Maratha Rule (1674–1818)
- LAST REVIEWED: 24 May 2018
- LAST MODIFIED: 24 May 2018
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780195399318-0202
- LAST REVIEWED: 24 May 2018
- LAST MODIFIED: 24 May 2018
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780195399318-0202
Introduction
Maratha Rule was established by Shivaji Bhosale in western India in the 17th century. Shivaji’s father, Shahaji Bhosale and his grandfather, Maloji Bhosale acquired lands in return for service to the Deccan Sultanates. As a teenager, Shivaji, who was raised on his father’s jagir lands near Pune, began a series of campaigns, supported by local youth, to seize land and forts in the western ghats. Shivaji had himself crowned king in 1674 and adopted the honorific titles of Chhatrapati and Maharaj. Through his military campaigns, Shivaji challenged the Deccani Sultanates based in Bijapur and Ahmednagar; in declaring himself king, Shivaji challenged the authority of the Mughal regime. Though he died in 1680, the Maratha kingdom that he established remained in existence until 1818. After his death, while his descendants occupied the titular throne, power was consolidated in the office of Peshwa, located in Pune. The Peshwa was occupied by a hereditary line of Chitpavan Brahmins, who expanded the reach of the Maratha empire and retained control of large sections of western and central India in the face of expanding British colonial power. The Marathas finally succumbed to British power in 1818. The life and accomplishments of Shivaji, as well as the Peshwai that inherited his regime, have become important focal points in debates about caste, religion, and national identity in western India during the colonial and postcolonial periods.
General Overviews
Works in this section provide an overview of Shivaji, his rise to power, and the Maratha rule that he established. Kotani 2012 is an encyclopedia entry that provides a brief summary of key events and accomplishments. Gordon 1993 is a brief but comprehensive historical treatment that spans the time period of Maratha power. Kulkarni 1996 is a similar overview, with a detailed section on Shivaji’s family background. Mehendale 2011 is the most comprehensive of these overviews in detailing events and people important in Shivaji’s rise to power.
Gordon, Stewart. The Marathas, 1600–1818. Vol. 2, Part 4 of The New Cambridge History of India. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1993.
Gordon draws on a range of archival documents and secondary sources to combine a history of elite families with a social history. He details the military and administrative history of the Marathas and a gives a sense of how people on the ground experienced life during the Maratha era.
Kotani, H. “Maratha (1674–1818).” In Brill’s Encyclopedia of Hinduism. Vol. 4. Edited by Knut A. Jacobsen, Helene Basu, Angelika Malinar, and Vasudha Narayanan, 96–103. Leiden, The Netherlands & Boston: Brill, 2012.
Encyclopedia entry providing an overview of Maratha power, including sections on economics and religious practices.
Kulkarni, A. R. The Marathas. New Delhi: Books & Books, 1996.
An historical overview of Shivaji and the Marathas. Part 1 focuses on the historical context, Shivaji’s family background, significant moments in Shivaji’s rise to power, and an overview of the administration. Part 2 is focused on Maratha expansion under the Peshwa and the decline of Maratha influence.
Mehendale, Gajanan Bhaskar. Shivaji: His Life and Times. Thane, India: Param Mitra, 2011.
A richly documented account of Shivaji’s rise to power that is particularly strong in detailing the military and diplomatic campaigns that led to the geographic expansion of Maratha influence. Also includes very useful appendices, including a review of the historical sources available in many languages. In other appendices, Mehendale reviews the documentation relevant for debated topics, including Shivaj’s birth date, the role played by and Shivaji’s relationship with the Saints, and whether Shivaji was literate.
Users without a subscription are not able to see the full content on this page. Please subscribe or login.
How to Subscribe
Oxford Bibliographies Online is available by subscription and perpetual access to institutions. For more information or to contact an Oxford Sales Representative click here.
Article
- Āṇṭāḷ
- Imperialism, British Colonialism and
- Śabarimala Pilgrimage
- Abhinavagupta
- Aesthetics
- Africa, Hinduism in
- Śaṅkara
- Amar Chitra Katha
- Architecture
- Ardhanārīśvara
- Artha and Arthaśāstra
- Arya Samaj
- Asiatic Society of Bengal
- Assam
- Astrology
- Astronomy and Mathematics
- Atharva Veda
- Atheism and Rationalism in Hinduism
- Aurobindo
- Avatāra
- Baba Padmanji
- Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyaya (Chatterji)
