Did the British take over from the Mughals?

                         Did the British take over from the Mughals?

Lets see what happenned actually.

Year 1707:    Aurangzeb dies.

He had fought a 20 year battle in Southern India fighting Marathas and other kings to get complete domination of the Southern India. However wars also costs money. So, the treasury were quite empty by then.

After his death- There was a battle for succession among his three sons.( Aurangazeb himself killed his elder brother-Dara Shikoh to ascend to the throne ).

Shah Alam I came to power after killing his two brothers.

Year 1712: Shah Alam I dies and again fight for succession between his sons ,starts.

The Decline of the Mughals which started in Year 1707, deteriorated further after Year 1712.

                                The Rise of the Marathas

Meanwhile the Marathas, which had been defeated by Aurangazeb earlier, started capturing Parts of Southern India.

Year 1707: Shahu Maharaj- Grandson Of Shivaji was the King of the Marathas.

He appointed Balaji Vishwanath as the Peshwa( Prime Minister) in 1713. The Peshwa's gradually took control of the Army and the administration .

This was the turning point for the Marathas.

Marathas unlike what people assume, were more of a group of different Kings(Maratha Confederacy) who owed thier allegiance to the Maratha King.It was the Peshwa’s who managed to keep them altogether. Thats why, the Peshwas had more power than the Maratha King itself.( Peshwa's after this, all belonged to chitpavan Brahmin community)

Year 1719: Peshwa Balaji helped overthrow the Mughal king Farrukhsiyar and placed Rafi-ul-Darjat at Delhi, for which Rafi-ul-Darjat agreed to give 35% of all Mughal revenue to the Marathas. The decline of Mughals was real now.

Year 1720: Baji Rao 1 became the new Peshwa. He won 41 wars and never lost even one.He was Probably the most Charismatic Maratha Leader after Shivaji.

Year 1737:Battle of Talkatora( In present Day Delhi):Baji Rao 1 defeated the Moghul Army so decisively that ,Moghul King Mohammed Shah was restricted in the Red fort Area only.

Year 1738: Battle of Bhopal: Baji Rao 1 won against the Nizam of Hyderabad effectively taking Hyderabad under him.

Year 1740: Nanasaheb(Balaji Bajirao) becomes the new Peshwa. He could be called the Architect of the Biggest Maratha Empire ever. If Baji Rao 1 was a Great warrior, Nanasaheb was a excellent administrator .

(How about Going Back a few years?

Year 1675: Venkoji- a half brother of Shivaji attacked and became king of Tanjavur( Tamil Nadu) .The Marathas ruled Tanjavur till the English took over it in 1855.)

Year 1757: Battle of Attock.: Nanasaheb’s brother Madhav Rao’s Troops fought with Afghan King  Abdali and conquered Attock( Now in Pakistan).

The Area from Attock to Tanjavur was now under the Marathas. Check the Map to see the Area that, they were in control in the year 1758.

This was the peak of Maratha Rule.

However Peshwa Nanasaheb died in 1761 and a succession war for the next Peshwa starts.This was also the time, when many small kingdoms broke away from the Marathas.

Year 1770: Peshwa Madhav Rao 11 consolidates power. He along with Nana Phadnavis ( called the Maratha Machiavelli by the Europeans for his sharp intellect) and Mahadji Shinde( of the Scindia dynasty) resurrected the Maratha Empire again.

Year 1777: Mahadji Shinde attacks Delhi and places Shah Alam 11 as the Moghul king. Shah Alam 11’s power became limited to the Red fort area only.

Year 1779:British attacks Marathas at Wadgaon-also called the First Anglo Maratha war. British were defeated and they didnt dare to attack for another 20 years.

Year 1803: All the three :Madhav Rao11/Mahadji Shinde and Nana phadnavis( The man, the British feared the most) were gone by then. Second Anglo Maratha war started. Marathas lost many territories due to infighting among themselves.

Year 1818: Third Anglo Maratha war: This time the British completely took over the Marathas.

Looking at the timeline above, it could be arguably inferred that, the 18^th century India primarily belonged to the Marathas, especially the total control Of India between 1750 to 1800.

Interesting fact is: For half a century,the center of power of India those days was Pune  and not Delhi/Mumbai or Kolkata)

I have skipped many parts to try to squeeze in history of a century in a few pages. So, if you find something missing-you know the reason.

If you hadn't known about this period of Maratha Rule earlier, do pass it to others too.

All the errors you notice are mine. The work done by the reference Authors is simply magnificent. 

Reference Books:

Haig L, t-Colonel Sir Wolseley : The Cambridge History of India.Turks and Afghans

Sen, Sailendra Nath : An Advanced History of Modern India

Sarkar, Jadunath : Fall of the Mughal Empire

Dr Uday Kulkarni:Solstice at Panipat

G.S.Chhabra: Advance Study in the History of Modern India (Volume-1: 1707-1803)

Athale, Colonel Anil A :How a Maratha general defeated the British