Asian Turks who were Indianized . They ruled a major part of the northern Indian subcontinent in the early 14th century. It was ruled by multiple Turk , Afghan and Indian dynasties, including the Turco-Mongol Indianized Tughlaq Dynasty but declined in the late 14th century following
9648-466: The Bhau or Bhao in sources) responded to the news of the Afghans' return to North India by sending a large army north. Bhau's force was bolstered by some Maratha forces under Holkar , Scindia , Gaekwad and Govind Pant Bundele with Suraj Mal . The combined army of over 50,000 regular troops re-captured the former Mughal capital, Delhi, from an Afghan garrison in August 1760. Delhi had been reduced to ashes many times due to previous invasions, and there
9849-399: The Brahmins, and religious institutions. The Peshwa was sent to Bithur near Kanpur . While the downfall and banishment of the Peshwa was mourned all over the Maratha Empire as a national defeat, the Peshwa contracted more marriages and spent his long life engaged in religious performances and excessive drinking. The Pindaris, who were mostly cavalry armed with spears, came to be known as
10050-412: The British East India Company , whose intervention destroyed the confederacy by 1818 after the Second and Third Anglo-Maratha Wars . The stable borders of the confederacy after 1737 extended from modern-day Maharashtra in the south to Gwalior in the north after the Battle of Bhopal (1737), to Orissa in the east or about a third of the subcontinent. The Maratha Confederacy is also referred to as
10251-488: The British and agreed to prevent predatory gangs from operating from his territory. By these actions, the British kept two major allies of the Maratha out of the war before any hostilities had begun. The war began as a campaign against the Pindaris , but the first battle occurred at Pune where the Peshwa, Baji Rao II , attacked the under-strength British cantonment on 5 November 1817. The Maratha forces comprised 20,000 cavalry, 8,000 infantry, and 20 artillery guns whereas
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#173278112688610452-445: The British conquer Mysore in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War in 1799. After the British conquest, however, the Marathas launched frequent raids in Mysore to plunder the region, which they justified as compensation for past losses to Tipu Sultan. In 1775, the British East India Company , from its base in Bombay, intervened in a succession struggle in Pune, on behalf of Raghunathrao (also called Raghobadada), who wanted to become Peshwa of
10653-407: The British had 2,000 cavalry, 1,000 infantry, and eight artillery units. What followed was the Battle of Khadki where the Maratha were initially successful in creating and exploiting a gap in the British lines, but were soon nullified by the advance of the British infantry, which firing volley after volley, caused the Maratha to retreat in a matter of four hours. The British soon claimed victory with
10854-434: The British launched an assault, which led to the fort's capture on 9 April. With the capture of Asirgarh Fort, the British victory was complete and all military operations ceased. The war left the British, under the auspices of the British East India Company, in control of virtually all of present-day India south of the Sutlej River , either through direct British rule, or through princely states . The famed Nassak Diamond
11055-446: The British technical superiority were discounted, they would have won the war because of the discipline and organization in their ranks. After the First Anglo-Maratha war, Warren Hastings declared in 1783 that the peace established with the Marathas was on such a firm ground that it was not going to be shaken for years to come. The British believed that a new permanent approach was needed to establish and maintain continuous contact with
11256-408: The British was fought on 21 December 1817, lasting from midday until 3:00 am. Lieutenant General Thomas Hislop was commander of the British forces which came in sight of the Holkar army at about 9:00 am. The British lost around 800 men but Holkar's force was destroyed, with about 3,000 killed or wounded. These losses effectively knocked the Holkar out of the conflict and broke the power of
11457-414: The British were outnumbered, the Maratha army was decimated. The troops were led by Governor General Hastings , supported by a force under General Thomas Hislop . Operations began against the Pindaris , a band of Muslim mercenaries and Marathas from central India. Peshwa Baji Rao II 's forces, supported by those of Mudhoji II Bhonsle of Nagpur and Malharrao Holkar III of Indore , rose against
11658-426: The British. In 1762, Raghunathrao allied with the Nizam due to mutual distrust and differences with Madhavrao Peshwa . The Nizam marched towards Poona , but little did he know that Rughunathrao was going to betray him. In 1763, Madhavrao I along with Raghunathrao defeated the Nizam at the Battle of Rakshasbhuvan and signed a treaty with the Marathas . In 1795, he was defeated by Madhavrao II 's Marathas at
11859-536: The British. These included his most important strongholds in the Deccan, the seaboard of Konkan, and all places north of the Narmada and south of the Tungabhadra rivers. The Peshwa was also not to communicate with any other powers in India. The British Resident Mountstuart Elphinstone also asked the Peshwa to disband his cavalry. The Peshwa disbanded his cavalry, but secretly asked them to stand by, and offered them seven months' advance pay. Baji Rao entrusted Bapu Gokhale with preparations for war. In August 1817,
12060-444: The Buddhist Pāli Canon , the Jain Agamas and the Hindu Puranas , mention Magadha being ruled by the Pradyota dynasty and Haryanka dynasty ( c. 544–413 BCE) for some 200 years, c. 600–413 BCE. King Bimbisara of the Haryanka dynasty led an active and expansive policy, conquering Anga in what is now eastern Bihar and West Bengal . King Bimbisara was overthrown and killed by his son, Prince Ajatashatru , who continued
12261-435: The East India Company. Pressure and diplomacy convinced the fourth major Maratha leader, Daulatrao Scindia of Gwalior , to remain neutral even though he lost control of Rajasthan . British victories were swift, resulting in the breakup of the Maratha Empire and the loss of Maratha independence. Several minor battles were fought by the Peshwa's forces to prevent his capture. The Peshwa was eventually captured and placed on
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#173278112688612462-458: The Empire and that of Vakil-ul-Mutlak being at his request conferred on the Peshwa. The Mughals also gave him the title of Amir-ul-Amara (head of the amirs). After taking control of Delhi, the Marathas sent a large army in 1772 to punish Afghan Rohillas for their involvement in Panipat. Their army devastated Rohilkhand by looting and plundering as well as taking members of the royal family as captives. The Marathas invaded Rohilkhand to avenge
12663-400: The English and the Marathas did not fare well at the Battle of Ramghat. The Maratha and British armies fought in Ram Ghat, but the sudden demise of the Peshwa and the civil war in Pune to choose the next Peshwa forced the Marathas to retreat. Madhavrao Peshwa 's victory over the Nizam of Hyderabad and Hyder Ali of Mysore in southern India established Maratha dominance in the Deccan. On
12864-479: The Grand Army or Bengal Army under the command of the Marquess of Hastings , and the Army of the Deccan under General Hislop . This included over 60 battalions of Native Infantry, multiple battalions derived from British regiments, numerous sections of cavalry and dragoons, in addition to artillery, horse artillery and rocket troops, all armed with the most modern weapons and equipped with highly organised supply lines. This massive force quickly induced Shinde, who
13065-407: The Harappan urbanisation which had been abandoned. The early Indo-Aryan presence probably corresponds, in part, to the Ochre Coloured Pottery culture in archaeological contexts. At the end of the Rigvedic period, the Aryan society expanded from the north-western region of the Indian subcontinent into the western Ganges plain. It became increasingly agricultural and was socially organised around
13266-437: The Holkar dynasty. The Battle of Mahidpur also proved to be a major setback for the Marathas as well. Henry Durand wrote, "After the battle of Mahidpur not only the Peshwa's but the real influence of the Mahratta States of Holkar and Shinde were dissolved and replaced by British supremacy." The remnants of Holkar's army were pursued across the territory by the British, suffering further casualties in small-scale skirmishes. Holkar
