MYSORE N MARATHA

• Shivaji (1627-1680)
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• Shivaji was born at Shivner in 1627. His father was Shahji Bhonsle and mother Jija Bai.
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• He inherited the jagir of Poona from his father in 1637. After the death of his guardian, Dadaji Kondadev in 1647, Shivaji assumed full charge of his jagir. Even before that he conquered Raigarh, Kondana and Torna from the ruler of Bijapur.
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• He captured Javli from a Maratha chief, Chanda Rao More. This made him the master of Mavala region. In 1657, he attacked the Bijapur kingdom and captured a number of hill forts in the Konkan region.
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• The Sultan of Bijapur sent Afzal Khan against Shivaji. But Afzal Khan was murdered by Shivaji in 1659 in a daring manner.
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• Shivaji‟s military conquests made him a legendary figure in the Maratha region.
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• Many came forward to join his army.
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• The Mughal emperor Aurangazeb was anxiously watching the rise of Maratha power under Shivaji.
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• He sent the Mughal governor of the Deccan, Shaista Khan against Shivaji. Shivaji suffered a defeat at the hands of the Mughal forces and lost Poona.
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• But Shivaji once again made a bold attack on Shaista Khan‟s military camp at Poona in 1663, killed his son and wounded Khan.
• This daring attack affected the prestige of Khan and he was recalled by Aurangazeb.
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• In 1664, Shivaji attacked Surat, the chief port of the Mughals and plundered it. This time Aurangazeb sent Raja Jai Singh of Amber to fight against Shivaji.
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• He made elaborate preparations and succeeded in besieging the Purander fort where Shivaji lodged his family and treasure.
• Shivaji opened negotiations with Jai Singh and the Treaty of Purander was signed in 1665.
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• According to the treaty, Shivaji had to surrender 23 forts to the Mughals out of 35 forts held by him.
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• The remaining 12 forts were to be left to Shivaji on condition of service and loyalty to Mughal empire.
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• On the other hand, the Mughals recognized the right of Shivaji to hold certain parts of the Bijapur kingdom.
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• As Shivaji asked to exempt him from personal service to the Mughals, his minor son Shambaji was granted a mansab of 5000. Shivaji visited Agra in 1666 but he was imprisoned there.
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• But, he managed to escape from prison and made military preparations for another four years.
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• Then he renewed his wars against the Mughals. Surat was plundered by him for the second time in 1670. He also captured all his lost territories by his conquests. In 1674 Shivaji crowned himself at Raigarh and assumed the title Chatrapathi.
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• Then he led an expedition into the Carnatic region and captured Ginjee and Vellore. After his return from this expedition, Shivaji died in 1680.
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• Shivaji’s Administration
• Shivaji was also a great administrator.
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• He laid the foundations of a sound system of administration.
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• The king was the pivot of the government. He was assisted by a council of ministers called Ashtapradhan.
• However, each minister was directly responsible to Shivaji.
  
