INTRODUCTION

Among the successor states of 18

111
Century India, the Marathas under the
Peshwas were one of the most powerful and widespread. With a new generation of
Maratha Sardars like Shinde and Holkar in Peshwas army, Maratha power
expanded beyond the Narmada River as the Mughals were getting weaker in the
regions outside Delhi. Marathas under Peshwa Baji Rao I and Chhatrapati Shahu
conquered Khandesh, Malwa and Bundelkhand from the Mughals through a series
of campaigns by late 1730s. Above geographical regions later also identified as
Central India emerged as a base for future Maratha military operations in the
neighbouring region of Rajasthan as well as tracts North of Chambal and Yamuna
rivers extending from Mathura-Agra belt to Allahabad. Central India acted as a
new homeland for powerful Maratha political formations of Shinde and Holkar in
the later half of the Eighteenth Century. From here Shinde and Holkar were able to
revive Maratha power in Rajasthan, Delhi and Doab regions in the North that were
lost after the Battle of Panipat in 17 61.
Rise of Shinde and Holkar in Maratha politics and their role in Maratha
state formation before and after the third Battle of Panipat can be better understood
in the light of simultaneous processes of disintegration of the Mughal Empire and
the rise of Maratha power under the Peshwas. In the South the Marathas replaced
Mughal power in the outlying provinces after Shahu and Peshwa Balaji
Vishwanath had stabilized their position in Maharashtra during the period 1713 to
1720. Next Peshwa Bajirao adopted the policy of Maratha expansion in Khandesh,
Malwa and Bundelkhand. The rise of Maratha power outside Maharashtra received
further impetus from the weakening of the Mughal Empire at the centre as the
differences between the various groups of nobles at the Delhi court grew over the
years following the demise of Aurangzeb. This impacted already strained Mughal
central authority's control over the outlying provinces. Bajirao gave Ranoji Shinde
and Malhar Rao Holkar administrative and military power through distribution of
saranjams in Malwa and Khandesh. Shinde and Holkar families exploited this
opportunity and made strong presence in the areas North of Narmada River in the
later half of the Eighteenth Century.
Mughal and Maratha Historiography in Context of
Shinde and Holkar
The disintegration of the Mughal Empire and rise of the Maratha power
during the 18th century happens to be the main themes in the major works on 18
1
h
Century India.
Jadunath Sarkar and G S Sardesai were the first to write authentic history of
the Mughal Empire and the Marathas during the 18th century based on
documentary evidence culled from Persian, Marathi, English and primary sources
in other local languages. Sarkar in his Fall of the Mughal Empire made full scale
study and mapping of the receding Mughal Empire in the context of the emerging
regional and local power group's new challenges and coping up with the emerging
power equations in the ,outlying provinces.
1
Maratha expansion in the North
happened to be his main focus while dealing with the various regional powers that
came to inherit the erstwhile Mughal subas beyond the Delhi-Agra region
following the period of Muhammad Shah; the last Mughal Emperor to hold power
in the outlying provinces. Shinde and Holkar's advance and progress in the North
may not be possible to study on the same scale as Sarkar and Sardesai have
attempted being contemporaries and complementing each others mastery over
Persian and Marathi languages.
Like Sarkar, Sardesai's Marathi Riyasar and New History of the Marathas
3
were first full scale history of the Marathas based on the official Marathi records of
the Peshwa period preserved in the Peshwa Daftar. Sardesai improved upon James
Grant Duff
4
and M G Ranade's
5
accounts by bringing out first authentic political
history of the Peshwa Period, Maratha expansion in the North under Peshwa and
later Mahadji Shinde received prime attention as he devoted second and third
volumes to assimilate his findings from the 45 volume Selections from Peshwa
Sarkar, Jadunath, Fall of the Mugho/ Empire, 4 Volumes, First Published 1932-50, Reprint,
New Delhi, 1971-75
Sardesai, G S, Marathi Riyasat, Bombay, 1935
Sardesai, G S, New History of the Marathas, Bombay, 1946-48, Reprint, Bombay, 1958
Duff, James Grant, History of the Mahrattas, 3 Vols., First Published 1818, Reprint, New
Delhi, 1990
M G Ranade, Rise of the Maratha Power, Bombay, 1900
2
Daftar series of documents that he brought out of the documents preserved in the
Alienation office, Poona.
1
More than producing the authentic political histories in the nationalist
framework both Sarkar and Sardesai worked on vast mass of contemporary
documents in Persian, English and Marathi relating to Maratha expansion and
supremacy in the NOi1h during the later part of the 18th Century. To Sarkar's credit
goes compilation & translation of several volumes of English and Persian records
relating to Maratha expansion and supremacy of Shinde and Holkar in the North in
the second half of the 18th century.
2
Sardesai, besides looking after the production
of multi volume Selections from the Peshwa Daftar, also compiled another volume
of Marathi paper relating to the period of Mahadji Shinde and Nana Phadnis.
3
Besides providing easy access to the documents to future historians by translating
from Persian to English and transcribing difficult Modi Marathi documents into
Devnagri, both Sarkar and Sardesai have provided their own assessment of the
trend of events as evident from the documents in the introduction to these
compilations. Study of Shinde and Holkar's in North India campaigns, their
growing power and their relations with the Poona court, The English, The Mughal
Emperor and the various power groups in the North seems to have been close to
both Sarkar and Sardesai.