13467-405: The Indian subcontinent by hominins was sporadic until approximately 700,000 years ago, and was geographically widespread by approximately 250,000 years ago. According to a historical demographer of South Asia, Tim Dyson: Modern human beings— Homo sapiens —originated in Africa. Then, intermittently, sometime between 60,000 and 80,000 years ago, tiny groups of them began to enter the north-west of
13668-442: The Indian subcontinent with Central Asia. After the Kalinga War , the Empire experienced nearly half a century of peace and security under Ashoka. Mauryan India also enjoyed an era of social harmony, religious transformation, and expansion of scientific knowledge. Chandragupta Maurya's embrace of Jainism increased social and religious renewal and reform across his society, while Ashoka's embrace of Buddhism has been said to have been
13869-416: The Indian subcontinent. The East India Company , acting as a sovereign force on behalf of the British government , gradually acquired control of huge areas of India between the middle of the 18th and the middle of the 19th centuries. Policies of company rule in India led to the Indian Rebellion of 1857 . India was afterwards ruled directly by the British Crown , in the British Raj . After World War I ,
14070-630: The Indian subcontinent. It seems likely that initially they came by way of the coast. It is virtually certain that there were Homo sapiens in the subcontinent 55,000 years ago, even though the earliest fossils that have been found of them date to only about 30,000 years before the present. According to Michael D. Petraglia and Bridget Allchin : Y-Chromosome and Mt-DNA data support the colonisation of South Asia by modern humans originating in Africa. ... Coalescence dates for most non-European populations average to between 73–55 ka. Historian of South Asia, Michael H. Fisher , states: Scholars estimate that
14271-418: The Maratha Confederacy in return for his acknowledgement of British paramountcy. Before the Second Anglo-Maratha War (1803–1805), the Peshwa Baji Rao II signed a similar treaty. The defeat in the Battle of Delhi, 1803 during the Second Anglo-Maratha War resulted in the loss of influence over Delhi for the Marathas. The Second Anglo-Maratha War represents the military high-water mark of the Marathas who posed
14472-732: The Maratha Confederacy, as Mahadaji Shinde was deputed the Vakil-i-Mutlaq (Regent of the empire) of Mughal affairs in 1784. Following the Second Anglo-Maratha War in 1806, Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington drafted a treaty granting independence to the Sikh clans east of the Sutlej River in exchange for their allegiance to the British General Gerard Lake acting on his dispatch. At
14673-520: The Maratha Empire. Historian Barbara Ramusack notes, "neither term is fully accurate since one implies a substantial degree of centralisation and the other signifies some surrender of power to a central government and a longstanding core of political administrators". Although at present, the word Maratha refers to a traditionally Marathi peasantry group, in the past the word has been used to describe all Marathi people . Shivaji (1630–1680)
14874-668: The Maratha administration was the council of eight ministers, called the Ashta Pradhan (council of eight). The senior-most member of the Ashta Pradhan was called the Peshwa or the Pant Pradhan (prime minister). While the Marathas were fighting the Mughals in the early 18th century, the British held small trading posts in Bombay , Madras and Calcutta . The British fortified the naval post of Mumbai after they saw
15075-407: The Maratha alliance at Agra before the start of the great battle and withdrew their troops as Maratha general Sadashivrao Bhau did not heed the advice to leave soldiers' families (women and children) and pilgrims at Agra and not take them to the battlefield with the soldiers, rejected their co-operation. Their supply chains (earlier assured by Raja Suraj Mal ) did not exist. Peshwa Madhavrao I
15276-564: The Maratha and several other Marathi groups from what is known today as Maharashtra . Shivaji's monarchy was initially referred to as the Maratha Kingdom , which expanded into a large realm in the 18th century under the leadership of Peshwa Bajirao I . The Marathas were a Marathi -speaking peasantry group from the western Deccan Plateau (present-day Maharashtra ) who rose to prominence by establishing Hindavi Swarajya (meaning "self-rule of Hindus"). The Marathas became prominent in
15477-533: The Maratha leaders had surrendered to the British. Shinde and the Afghan Amir Khan were subdued by the use of diplomacy and pressure, which resulted in the Treaty of Gwalior on 5 November 1817. Under this treaty, Shinde surrendered Rajasthan to the British and agreed to help them fight the Pindaris. Amir Khan agreed to sell his guns to the British and received a land grant at Tonk in Rajputana. Holkar
15678-413: The Maratha throne and challenged his aunt Tarabai and her son. The spluttering Mughal-Maratha war became a three-cornered affair. This resulted in two rival seats of government being set up in 1707 at Satara and Kolhapur by Shahu and Tarabai respectively. Shahu appointed Balaji Vishwanath as his Peshwa. The Peshwa was instrumental in securing Mughal recognition of Shahu as the rightful heir of Shivaji and
15879-475: The Marathas defeat the Portuguese at neighbouring Vasai in May 1739. In an effort to keep the Marathas out of Mumbai, the British sent envoys to negotiate a treaty. The envoys were successful, and a treaty was signed on 12 July 1739 that gave the British East India Company rights to free trade in Maratha territory. In the south, the Nizam of Hyderabad had enlisted the support of the French for his war against
16080-531: The Marathas of their co-religionist fellows – Jats and Rajputs was definitely unfair and ultimately had to pay its price in Panipat where Muslim forces had united in the name of religion." The Marathas had antagonised the Jats and Rajputs by taxing them heavily, punishing them after defeating the Mughals and interfering in their internal affairs. The Marathas were abandoned by Raja Suraj Mal of Bharatpur , who quit
16281-420: The Marathas regained the lost ground in the north. The Maratha gains in the north were undone because of the contradictory policies of Holkar and Shinde and the internal disputes in the family of the Peshwa, which culminated in the murder of Narayanrao Peshwa in 1773. Raghunathrao was ousted from the seat of Peshwa due to continuing internal Maratha rivalries. He sought help from the British, and they signed
16482-479: The Marathas successfully against the Mughals. In early 1689, Sambhaji called his commanders for a strategic meeting at Sangameshwar to consider an onslaught on the Mughal forces. In a meticulously planned operation, Ganoji and Aurangzeb's commander, Mukarrab Khan, attacked Sangameshwar when Sambhaji was accompanied by just a few men. Sambhaji was ambushed and captured by the Mughal troops on 1 February 1689. He and his advisor, Kavi Kalash , were taken to Bahadurgad by
16683-527: The Marathas were at their mercy. The Peshwa of the Maratha Empire at this time was Baji Rao II . Several Maratha leaders who had formerly sided with the Peshwa were now under British control or protection. The British had an arrangement with the Gaekwad dynasty of the Maratha province of Baroda to prevent the Peshwa from collecting revenue in that province. Gaekwad sent an envoy to the Peshwa in Pune to negotiate
16884-544: The Marathas were forced to evacuate the village and retreated during the night. The British lost 175 men and about a third of the irregular horse, with more than half of the European officers wounded. The Marathas lost 500 to 600 men. After the battle the British forces under general Pritzler pursued the Peshwa, who fled southwards towards Karnataka with the Raja of Satara. The Peshwa continued his flight southward throughout
17085-659: The Marathas were now major players. After the 1758 Battle of Attock , the Marathas captured Peshawar defeating the Afghan troops in the Battle of Peshawar on 8 May 1758. Just prior to the battle of Panipat in 1761, the Marathas looted "Diwan-i-Khas" or Hall of Private Audiences in the Red Fort of Delhi, which was the place where the Mughal emperors used to receive courtiers and state guests, in one of their expeditions to Delhi. The Marathas who were hard pressed for money stripped