• Peshwa – Finance and general administration. Later he became the prime minister.
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• Sar-i-Naubator Senapati – Military commander, a honorary post.
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• Amatya – Accountant General.
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• Waqenavis – Intelligence, posts and household affairs.
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• Sachiv – Correspondence.
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• Sumanta – Master of ceremonies.
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• Nyayadish – Justice.
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• Panditarao – Charities and religious administration.
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• Most of the administrative reforms of Shivaji were based on the practices of the Deccan sultanates. For example, Peshwa was the Persian title.
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• The revenue system of Shivaji was based on that of Malik Amber of Ahmadnagar.
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• Lands were measured by using the measuring rod called kathi.
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• Lands were also classified into three categories – paddy fields, garden lands and hilly tracks.
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• He reduced the powers of the existing deshmuks and kulkarnis.He appointed his own revenue officials called karkuns.
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• Chauth and sardeshmukhi were the taxes collected not in the Maratha kingdom but in the neighbouring territories of the Mughal empire or Deccan sultanates.
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• Chauth was one fourth of the land revenue paid to the Marathas in order to avoid the Maratha raids.
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• Sardeshmukhi was an additional levy of ten percent on those lands which the Marathas claimed hereditary rights.
• Shivaji was a man of military genius and his army was well organized.
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• The regular army consisted of about 30000 to 40000 cavalry supervised by havaildars.
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• They were given fixed salaries.
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• There were two divisions in the Maratha cavalry – 1. bargirs, equipped and paid by the state; and 2. silahdars,maintained by the nobles.
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• In the infantry, the Mavli foot soldiers played an important role.
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• Shivaji also maintained a navy.
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• The Peshwas (1713-1818)
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• Balaji Viswanath (1713-1720)
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• Balaji Viswanath began his career as a small revenue official and became Peshwa in 1713.
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• As Peshwa, he made his position the most important and powerful as well as hereditary.
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• He played a crucial role in the civil war and finally made Shahu as the Maratha ruler.
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• He sought the support of all Maratha leaders for Shahu. In 1719, Balaji Viswanath got certain rights from the then Mughal emperor, Farukh Siyar.
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• First, the Mughal emperor recognized Shahu as the Maratha king.
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• Second, he allowed Shahu to collect Chauth and Sardeshmukhi from the six Mughal provinces of the Deccan including the Carnatic and Mysore.
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• Baji Rao (1720-1740)
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• Baji Rao was the eldest son of Balaji Viswanath.
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• He succeeded his father as Peshwa at the young age of twenty.
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• The Maratha power reached its zenith under him.
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• He initiated the system of confederacy among the Maratha chiefs.
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• Under this system, each Maratha chief was assigned a territory which could be administered autonomously.
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• As a result, many Maratha families became prominent and established their authority in different parts of India.
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• They were the Gaekwad at Baroda, the Bhonsle at Nagpur, the Holkars at Indore, the Scindias at Gwalior, and the Peshwas at Poona.
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• Balaji Baji Rao (1740-1761)
• Balaji Baji Rao succeeded his father as Peshwa at the young age of nineteen.
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• The Maratha king Shahu died in 1749. His nominated successor Ramraja was imprisoned by the Peshwa Balaji Baji Rao at Satara. The full control of the Maratha kingdom came under the Peshwa. Peshwa entered into an agreement with the Mughal Emperor in 1752.
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• According to it the Peshwa gave assurance to the Mughal Emperor that he would protect the Mughal Empire from internal and external enemies for which the Chauth of the northwest provinces and the total revenue of the Agra and Ajmer provinces would be collected by the Marathas.
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• but when Ahmad Shah Abdali invaded India, in the Third Battle of Panipat in 1761 they got defeated.
• Balaji Baji Rao also died on shock of hearing the news of this battle.
• Thereafter, the Maratha confederacy weakened due to internal conflicts among the Maratha chiefs.

• MYSORE
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• Mysore was a major political power in the subcontinent under Haider Ali who was an illiterate but a great statesman.
• Haider Ali defeated the rulers of the Malabar in the south  1766 and extended the Mysore kingdom up to the north.
• In a bid to stem Haidar's rise, the British formed an alliance with the Marathas and the Nizam of Hyderabad, culminating in the First Anglo-Mysore War in 1767.
• Haider Ali had strategically moved his armies to within five miles of Madras (modern Chennai) and was able to successfully sue for peace. In 1770, when the Maratha armies of Madhavrao Peshwa invaded Mysore Haider expected British support as per the 1769 treaty but they betrayed him by staying out of the conflict.
• he befriended the French and made peace with the Marathas and the Nizam. However, Haider Ali was betrayed by the Marathas and the Nizam, who made treaties with the British as well.
• In 1779 Haider Ali headed an army before laying siege to British forts in northern Arcot starting the Second Anglo-Mysore War. Haider Ali had succeeded against the British notably at Pollilur, the worst defeat the British suffered in India until Chillianwala. Haider Ali died in 1782, even as fighting continued with the British by his son Tipu Sultan
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• the treaty of Mangalore was signed in 1784 bringing hostilities with the British to a temporary and uneasy halt and restored the others' lands to the status quo ante bellum.
• The treaty is an important document in the history of India, because it was the last occasion when an Indian power dictated terms to the British, who were made to play the role of humble supplicants for peace.
  
• The Maratha-Mysore War occurred between 1785 and 1787 and consisted of a series of conflicts between the Sultanate of Mysore and the Maratha Empire.  
  
• Tipu's successful attacks in 1790 on the Kingdom of Travancore, a British ally, was an effective victory for him,which resulted in the Third Anglo-Mysore War. By 1792, with aid from the Marathas who attacked from the north-west and the Nizam who moved in from the north-east, the British under Lord Cornwallis successfully besieged Srirangapatna, resulting in Tipu's defeat and the Treaty of Srirangapatna.
• Half of Mysore was distributed among the allies, and two of his sons were held to ransom. A humiliated but indomitable Tipu went about re-building his economic and military power. He attempted to covertly win over support from Revolutionary France, the Amir of Afghanistan, the Ottoman Empire and Arabia.
• In 1799, Tipu was killed by British in the battlefield who was defending Srirangapatna in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War. Modern Indian historians consider Tipu Sultan an inveterate enemy of the British, an able administrator and an innovator.