Raghubir Sinh's
4
Malwa in Transition also came close to the above genre
of writing. Based on contemporary Persian and Marathi documents Raghubir Sinh
provided extensive account of the Maratha campaigns and growing crisis of the
Mughal Empire in the Malwa suba as experienced by the successive Mughal
subadars after Auragzeb's period. Jai Singh, Nizam-ul-Mulk and other Mughal
subadars role right up to the Maratha victory in 1738 found plenty of space in this
study of the crisis of the Mughal Empire in the Malwa region. Raghubir Sinh's
familiarity with the complexion of the Malwa as local Raj put prince provides first
hand account of the impact of Maratha campaigns on a large number of small
Rajput principalities that assumed independent status in the period of Mughal-
Sardesai, G S (ed.), Selections from the Peshwa Daftar, 45 Volumes, Bombay, 1930-34
Poona Residency Correspondence, Volume-/, Mahadji Sindhia and North Indian Affairs
(1785-1794) Sarkar, J N (ed. Bombay, 1936; Persian Records of Maratha History, 2 Vols.,
Sarkar, J N (trans. & ed.), Bombay, 1953-54
Historical Papers Relating to Mahadji Shinde, Sardesai, G S (ed.), Gwalior, 1937
Sinh, Raghubir, Malwa in Transition or A Centwy of Anarchy, 1698-1765, Bombay, 1936
3
Maratha struggle. Raghubir Sinh raises the problems faced by the local Rajput
rulers in the transition phase when both regular Maratha campaigns and shuffling
of Mughal subadars as a result of the growing pressure on the Mughal court
brought the crisis in the Malwa to its climax. He also discusses the role played by
Sawai Jai Singh in the Mughal-Maratha politics as subadar of Malwa. Jai Singh's
larger ambition to expand his territory by favouring Marathas
1
paved the way for
Bajirao and his sardars to penetrate deeper and deeper in the region during .the
period 1 720-1 7 40.
Raghubir Sinh's work may have been inspired by John Malcolm's Memoir
of Central India
2
but its treatment of political history of Malwa in the first half of
the 18
111
century remains a pioneering effort that studies Malwa suba during the
period of the crisis of the Mughal Empire and the rise of Maratha Power in contrast
to Malcolm's postm )rtem of
1
Maratha rule over Central India just after the British
occupation. What Malcolm's
3
Memoir dealt with was the history of Malwa and
other adjoining regions like Khandesh and Bundelkhand in the period after the
demise of Mahadji Shinde and Ahilyabai Holkar as evident from the economic
statistics and administrative details provided by him pertaining to Daulat Rao
Shinde and Jaswant Rao Holkar's period.
4
Basically Malcolm wrote an account of
Central India based on his preliminary investigations of the region between 1817
and 1821 as a British administrator.
5
The fragmentary history of origin and rise of
Shinde and Holkar that he narrated were not based on contemporary documents but
later reports that he gathered in course of his field visits. Thus Malcolm's work is a
more authentic for the period of Daulat Rao Shinde and Jaswant Rao Holkar than
the details on Mahadji Shinde and Ahilyabai Holkar's period which are based on
later reports.
6
Both Maratha campaigns and shuffling of Mughal subadars as a
result of the growing pressure on the Mughal court brought the crisis in the Malwa
6
Ibid., pp. I 62,
See Jadunath Sarkar's foreword to Raghubir Sinh's Ma/wa in Transition, pp. vii-viii
Malcolm, John, A Memoir of Centra/India and Adjoining Provinces, 2 Vols, First Published,
1823, Reprint, New Delhi, 1970
Malcolm, John, A Memoir ofCentra/lndia and Adjoining Provinces, See Vol.2 for the statiscal
details pertaining to Central India
Ibid., See Vol. 1, pp.225-254
Ibid., See Vol.l, pp.142-324, Family History of Holkars before Jaswant Rao Holkar is briefly
dealt, major portion is devoted to the career of Jaswant Rao Holkar, See pp.197-324
4
to its climax paving the way for Bajirao and his sardars to penetrate deeper and
deeper in the region during the period 1720 to1740.
Study of decaying Mughal Empire and its politico-administrative
institutions at the turn of the 18
111
century in the context of the disintegration of the
Mughal Empire especially during the period of Aurangzeb and his weak successors
have been the main focus of the works of Satish Chandra
1
and Irfan Habib
2
.. through his classic study provides a background to the weakening of the Mug hal
Empire. Both the scholars' work have strong bonding as they take up the working
of zamindari and jagirdari system while describing the crisis of the Mughal
Empire. Expansion and effectiveness of the Mughal State structure in the outlying
provinces were based on the participation of the local zamindars and the local
Mughal representative - the jagirdar in hey days of the Mughal Empire.
Zamindars and jagirdars role in the Mughal revenue collecting machinery were
paramount according to Irfan Habib and Satish Chandra. Mughal State structure
came under pressure when zamindars and jagirdars started parting ways from the
central authority as pressure for greater revenue share and freshjagir allotment and
distribution became unmanageable.
Since the rise of the Maratha power in the North started with the Maratha
campaigns and the later conquest of the Malwa suba, it is important to visualize the
whole political scene from Mughal, Maratha and regional perspective in the years
that followed Aurangzeb's demise. Successors of Aurangzeb proved weaker in
holding together the nobles both at the centre and in the provinces. In the absence
of a strong Mughal ruler faction politics at the centre became more and more
pronounced. This aspect has been highlighted in the studies made by Satish
Chandra
3
and Muzaffar Alam.