17286-609: The Marathas. In reaction to this, the Peshwa requested support from the British, but was refused. Unable to see the rising power of the British, the Peshwa set a precedent by seeking their help to solve internal Maratha conflicts. Despite the lack of support, the Marathas managed to defeat the Nizam over a period of five years. During the period 1750–1761, British defeated the French East India Company in India, and by 1793 they were firmly established in Bengal in
17487-486: The Mughals from the invasion of the Marathas, but was defeated decisively in the Battle of Bhopal . The Marathas extracted a large tribute from the Mughals and signed a treaty which ceded Malwa to the Marathas. The Battle of Vasai was fought between the Marathas and the Portuguese rulers of Vasai , a village lying on the northern shore of Vasai creek, 50 km north of Mumbai . The Marathas were led by Chimaji Appa , brother of Baji Rao. The Maratha victory in this war
17688-418: The Mughals to defend his kingdom. He was crowned as Chhatrapati (sovereign) of the new Maratha Kingdom in 1674. The Maratha dominion under him comprised about 4.1% of the subcontinent, but it was spread over large tracts. At the time of his death, it was reinforced with about 300 forts, and defended by about 40,000 cavalries, and 50,000 soldiers, as well as naval establishments along the west coast. Over time,
17889-513: The Nizam being under his protection which led to the loss of trust of the British. This was the last battle fought together by all the Maratha chiefs under leadership of Bakshibahadur Jivabadada Kerkar. The Maratha forces consisted of cavalry, including gunners, bowmen, artillery and infantry. After several skirmishes, the Nizams infantry under Raymond launched an attack on the Marathas but Scindia forces under Jivabadada Kerkar defeated them and launched
18090-631: The Panchala kingdom. The archaeological PGW (Painted Grey Ware) culture, which flourished in north-eastern India's Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh regions from about 1100 to 600 BCE, is believed to correspond to the Kuru and Panchala kingdoms. During the Late Vedic Period, the kingdom of Videha emerged as a new centre of Vedic culture, situated even farther to the East (in what
18291-469: The Peshwa from the British. The Raja of Satara was captured along with his brother and mother. The death of Gokhale and the skirmish at Ashti hastened the end of the war. By 10 April 1818, General Smith's forces had taken the forts of Sinhagad and Purandar. Mountstuart Elphinstone mentions the capture of Sinhagadh in his diary entry for 13 February 1818: "The garrison contained no Marathas, but consisted of 100 Arabs, 600 Gosains, and 400 Konkani. The Qiladar
18492-539: The Peshwa's court in Pune . The British appointed Charles Malet , a senior merchant from Bombay, to be a permanent Resident at Pune because of his knowledge of the languages and customs of the region. The Maratha Empire had partly declined due to the Second Anglo-Maratha War. Efforts to modernize the armies were half-hearted and undisciplined: newer techniques were not absorbed by the soldiers, while
18693-596: The Peshwa's territories in Bundelkhand , were annexed by British India as the Saugor and Nerbudda Territories . The defeat of the Bhonsle and Holkar also resulted in the acquisition of the Maratha kingdoms of Nagpur and Indore by the British. Along with Gwalior from Shinde and Jhansi from the Peshwa, all of these territories became princely states acknowledging British control. The British proficiency in Indian war-making
18894-481: The Pindari chiefs were soon reduced to the condition of hunted outlaws. Karim and Chitu had still 23,000 soldiers between them but such a force was no match for the armies that surrounded them. In whatever direction they turned they were met by British forces; defeat followed defeat. Many fled to the jungles, while others sought refuge in the villages, but were killed without mercy by local villagers who had not forgotten
19095-442: The Pindari chiefs, Tulsi, Imam Baksh, Sahib Khan, Kadir Baksh, Nathu and Bapu were allied with Holkar. Tulsi and Imam Baksh each had 2,000 horsemen, Kadir Baksh, 21,500. Sahib Khan, Nathu and Bapu had 1,000, 750 and 150 horsemen. The East India Company viewed the killing of their envoy, Gangadhar Shastri, as definitive intent by the Peshwa to undermine British control over the Maratha, and operations were commenced in order to place
19296-783: The Portuguese Viceroy was killed in action by the Maratha Army in Goa. After the successful campaign of Karnataka and the Trichinopolly , Raghuji returned from Karnataka. He undertook six expeditions into Bengal from 1741 to 1748. The resurgent Maratha Confederacy launched brutal raids against the prosperous Bengali state in the 18th century , which further added to the decline of the Nawabs of Bengal. During their invasions and occupation of Bihar and western Bengal up to
19497-510: The Raja of Jaipur but withdrew after the inconclusive Battle of Lalsot in 1787. The Battle of Gajendragad was fought between the Marathas under the command of Tukojirao Holkar (the adopted son of Malharrao Holkar) and Tipu Sultan from March 1786 to March 1787 in which Tipu Sultan was defeated by the Marathas. By the victory in this battle, the border of the Maratha territory was extended to the Tungabhadra river. The strong fort of Gwalior
19698-553: The Rajputs, the Jats, and the Rohillas, and they failed to diplomatically win over other Muslim leaders. A large blow to the Marathas came in their defeat on 14 January 1761 at Panipat against a combined Muslim force that gathered defeating Marathas led by the Afghan Ahmad Shah Abdali . An entire generation of Maratha leaders lay dead on the battlefield as a result of that conflict. However, between 1761 and 1773,
19899-458: The Rohillas' atrocities in the Panipat war. The Marathas under the leadership of Mahadaji Shinde entered the land of Sardar Najib-ud-Daula which was held by his son Zabita Khan after his death. Zabita Khan initially resisted the attack with Sayyid Khan and Saadat Khan behaving with gallantry, but was eventually defeated with the death of Saadat Khan by the Marathas and was forced to flee to
20100-777: The Sringeri temple continued for many years, and he was still writing to the Swami in the 1790s. The Maratha Confederacy soon allied with the British East India Company (based in the Bengal Presidency ) against Mysore in the Anglo-Mysore Wars . After the British had suffered a defeat against Mysore in the first two Anglo-Mysore Wars, the Maratha cavalry assisted the British in the last two Anglo-Mysore Wars from 1790 onwards, eventually helping
20301-512: The Terai whence the remaining Sardar Hafiz Rahmat Khan Barech sought assistance in an agreement formed with the Nawab of Oudh , Shuja-ud-Daula, by which the Rohillas agreed to pay four million rupees in return for military help against the Marathas. Hafiz Rehmat, abhorring unnecessary violence, unlike the outlook of his fellow Rohillas such as Ali Muhammad and Najib Khan, prided himself on his role as
20502-653: The Vedic people in northern India (1500–500 BCE) was marked by the composition of their extensive collections of hymns ( Vedas ). The social structure was loosely stratified via the varna system , incorporated into the highly evolved present-day Jāti system. The pastoral and nomadic Indo-Aryans spread from the Punjab into the Gangetic plain . Around 600 BCE, a new, interregional culture arose; then, small chieftaincies ( janapadas ) were consolidated into larger states ( mahajanapadas ). Second urbanization took place, which came with
20703-475: The anti-British coalition and created a division between the Shinde, the Bhonsle, and the Peshwa. The Marathas were still in a very strong position when the new Governor General of British controlled territories Cornwallis arrived in India in 1786. After the treaty of Salabai, the British followed a policy of coexistence in the north. The British and the Marathas enjoyed more than two decades of peace, thanks to
20904-464: The area of the earliest known cultivation of rice in South Asia and by 1800 BCE was the location of an advanced Neolithic population associated with the sites of Chirand and Chechar". In this region, the Śramaṇic movements flourished, and Jainism and Buddhism originated. The time between 800 BCE and 400 BCE witnessed the composition of the earliest Upanishads , which form the theoretical basis of classical Hinduism , and are also known as
