Decline & Fall of the Maratha Empire

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This book is not just about the end of Maratha power in India, but also covers the background before the decline started, as well as the process itself, which was not a sudden event but which took years and decades to manifest itself.

Maratha power evokes the magnetism and personality of that great warrior and statesman, Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj. This book is not about him, but with a view to cover the rise and not just the fall of Maratha power, the author has briefly touched on the appearance of Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj on the scene, as well as the immediate period after his demise. However, the book essentially focuses on the history of the Marathas after Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj had left the scene.

The Marathas were the predecessors of the British in India and their decline and fall is a sorry tale indeed. If the Maratha power had not disintegrated, it is more than likely that the history of the subcontinent would have taken a different turn.

Dr. M. S. Naravane retired from the Indian Air Force in 1977 in the selective, substantive, rank of Wing Commander, while commanding an Air Force Station, he served at almost every type of Air Force unit including a term as Assistant Air Attache at the Embassy of India, Paris and at Air Headquarters' operations room during the war with Pakistan in 1965.

After doing a variety of assignments in personnel and materials, including a short tenure in Kenya, he returned to his first love Indian Medieval history. A Msc. and PhD followed and he started visiting forts and other places of historic interest in various parts of the country. A novel feature of his field work was that he travelled long distances alone on his scooter. For example, before writing about maritime and coastal forts, he covered the entire western coast till Kanyakumari and then up along the entire eastern coast. He logged over 7000 kilometers and spent three and half months on the road.

Dr. Naravane is a founder trustee of the Mumbai based, Maritime Heritage Foundation, the Pune based Maritime Information and Cultural Studies and was closely associated with many learned societies. He has travelled widely in India, Europe and USA.

Settled at Pune, his wife was a noted short story writer in Marathi, one son is settled in the USA and another is Chief of Army Staff and a daughter, (former) HOD of Department of French, Fergusson college, Pune.

The history of the Marathas has been very well, and extensively, chronicled. Grant Duff's History of the Mahrattas was a pioneering work. In the light of later research and availability of documents it has been corrected many times, but never superceded. The eight volume history by the great scholar Riyasatkar G.S.Sardesai, is of course, indispensable. Sir Jadunath Sarkar has made valuable contribution. Ranade's The Rise of the Maratha Power is remarkable in more ways than one. Then there have been important books by many others. Why, then, this book?

The Decline and Fall of the Maratha Empire was conceived when I was writing Battles of the Honourable East India Company. The Marathas were the predecessors of the British in India. While writing about the Anglo-Maratha wars I was struck by two factors. The first was the ease with which the British divided Maratha leaders and dealt with them one by one. The second was the decline in the prowess of Maratha arms. How did this happen? How could it happen? Was British supremacy in diplomacy, troop discipline, and tactical skills, instrumental in bringing about the decline, and ultimately the fall, of the Marathas? Or was it the other way round? The British succeeded because the decline had already set in. The polity had become weak; the leaders corrupt.

It gives me great pleasure in writing this Foreword to Dr. Naravane's book - "Decline and Fall of the Maratha Empire". I am particularly interested in the subject because of my long association with the Marathas, in both peace and war.

The Marathas were the predecessors of the British in India and their decline and fall is a sorry tale indeed. If the Maratha power had not disintegrated, it is more than likely that the history of the subcontinent would have taken a different turn. Perhaps, the Marathas, the Rajputs and the Sikhs would have been able to forge an altogether different power structure. In that event, the rise and fulfillment of British power would not have been as easy and as fast as it was.

Dr. Naravane has raised a very pertinent question in the book. Did the Marathas have an empire or was it a confederacy, or neither of the two?

Before describing the Decline and Fall of the Maratha Empire, a word about the Origin of the Maratha people and their rise into a great power, may be a useful starting point. This is especially so for the reader who is not particularly familiar with the history of the Maratha people.

Maharashtra (maha = great; rashtra = state) is located in the Western part of the Indian Peninsula. The modern extent of Maharashtra is shown in map 2. The State lies between approximately 15.45' to 21.45' North latitude and 72.30' to 80.45' East longitude. Its land mass is approximately 2,48,000 square kilometers.

The dominant geographical feature of Maharashtra is, undoubtedly, the mountain range which runs North-South, quite close to the coast. This is the Sahyadri Range, the northern part of the Western Ghats. It is that if the Himalayas are nivrutti pradhan, or devbhumi - abode of the Gods, then the Sahyadris are prakruti pradhan or virbhumi - abode of vellore. The western face of the range is sharp, with sheer drops and spurs running out to the sea at many places. The eastern face is gentler and slopes out to the plateau. The mountains are not very high but so difficult that a little fortifications by humans make almost every peak into a fort, many times impregnable.