4
Bringing more authenticity to the process of changeover from Mughal
system to regional political formations, present genre of historians have expanded
the horizon and have probed deeper into the socio-economic history of each region
; Chandra, Sat ish, Parties and Politics at the Mughal Court, 1707-1740, First Published, 1959,
Reprint, 2002, pp.l9-32; also Chandra, Satish, Medieval India: Society, the Jagirdari Crisis
and the Village, Macmillan, Delhi, 1982, pp.67-75
Habib, lrfan, The Agrarian System of Mughal India, 1556-1707, First Published, Bombay,
1963, Revised Edition, Oxford, Delhi, 1999
Chandra, Satish, Parties and Politics at the Mughal Court, pp. 258-268
Alam, Muzaffar, Crisis of Empire in Mughal North India, Awadh & the Punjab, 1707-1748,
New Delhi, 1986
5
while studying broader political formation at the province and district levels for a
comparative study of 18
1
h century political formation with those of the Mughal
period. In the process they have expanded their study to other social groups along
with the zamindars. Making use of a larger data base generated from the study of
village and pargana level records and also studying vast mass of contemporary
correspondences, news letters and private papers in not only the language of the
Mughal court but also the vast mass of contemporary records in English and local
Indian languages have been incorporated in these regional studies.
Suggestions have also been made by Barnard Cohn to widen the scope of
study of 18
1
h century political systems to all levels of elite formation right from the
central authority at centre and suba level to the zamindars at pargana and mahal
levels.
1
Cohn also makes suggestions for study of regions as functions of centres
integrated by various types .of netwhrks, most common being the trading and
political network binding together a particular region.
2
C A Bayly's study for North India in the later halfofthe 18th century and
better part of the 19th century focuses on the role played by merchants, traders and
bankers as agency for change in the regional political formations that they had
served as financiers gave way to British Empire as they switched sides.
3
Muzaffar Alam in his study of the Mughal political decentralization in the
first half of the 18th century has made a case for growing prosperity of zamindars
as the cause of their revolt in Awadh and Punjab on the basis of contemporary
Persian records. Another social group represented by madad-i-maash holders who
had come to hold large areas in revenue free grants in A wadh region too became
powerful and distanced themselves from the Mughal empire, due to their shifting
relations they also came in conflict with the local zamindars argues Muzaffar
Alam.
4
Cohn, BernardS, 'Political Systems in Eighteenth- Century India: The Banaras Region' in An
Anthropologist Among the Historians and other Essays, Delhi, 1987, pp.483-499
Cohn, Bernard S, "Networks and Centres in the Integration of Indian Civilization" in An
Anthropologist Among the Historians and other Essays, Delhi, 1987, pp.78-87; See also his
'Region Subjective and Objective: Their Relation to the Study of Modern Indian History and
Society' in the same volume, pp.l 00-135
Bayly, C A, Rulers, Townsmen and Bazaars: North Indian Society in the Age of British
Expansion (1770-1870), London, 1983.
Alam, Muzaffar, op.cil., pp.305-7
6
Making use of a large data base generated from the study of pargana and
village level revenue records from Jaipur state in Rajasthan, Dilbagh Singh's study
of local and revenue administration of Jaipur state in the second half of 18th
century depicts progressive decline in the economy in Jaipur state through out the
second half of the eighteenth century.
1
Eastern Rajasthan that this study focuses
upon besides suffering from the frequent visits by the Maratha armies also had to
face irequent famines. Dilbagh Singh has shown the local economy of Eastern
Rajasthan in shambles on several counts: large scale migration of cultivators to
Malwa and Kota region, decline in revenue collection from 28 to 50 percent,
cultivated area shrinking by 50 percent, decline in cultivation of both cash and
food crops, also growing incidence of contract farming called ijara as investment
opportunity, as agricultural production by the richer section stopped?
Rise of the Marathas in Maharashtra under the Peshwas and their expansion
m the North during the 18th century period has also received wide scholarly
attention as it was viewed as part of larger disintegration of the Mughal Empire
process in the outlying provinces in the South. Irfan Habib has viewed rise of
Shivaji as zamindars uprisings in the Deccan against the oppressive Mughal rule.
3
Marathas were among the first to pose challenge to Mughal power in the Deccan
during the period of Aurangzeb and later Maratha dominated areas were the first to
breakaway from the Mughal Empire soon after the demise of Aurangzeb. Satish
Chandra has highlighted jagir distribution to Maratha sardars as causing rift
between the Mughal nobles and the Emperor, because later on as the Empire
reached its territorial limits, it became difficult to satisfy the new applicants with
jagirs.
4
Rise of the Peshwas and expansion of the Marathas in the North was
continuation of the political process that began under the leadership of Shivaji who
successfully led Maratha sardars against Aurangzeb till his death. Aurangzeb's
attempt to bring Maharashtra under Mughal Empire after Shivaji's death was met
with strong resistance shown by the Maratha sardars led by Rajaram, younger son
2
Singh, Dilbagh, State, Landlords and Peasants, Rajasthan in the I 8
111
Century, Delhi, 1990,
pp.l99-202
Ibid., pp.l99-20 I
Habib, lrfan, op.cit., See the section on Political Role of Zamindars, pp.384-385 & For Shivaji
see, pp.40 1-405
Chandra, Satish, Medieval India: Society, the Jagirdari Crisis and the Village, Delhi, 1982,
pp.67-75
7
of Shivaji after Aurangzeb executed Sambhaji, elder son and successor to Shivaji.
After Rajaram's death in 1700 his widow Tarabai seized the initiative and rallied
Maratha sardars against the Mughal forces till the death of Aurangzeb. Sambhaji's
son Shahu who had remained in Mughal captivity was released after Aurangzeb's
death in 1707. Shahu's initial years were full of challenges as he was opposed by
Tarabai and Maratha sardars who had rallied behind her for so long against
Aurangzeb. Shahu's inexperience and lack of support from Maratha sardars were
tackled by a Chitpavan Brahmin, Balaji Vishwanath as the latter won over many
Maratha sardars to Shahu's side and drove away Tarabai to Kolhapur. Balaji
Vishwanath was made Peshwa in Shahu's council of ministers with unprecedented
military and administrative powers. Here onwards Peshwa Balaji Vishwanath
made steady progress as he stabilized Shahu's position as Chhatrapati in
Maharashtra. On Balaji Vishw-.nath's demise his son Bajirao became the Peshwa
and here onwards Peshwa's position became hereditary as Shahu began to rely
more and more on Peshwa in administrative and military affairs of the state. Under
Balaji Vishwanath and Bajirao Maratha power replaced Mughal power in the
whole of Deccan and also conquered Malwa by 1740. Andre Wink's study of the
Maratha state formation during the 18th century is based on Marathi documents
both state and private papers which illustrates Watan as institution much akin to
the zaminadri rights of the zamindars in the North and its role in elite formation at
various levels in Maharashtra during the 17th and 18th century.