21105-545: The area. In fact the British found a super-abundance of food and forage, especially grain, which added immensely to the security of their supplies. The Pindaris were attacked, and their homes were surrounded and destroyed. General Hislop from the Madras Residency attacked the Pindaris from the south and drove them beyond the Narmada river, where governor-general Francis Rawdon-Hastings was waiting with his army. With
21306-680: The assassination of the then-emperor Brihadratha by his general Pushyamitra Shunga . Shunga would form the Shunga Empire in the north and north-east of the subcontinent, while the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom would claim the north-west and found the Indo-Greek Kingdom . Various parts of India were ruled by numerous dynasties, including the Gupta Empire , in the 4th to 6th centuries CE. This period, witnessing
21507-648: The banks of the river Bhima, north west of Pune. Captain Stauton arrived near Koregaon along with 500 infantry, two six-pounder guns, and 200 irregular horsemen. Only 24 of the infantry were of European origin; they were from the Madras Artillery. The rest of the infantry was composed of Indian sepoys employed by the British. A fierce battle ensued that lasted the entire day. Streets and guns were captured and recaptured, changing hands several times. Although Baji Rao's commander Trimabkji killed Lieutenant Chishom,
21708-475: The beginning of urban civilisation on the Indian subcontinent. It included cities such as Harappa , Ganweriwal , and Mohenjo-daro in modern-day Pakistan, and Dholavira , Kalibangan , Rakhigarhi , and Lothal in modern-day India. Inhabitants of the ancient Indus River valley, the Harappans, developed new techniques in metallurgy and handicraft, and produced copper, bronze, lead, and tin. The civilisation
21909-550: The bravest of troops, they were not amenable to discipline and mostly armed with only matchlocks and swords. The total strength of the Marathas was about 18,000. The British Residency was to the west of the Sitabuldi Fort located close to Nagpur. The British East India Company troops occupied the north end of the hillock associated with the fort. The Marathas, fighting with the Arabs, made good initial gains by charging up
22110-410: The camp of Shuja-ud-Daula and his country was ravaged by Marathas. Mahadaji Shinde captured the family of Zabita Khan, desecrated the grave of Najib ad-Dawlah and looted his fort. With the fleeing of the Rohillas, the rest of the country was burnt, with the exception of the city of Amroha, which was defended by some thousands of Amrohi Sayyid tribes. The Rohillas who could offer no resistance fled to
22311-407: The ceiling of Diwan-i-Khas of its silver and looted the shrines dedicated to Muslim maulanas. During the Maratha invasion of Rohilkhand in the 1750s The Marathas defeated the Rohillas, forced them to seek shelter in hills and ransacked their country in such a manner that the Rohillas dreaded the Marathas and hated them ever afterwards. In 1760, the Marathas under Sadashivrao Bhau (referred to as
22512-445: The celebrations, a large flank of the Maratha cavalry pretended they were charging towards the British sepoys but wheeled off at the last minute. This display was intended as a slight towards Elphinstone and as a scare tactic to prompt the defection and recruitment of British sepoys to the Peshwa's side. The Peshwa made plans to kill Elphinstone, despite opposition from Gokhale. Elphinstone was fully aware of these developments thanks to
22713-624: The chaotic conditions prevailing in Bengal after the death of its governor Murshid Quli Khan in 1727. Constantly harassed by the Bhonsles, Odisha, Bengal and parts of Bihar were economically ruined. Alivardi Khan, the Nawab of Bengal made peace with Raghuji in 1751 ceding Cuttack (Odisha) up to the river Subarnarekha, and agreeing to pay Rs. 1.2 million annually as the Chauth for Bengal and Bihar. Balaji Bajirao encouraged agriculture, protected
22914-407: The city from 19 December. Attempts by the British to breach the walls failed with the loss of over 300 men, of which 24 were Europeans. The British agreed to pay the defenders 50,000 rupees to abandon Nagpur, which they did on 30 December. A treaty was signed on 9 January 1818. Appa Saheb was allowed to rule over nominal territories with several restrictions. Most of his territory, including the forts,
23115-409: The command of Sir Thomas Hislop approached Thalner Fort , assuming it was friendly; the fort's qilidar, Tulsiram Mama, ordered his troops to fire on the British, outraging Hislop who laid siege to the fort. After ordering several bombardments against the fort walls, he personally led a storming party which captured the fort and overwhelmed its garrison (which was composed mostly of Arab soldiers). Mama
23316-630: The concept of the cycle of birth and death, the concept of samsara , and the concept of liberation. Buddha found a Middle Way that ameliorated the extreme asceticism found in the Śramaṇa religions. Around the same time, Mahavira (the 24th Tirthankara in Jainism) propagated a theology that was to later become Jainism. However, Jain orthodoxy believes the teachings of the Tirthankaras predates all known time and scholars believe Parshvanatha (c. 872 – c. 772 BCE), accorded status as
23517-617: The conclusion of the war, the frontier of British India was extended to the Yamuna. Mahadaji Shinde had conquered Rania , Fatehabad and Sirsa from the governor of Hissar. Haryana then came under the Marathas. He divided Haryana into four territories: Delhi (Mughal emperor Shah Alam II , his family and areas surrounding Delhi), Panipat (Karnal, Sonepat, Kurukshetra and Ambala), Hisar (Hisar, Sirsa, Fatehabad, parts of Rohtak), Ahirwal (Gurugram, Rewari, Narnaul, Mahendragarh) and Mewat. Daulat Rao Scindia ceded Haryana on 30 December 1803 under
23718-437: The confederacy. The British also wanted to end any potential anti-British, French-Maratha alliance at its crib. Maratha forces under Tukojirao Holkar and Mahadaji Shinde defeated a British expeditionary force at the Battle of Wadgaon , but the heavy surrender terms, which included the return of annexed territory and a share of revenues, were disavowed by the British authorities at Bengal and fighting continued. What became known as
23919-548: The cultural and political landscape of India. The early modern period began in the 16th century, when the Mughal Empire conquered most of the Indian subcontinent, signaling the proto-industrialisation , becoming the biggest global economy and manufacturing power. The Mughals suffered a gradual decline in the early 18th century, largely due to the rising power of the Marathas , who took control of extensive regions of
24120-499: The dating of fluvial sediments , have not been independently verified. The oldest hominin fossil remains in the Indian subcontinent are those of Homo erectus or Homo heidelbergensis , from the Narmada Valley in central India, and are dated to approximately half a million years ago. Older fossil finds have been claimed, but are considered unreliable. Reviews of archaeological evidence have suggested that occupation of
24321-478: The death of Peshwa Madhavrao I , various chiefs and jagirdars became de facto rulers and regents for the infant Peshwa Madhavrao II . Under the leadership of Mahadaji Shinde, the ruler of the state of Gwalior in central India, the Marathas defeated the Jats, the Rohilla Afghans and took Delhi which remained under Maratha control for the next three decades. His forces conquered modern day Haryana. Shinde
24522-410: The diplomacy of Nana Phadnavis , a minister in the court of the 11-year-old Peshwa Sawai Madhavrao . The situation changed soon after Nana's death in 1800. The power struggle between Holkar and Shinde caused Holkar to attack the Peshwa in Pune in 1801, since the Peshwa sided with Shinde. The Peshwa Baji Rao II fled Pune to safety on a British warship. Baji Rao feared loss of his own powers and signed
24723-615: The east and Madras in the south. They were unable to expand to the west as the Marathas were dominant there, but they entered Surat on the west coast via the sea. The Marathas marched beyond the Indus as their empire grew. The responsibility for managing the sprawling Maratha empire in the north was entrusted to two Maratha leaders, Shinde and Holkar, as the Peshwa was busy in the south. The two leaders did not act in concert, and their policies were influenced by personal interests and financial demands. They alienated other Hindu rulers such as
