Maratha Empire

Abstract The Maratha Empire arose in later 17th‐century western India, as a movement of local small gentry, hill people, and peasant farmers under the warrior leader Shivaji Bhosle. At first drawn outwards to seek revenues to supplement their own relatively poor upland territories, the Marathas’ imperial horizons were dramatically enlarged during the 18th century as Mughal power in Delhi waned. Loosely allied Maratha chiefs established semi‐independent domains of their own in central and northern India, enabling the Marathas to play a dominant role as king‐makers and protectors of the Mughal throne by mid‐century. Dueling first with the Afghans, and then with the British East India Company to control the vacuum left by the Mughals, the Marathas were ultimately brought down by the Company, whose political cohesion, access to the resources of Britain's global empire, and growing ascendancy over India's military economy gave it key advantages in the contest.