1
Watandars as pate!,
kulkarni at village level and as deshmukh and deshkulkarni at district level acted as
functionaries in the Maratha revenue collection machinery as well as partners in
larger political formations led by the local Maratha sardars who in tum supported
the Chhatrapati, the Maratha King. Wink introduces Fitna, a concept much
popular in West Asia to the process of Maratha state formation during the 18th
century as he studied the changing loyalty and conflict among the Maratha
watandars and sardars in the process of Maratha state formation under Shivaji and
his successors and later under the leadership of the Peshwas during the 18th
Wink, Andre, Land and Sovereignty in India: Agrarian Society and Politics under the
Eighteenth Century Maratha Svarajya , Cambridge, London, 1986
8
Century.
1
Wink thus interprets the growth and transformation of Maratha State into
a confederacy in the later period under the Peshwas and the Maratha sardars
Gaikwad, Shinde, Holkar, Bhonsle and others within Maharashtra and outside in
the fitna paradigm.
Rise of the Peshwa in Maratha politics marginalized the role of older
sardars and the Senapati - the Maratha military commander. Thus Bhonsale a scion
of Shivaji<s family and Dabhades whose power as Shahu's Senapati - military
'
commanders were later absorbed by the Peshwa Baji Rao settled down in Nagpur
and Gujarat respectively. With Bajirao leading the Maratha army, Senapati with
diminished role had hardly any business at Poona as Peshwa took control over
Maratha affairs. Dabhades drifted away from Poona politics and developed their
base at Baroda in Gujarat after their serious rivalry with the Peshwa Bajirao in
league with other sardars and the Nizam proved futile by the beginning of 1730s.
Bhonsales too settled down at Nagpur as they concentrated on Maratha expansion
in Bengal and Orissa.
Bajirao and later Peshwa as Shahu's chief administrator and military
commander were subsequently in a position to act as the de-facto Maratha ruler,
Shahu as Chhatrapati merely acted as Maratha head, distancing himself from day
to day affairs at Poona court once threat from Nizam and Peshwas rivalry with .
Dabhade became a non - issue from the 1730s. Emergence of Peshwa as the de-
facto ruler in Maharashtra and his growing power in the neighbouring Khandesh,
Malwa and Bundelkhand had been achieved by a new class of supporters. Peshwa
inducted his own men of Chitpavan Brahmin caste from Konkan in the Maratha
bureaucracy and army. Secondly older Maratha sardars who had shown defiance
and whose loyalty had been suspect were not preferred in Bajirao's army. From the
mid 1720s onwards Bajirao led the fight against the domestic rival Dabhades and
Mughal nobles Nizam, Mohammad Khan Bangash and Sawai Jai Singh in the
company of new group of sardars. With unquestioned loyalty and some of them
hailing from very humble background new lot of sardars accompanying Bajirao
)
helped him in many challenging battles that took place from the mid 1720s
onwards till the decisive Battle of Bhopal in 1738 that established Maratha control
Indian scholars have been critical of such a concept being applicable to political formations in
pre-modern India, especially Irfan Habib, Muzaffar A lam, See their Reviews in Modern Asian
Studies, Vol.23, 1989
9
over Malwa. Ranoji Shinde and Malhar Rao Holkar also joined as a part of
Bajirao's new team while he was trying to stabilize Maratha power in the early
1720s and showed total commitment during the campaigns in Malwa and
neighbouring territories.
Maratha state formation in the 18th century that this study focuses upon
traces the role of Peshwa' s saradrs Shinde and Holkar in strengthening and
expansion of Maratha power in the North. Shinde and Holkar's rise during the
period of Bajirao and their campaigns in the areas beyond Narmada River in the
North, covering the erstwhile Mughal territories of Khandesh, Malwa,
Bundelkhand, Rajasthan and Agra has been referred as Core and Periphery of
household state that the two families ruled and dominated from Indore and Ujjain
in the later half of the 18
1
h Century. Stewart Gordon's
1
study of Maratha conquest
of Malwa and Khandesh and later cons0\idation in the Central India region has the
same trajectory as those of John Malcolm and Raghubir Sinh. Gordon brings order
to the numerous campaigns in Khandesh and Malwa right from the beginning of
the 18
1
h century and organized campaigns under the Peshwa Bajirao by calling
them as a process of' Slow Conquest' that gets completed with consolidation of the
Maratha power by the 1750s in the areas directly controlled by Peshwa.
2
Gordon
analyses and grades the Maratha campaigns as being of increasing magnitude with
the progress in time. Dislodging of Mughal power first from rural areas and then
from smaller towns and finally the conquest of the main Mughal centres in Malwa
and Khandesh as campaigns progress, needless to say Gordon borrows from
Bernard Cohn's framework of "Network and Centres in the integration of a
region." Gordon studies several aspects of Maratha state formation in Central India
through independent papers that follows 'The Slow Conquest' reflecting on
ascendancy of Maratha rule in the region.