24924-468: The eastern part of the Indian subcontinent—including parts of the trans- Vindhyan region. Ancient Buddhist texts , like the Aṅguttara Nikāya , make frequent reference to these sixteen great kingdoms and republics— Anga , Assaka , Avanti , Chedi , Gandhara , Kashi , Kamboja , Kosala , Kuru , Magadha , Malla , Matsya (or Machcha), Panchala , Surasena , Vṛji , and Vatsa . This period saw
25125-600: The empire had fully occupied north-western India. The Mauryan Empire defeated Seleucus I , founder of the Seleucid Empire , during the Seleucid–Mauryan war , thus gained additional territory west of the Indus River. Chandragupta's son Bindusara succeeded to the throne around 297 BCE. By the time he died in c. 272 BCE, a large part of the Indian subcontinent was under Mauryan suzerainty. However,
25326-458: The entire region effectually into the possession of the Company. Although some regard the war as a mopping-up operation of the earlier Second Anglo-Maratha war, historians note the fact that the British assembled the largest army they had ever at that time organised in India indicated the importance the British placed on defeating the Maratha. The army, numbering roughly 120,000 men, consisted of
25527-481: The era of Northern Black Polished Ware . The Mauryan Empire was based on a modern and efficient economy and society in which the sale of merchandise was closely regulated by the government. Although there was no banking in the Mauryan society, usury was customary. A significant amount of written records on slavery are found, suggesting a prevalence thereof. During this period, a high-quality steel called Wootz steel
25728-656: The espionage work of Balaji Pant Natu and Ghorpade. Maratha powers were estimated at 81,000 infantry, 106,000 horse or cavalry and 589 guns. Of these the Peshwa had the highest number of cavalry at 28,000, along with 14,000 infantry and 37 cannon. The Peshwa headquarters was in Pune. Holkar had the second largest cavalry, amounting to 20,000, and an infantry force supplemented with 107 artillery units. Shinde and Bhonsle had similar numbers of cavalry, artillery and infantry. Holkar, Shinde and Bhonsle were headquartered in Indore, Gwalior and Nagpur respectively. The Afghan leader Amir Khan
25929-627: The expansionist policy of Magadha. During this period, Gautama Buddha , the founder of Buddhism, lived much of his life in the Magadha kingdom. He attained enlightenment in Bodh Gaya , gave his first sermon in Sarnath and the first Buddhist council was held in Rajgriha. The Haryanka dynasty was overthrown by the Shaishunaga dynasty ( c. 413–345 BCE). The last Shishunaga ruler, Kalasoka,
26130-578: The famous Alopi Devi Mandir . After reaching Delhi in January 1772 and realising the Maratha intent of territorial encroachment, however, Shah Alam ordered his general Najaf Khan to drive them out. In retaliation, Tukoji Rao Holkar and Visaji Krushna Biniwale attacked Delhi and defeated Mughal forces in 1772. The Marathas were granted an imperial sanad for Kora and Allahabad. They turned their attention to Oudh to gain these two territories. Shuja was, however, unwilling to give them up and made appeals to
26331-523: The first successful expansion of the Homo sapiens range beyond Africa and across the Arabian Peninsula occurred from as early as 80,000 years ago to as late as 40,000 years ago, although there may have been prior unsuccessful emigrations. Some of their descendants extended the human range ever further in each generation, spreading into each habitable land they encountered. One human channel was along
26532-773: The formation of the Śramaṇa movement, from which Jainism and Buddhism originated. The first Upanishads were written during this period. After 500 BCE, the so-called "second urbanisation" started, with new urban settlements arising at the Ganges plain. The foundations for the "second urbanisation" were laid prior to 600 BCE, in the Painted Grey Ware culture of the Ghaggar-Hakra and Upper Ganges Plain; although most PGW sites were small farming villages, "several dozen" PGW sites eventually emerged as relatively large settlements that can be characterised as towns,
26733-494: The forts at Sinhagad, Raigad, and Purandar were fortified by the Peshwa. Gokhale secretly recruited troops for the impending war. Many Bhils and Ramoshis were hired. Efforts were made to unify Bhonsle, Shinde, and Holkar; even the mercenary Pindaris were approached. The Peshwa identified unhappy Marathas in the service of the British Resident Elphinstone and secretly recruited them. One such person
26934-536: The foundation of the reign of social and political peace and non-violence across India. Ashoka sponsored Buddhist missions across the Indo-Mediterranean , into Sri Lanka , Southeast Asia , West Asia , North Africa , and Mediterranean Europe . The Arthashastra written by Chanakya and the Edicts of Ashoka are the primary written records of the Mauryan times. Archaeologically, this period falls in
27135-523: The hierarchy of the four varnas , or social classes. This social structure was characterised both by syncretising with the native cultures of northern India but also eventually by the exclusion of some indigenous peoples by labelling their occupations impure. During this period, many of the previous small tribal units and chiefdoms began to coalesce into Janapadas (monarchical, state-level polities). The Sanskrit epics Ramayana and Mahabharata were composed during this period. The Mahabharata remains
27336-419: The hill and forcing the British to retreat to the south. British commanders began arriving with reinforcements: Lieutenant Colonel Rahan on 29 November, Major Pittman on 5 December, and Colonel Doveton on 12 December. The British counterattack was severe and Appa Saheb was forced to surrender. A force of 5,000 Arabs and Hindustanis however remained secured within the walls of Nagpur with the British laying siege to
27537-410: The horse artillery. There was, however, no advantageous result to either party. On 7 February General Smith entered Satara and captured the royal palace of the Marathas. He symbolically raised the British flag. On 19 February, General Smith got word that the Peshwa was headed for Pandharpur . General Smith's troops attacked the Peshwa at Ashti en route. During this battle, Gokhale died while defending
27738-582: The imperial army, where they were executed by the Mughals on 21 March 1689. Aurangzeb had charged Sambhaji with attacks by Maratha forces on Burhanpur . Upon Sambhaji's death, his half-brother Rajaram ascended the throne. The Mughal siege of Raigad continued, and he had to flee to Vishalgad and then to Gingee for safety. From there, the Marathas raided Mughal territory, and many forts were recaptured by Maratha commanders such as Santaji Ghorpade , Dhanaji Jadhav , Parshuram Pant Pratinidhi , Shankaraji Narayan Sacheev and Melgiri Pandit. In 1697, Rajaram offered
27939-593: The inhabitants migrated from the river valleys of Indus and Ghaggar-Hakra, towards the Himalayan foothills of Ganga-Yamuna basin. During the 2nd millennium BCE, Ochre Coloured Pottery culture was in Ganga Yamuna Doab region. These were rural settlements with agriculture and hunting. They were using copper tools such as axes, spears, arrows, and swords, and had domesticated animals. Starting c. 1900 BCE , Indo-Aryan tribes moved into
28140-591: The invasions of Timur and saw the advent of the Malwa , Gujarat , and Bahmani Sultanates, the last of which split in 1518 into the five Deccan sultanates . The wealthy Bengal Sultanate also emerged as a major power, lasting over three centuries. During this period, multiple strong Hindu kingdoms , notably the Vijayanagara Empire and the Rajput states , emerged and played significant roles in shaping
28341-403: The kingdom would increase in size and heterogeneity; by the time of his grandson's rule, and later under the Peshwas in the early 18th century, it became a vast realm. Shivaji had two sons: Sambhaji and Rajaram , who had different mothers and were half-brothers. In 1681, Sambhaji succeeded to the crown after his father's death and resumed his expansionist policies. Sambhaji had earlier defeated
28542-435: The land and selecting, planting, tending, and harvesting particular grain-producing plants. They also domesticated animals, including sheep, goats, pigs, and oxen (both humped zebu [ Bos indicus ] and unhumped [ Bos taurus ]). Castrating oxen, for instance, turned them from mainly meat sources into domesticated draft-animals as well. The Bronze Age in the Indian subcontinent began around 3300 BCE. The Indus Valley region
