The Maratha Dynasty ruled from the 17th to the 19th centuries.
The Central Indian dynasty ruled in the western state of
Maharashtra, mainly along the Arabian Sea's Konkan coast.
The dynasty was formed by Shivaji, a Maratha ruler who spent
the most of his life fighting the Moghul empire.
The Marathas ruled just a tiny strip of territory in western
Maharashtra when Shivaji died in 1680.
The Moghul empire started to disintegrate with the death of
emperor Aurangzeb in 1707, and the Marathas stepped in to fill the political
vacuum.
The Maratha Confederacy ruled northern and central India
from coast to coast in the mid-1700s, extending as far north as Delhi and the
Ganges River valley.
The Maratha army was destroyed by the Afghans in Panipat in
the state of Haryana, a little distance north of Delhi, in 1761, putting an end
to expansionism.
In the conflict, both parties of warriors suffered
significant casualties, rendering them unable to oppose the entrance of the
British.
The Maratha Confederacy had fragmented into component states,
each with its own capital, a little more than a decade later.
The Bhonsle dynasty, for example, had its capital in Nagpur,
while the Holkar dynasty had its capital in Indore and the Gaikwad dynasty had
its capital in Baroda.
Gwalior and Ujjain were the capitals of the Scindia dynasty,
whereas Pune was the seat of the Peshwa dynasty.
Except for the last, all of them remained princely kingdoms
until 1947, when India gained independence.
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