3
But political formations in the territory
2
Gordon, Stewart, 'The Slow Conquest: Administrative Integration of Malwa into the Maratha
Empire, 1720-1760', MAS, 1977, pp.1-40
From the point ofview ofMughal disintegration Gordon's 'The Slow Conquest' and Muzaffar
A lam's Crisis of Empire in the Mug hal North study the same problem of the breaking away of
Mughal subas in the first half of the I 8
111
century through different processes
Gordon, Stewart N, 'Scarf and Sword: Thugs, Marauders and State Formation in 18th Century
Malwa', IESHR, Vol.6, 1969; Gordon, Stewart N, 'The Slow Conquest: Administrative
Integration of Malwa into the Maratha Empire', 1720-1760, MAS, Voi.I I, 1977; Gordon,
Stewart, Legitimacy and Loyalty in Some Successor States of the Eighteenth Century, in J F
Richards edited Kingship and Authority in South Asia, Madison: University of Wisconsin
Publications Series, 1978; Gordon, Stewart N, 'Forts and Social Control in the Maratha State',
10
assigned to Maratha sardars Shinde and Holkar in the adjoining areas of Malwa
and Khandesh during the same period have so far remained untouched.
V S Kadam's study ofthe origin and development ofMaratha confederacy
highlights the process of transformation of Maratha polity from a kingdom to a
loosely knit political formation as the century progresses.
1
Kadam has traced the
origin of Maratha confederacy in the operation of saranjam system, first adopted
during the period ()f Aurangzeb's invasion of Maharashtra by Rajaram. Kadam's
study brings ill to focus the dynamics of 18
111
century Maratha polity? The
emphasis has been towards understanding political, administrative, financial and
military relations between Peshwa at the centre and his sardars holding saranjams
in the outlying areas.
3
Shinde and Holkar' s rise and progress as powerful Maratha sardars in the
North in the later half of the Eighteenth Century brought Marathas to the centre
stage of North Indian Politics. Malhar Rao Holkar and several members of Shinde
family were instrumental in this process by establishing Maratha domination in
Rajasthan and Doab regions before the Battle of Panipat. However, it was the
revival of Maratha power after Panipat and their supremacy in the North under
Malhar Rao Holkar, Ahilyabai & Tukoji Holkar and Mahadji Shinde that has so far
only remained confined to many biographies produced in the early 20th century.
Sarkar and Sardesai's treatment has been in much larger Mughal and Maratha
framework.
This study makes Central India, Rajasthan and adjoining Mathura -Agra
region its focus while tracing Maratha state formation under Shinde and Holkar.
During the course of Maratha campaigns all over the North beyond Narmada,
Chambal and Yamuna rivers role of geographical and other local factors have been
acknowledged. How local topography and strongholds impacted the response of
MAS, Vol.13, 1979; Gordon, Stewart N & J F Richards, 'Kinship and Pargana in Eighteenth
Century Khandesh ', IESHR, Vol.22, 1985; Gordon, Stewart N, 'Burhanpur: Entreport and
Hinterland, 1650-1750', IESHR, Vol. 25, 1988; Gordon, Stewart N, The Marathas I600-1818,
The New Cambridge History of India Series, Cambridge, 1993; Gordon, Stewart N, Maratha
Marauders and State Formation in Eighteenth Century India, Oxford, 1994; Gordon, Stewart
N, The Limited Adoption of European-Style Military forces by Eighteenth Century Rulers in
India, IESHR, Vol.35, No.3, 1998
Kadam, V S, Maratha Confederacy: A Study in its Origin and Development, Delhi, 1993
Ibid., pp.18-3 I for Saranjam System of the Marathas
Ibid., See his Preface
11
the local elite to Maratha control and dominance has been examined at various
stages ofMaratha expansion in the North.
Nature of Shinde and Holkar's relations with Jaipur and Jodhpur state in
the second half of the 18th Century has especially been examined in the light of the
local resistance to Maratha domination in the light of fresh evidence. Examination
of Maratha - Rajput relations in the last quarter of the 18th century from the
Maratha and from the perspective of the local elites is based on first hand account
of Maratha vakil at the Jodhpur court and regular correspondence of Shinde and
Holkar with the Jaipur state. Also the focus is on Shinde and Holkar's growing role
as members of Maratha Confederacy vis-a-vis Peshwa's direct relations with the
Jaipur and Jodhpur Raj put rulers after the death of Sawai Jai Singh in 1743.
An attempt has also been made here to study Shinde and Holkar's
household state in the formative years in and arounc their b ~ e s in Central India
while tracing their rise to power in Central India and Rajasthan. Presence of the
Maratha elements in Shinde and Holkar's set up in Central India and North has
been also examined along with the induction of local elements in the army during
the last quarter of the 18th century under Mahadji Shinde. Mahadji Shinde's role in
North Indian politics especially his relations with the Rajputs of Rajasthan, the
Mughal Emperor and the English has also-been analysed in the period ofMaratha
supremacy in the North.
Nature of Maratha control and dominance in Central India and in the areas
in the North, beyond Chambal River under Shinde and Holkar varied. This has
been examined in the light of the mechanism of revenue collection applied by
Shinde and Holkar in different regions. Comparison of the arrangements for
revenue collection during the period with the Mughal and Maratha revenue
administration is another objective of this study. Various Centers (Indore, Ujjain,
Mathura and Kota) and Network that integrated the periphery with the core region
have been mapped while studying Shin de and Holkar' s control and domination in
the conquered territories.
Satish Chandra's thoughtful essay The 18
1
" Century in india: Its economy
and the Role of the Marathas, the Jats, the Sikhs and the Afghans is one of the
12
corner-stone ofthis study, especially his remark, "The internal character of the
states of the Sindhia and Holkar needs to be assessed .... "
1
In a larger framework this study also considers writings of Bernard Cohn
2
and R G Fox.