28743-409: The land. In 1815, 25,000 Pindaris entered the Madras Presidency and destroyed over 300 villages on the Coromandel coast . Other Pindari raids on British territory followed in 1816 and 1817 and therefore Francis Rawdon-Hastings wanted the Pindaris extinguished. In opposition to what the British forces expected as they entered the region in late 1817, they found that the Pindaris had not devastated
28944-399: The largest of which were fortified by ditches or moats and embankments made of piled earth with wooden palisades. The Central Ganges Plain, where Magadha gained prominence, forming the base of the Maurya Empire , was a distinct cultural area, with new states arising after 500 BCE. It was influenced by the Vedic culture, but differed markedly from the Kuru-Panchala region. "It was
29145-459: The last Mauryan ruler, Brihadratha , was assassinated by Pushyamitra Shunga to establish the Shunga Empire . Under Chandragupta Maurya and his successors, internal and external trade, agriculture, and economic activities all thrived and expanded across India thanks to the creation of a single efficient system of finance, administration, and security. The Mauryans built the Grand Trunk Road , one of Asia's oldest and longest major roads connecting
29346-420: The last queen of the Keladi Nayaka Kingdom , who had been kept in confinement by Hyder Ali in the fort of Madgiri. In early 1771, ten years after the collapse of Maratha authority over North India following the Third Battle of Panipat, Mahadaji Shinde recaptured Delhi and installed Shah Alam II as a puppet ruler on the Mughal throne receiving in return the title of deputy Vakil-ul-Mutlak or vice-regent of
29547-415: The last serious opposition to the formation of the British Raj . The real contest for India was never a single decisive battle for the subcontinent, rather, it turned on a complex social and political struggle for the control of the South Asian military economy. The victory in 1803 hinged as much on finance, diplomacy, politics and intelligence as it did on battlefield manoeuvring and war itself. Ultimately,
29748-427: The likes of Wellington, they were poorly led by their generals and heavily relied on Arab and Pindari mercenaries. The confederate-like structure that evolved within the empire created a lack of unity needed for the wars. At the time of the war, the power of the British East India Company was on the rise, whereas the Maratha Empire was on the decline. The British had been victorious in the previous Anglo-Maratha war and
29949-415: The longest single poem in the world. Historians formerly postulated an "epic age" as the milieu of these two epic poems, but now recognise that the texts went through multiple stages of development over centuries. The existing texts of these epics are believed to belong to the post-Vedic age, between c. 400 BCE and 400 CE. The Iron Age in the Indian subcontinent from about 1200 BCE to
30150-438: The loss of 86 men compared to the 500 Maratha killed. While Pune was surrendered to the British, the Peshwa and his forces fled first to Purandar and then toward the city of Satara . His commander-in-chief Bapu Gokhale organised the retreat to guard the Peshwa in flight. The Peshwa then fled to the town of Koregaon where the Battle of Koregaon (also known as the battle of Koregaon Bhima) took place on 1 January 1818 on
30351-442: The major Maratha powers jointly fighting Nizam's forces. The Marathas came into conflict with Tipu Sultan and his Kingdom of Mysore , leading to the Maratha–Mysore War in 1785. The war ended in 1787 with Tipu Sultan being defeated by the Marathas. The Maratha-Mysore war ended in April 1787 following the finalizing of the treaty of Gajendragad , as per which the Tipu Sultan of Mysore was obligated to pay 4.8 million rupees as
30552-438: The monastery of all its valuable possessions, and desecrating the temple by displacing the image of goddess Sāradā . The incumbent Shankaracharya petitioned Tipu Sultan for help. A bunch of about 30 letters written in Kannada , which were exchanged between Tipu Sultan's court and the Sringeri Shankaracharya were discovered in 1916 by the Director of Archaeology in Mysore . Tipu Sultan expressed his indignation and grief at
30753-421: The month of January. Not receiving support from the Raja of Mysore, the Peshwa doubled back and passed General Pritzler to head towards Solapur . Until 29 January the pursuit of the Peshwa had not been productive. Whenever Baji Rao was pressed by the British, Gokhale and his light troops hovered around the Peshwa and fired long shots. Some skirmishes took place, and the Marathas were frequently hit by shells from
30954-480: The news of the raid: People who have sinned against such a holy place are sure to suffer the consequences of their misdeeds at no distant date in this Kali age in accordance with the verse: "Hasadbhih kriyate karma rudadbhir-anubhuyate" (People do [evil] deeds smilingly but suffer the consequences crying). Tipu Sultan immediately ordered the Asaf of Bednur to supply the Swami with 200 rahati s ( fanam s) in cash and other gifts and articles. Tipu Sultan's interest in
31155-570: The north of the Indian subcontinent. After Aurangzeb's death in 1707, Shivaji's grandson Shahu under the leadership of Peshwa Bajirao revived Maratha power and confided a great deal of authority to the Bhat family, who became hereditary peshwas ( prime ministers ). After he died in 1749, they became the effective rulers. The leading Maratha families – Scindia, Holkar, Bhonsle, and Gaekwad – extended their conquests in northern and central India and became more independent and difficult to control. The Marathas' rapid expansion
31356-412: The older methods and experience were outdated and obsolete. The Maratha Empire lacked an efficient spy system, and had weak diplomacy compared to the British. Maratha artillery was outdated, and weapons were imported. Foreign officers were responsible for the handling of the imported guns; the Marathas never used their own men in considerable numbers for the purpose. Although Maratha infantry was praised by
31557-424: The other hand, Mahadaji's victory over Jats of Mathura, Rajputs of Rajasthan and Pashtun-Rohillas of Rohilkhand ( Bareilly division and Moradabad division of present-day Uttar Pradesh ) re-established the Marathas in northern India. With the Capture of Delhi in 1771 and the capture of Najibabad in 1772 and treaties with Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II as a restricted monarch to the throne under Maratha suzerainty,
31758-481: The politics of the Indian subcontinent during the seventeenth century under the leadership of Shivaji , who revolted against the Adil Shahi dynasty and the Mughals to carve out a kingdom with Raigad as his capital. The religious attitude of Emperor Aurangzeb estranged non-Muslims , and the Maratha insurgency came at a great cost for his men and treasury and eventually ensured Maratha ascendency and their control over sizeable portions of former Mughal dominions in
31959-399: The principal routes from Central India being occupied by British detachments, the Pindari forces were completely broken up, scattered in the course of a single campaign. Being armed only with spears, they made no stand against the regular troops, and even in small bands they were unable to escape the ring of forces drawn around them. The Pindari forces proved unable to counter the British and
32160-470: The region of Kalinga (around modern day Odisha ) remained outside Mauryan control, perhaps interfering with trade with the south. Bindusara was succeeded by Ashoka , whose reign lasted until his death in about 232 BCE. His campaign against the Kalingans in about 260 BCE, though successful, led to immense loss of life and misery. This led Ashoka to shun violence, and subsequently to embrace Buddhism. The empire began to decline after his death and
32361-417: The resurrection of Maratha power in the North was complete. Madhav Rao died in 1772, at the age of 27. His death is considered to be a fatal blow to the Maratha Confederacy and from that time Maratha power started to move on a downward trajectory, less an empire than a confederacy. In a bid to effectively manage the large empire, Madhavrao Peshwa gave semi-autonomy to the strongest of the aristocracy. After
32562-450: The rise of multiple imperial powers from the middle of the fifth century. The Chola dynasty conquered southern India in the 11th century. In the early medieval period, Indian mathematics , including Hindu numerals , influenced the development of mathematics and astronomy in the Arab world , including the creation of the Hindu-Arabic numeral system . Islamic conquests made limited inroads into modern Afghanistan and Sindh as early as
