Surat was the richest Mughal city. It earned several lakh rupees from customs duties alone. Shivaji Raje attacked Surat. His aim was to reduce its importance as a commercial base and hit at the root of the Mughal pride. For three days the city was looted. The Mughal subedar was unable to protect it. Shivaji used the loot to repair and strengthen his forts as well as to build sea forts. Padmadurg near Janjira, Sindhudurg, Suvarnadurg and Vijaydurg were built/ strengthened with this money.

Picture Credit: Bal Krishna

Aurangzeb’s general Mirza Raja Jai Singh laid a siege at Purandar. Shivaji was unable to break the siege. As a settlement, Shivaji handed over twenty three of his forts retaining only twelve. He also agreed to visit Aurangzeb in Agra to receive a mansab. At Agra, Shivaji felt insulted by the lack of protocol offered to him at Aurangzeb’s darbar. He discarded the khilat given by Aurangzeb. He was soon placed under house arrest. Shivaji raised a loan and began distributing gifts to saints and bribes to the Mughal courtiers. He then made his sensational escape from Agra. He returned to his capital Rajgad disguised as a travelling mendicant.

Aurangzeb would lament in his will, “The escape of the wretch Shiva took place through my carelessness, and I have to labour hard to the end of my life.”

That is the irony of the city of Taj creating lifelong agony for Aurangzeb.

Picture Credit: Agra Fort, S.R. Ramanujam

Raja Venkoji was the step brother of Shivaji. He conquered Thanjavur on behalf of Bijapur Sultanate in 1676, but then established his own independent State. Thanjavur was an extremely fertile coastal plain with its own sea ports. It was a prize acquisition.

Shivaji and Venkoji met during the conquest of South. Venkoji died a year after Shivaji’s death.

The Thanjavur state was placed under the control of Nawab of Arcot who was appointed by Mughals. The Marathas liberated Thanjavur in 1740. The Nawabs retook it soon but in turn came under British. Thanjavur became a subsidiary of British in 1775. Under Doctrine of Lapse it came within British provinces in 1855.

Under Maratha rule, Thanjavur was the fountainhead of culture, music, drama and literature for over a century. The rajas, especially Serfoji, were true patrons of arts.

The picture is that of the Bell Tower in Thanjavur Palace which was built by the earlier Nayak rulers.

Picture Credit: P Jegannathan, Wikimedia Commons

Gingee is in Tamil Nadu. It is about 160 kms from Chennai. As a part of Dakshin Digvijaya, Shivaji took over the fort which was held by the sons of former Wazir of Bijapur. During his stay at Ginjee, Shivaji built up the defenses of this fort making it one of the strongest in India. This was to serve the Marathas in good stead in the years to come.

Shivaji’s second son Rajaram would flee the Mughal siege of Raigad and Panhala and reach Ginjee in 1689. Gingee came under siege by Mughals. The Maratha chiefs Santaji and Dhanaji would force Mughals to lift the siege by 1693. From Gingee, they terrorised Mughal army in the region but turned into rivals soon after. They fought each other near Gingee in 1696. Santaji fell out of favour with Rajaram and had to flee to Maharastra where he was killed. This setback invited another Mughal siege of Ginjee, which eventually fell. The fort would change hands often and finally came under British.

Picture Credit: Karty Jazz, Wikimedia Commons

The Sultan Abul Hasan of Golconda was advised by his minister Madanna that with the support of Shivaji, he could expand his kingdom into Bijapur. A willing but nervous Sultan laid out a welcome for Shivaji and his troops at Bhaganagar, as Hyderabad was then known. Shivaji, on his part, accorded due respect to the Sultan during his visit. After a three hour meeting with the Sultan and after receiving many gifts, Shivaji marched on south on his Dakshin Digvijay and laid siege to Ginjee fort.

Much later, in 1760s, the Nizam of Hyderabad attacked Pune forcing people to flee the city. Pune was ransacked by the Nizam. In retaliation, Raghunathrao attacked Hyderabad and burnt its suburbs.

Picture Credit: Sailko, Wikimedia Commons

The Konkan had been under Portuguese rule from the north of Mumbai upto Daman. They had built a string of forts along along the coastline. They had a strong artillery with mounted guns on the bastions.

Vasai fort is surrounded by sea on three sides with a long exposed access towards the land. Over a two year campaign that ended in 1739, Chimaji Appa besieged and eventually broke through inside the Vasai fort. The Portuguese surrendered and were allowed to evacuate to Goa peacefully with honour. It was the first time in many centuries that an oriental power had beaten a European power in battle.

The victory at Vasai liberated people living under oppressive Portuguese rule. Chimaji Appa would later write that the Lord’s sudarshan hit the head of the fanatics who harbour religious ill-will.

Picture Credit: Himanshu Sarpotdkar, Flickr

The Hyderabad Nizam. In 1728, Bajirao Peshwa trapped the Nizam of Hyderabad across the river Godavari with his moves and countermoves. Cutoff from his supplies and artillery, the Nizam surrendered without a fight.

In 1737, Bajirao Peshwa knocked on Delhi. Bajirao’s attack on Delhi was the first since Akbar took over the city from Hemu. This sent shockwaves. The Nizam of Hyderabad was recalled to Delhi to oppose Bajirao. The Nizam set out towards Deccan from Delhi. Both armies met near Bhopal. The Nizam sheltered in the walled city of Bhopal. The Marathas placed the city under siege and starved the Nizam again. The Nizam signed a humiliating treaty handing over Malwa to Marathas, acknowledged Chhatrapati Shahu as the one true king and agreed to pay a large indemnity to Bajirao.