3
Muzaffar Alam's and Sanjay Subrahmanyam's introductory remark
in a recent publication
4
about the need to study the process along with the structure
of a political formation is also important in this work on Shinde and Holkar where
military campaigns are an 0)1going process right from the beginning of the century
but its nature changes in the second half of the 18th century. Cavalry based loosely
organised Maratha army under Malhar Rao Holkar and Ranoji Shinde to infantry
and artillery based army under Mahadji Shinde brought a sea change in the way
Maratha army operated in the North from the days ofPeshwa Bajirao.
The present work is divided into five chapters. Each chapter covers a
particular aspect or a stage in Maratha state formation that emerges from the
analysis of primary and secondary literature.
First chapter Regional Reality and State Formation not only introduces
Central India and Rajasthan regions in geographical terms but also maps
strongholds, logistics and communication network that played a crucial role during
the Maratha campaigns and conquest of a particular locality. Maratha state
formation in the North during the 18th Century has to be first seen as control over a
complex network of geographical and man made strongholds in these region.
Maratha rise to power in Central and North India was an unprecedented attempt
on such a grand scale, in the past no power moving from South to North from the
areas beyond Narmada River and Vindhya hill ranges had achieved so much
territorial gains. In 18th century Maratha cavalry was fast on mountainous terrain
but large rivers like Narmada were to be crossed at selective points, there was no
better access to interiors of Rajasthan than the Mukundra pass and majestic forts
like Gawalior and those in Bundelkhand could test any army's strategy to capture
them.
Chandra, Sat ish, The 18
111
Century ill India: Its Economy and the Role of the Marathas, the Jats,
the Sikhs and the Afghans, Calcutta, 1991, pp.28-29
Cohn, Bernard S, An Anthrpologist among the Historians and Other Essays, Delhi, 1987,
Several Essays mentioned above
Fox, R G, Kin, Clan, Raja and Rule: State-Hinterland Relations in Pre-industrial India,
Bombay, 1971
Muzaffar Alam and Sanjay Subrahmanyam (ed.), The Mughal State, 1526-1750, OUP, Delhi,
1998, pp.l-71
13
Second chapter introduces the local elites in the regions that later were
conquered and incorporated in the domain of Shinde and Holkar. The advantages
of terrain and strongholds in the limited area that local Raj put chiefs enjoyed were
key to t[le success of the Marathas. Maratha expansion was in alliance with the
local elites of the region. Nanadlal Mandloi of pargana Kampe! in south Malwa
opened the doors for Maratha Expansion during the period of Bajirao as he
controlled the fords on the Narmada river. Chhatrasal Bundela and Bajirao joined
hands as Bundela Chief needed his support to drive away Mohammad Khan
Bangash from Bundelkhand in the 1720s. Bajirao in return got a permanent and
secure base in Bundelkhand when Chhatrasal promised him a portion of his
territory. From Bundelkhand Bajirao could launch campaign in northern Malwa,
Rajasthan and in Doab regions across Yamuna River. On the other hand local
resistance in several areas hindered Maratha expansion. :Chichi dhiefs of Malwa,
Gohad Jat Rana Chattar Singh, Bundela Rajputs and bigger Rajput chiefs of
Rajasthan were strongly entrenched in their home territory. The process ofMaratha
domination and control here was a prolonged affair. Smaller Rajput chieftains in
Rajasthan in the last quarter of the century allied with Mahadji Shinde in their own
interest. Kota chief Zalim Singh Jhala's association with Shinde helped both sides
in gaining control over Mewar and Kota region. Zalim Singh neutralised the threat
to Kota from Jaipur by allying with Shinde.
Third chapter traces the rise of Shinde and Holkar in the context of the
rebuilding of Maratha power by Chattrapati Shahu and the Peshwa after the
passing away of Aurangzeb. How Ranoji Shinde and Malhar Rao Holkar came in
contact and rose higher as Maratha sardars in the new Maratha set up at the
beginning of the 18
1
h Century. Their rise to power has been dealt in context of
Peshwas attempt to marginalize the older sardars and his growing reliance on new
lot of loyal and humble sardars trained under his own leadership. Participation of
the members of Shinde and Holkar family in the expansion and rise of Maratha
power in the North after they had received territorial assignments in Central India
both before and after the Battle of Panipat takes into account all major military
campaigns in the North and South that made them the leading Maratha sardars.
Career of Mahadji Shinde had special bearing on Maratha affairs in the
North. How Mahadji made a mark in Maratha politics after the third battle of
Panipat is attempted in this chapter. Mahadji's role in the Anglo-Maratha War,
14
coming closer to Mughal Emperor and his later military reforms and campaigns
against Rajputs of Rajasthan made him the most powerful Maratha leader. The
chapter tries to find out how he climbed up facing the challenges that came in the
way to his supremacy in the North.
Maratha penetration in Rajasthan forms another thrust area in this work.
Maratha campaigns and response of Jaipur and Jodhpur rulers to Shinde and
Holkar's attempts to control the e<?onomic resources of the region saw much blood
shed for more than 50 years of Maratha domination. The chapter shows how the
response of the local elite to Maratha domination was widespread resistance to
presence of Maratha revenue collectors and their outposts in the region by the local
zamindars. Shinde and Holkar's gentle persuasion as well as military threats and
aggression so evident in the correspondences over a long period of time that failed
to fetch them enough tribute from the Rajput rulers of Jaipur and Jodhpur forms
the crux of the arguments that Maratha had no more than dominating presence in
the periphery. Mahadji Shinde's victory over Jaipur and Jodhpur in 1790 was a
result of the local support from self aspiring Raj put chieftains and through superior
military build up, the chapter argues. The region suffered due to frequent Maratha
demands for money and visit of the Maratha army that led regular pressure on
Jaipur ruler to pay tribute also shown by the regular war of words and stand off
between the two sides depicted in the Kharita records. Pressure on peasantry and
incidence of large scale desolation in rural areas of eastern Rajasthan also support
Maratha pressure for money on Rajput chiefs.