32763-571: The rise of new ascetic movements and religious concepts, including the rise of Jainism and Buddhism . The latter was synthesized with the preexisting religious cultures of the subcontinent, giving rise to Hinduism . Chandragupta Maurya overthrew the Nanda Empire and established the first great empire in ancient India, the Maurya Empire . India's Mauryan king Ashoka is widely recognised for his historical acceptance of Buddhism and his attempts to spread nonviolence and peace across his empire. The Maurya Empire would collapse in 185 BCE, on
32964-431: The seat of the Peshwa. This gave rise to the Battle of Poona in which the Peshwa was defeated. After the Battle of Poona, the flight of the Peshwa left the government of the Maratha state in the hands of Yashwantrao Holkar.( Kincaid & Pārasanīsa 1925 , p. 194) He appointed Amrutrao as the Peshwa and went to Indore on 13 March 1803. All except Gaekwad, chief of Baroda , who had already accepted British protection by
33165-425: The second major rise of urbanism in India after the Indus Valley Civilisation . Early "republics" or gaṇasaṅgha , such as Shakyas , Koliyas , Mallakas , and Licchavis had republican governments. Gaṇasaṅgha s, such as the Mallakas, centered in the city of Kusinagara , and the Vajjika League , centred in the city of Vaishali , existed as early as the 6th century BCE and persisted in some areas until
33366-415: The six Mogul provinces of Deccan, and full possession of the territories controlled by Shivaji in 1680. After Balaji Vishwanath's death in April 1720, his son, Baji Rao I , was appointed Peshwa by Shahu. Bajirao is credited with expanding the Maratha Kingdom tenfold from 3% to 30% of the modern Indian landscape during 1720–1740. The Battle of Palkhed was a land battle that took place on 28 February 1728 at
33567-442: The sixteen Mahajanapadas ( Sanskrit : "Great Realms") or kingdoms in ancient India . The core of the kingdom was the area of Bihar south of the Ganges ; its first capital was Rajagriha (modern Rajgir) then Pataliputra (modern Patna ). Magadha expanded to include most of Bihar and Bengal with the conquest of Licchavi and Anga respectively, followed by much of eastern Uttar Pradesh and Orissa. The ancient kingdom of Magadha
33768-431: The south. From Damalcherry, the Marathas proceeded to Arcot, which surrendered to them without much resistance. Then, Raghuji invaded Trichinopoly in December 1740. Unable to resist, Chanda Sahib surrendered the fort to Raghuji on 14 March 1741. Chanda Saheb and his son were arrested and sent to Nagpur. Rajputana also came under Maratha attacks during this time. In June 1756 Luís Mascarenhas, Count of Alva (Conde de Alva),
33969-438: The subcontinent. By this is meant circumstances where a subgroup—such as a tribe—derives from a tiny number of 'original' individuals. Further, compared to most world regions, the subcontinent's people are relatively distinct in having practised comparatively high levels of endogamy. Settled life emerged on the subcontinent in the western margins of the Indus River alluvium approximately 9,000 years ago, evolving gradually into
34170-402: The sufferings inflicted upon them by the Pindaris. All the leaders had surrendered before the end of February 1818 and the Pindari system and power was brought to a close. They were removed to Gorakhptir where they obtained grants of land for their subsistence. Karim Khan became a farmer on the small estate he received beyond the Ganges in Gorakpur. Wasil Mohammed attempted to escape, and after he
34371-428: The throne and acting as his protector. Jaipur and Jodhpur , the two most powerful Rajput states, were still out of direct Maratha domination, so Mahadaji sent his general Benoît de Boigne to crush the forces of Jaipur and Jodhpur at the Battle of Patan . Another achievement of the Marathas was their victories over the Nizam of Hyderabad's armies.The last of these took place at the Battle of Kharda in 1795 with all
34572-454: The treaty signed on 3 June 1818. Of the Pindari leaders, Karim Khan surrendered to Malcolm in February 1818; Wasim Mohammad surrendered to Shinde and eventually poisoned himself; and Setu was killed by a tiger. During the last stages of the conflict, from 1818 to 1819, British military operations switch to capturing Maratha-held forts which were still holding out under the command of their qiladars . On February 27, 1818, British forces under
34773-516: The upper Gangetic Plain . The Peepal tree and cow were sanctified by the time of the Atharva Veda . Many of the concepts of Indian philosophy espoused later, like dharma , trace their roots to Vedic antecedents. Early Vedic society is described in the Rigveda , the oldest Vedic text, believed to have been compiled during the 2nd millennium BCE, in the north-western region of the Indian subcontinent. At this time, Aryan society consisted of predominantly tribal and pastoral groups, distinct from
34974-411: The village of Palkhed, near the city of Nashik, Maharashtra, India between Baji Rao I and Qamar-ud-din Khan, Asaf Jah I of Hyderabad. The Marathas defeated the Nizam . The battle is considered an example of the brilliant execution of military strategy. In 1737, Marathas under Bajirao I raided the suburbs of Delhi in a blitzkrieg in the Battle of Delhi (1737). The Nizam set out from the Deccan to rescue
35175-452: The villagers and brought about a marked improvement in the state of the territory. Raghunath Rao , brother of Nanasaheb, pushed into the wake of the Afghan withdrawal after Ahmed Shah Abdali 's plunder of Delhi in 1756. Delhi was captured by the Maratha army under Raghunath Rao in August 1757, defeating the Afghan garrison in the Battle of Delhi . This laid the foundation for the Maratha conquest of North-west India . In Lahore , as in Delhi,
35376-498: The warm and productive coastal lands of the Persian Gulf and northern Indian Ocean. Eventually, various bands entered India between 75,000 years ago and 35,000 years ago. Archaeological evidence has been interpreted to suggest the presence of anatomically modern humans in the Indian subcontinent 78,000–74,000 years ago, although this interpretation is disputed. The occupation of South Asia by modern humans, initially in varying forms of isolation as hunter-gatherers, has turned it into
35577-417: Was Jaswant Rao Ghorpade. Efforts were made to secretly recruit Europeans as well, which failed. Some people, such as Balaji Pant Natu , stood steadfastly with the British. Several of the sepoys rejected the Peshwa's offers, and others reported the matter to their superior officers. On 19 October 1817, Baji Rao II celebrated the Dassera festival in Pune, where troops were assembled in large numbers. During
35778-413: Was a Maratha aristocrat of the Bhonsle clan and was the founder of the Maratha state. Shivaji led a resistance against the Sultanate of Bijapur in 1645 by winning the fort Torna, followed by many more forts, placing the area under his control and establishing Hindavi Swarajya (self-rule of Hindu people). He created an independent Maratha state with Raigad as its capital and successfully fought against
35979-402: Was a boy of eleven; the garrison was treated with great liberality; and, though there was much property and money in the place, the Qiladar was allowed to have whatever he claimed as his own." On 3 June 1818 Baji Rao surrendered to the British and negotiated the sum of ₹ eight lakhs as annual maintenance. Baji Rao obtained promises from the British in favour of the Jagirdars , his family,
36180-493: Was a major achievement of Baji Rao's time in office. Baji Rao's son, Balaji Bajirao (Nanasaheb), was appointed as the next Peshwa by Shahu despite the opposition of other chiefs. In 1740, the Maratha forces, under Raghoji Bhonsle, came down upon Arcot and defeated the Nawab of Arcot , Dost Ali, in the pass of Damalcherry. In the war that followed, Dost Ali, one of his sons Hasan Ali, and several other prominent people died. This initial success at once enhanced Maratha prestige in
36381-422: Was an acute shortage of supplies in the Maratha camp. Bhau ordered the sacking of the already depopulated city. He is said to have planned to place his nephew and the Peshwa's son, Vishwasrao , on the Mughal throne. By 1760, with the defeat of the Nizam in the Deccan , Maratha power had reached its zenith with a territory of over 2,500,000 square kilometres (970,000 sq mi). Ahmad Shah Durrani called on