The Nizam returned to Delhi and the next year Nadir Shah sacked Delhi. The Mughal empire never recovered after that and limped on till 1857.

Picture Credit: Vijae Goray, Wikimedia Commons

From the late 1740s, Ahmed Shah Durrani had been invading the Mughal empire. As the Marathas had agreed to defend the Mughals, this brought them into conflict with Abdali. In 1757, Raghunathrao, along with Scindias and Holkars wrested Delhi from Abdali’s nominee. They marched northwards and took the cities of Lahore and Attock. They then crossed the Indus river and reached Peshawar from where the last vestiges of Afghans were evicted. This victory marked the furthest extent of the Maratha empire. For over a year, the Marathas, with Mughal officers ruled Lahore. Adina Beg Khan, a Mughal officer, was appointed as the Governor of Lahore.

Picture Credit: Attock Fort, Optographer, Wikimedia Commons

Raghuji Bhonsle of Nagpur raided Bengal. The Nawab of Bengal sought the help of Mughal emperors who had in turn been promised support by Marathas. Nanasaheb Peshwa obtained an indemnity from the Nawab and attacked Raghuji. As a settlement Bengal and Orissa were placed under Raghuji’s influence. Though Marathas are blamed for their excesses in Bengal, the stand in no comparison to the massacres of civilians by Abdali or by British at Jhansi.

The Maratha ditch was dug as a protection against Maratha raids. It is covered up now and forms the outer circular road.

Picture Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Only ten years.

The Marathas had marched northwards to stop repeated invasions by Abdali from Afghanistan. Denied support by both the Hindu and Islamic powers in the northern India, the Maratha army fought Abdali at Panipat and lost severely. Abdali, although victorious did not want a second battle with Peshwas and sought a peace treaty. Abdali found the Sikhs more than a match in his subsequent invasions on their territory. Abdali never again entered the city of Delhi.

Within ten years of the loss at Panipat, a young Madhavarao Peshwa would recover the lost territories of Marathas and bring the northern India under Maratha power again. In 1772, Marathas brought back Shah Alam II from Allahabad and reinstated him on the Mughal throne.

Picture Credit: Amit20081980, Wikimedia Commons

The batte of Assayee is part of the second Anglo Maratha war. It was a major loss for Marathas that led to Scindias, Bhonsles and Holkars becoming subsidiaries to the East India Company.

Bajirao II lost a major war between the Maratha houses to Holkars. He then signed a treaty with the British at Vasai in 1802 which made him nearly a British subsidiary. Within one year, the British took Pune, Ahmedanagar, Aligarh and Delhi from the Marathas.

In 1803, in a fiercely fought batte of Assayee (near Ajanta caves), the British defeated the combined armies of Scindia-Bhonsle. This triggered the Maratha houses of Scindia, Bhonsle and Holkar signing subsidiary agreements with British and handing over control of north and east India to the British.

The battle of Assayee and the second Anglo Maratha war broke the Maratha empire and the era of British dominance was upon India.

Arthur Wellesley, who commanded the British troops at Assayee would later on become Duke of Wellington and defeat Napoleon in Waterloo in 1815. He is quoted as saying that Assayee was the toughest battle that he had fought.

Picture Credit: Thomas Lawrence, Wikimedia Commons

The Dutch.

The Marathas evicted Portuguese from Vasai and thus from Bombay too. They repeatedly defeated Hyder Ali (and his son Tipu Sultan) and extracted both territory and tributes. The Maratha navy and army shrunk the territory of Abyssinian Siddis in the Konkan to just Janjira fort.

There was a short naval fight in 1754 between three Dutch vessels and Maratha navy near Vijayadurg.

Source: http://vivaan.world/inhcrf

Picture Credit: Wikimedia Commons

The Abyssinian Siddis were based at Janjira and were a threat to the Marathas. From Alibaug southwards, a stretch of 200 kilometers was under the control of Siddis. In 1672, Shivaji blockaded Janjira. Over a period of time, the Siddis changed their allegiance from Bijapur to Mughals to British. The Marathas continued to fight them well into the eighteenth century. In 1732, Bajirao took over the entire Konkan coast from the Siddis except the island of Janjira and a few forts to the south. In 1736, Chimaji Appa and Manaji Angre fought and killed Siddi Sat. From then onwards the Siddi’s hold over Konkan was broken leaving them only with the fort of Janjira.

Picture Credit: Janjira Fort, Himanshu Sarpotdkar, Flickr

As the Marathas expanded their footprint across India, Maratha commanders took charge of different regions which became kingdoms with full allegiance to the Marathas. They would later on fight amongst themselves. Eventually the Holkars took the battle to Pune and fought a combined army of Scindia and Peshwa. The Peshwa lost the war and therefore went over to British and signed the Treaty at Vasai. This led to the Second Anglo Maratha war and the eventual decline of the Maratha empire.

The picture is a collage of the founding commanders of Holkar, Gaekwad and Scindia dynasties.

Picture Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Both Nanasaheb Peshwa and his son Madhavrao Peshwa strived to obtain possession of Kashi from the Nawab of Awadh. Radhabai, Bajirao Peshwa’s mother, went on a pilgrimage to Kashi. Sadashiv Naik, a banker who stayed in Kashi, built the Dash-aswamedh Ghat and the Manikarnika Ghat out of funds provided by Bajorao Peshwa. Ahilyabhai Holkar built the Kashi Vishwanath temple. Bhonsles of Nagpur and Scindias built ghats. The last of the Peshwas, Amrutrao and Chimaji Appa II spent their last days in Kashi and left behind many ghats and buildings that survive even today.

The picture is of Devi Ahilyabhai Holkar in the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor.

Picture Credit: Ashish Bhatnagar, Wikimedia Commons