Maratha Empire (contd-1)

Pic-1,Sivaji's Birth Place. Pic-2 Sivaji's Raigard Fort.
Chhatrapati Shivaji: The Marathas lived in the Desh region around Pune for a long time, in the portion of the Deccan plateau, where plateau meets the eastern slopes of the Western Ghat.
Shivaji's father Shahaji Bhosale was the chieftain of a hardy band of warrior class mercenaries that served the Deccan Sultanates. His mother was Rajmata Jijabai, the daughter of Lakhujirao Jadhav of Sindkhed. During the period of Shivaji's birth, the power in Deccan was shared by three Islamic Sultanates – Bijapur, Ahmednagar, and Golconda. Shahaji kept changing his loyalty between the Nizamshahi of Ahmadnagar, Adil Shah of Bijapur and the Mughals, but always kept his jagir (fiefdom) at Pune and his small army with him. Gomaji Naik Pansambal, a trusted master of state-Craft, was deputed by Lakhuji Yadavrao (Jadhav) to look after Jijabai. He remained with Jijabai and Shivaji throughout his life. He also was a master of sword. But most importantly, he advised Shivaji in making certain crucial decisions which had far reaching effects on the character of the Maratha empire


Shivaji was born in the hill-fort of Shivneri near the city of Junnar. While Jijabai was pregnant, she had prayed to the local deity "Shivai" for blessings for her expected child. Shivaji was named after this local deity.

There are no contemporary records of Shivaji's exact birthdate and boyhood.
Under the leadership of Shivaji Marathas freed themselves from the Muslim Turkic Sultans of Bijapur to the South-east  and became much more aggressive, frequently raiding Mughal territory and ransacking the Mughal port of Surat in 1664 and again in 1670. In 1674 Shivaji Maharaja's death in 1680, the Marathas had expande their territory to include some parts of central India.

Maratha Empire

Maratha Empire was an Indian imperial power that existed from 1674 to 1818. At its peak they covered much of South Asia, encompassing a territory of 2.8 million km.sq.The empire was founded and consolidated by Shivaji Bhosale. He created an independent Maratha kingdom with Raigad as its capital, and successfully fought against the Mughals to defend his kingdom. The Maratha Empire waged war for 27 years with the Mughals from 1681 to 1707 which became the longest war ever fought in the history of India.

(Video)Empire:Total War - First Anglo-Maratha War (1777-1782) - Historical Battle

Battle of Buxar, fall of Delhi

The battle of Buxar was fought 0n 22nd Oct 1764 between the forces of the command of the British East India Company and the combined armies of MirQasim, the Nawab of Bengal, the Nawab of Oudh, and the Mughal Emperor, Shah Alam II. The battle fought at Buxar, ( in Bihar), located at the bank of the Ganges.
The British troops engaged in the fighting, numbered 7,072 comprising 857 British, and 5,297 Indian Sepoys and 918 Indian Cavalry . The annual stipend of Rs. 450,000 ,or of the native forces were estimated to be around 40,000 lack of co-ordination among the three desperate allies each with a different axe to grind, was responsible for their decisive debacle.Shuja-ud-Daulah, the prime victim, signed the treaty of Allahabad  that secured Diwani rights for the company to collect and manage the revenues of almost 100,000,000 acres of real estate which currently form parts of the Indian states of West Bengal, Orissa, Bihar, and Jharkhand, Uttarpradesh as well as Bangla Desh.
Shah Alam II became a pensioner with a monthly pension and Mir qasim was replaced.
This was the Battle when the British attained the political power of India.  

Different dynasties prior to British Period

Mughal Emperors and End of Mughal Rule

Battle of Plassey

British possession of India in 1744                                                                                              

                                                         On June 23, 1757, at Plassey, a small village and mango grove between Calcutta and Murshidabad, the forces of the East India Company  under Robert Clive met the army of Siraj-ud-Daulah, the Nawab of Bengal.

Clive had 800 Europeans and 2200 Indians where as Siraj-ud-Daulah in his entrenched camp at Plassey was said to have about 50,000 men with a train of heavy artillery. During the battle a monsoon storm, lasting nearly an hour, drenched both sides and the ground . The Indian guns slackened their fire because their powder was insufficiently protected, but when the Indian Cavalry charged in the hope that the British guns had suffered similarly, they were sharply repulsed by heavy fire. The battle lasted no more than a few hours, and indeed the outcome of the battle had been decided long before the soldiers came  to the battle field.

The aspirants to the Nawab's throne, Mir Jaffar, was induced to throw in his lot with Clive, and by far  the  greater number of the Nawab's soldiers were bribed to throw away their weapons , surrender prematurely, and even turn their arms against their own army.

Siraj fled, leaving a still nervous Mr. Mir Jafar to occupy the palace and treasury, and to await Clive's coming before ascending the masnad or throne. The act ended with the capture of Siraj  when nearing Bihar, he was brutally murdered by Mir Jafar's son Miran. Plassey was decisive for the British in India and for Clive .  Mir Zaffar paid 8 lac pound and got the masnad at the cost of the Independence of India.      Clive also defeated Shahjada, son of Alamgir II, and got a land as gift the income of which was 30,000 pound a year. On the other hand , Cornel Ford being sent by Clive to Vishakhapattanam defeated the French and occupied Maslipattanam.

Clive went to England on 25th February, 1760.                         

British Possessions in1767