There is substantial evidence of trade in certain precious items like horse
and camels between the Maratha courts of Peshwa, Shinde and Holkar after
Marathas made Kota their base and established regular communication channel
with Jaipur court. Shinde also sought regular remission of toll tax, Mahsul, from
traders' crossing over to Jaipur region for trade. Jaipur ruler was also asked to
provide protection to merchants, traders and pilgrims crossing over to Jaipur
region. Growing contact between Malwa and Jaipur region may be traced to from
)
Sawai Jai Singh's period when he served as Malwa's subabdar.
Final chapter looks at Shinde and Holkars administrative and revenue
arrangements in the conquered territory as it evolved after Peshwa granted them
saranjams in Malwa and Khandesh. The ongoing process of conquest and
expansion led to adding of fresh saranjams by Peshwa to both the sardars in
15
Rajasthan and Doab. As in the outlying areas Marathas didn't have much control,
the chapter shows how Marathas collected tribute by making local arrangements
and negotiations without taking over the revenue collection machinery of the local
chief. In the core areas of Maratha control that covered most of south Malwa and
north-west Malwa, especially Ujjain, Indore and Kota centres came up with
administration network managed by the local kamavisdars of Shinde and Holkar.
Growing incidence of ijara and Shinde's grant of large chunks of Mughal territory
that he came to control in the 1780s to his military generals were taken up as
measures to bail out the household states from the growing scarcity of funds
needed to pay the army in the years of hectic campaigns and warfare. Bankers
involvement in state finance is also shown to be a growing practice as both Holkar
and Shinde began to rely on them for ready cash towards the end of the 18
111
I
century. Involvement of several bankers of Indore in Hc1kar's state affairs as
revenue farmers has come to light. Shinde' s dealings with bankers were even
greater as were his expenditures on army when he moved to North after the Anglo-
Maratha war.
On a larger scale the work treats the whole territory that came under Shinde
and Holkar' s supremacy as highly settled core areas of personal control where
Maratha set up was well established and beyond that there was a large periphery
where they dominate through their military supremacy. Here Shinde and Holkar
had an agreement with the local elite to serve them militarily and pay the tribute.
However, this arrangement worked only when the local elite was under pressure.
Most of the time the local elite was freely operating and the Marathas had to apply
military pressure to bring them back to their fold.
What is also evident is that various regions and regional identities are
getting merged as Marathas and other local powers that emerged after Mughal
disintegration were interacting on a regular basis now through their vakils (agents)
in the courts of other local powers. Military campaigns, inter-regional trade and
pilgrimage were bridging the gaps between North and South too. As it involved
crossing local barriers and development of new military and trade route and also
probably the language barrier. Growing proximity of Maharashtra and Central
India to Rajasthan, Delhi-Agra and Doab regions as there was greater movement of
people now than probably during the Mughal period is indicated in this work.
16
Nature of Source Material
Most of the primary sources used for this study are in form of
correspondences in Marathi, Rajasthani, Persian and English by Maratha rulers,
their associates, administrators posted in the local ruler's courts as well as
representatives of British and other powers in the Maratha courts. Eighteenth
century compared to the Sixteenth and Seventeenth century generated far more
records as there was greater interactiuh among the new and old political formations
and also because of the fast changing political scene. Regular reporting of events
and local affairs in the North is evident in vast mass of documents generated by
Maratha news writers, reports of the Maratha vakils, the Persian Akhbarats, reports
ofthe English Residents that fills several volumes.
Marathi correspondences from the very beginning ofPeshwa's campaign in
Central India are the richest collection for the entire period of the study. Separate
Series of Conespondences deal with Peshwa, Holkar and Shinde' s day to day
engagements ranging from military campaigns, movement of Maratha Sardars in
the localities of Central India, fast changing situation in the courts of local elites,
payment of tribute etc. As the period progresses these correspondences are richer
in detail about day to day movement of Maratha army on various fronts and results
of Maratha military operations against the local powers. They also contain details
of the local terrain and strongholds enabling an estimation of the various stages of
the Maratha expansion both before and after the third battle of Panipat. However, it
is matter of internal administration-Maratha arrangements in the newly conquered
areas like allotment of saranjams to Maratha sardars, appointment of revenue
collectors, schedule and details of pending dues from the local chieftains under
domination that the later Marathi correspondences also include along with Military
details.
Marathi scholars have transcribed all these Marathi correspondence from
Modi to Balbodhi i.e. Devnagri script. Holkar' s official correspondences were
complied by V.V. Thakur under the ti}le Holkarsahica Itihasacin Sadhanen.
1
Shinde's official records referred as Gulgule Daftar have been also transcribed.
Part of it has been printed under the title Shindesahica ltihasachi Sadhane by A B
Holkarsahica ltihasacin Sadhanen, Thakur, V. V ., Vol. I ,Gawalior, 1929
17
Phalke
1
; however major portion of Gulgule Daftar are yet to be published, though
copy of it in transcribed form is available in Sitamau Library (MP) collected by
Raghubir Sinh.
The Selection from the Peshwa Daftar Series compiled by G.S. Sardesai is
another important source for the study of the early careers of Shinde and Holkar
under the Peswhas. These are the published records that were selected from the
vast mass ofMarathi records preserved at Peshwa Daftar, Pune.
