HISTORY OF MAHARASTRA http://www.mumbainet.com/cityinfo/histmaha.

htm Early History Although some Palaeolithic remains have been discovered, Maharashtra enters recorded history in the second century BC, with the construction of its first Buddhist caves. These lie, and still lie, in eaceful laces of great natural beauty, but could never have been created without the wealth generated by the nearby caravan trade routes between north and south !ndia. "rigins The name Maharashtra first a eared in a #th century inscri tion and in a Chinese traveller$s account. !ts name may have originated from rathi, meaning, %chariot driver&, and referring to builders and drivers of chariots who formed a maharathis, a %fighting force.% This region seems to have attained rominence as early as '( A.)., when *ing +edishri made ,unnar the ca ital of his *ingdom, thirty miles north of Pune. -or the '(( years ending in the early fourteenth century, with the overthrow of the )evgiri .adavs by the northern Muslim owers, no historical information in this region is available. !n /012, first Mughal *ing, Babar, established his rominence in )elhi and soon the Mughal ower s read to the southern !ndia. The Mughals were to dominate !ndia till the early eighteenth century. Poet34aints The region$s first Hindu rulers, based in Badami, a eared during the si5th century, but the eighth3 century 6ashtra*utas achieved a greater authority. Buddhism was almost entirely su lanted throughout the entire country by the twelfth century, in what has been characteri7ed as a eaceful o ular revolution attributable largely to the o ular oet3saints. Maharashtra was one of the main channels that hel ed the emotional and devotional bha*ti school of Hinduism s read from southern to northern !ndia, than*s here to wor* of ,nanesvara 8/1#/3/1'29 whose commentary on the Bhagwad :ita, the ,nanesvari, was significantly written in the day3to3day s o*en language, Marathi, as o osed to classical 4ans*rit. The most famous of his contem orary oet3saints was the tailor ;amdev 8/1#(3/<0(9, whose assionate devotional hymns caught the o ular imagination. The tradition they established continued to flourish, even when forced underground by !slam, reaching its 7enith in the sim le faith of the anguished Tu*aram 8/0'=3/20(9, whose wife and son died in a famine, and 6amdas, the %4ervant of 6ama% 8/2(=3/2=/9. 6amdas, both ascetic and olitical activist, rovided the hiloso hical under inning behind the cam aigns of Maharashtra>s greatest warrior, 4hiva?i. The Maratha 6eign !n the si5teenth century, regional Muslim owers li*e ;i7amshahi, Adilshahi, and @utubshahi established their rominence in the )eccan region. They basically served the Mughal Em ire but were autonomous to an e5tent. "ne of them, ;i7amshahi was located in Ahmednagar, a town '0 miles east of Pune. Malo?i Bhosle, :randfather of 4hiva?i served for the ;i7am as a 4ardar. !n /0'0, Bahadur ;i7am !! honoured him as >6a?a> for his courage in a battle with Mughals and gave him the estates of Pune and the fort of Cha*an, near Pune. This is generally considered as the starting oint of the Maratha history. The 6eign of 4hiva?i 8/21# 3 /2=(9 4hiva?i Bhosle, founder of the Maratha Em ire, was born in /21#, in the fort of 4hivneri, A( miles north of Pune. !n /21', 4hiva?i>s father 4haha?i, who had succeeded his father Malo?i, in Pune and Cha*an, disengaged himself from the service of the ;i7amshahi. ConseBuently, in /2<0 the ;i7am>s army attac*ed

