The Marathas could have ruled the entire continent had there not been 2 strikes against them from start to end: 1) None of their top leaders lived long 2) The Maratha Empire was always under debt
Mortality was always a common
problem in the Maratha Empire as their greatest leaders from Shivaji Maharaj,
Sambhaji Maharaj, Shahu Maharaj, Peshwa Bajirao (elder), Chimaji Appa Peshwa,
Peshwa Nanasaheb, Sadashivrao, Vishwasrao and Peshwa Madhavrao all died
prematurely.
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj freed
230 forts in the Deccan from Mughals and Sultanate but died at 52. His son and
great ruler Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj was martyred at 32. Chhatrapati Shahu
Maharaj too did not live till a ripe age. Peshwa Bajirao (elder) and conqueror
of North India died at 40 of stroke and his brother Chimaji Appa who liberated
Vasai from Portuguese died a year later at 39. Peshwa Bajirao and Peshwa
Chimaji’s father Peshwa Balaji who inflicted the first defeat of Mughals at
Delhi in 1719 died at 52 too.
The Marathas later decimated the
Mughal Empire in the Battle of Delhi of 1737 led by Peshwa Bajirao (elder) and
after that only Maratha puppets sat on the throne of Delhi, however later in
1761 in Battle of Panipat the Maratha Empire lost an entire generation of
leaders (Sadashivrao Bhau, Vishwasrao, Shamsher and Jankoji Shinde) in the
Peshwa and Shinde families which affected their control on Delhi. Peshwa
Nanasaheb credited for taking Maratha banner till Bengal was ailing of Phythis
for years before battle of Panipat and collapsed by weak health and shock at
age 40 after the Panipat battle.
After the Marathas regained
control of Delhi again in 1771, Peshwa Madhavrao (elder) died prematurely of
Tuberculosis at 27. Maratha recapture of Delhi was the last great news he
received on his deathbed.
Peshwa Raghunathrao credited to
have crossed the Indus and taken the Maratha banner died an ignoble death under
mysterious circumstances at 49 after living a controversial life of success in
youth and treachery in middle age.
The Marathas defeated the British
in 1st Anglo Maratha War in 1782 and later Tipu Sultan in the same era under
the leadership of Sawai Madhavrao (younger), Nana Phadnavis and Mahadji Shinde.
However soon after this victory Mahadji Shinde died of illness and also did
Nana Phadnavis as Sawai Madhavrao died mysteriously possibly by murder being
pushed down from the Shaniwarwada in a state of illness and delirium at 21.
Peshwa Bajirao (younger) as a
result was the only unlikely leader left after Nana Phadnavis died as the last
man standing and he never received trust from his own people. As a result
though he faced moderate success in the 2nd Anglo Maratha War, victory was
snatched from him in the 3rd Anglo Maratha War in a hard fought battle by the
British.
Despite top leaders dying
prematurely, the Maratha Empire crawled its way from being a small empire to
become a pan-India Hind Swaraj and a Hindu Paatshahi in its 200 years of history
however thisalso meant that the Maratha Empire was always under debt right from
the era of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj till the end of Peshwai due to its
modest beginnings, they weren’t big to begin with but gradually grew to become
one of the strongest Empires of India. All this weighed on the Maratha Empire.
Picture depicting the Treaty of
Salbai in which the Marathas defeated the British in 1st Anglo Maratha War in
1782 showing the British commander paying respects to Mahadji Shinde and Nana
Phadnavis
Maratha Empire in its highest
tide in 1759 with its Empire stretching from Attock to Cuttack and Lahore to
Tanjavore.
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