Maratha Dynasty

(17th–19th c.) Central Indian dynasty in
the region of the western state of
Maharashtra, particularly along the
Konkan coast of the Arabian Sea. The
dynasty was founded by the Maratha
chieftain Shivaji, who spent most of his
life locked in a bitter struggle with the
Moghul empire. At Shivaji’s death in
1680, the Marathas controlled only a
small strip of land in western
Maharashtra. After the death of the
Moghul emperor Aurangzeb in 1707,
the Moghul empire began to disintegrate; the Marathas filled the political
vacuum. At its peak in the mid-1700s,
the Maratha Confederacy controlled
northern and central India from coast to
coast, stretching as far north as Delhi
and the Ganges River basin.
Expansionism was halted in 1761, when
the Maratha army was defeated by the
Afghans at Panipat in the state of
Haryana, a short distance north of
Delhi. Both groups of combatants sustained major losses in the battle, rendering them unable to contest the arrival of
the British. A little more than a decade
later, the Maratha Confederacy had fragmented into constituent states, each
with its own capital. Of these, the
Bhonsle dynasty had its capital in the
city of Nagpur, the Holkar dynasty had
its capital in the city of Indore, the
Gaikwad dynasty had its capital in the
city of Baroda. The Scindia dynasty had
capitals in Gwalior and Ujjain, while the
Peshwa dynasty had its capital in Pune.
All except for the last survived as princely
states until Indian independence in
\1947. See also Moghul dynasty.