Chapter 3: The Rise of the Marathas

The Deccan plateau's rugged mountains and dense forests gave the Marathas a huge advantage in guerrilla warfare — small, fast-moving groups could use the terrain to surprise and defeat much larger armies, as seen when Chhatrapati Shivaji defeated Afzal Khan at Pratapgad fort. Forts built on mountain tops and hilltops served as safe shelters, control points over trade routes, and bases from which the Marathas could resist long sieges — even Aurangzeb's massive army could not easily capture them all. The long western coastline motivated Shivaji to build a powerful navy, which protected sea trade, challenged European naval dominance, and gave the Marathas access to coastal resources and foreign ports. In this way, both the mountains and the coast were not just physical features but active tools of Maratha political and military power.

Ahilyabai Holkar: The Wise and Brave Queen

Ahilyabai Holkar was born in 1725 and belonged to the Holkar dynasty, one of the most powerful families in the Maratha Empire. Her family ruled a large kingdom in central India, centred around present-day Indore in Madhya Pradesh. From a young age, she showed great wisdom, courage, and a deep concern for ordinary people.

Ahilyabai faced tremendous personal sorrow — she lost both her husband and her son at a young age. This would have broken many people, but Ahilyabai chose a different path. She stepped up bravely and governed the Holkar kingdom for thirty years all by herself, making fair decisions, reducing taxes, and improving the lives of her subjects. This ability to rise above personal tragedy and keep serving others is one of her most inspiring qualities.

She is especially remembered for rebuilding temples and places of worship across India that had been destroyed by earlier rulers. Most notably, she rebuilt the sacred Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi and the Somnath temple in Gujarat, restoring important cultural and religious sites for millions of people. She also built roads, wells, and ghats throughout the country.

Ahilyabai Holkar also promoted the traditional handloom weaving industry of Maheshwar, which continues to thrive even today. She showed that a ruler's true strength lies not in warfare alone, but in caring for the people, reviving culture, and building a just society. Her life is a timeless example of compassion, resilience, and wise leadership.

Raigad Fort — The Crown of the Marathas

History: Raigad Fort, located in the Sahyadri mountain range of Maharashtra, became the capital of Chhatrapati Shivaji's kingdom. It was here, in 1674, that Shivaji was crowned king with full Vedic rites, marking the formal beginning of the Maratha Empire. The fort was so important that Aurangzeb captured it after the death of Chhatrapati Sambhaji.

Architecture: The fort stands at about 820 metres above sea level and is accessible by a steep climb of over 1,400 steps (or a ropeway today). It contains the ruins of the royal palace, a large open market area (Holi Chowk), the Jagadishwar temple, the royal granaries, and the samādhi (memorial) of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. The grand entrance gate, Maha Darwaza, is an engineering marvel of its time.

Strategic Importance: Its great height made it nearly impossible to attack directly. Enemies approaching from any direction could be spotted from miles away. The fort also served as the administrative and political heart of the Maratha Empire, showing that it was not just a military structure but the symbol of Maratha sovereignty.

Why I Would Visit: I would choose Raigad because it is the place where Indian self-rule (Swarājya) was formally declared. Walking through its ruins would feel like touching the very beginning of an Indian empire that later challenged both the Mughals and the British.

This statement means that by the time the British fully established their control over India, the Marathas were the dominant power across most of the subcontinent — not the Mughals or any other group. The Mughals had already weakened greatly after Aurangzeb's death, and the Marathas had filled that power vacuum by controlling large parts of central, northern, and southern India. Evidence from the chapter shows that the Marathas recaptured Delhi in 1771 and controlled it until the British took it three decades later, and that three Anglo-Maratha Wars had to be fought between 1775 and 1818 before the British could finally defeat them. The fact that it took the British three separate wars spanning over forty years to end Maratha power shows just how formidable and widespread the Maratha Empire was. It was the Marathas, more than any other power, who stood as the last major obstacle to British rule over India.

Chhatrapati Shivaji was a devout Hindu who also deeply respected other religions. When he sacked the wealthy city of Surat, he was careful not to attack any religious places, and he even spared the house of a charitable man named Mohandas Parekh. He forbade the Dutch from trading slaves during his southern campaign, showing concern for all people regardless of their background. He rebuilt destroyed temples and promoted Sanskrit and Marathi culture, but his instructions to officials strictly forbade harming or oppressing subjects. The later Marathas, under the inspiration of Shivaji's example, continued this tradition in many ways — for instance, Ahilyabai Holkar rebuilt the Kashi Vishwanath temple and the Somnath temple for all devotees, and the Bhonsles of Nagpur revived the worship of Jagannath at Puri. However, the chapter also honestly notes that during the Marathas' campaign in Bengal, some regional chiefs showed indiscipline and cruelty, which was a departure from Shivaji's values. Overall, the Marathas' general approach was one of cultural revival combined with religious tolerance.

Forts were the backbone of Maratha power because they controlled important mountain passes, trade routes, and strategic regions, making it very difficult for enemies to move through Maratha territory freely. When a larger army invaded, the Maratha soldiers could retreat into these hilltop forts, which were nearly impossible to capture quickly, and wait out the enemy or launch surprise guerrilla attacks from them. Ramachandrapant Amatya, Shivaji's finance minister, clearly explained in his work Ādnyāpatra that it was the forts alone that saved the Maratha state even when Aurangzeb's huge army conquered great empires like Bijapur and Golconda — because the forts could not be taken easily, the Maratha state survived decades of Mughal onslaught. Shivaji himself began his career by capturing neglected and unoccupied forts and strengthening their defences, showing that he understood forts as the foundation of his kingdom. Without this network of forts, the Marathas could not have resisted the Mughals or expanded their empire.

My Maratha Coin Design

Front Side: In the centre, I would place the image of a hilltop fort with the saffron flag flying above it, representing the Marathas' military strength and their core strategy of controlling forts. Below the fort, I would write 'Swarājya' in Devanagari script, which was Chhatrapati Shivaji's vision of self-rule and sovereignty — a concept that inspired generations.

Back Side: I would place an image of a Maratha warship sailing on the sea, representing the revolutionary Maratha navy and their challenge to European naval supremacy. Around the ship, I would engrave the words 'Jai Bhavani' (a war cry of the Marathas) in both Devanagari and Marathi scripts, reflecting their cultural pride and religious devotion.

Why These Symbols: The fort stands for resilience and strategic brilliance. The saffron flag stands for Maratha unity and identity. The ship stands for their forward-thinking maritime power. The Devanagari script stands for their effort to promote Indian languages and culture in administration. Together, these symbols capture the Marathas' military power, cultural confidence, and vision of Indian self-governance.

In my opinion, the most important contribution of the Marathas to Indian history was reviving the idea that Indians could rule themselves — the spirit of Swarājya. Before the Marathas rose to power, much of India had been under the control of the Mughal Empire for generations, and the idea of an independent Indian kingdom challenging such a mighty empire seemed impossible. Chhatrapati Shivaji proved that through courage, smart strategy, and good governance, it could be done. His example directly inspired the Bundela prince Chhatrasal to create an independent kingdom in Bundelkhand, and later the Marathas themselves went on to build the largest Indian empire before the British arrived, controlling regions from Peshawar in the north to Tamil Nadu in the south. Even after suffering the defeat at Panipat in 1761, the Marathas recovered and recaptured Delhi in 1771, showing extraordinary resilience. This spirit of refusing to accept foreign domination planted early seeds for India's freedom movement, as the chapter itself states. The Marathas showed Indians across regions that self-governance was not just a dream but an achievable reality — and that idea, more than any battle or territory, is their greatest gift to Indian history.