Maratha Confederacy

The Maratha Confederacy emerged from the fragmentation of the central authority of the Chhatrapati. Following the death of Chhatrapati Shahu in 1749, the Sangola Agreement of 1750 formally transferred executive power to the Peshwa (Prime Minister), making Pune the de facto capital. As the empire expanded across north and central India, the Peshwas assigned territorial spheres of influence to powerful military commanders. This transformed the tightly centralized state founded by Shivaji Maharaj into a loose confederacy of autonomous dynasties held together by a shared allegiance to the Peshwa.

The Five Primary Pillars of the Confederacy

The confederacy operated as a fluid coalition of five major families, each ruling distinct geographical zones and maintaining separate administrative machineries:

• The Peshwa of Pune: The nominal head and executive coordinator of the confederacy.
• The Scindias (Shindes) of Gwalior: Controlled vast swathes of Central India and Malwa; emerged as the dominant military force in North India.
• The Holkars of Indore: Held territory in Malwa; frequent rivals of the Scindias for influence over the Pune court.
• The Gaekwads of Baroda: Dominated the fertile regions of Gujarat and parts of Kathiawar.
• The Bhonsles of Nagpur: Controlled Berar, Gondwana, and extended their influence into Orissa and Bengal.

The Tripartite Struggle: Marathas, Bengal, and Mysore

The Maratha Encroachment on the Bengal Presidency

The relationship between the Maratha Confederacy and Bengal was defined by economic extraction and military coercion. Long before the British East India Company (EIC) secured Bengal, the Nagpur Bhonsles exploited the weakness of the Nawabs of Bengal.

• Bargi Invasions (1741–1751): Raghuji Bhonsle of Nagpur launched repeated cavalry raids (known as Bargir raids) into Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa, devastating the local economy under Nawab Alivardi Khan.
• The Treaty of 1751: To halt the destruction, Nawab Alivardi Khan signed a peace treaty ceding the revenue of Orissa to Raghuji Bhonsle and agreeing to pay an annual tribute of 1.2 million rupees as Chauth (protection tax) for Bengal and Bihar.
• The Shift to British Hands: When the EIC acquired the Diwani (revenue collection) rights of Bengal in 1765 after the Battle of Buxar, they inherited this Maratha friction. The immense financial wealth of Bengal subsequently bankrolled the British military machinery used to destroy the Maratha Confederacy during the Anglo-Maratha Wars.

The Maratha-Mysore Geopolitical Friction

The Marathas viewed the rise of the aggressive, centralized Muslim state of Mysore under Haidar Ali and Tipu Sultan as a direct threat to their hegemony in the Deccan, specifically over the fertile inter-riverine tracts of the Krishna and Tungabhadra rivers.

• The Campaigns of Peshwa Madhavrao I: Between 1764 and 1771, Peshwa Madhavrao I launched successful campaigns against Haidar Ali, forcing Mysore to pay heavy war indemnities and cede territories north of the Tungabhadra River.
• The Shifting Alliances: The Marathas acted as a volatile swing power. They joined the British and the Nizam of Hyderabad in a Triple Alliance during the First Anglo-Mysore War (1767) but were bought off by Haidar Ali. Conversely, during the Second Anglo-Mysore War (1780), they initially allied with Mysore against the British but were neutralized by the EIC via the Treaty of Salbai (1782).
• The Decisive Break: In the Third Anglo-Mysore War (1790–1792), Nana Fadnavis aligned the Marathas firmly with Lord Cornwallis to dismantle Tipu Sultan’s power, gaining significant territorial shares in the northern regions of Mysore through the Treaty of Seringapatam (1792).

The Three Anglo-Maratha Wars: Detailed Matrix

Institutional Structures and Administrative Framework

Financial Extraction: Chauth and Sardeshmukhi

The economic viability of the Maratha Confederacy relied on external revenue mechanisms applied to non-Maratha territories:

• Chauth: A military tax consisting of one-fourth (25%) of the standard land revenue of a district. It was collected in exchange for protection against external aggression and immunity from Maratha raids.
• Sardeshmukhi: An additional 10% levy claimed by the Chhatrapati as the hereditary supreme overlord (Sardeshmukh) of the entire Deccan region.

Internal Military Transformation

• Shift from Guerrilla to Regular Warfare: The early Maratha military doctrine relied on swift, light cavalry executing Ganimi Kava (guerrilla tactics). By the late 18th century, the Scindias and Holkars transitioned to European-style infantry brigades and heavy artillery trains.
• The French Connection: Mahadji Scindia employed French military adventurers like Benoît de Boigne to raise, train, and command disciplined infantry units armed with modern muskets, establishing gun-foundries and arsenals in Agra and Gwalior.
• The Pindaris: The Maratha armies utilized irregular auxiliary horsemen known as Pindaris. They were not paid a regular salary but were permitted to plunder enemy territories during campaigns, acting as a forward screen for Maratha advances.

Causes for the Decline of the Maratha Confederacy

Structural Vulnerabilities

• Lack of Centralized Command: The confederacy lacked a unified command structure. Internal rivalries between Mahadji Scindia and Nana Fadnavis, and later between Daulat Rao Scindia and Yashwant Rao Holkar, regularly bled the state in civil warfare, which the EIC exploited through diplomacy.
• The Subsidiary Alliance Trap: Lord Wellesley utilized the internal fractures of the confederacy to impose the Subsidiary Alliance system. When Peshwa Baji Rao II signed the Treaty of Bassein in 1802 to protect himself from Yashwant Rao Holkar, he effectively signed away the sovereignty of the Maratha core.
• Absence of Economic and Scientific Modernization: While the Marathas adopted European military technology, they failed to develop a matching domestic industrial base or a stable internal commercial economy, remaining dependent on continuous territorial expansion and external taxation.

UPSC Prelims Facts and Trivia

Key Historical Markers

• The Council of Barbhai (Regency Council): A council of twelve Maratha statesmen organized by Nana Fadnavis following the assassination of Peshwa Narayan Rao in 1773. The council successfully countered the ambitions of Raghunath Rao and administered the empire on behalf of the infant Peshwa Madhavrao II.
• The Treaty of Salbai (1782): Brokered by Mahadji Scindia to end the First Anglo-Maratha War. It guaranteed the EIC the possession of Salsette and Elephanta islands but forced them to return all other conquests to the Marathas.
• Battle of Assaye (1803): A major battle of the Second Anglo-Maratha War where Major General Arthur Wellesley (later the Duke of Wellington) defeated a combined Scindia-Bhonsle army in the Deccan. Wellesley later described this battle as finer than his victory over Napoleon at Waterloo.
• The Abolition of the Peshwaship: Following the Third Anglo-Maratha War in 1818, Mountstuart Elphinstone reorganized the Maratha territories into the Bombay Presidency. The minor principality of Satara was carved out and handed to Pratap Singh, a direct descendant of Shivaji Maharaj, to appease Maratha sentiment.