36582-417: Was assassinated by Mahapadma Nanda in 345 BCE, the first of the so-called Nine Nandas (Mahapadma Nanda and his eight sons). The Nanda Empire ( c. 345–322 BCE), at its peak, extended from Bengal in the east, to the Punjab in the west and as far south as the Vindhya Range . The Nanda dynasty built on the foundations laid by their Haryanka and Shishunaga predecessors. Nanda empire have built
36783-448: Was at this time practically nonexistent. The dynasty was headed by 11-year-old Malhar Rao Holkar III under the regency of his dead father's mistress Tulsi Bai Holkar . Tulsi Bai was executed by her own troops in December 1817 for allying with the British; soon after, the British advanced into Holkar's territory, encountering his army about 40 km north of Indore at the Battle of Mahidpur . The battle of Mahidpur between Holkar and
36984-412: Was captured and his ministers made overtures of peace, and on 6 January 1818 the Treaty of Mandeswar was signed; Holkar accepted the British terms in totality. Large quantities of spoils of war was taken by the British, which remained an acrimonious issue for many years afterwards. Holkar came under British authority as a puppet prince subject to the advice of a British Resident. By mid 1818, all of
37185-411: Was defeated on 21 December 1817 and signed the Treaty of Mandeswar on 6 January 1818. Under this treaty the Holkar state became subsidiary to the British. The young Malhar Rao was raised to the throne. Bhonsle was defeated on 26 November 1817 and was captured but he escaped to live out his life in Jodhpur . The Peshwa surrendered on 3 June 1818 and was sent off to Bithur near Kanpur under the terms of
37386-452: Was demonstrated through their rapid victories in Khadki, Sitabuldi, Mahidpur, and Satara. The Maratha Empire was founded in 1674 by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj the Bhosle dynasty. Shivaji Maharaj's capital was located at Raigad . Shivaji Maharaj successfully defended his empire from attacks by the Mughal Empire and his Maratha Empire went on to defeat and overtake it as the premier power in India within few decades. A key component of
37587-478: Was developed in south India and was later exported to China and Arabia. Third Anglo-Maratha War British victory [REDACTED] Maratha Confederacy The Third Anglo-Maratha War (1817–1819) was the final and decisive conflict between the British East India Company and the Maratha Empire in India . The war left the Company in control of most of India. It began with an invasion of Maratha territory by British East India Company troops, and although
37788-431: Was drawn with Napoleon , who was then confined to a small rock in the southern Atlantic and given a small sum for his maintenance. Trimbakji Dengale was captured after the war and was sent to the fortress of Chunarin Bengal where he spent the rest of his life. With all active resistance over, John Malcolm played a prominent part in capturing and pacifying the remaining fugitives. The Peshwa's territories were absorbed into
37989-420: Was found Mohammed committed suicide by imbibing poison. Chitu, another Pindari warrior, was hunted by John Malcolm from place to place until he had no followers left. He vanished into the jungles of Central India in 1819 and was killed by a tiger. Mudhoji Bhonsle , also known as Appa Saheb, consolidated his power in Nagpur after the murder of his cousin, the imbecile ruler Parsoji Bhonsle, and entered into
38190-407: Was halted with the great defeat of Panipat in 1761, at the hands of the Afghan Empire , following which the effective power of Peshwas over other chiefs came to an end. The structure of the Maratha state was that of a confederacy of four Rajas under the leadership of the Peshwa at Poona (now Pune) in western India from 1721 till 1818. These were the Raja of Gwalior of the House of Scindia ,
38391-399: Was in the offing, Jenkins asked for reinforcements from nearby British East India Company troops. He already had about 1,500 men under Lieutenant-Colonel Hopentoun Scott. Jenkins sent word for Colonel Adams to march to Nagpur with his troops. Like other Maratha leaders, Appa Shaeb employed Arabs in his army. They were typically involved in holding fortresses. While they were known to be among
38592-470: Was instrumental in resurrecting Maratha power after the débâcle of the Third Battle of Panipat, and in this, he was assisted by Benoît de Boigne . After the growth in power of feudal lords like the Malwa sardars, the landlords of Bundelkhand and the Rajput kingdoms of Rajasthan who refused to pay tribute to him, he sent his army to conquer states such as Bhopal , Datiya, Chanderi, Narwar, Salbai and Gohad. However, he launched an unsuccessful expedition against
38793-402: Was located in Tonk in Rajputana and his strength was 12,000 cavalry, 10,000 infantry and 200 guns. The Pindaris were located north of the Narmada valley in Chambal and Malwa region of central India. Three Pindari leaders sided with Shinde, these were Chitu, Karim Khan and Wasil Mohammad. They led horsemen with strengths of 10,000, 6,000 and 4,000 but most were armed only with spears. The rest of
38994-472: Was now controlled by the British. They built additional fortifications on Sitabuldi. A few days later Appa Saheb was arrested. He was being escorted to Allahabad when he escaped to Punjab to seek refuge with the Sikhs. They turned him down and he was captured once again by the British near Jodhpur. Raja Mansingh of Jodhpur stood surety for him and he remained in Jodhpur, where he died on 15 July 1849 at 44 years of age. The Court of Holkar, based at Indore ,
39195-415: Was one of three early cradles of civilisation in the Old World ; the Indus Valley civilisation was the most expansive, and at its peak, may have had a population of over five million. The civilisation was primarily centred in modern-day Pakistan, in the Indus river basin, and secondarily in the Ghaggar-Hakra River basin. The mature Indus civilisation flourished from about 2600 to 1900 BCE, marking
39396-404: Was secretly planning with the Peshwa and the Nepal Ministry to form a coalition against the British, into coming to terms with the British. In early November 1817, he was forced to enter into a treaty in which he ceded all his armed forces and major forts. Amir Khan disbanded his army on condition of being guaranteed the possession of the principality of Tonk in Rajputana . He sold his guns to
39597-415: Was seized by the Company as part of the spoils of the war. The British acquired large chunks of territory from the Maratha Empire and in effect put an end to their most dynamic opposition. The terms of surrender Malcolm offered to the Peshwa were controversial amongst the British for being too liberal: The Peshwa was offered a luxurious life near Kanpur and given a pension of about 80,000 pounds. A comparison
39798-474: Was the conclusion of the Treaty of Lonavala in 1714 with Kanhoji Angre , the most powerful naval chief on the Western Coast who later accepted Shahu as Chhatrapati. In 1719, Marathas under Balaji marched to Delhi with Sayyid Hussain Ali , the Mughal governor of Deccan, and deposed the Mughal emperor, Farrukhsiyar . The new teenage emperor, Rafi ud-Darajat and a puppet of the Sayyid brothers, granted Shahu rights to collecting Chauth and Sardeshmukhi from
39999-447: Was the fourth Peshwa of the Maratha Confederacy. He worked as a unifying force in the Confederacy and moved to the south to subdue Mysore and the Nizam of Hyderabad to assert Maratha power. He sent generals such as Bhonsle, Scindia and Holkar to the north, where they re-established Maratha authority by the early 1770s. Madhav Rao I crossed the Krishna River in 1767 and defeated Hyder Ali in the battles of Sira and Madgiri. He also rescued
40200-421: Was then in the hands of Chhatar Singh , the Jat ruler of Gohad . In 1783, Mahadaji besieged the fort of Gwalior and conquered it. He delegated the administration of Gwalior to Khanderao Hari Bhalerao. After celebrating the conquest of Gwalior, Mahadaji Shinde turned his attention to Delhi again. The Maratha-Sikh treaty in 1785 made the small Cis-Sutlej states an autonomous protectorate of the Scindia Dynasty of
40401-412: Was tried and executed for perfidy , and was hung on a nearby tree. Other forts in the region, such as Naralla Fort and Malegaon Fort were gradually captured and occupied by the British. At Malegaon Fort, the British encountered unexpectedly strong resistance from the fort garrison, which led them to bring in a 2,600-strong reinforcement force consisting of a mixture of infantry and artillery, after which
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