- Bengal and Surrounding Areas, Hinduism in
- Bhagavad Gita
- Bhagavad Gita in Modern India
- Bhagavad-Gita and Bhakti-yoga
- Bhairava
- Bhakti
- Bhakti and Christian Missions
- "Bhakti Movement” Narratives
- Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī
- Bhārat Mātā
- Biardeau, Madeleine
- Body, The
- Brahma Kumaris
- Buddhism, Hinduism and
- Bāuls
- Caitanya
- Calendar
- Caribbean, Diaspora in the
- Caste
- Castes, Merchant
- Children and Childhood in Hinduism
- Christianity, Hinduism and
- Classes of Beings
- Comparative Study of Hinduism
- Consciousness and Cognition
- Contemporary Globalized and Commercialized Yoga
- Cosmogony
- Cosmology
- Cārvāka
- Dalits and Hinduism
- Dance and Hinduism
- Dattātreya
- Death
- Defining Hinduism
- Deities
- Democracy in India
- Devī Māhātmya
- Dharma
- Diaspora Hinduism
- Digital Hinduism
- Draupadī
- Durgā
- Eckankar
- Ecology in Hinduism
- Education and Hinduism
- Eknāth
- Epics, Vernacular Oral
- Epistemology (Pramāṇas)
- Ethics
- Europe, Diaspora in
- European Constructions
- Festivals
- Film, Hinduism In
- Gaṇeśa
- Galtā Monastery
- Gandhi, Mohandas Karamchand
- Ganga
- Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism
- Gender and Sexuality
- Geography of Hinduism
- German Indology
- Gṛhya Rites
- Goddess
- Goddess Worship and Bhakti
- Gujarat, Hinduism in
- Hanuman
- Harivaṃśa
- Hatha Yoga
- Hindi Theatre
- Hindu Nationalism, Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and
- Hindu Philosophy
- Hinduism and Music
- Hinduism, Capitalism and
- Hinduism, East India Company and
- Hinduism in Denmark
- Hinduism in Pakistan
- Hinduism, Tourism and
- Historical Traditions in Hindu Texts
- Holy Persons
- Homoeroticism in Hinduism
- Iconography
- Indian Medicine
- Indo-European Religions
- Indus Civilization
- Inscriptions, Early Historic
- ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness)
- Islam, Hinduism and
- Iswarchandra Vidyasagar
- Jagannātha
- Jainism, Hinduism and
- Jayadeva and the Gītagovinda
- Jīva Gosvāmin
- Jyotirliṅga Tradition: Pilgrimage, Myth, and Art
- Kabir/Kabir Panth
- Karma
- Karnataka, Hinduism in
- Kashmir
- Kerala Hinduism
- Kingship
- Kālī
- Kāma and Kāmaśāstra
- Kāmākhyā
- Kolkata/Calcutta
- Kāraikkāl Ammaiyār
- Krishna
- Śākta Tantra
- Kumbh Mela
- Kāvya
- Law, Hinduism and
- LGBTQ and Hinduism
- Liṅga and Yoni
- Līlā
- Logic
- Mahadeviyakka
- Mahābhārata
- Mahābhārata in Hindu Tradition
- Maratha Rule (1674–1818)
- Marriage
- Material Religion
- Mathura
- Mādhva
- Māṇikkavācakar
- Mirabai
- Mānava-Dharmaśāstra
- Mokṣa
- Māriyammaṉ
- Mughal Empire (1521–1857), Hindus and the
- Musicology of Religion, Hinduism and
- Natyashastra
- Navarātri (Navarātra)
- Neo-Tantra, Modernity and
- Nepal, Hinduism in
- Nimbārka Sampradāya
- Nirañjanī Sampradāy
- North America, Hinduism in
- Nātha Sampradāya
- Nāyaṉmār
- Odisha
- Old Age and Hinduism
- Orientalists and Missionaries
- Pandas/Pilgrimage Priests
- Pandharpur and Vitthal
- Pandits/Wise Men
- Partition
- Peace, War, and Violence in Hinduism
- Pilgrimage
- Pūjā
- Political Hinduism
- Popular and Folk Hinduism
- Possession
- Pradesh, Andhra
- Pratyabhijñā
- Pārvatī
- Prāṇāyāma in Modern Yoga
- Purāṇas
- Puri
- Puruṣārthas
- Rabindranath Tagore
- Radhasoami Tradition
- Āśrama
- Ramakrishna Mission, The Ramakrishna Math and
- Ramanuja
- Rasa and Rasaśāstra
- Śrauta Rites
- Ravidās
- Rādhā
- Rādhāvallabha
- Reform Hinduism
- Rāgamālā
- Rig Veda
- Ritual in Hinduism
- Rāma Jāmadagnya/Paraśurāma
- Rāmakŗşŋa
- Rāmānandī Sampradāya
- Rāmāyaṇa
- Rāmāyaṇa in the Hindu Tradition
- Roy, Rammohun
- Rūpa Gosvāmin
- Rudra-Shiva
- Sacred Trees, Groves, and Forests
- Saints and Hagiography in Hinduism
- Sanskrit
- Sanskrit Grammar and Related Sciences
- Sathya Sai Baba
- Sati
- Secrecy
- Shaiva Siddhanta
- Shaivism
- Shaktism
- Shirdi Sai Baba
- Shiva
- Sikhism and Hinduism
- Sister Nivedita
- Six Systems/Darśanas
- Sāṃkhya and Philosophical Yoga
- Sociological Approaches to Hinduism
- South Asian Rituals of Self-torture
- Southeast Asia, Hinduism in
- Southeast Asia, Yoga in
- Sūrdās
- Sree Narayana Guru
- Sītā
- Swaminarayan
- Tamil Caṅkam Religion
- Tamil Nadu
- Tantra
- Television and Hinduism
- the Sanskrit Epics and Purāṇas, Yoga in
- The Upaniṣads
- Tilak, Bal Gangadhar
- Trimūrti
- Trinidad, Diaspora in
- Tīrtha
- United Kingdom, Hinduism in the
- Urban Hinduism
- Vaiṣṇava Pāñcarātra
- Vaiśeṣika
- Vaikhānasa
- Vallabha
- Varkaris
- Vedas, The
- Vedic Agni
- Vedic Oral Tradition
- Vedānta
- Virashaivism
- Viṣṇu
- Vivekananda
- Āḻvār
- Vraja/Braj
- Vrātyas
- West Bengal and Bangladesh, Hinduism in
- Women in Hinduism
- Yamunā
- Yoga
- Yoga, Alchemy and
- Yoga, Christianity and
- Yoga, Esotericism and
- Yoga, Islamic Traditions and
- Yoga, Race and
- Yogananda, Paramahansa
- Yoginīs