Maratha vakil and news reporter Krishnaji Jagannath's newsletter sent to
the Peshwa and Nana Phadnis from Jodhpur court of the Rathores for the period
1785 to 1794 is another important compilation by D.B. Parasnis
2
published in
ltihas Sangraha in 1915. This Jodhpur agent of the Marathas not merely reports
the events of importance in the Jodhpur court affecting Marathas interests but also
I
events in the court of other important rulers of Rajasthan like Jaipur and Udaipur
and likely to have a bearing on the fortunes of Peshwa and his sardars Shinde &
Holkar. Such are also the details in the dispatches of Sadashiv Dinkar
3
to Poona
Court from Delhi and Vitthal Shamraj
4
and Vikaji Dattar from Ahilyabai Holkar's
residence at Maheshwar near Indore.
In Rajasthani, Marathas ruler's official correspondences called Kharitas are
addressed to local Rajput rulers and chieftains. The kharitas sent by Peshwa,
Shinde and Holkar for the entire period of study are available in the Rajasthan
State Archive, Bikaner.
5
They are very comprehensive and focused messages from
Marathas to Jaipur rulers about their demands and requests besides routine
messages. Details in the Kharitas pertain to Maratha pressure for regular tribute
payment and settlement of the backlog/pending dues, territorial disputes and
encroachments in Maratha controlled areas on the frontiers of Jaipur state,
instructions for favourable action in matters of Maratha subjects having social and
economic ties in Jaipur state or city. Besides there are regular details of animal
trade from Rajasthan fair grounds especially of Horse and Camels, movement of
2
4
Shindesahica ltihasachin Sadhanen, Phalke, A. 8., Vol.I, Gawalior, 1929
ltihas Samgraha, ( ed) D B Parasnis, Poona, 1915
Historical Papers Relating to Mahadji Sindhia, (ed)Sardesai, G S, Gawalior, 1937
Maheshwar Darbarchi Batmi Patren,(ed) Parasnis, D 8 2 vols, Mumbai, 1910
Also See the Published list, Kharita: Gwalior-Jaipur ( Vikram Sam vat 1802- Vikram Samvat
1873), Rajasthan State Archive, 8ikaner, 1977
18
pilgrims and visitors under state protection. The language in Kharita documents
highlights Maratha's coercive attitude and domination. As there are fewer kharitas
dispatched by the Peshwas, that too in the 1750s and 1760s and larger number are
written by Shinde and Holkar, it is an indication of lesser contact of Peshwas with
Jaipur rulers as Shinde and Holkar grew stronger in Central India after the third
battle of Panipat.
Another set of Rajasthani records called Dastur Kaumvar are records of
men from different regions visiting Jaipur state Dastur Deekhni in the same series
lists Maratha visitors of high and low ranks to the Jaipur court. These records add
to existing perception of the level of contact between Marathas and Jaipur ruler
through out the period of the study.
Both Kharita and Dastur Dikhni records substantiate widespread and
perpetual Maratha presence and influence over Jaipur state an( in its
1
neighbourhood.
Among English sources Foreign Department Records from 1760 onwards
provides supporting evidence on Maratha campaigns in northern Malwa,
Bundelkhand and Doab regions in the post-Panipat period. Most importantly they
describe how Mahadji Shinde got rid of the presence of two of the Peshwa's
Sardars - Visaji Krishna and Ram Chander Ganesh sent from Poona to reinforce
Maratha campaigns against Jats and Sikhs. Not very generous in details still
Foreign Department Records corroborate descriptions in other sources on
Marathas existing relations with Mughal emperor Shah Alam, Nawab of Awadh,
Rohillas, Jats, Bundelas and the Rajputs of Rajasthan as viewed by the English
officials posted in the Awadh Nawab's court and at Allahabad.
British Resident Charles Malet's letters from Poona Court written in 1781-
82 throws light on Maratha relations with Rana of Gohad, a powerful Chieftain in
the surroundings of Gwalior.
1
Much more extensive details by English Residents in
the court of Mahadji Shinde are available for the period 1785-94. The
correspondence by David Anderson, James Anderson, William Kirkpatrick and
Sinh, Raghubir (ed.), Selections from Sir C W Malet's Letter-Book, 1780-1784, Poona
Residency Correspondence, Extra Volume, Bombay, 1940
19
William Palmer further add on to the information on Shindes rise as a military
power and Maratha campaigns in Rajasthan as seen from Mahadji Shindes camps.
1
Translations of Persian Akhbarats and correspondences by Jadunath Sarkar
for the period after Panipat also provide extensive details on Maratha campaigns in
Malwa and Rajasthan. Most of these Persian correspondences were written by
Maratha and local news writers stationed at Delhi court. There are also Persian
newsletters from the ~ m p s of Mahadji Shinde, Jaipur court as well as from Delhi
court for the entire period of Lalsot campaign in 1787 and Mahadji Shinde's
campaign in Rajasthan in 1790-91.
While Maratha accounts of the period by and large contain details of
politico-administrative developments. It is Rajput accounts on the other hand that
reveals the ground realities of the Maratha domination in the Rajasthan region.
Letters of Jodhpur vakil of the Peshwa often describes fear among the local elite
about consequences of taking on the might of the Marathas. Rajput account also
describes destruction and long term impacts of Maratha presence in the region,
especially feeling of opposition and discontent among Rajput chieftains due to
Maratha presence. English accounts of the period are on the other hand valuable in
judging the strength and weaknesses of Maratha polity as the English observers of
the Maratha events were quite neutral to whatever was happening in Central India
and Rajasthan.
Mahadji Sindhia and North Indian Affairs, !785-1794, Sarkar, J N (ed.), Poona Residency
Correspondence, Voi.J, Mumbai, 1936
20