Pune. 4haha?i surrendered and his estates were returned to him. 4oon, 4haha?i ut )ada?i Condadev in charge of Pune,and as a careta*er for the 4hiva?i while he ?oined the Adilshahi in +i?a ur, a ro5. A(( miles south of Pune, which was soon to emerge as the most im ortant ower in the region as the other local owers slowly diminished. !n Pune, )ado?i built a alace >Dal Mahal>, for 4hiva?i and his mother ,i?abai. At the age of si5teen 8/2A< A.).9, 4hiva?i too* great delight in stirring u his friends> ho es and nursed the thought of becoming inde endent. He too* the oath to ma*e the land free at the fort Torna at the age of si5teen. This was the start of his lifelong struggle against Mughals and other Muslim owers. By /2A#, 4hiva?i had ca tured two forts and had the com lete charge of Pune. !n /20#, he committed his first act of hostility against the Adilshahi by lundering a large booty in Ahmednagar. Thus, began a seBuence of attac*s on the Adilshahi. He slowly started ca turing forts in the region, Purandar, 6a?gad, Torna being most notable of his first achievements. )isturbed by his continuing success, Adilshahi sent a famous 4ardar, >Af7al*han> to destroy 4hiva?i. Af7al*han *new that 4hiva?i>s army, which was much smaller than his huge force would be unable to fight him on o en land. He tried all the tric*s in the boo* to ma*e him fight on lains, but 4hiva?i was no less clever. He convinced Chan that he was very much afraid of him and reBuested him for a meeting at a lace near +ai 8/(( miles south of Pune9 which was densely wooded, mountainous region, and ideal for his army to fight. Chan still had lans to *ill him in the meeting and 4hiva?i *new it well. Eltimately, it was Chan who was *illed and his unsus ecting army was com leted washed out by 4hiva?i. After this, 4hiva?i went on a winning s ree and s read his reach till Panhala near Colha ur. Meanwhile, 4hiva?i$s rise to ower concerned Aurang7eb. !t was now clear that local Muslim Powers were unable to sto him. 4o he sent a huge Army, led by Mir7ara?e ,aisingh to defeat 4hiva?i 8/2229. ,aising>s army was much stronger than 4hiva?i and soon he lost most of his im ortant forts. 6ealising that he was fighting a losing battle, he signed a treaty with Mir7a and agreed to serve Aurang7eb, his young son, 4ambha?i being made a sardar. He went to )elhi with Mir7a to meet Aurang7eb. Aurang7eb gave a humiliating treatment to 4hiva?i and soon ut him under house im risonment under some e5cuse. !t loo*ed certain that 4hiva?i will be *illed sooner or later by Aurang7eb. But this was not to ha en, fortunately, for Maratha *ingdom. 4hiva?i made a clever lot to esca e and esca ed with 4ambha?i to south. After this turning oint, 4hiva?i never loo*ed bac* and slowly regained his lost glory. By /2#<, he had control over most of western Maharashtra and had made >6aigad> 8)ist. 6aigad, /0( miles southwest of Pune9 his ca ital. He was ceremoniously enthroned as a sovereign *ing in /2#<. By /2=(, the year of 4hiva?i>s death, nearly whole of the )eccan belonged to his *ingdom. He had develo ed an efficient administration and a owerful army. He also encouraged a s irit of inde endence among the Marathas that enabled them to withstand for /0( years all attem ts to conBuer them. 4hiva?i>s achievements amongst monumental difficulties were really s ectacular and that is why he holds the highest lace in Maratha history. The Period of !nstability 3 /2=( to /#(# His son 4ambha?i succeeded 4hiva?i. He showed the same vigour as his father, but was ta*en risoner and e5ecuted by the Mughal ruler Aurang7eb, in /2='. 6a?aram, 4ambha?i>s younger brother then too* the throne, since 4ambha?i>s son, 4hahu was still a minor. The death of 6a?aram in /#(( seemed to end the ower of the Marathas, but Tarabai, the elder widow of 6a?aram, ut her young son 4hahu on the throne, at the tender age of ten, and continued the struggle against Aurang7eb who had come to south with the sole ur ose of destroying Maratha *ingdom. Between /#(( and /#(<, Aurang7eb ca tured the fort of 4inhagad, near Pune. )uring the siege, his son rince Muhuil3Mul* diedF so Aurang7eb changed Pune>s

name to Muhiabad, in the rince>s honour. 4hahu continued to fight against the Mughals and ca tured 6a?gad, the former ca ital of the Maratha territory. The fight against the Mughals ended with the death of Aurang7eb in /#(#, which was another turning oint in Maratha history. After Aurang7eb, Mughal ower never regained its status as main ower in !ndia and Balance of ower shifted towards Marathas, which was soon to be controlled by Peshwas. The Peshwe )ynasty 3 /#/1 to /=/= Bala?i +ishwanath 3 /#/1 to /#1/ !n /#/1, 4hahu died of small o5 and his minister or eshwa, Bala?i +ishwanath too* over the throne. ;egotiations between the Mughal court of )elhi and Bala?i +ishwanath enabled him to send a large Maratha delegation to )elhi to assist the Mughals. The year /#/= mar*ed the beginning of the Maratha influence in )elhi, to which they remained closely acBuainted, till /=(<. Bala?i +ishwanath>s health had suffered considerably, and he died in /#1/. Ba?irao Peshwa 8Pahila Ba?irao9 3 /#1/ to /#A( Ba?irao, his elder son was awarded the title of eshwa after the death of his father. !t was Ba?irao>s dream to e5tend the Maratha Em ire to ;orth !ndia. By this time, Pune had regained its status as ca ital of Maratha Cingdom from 6a?gad. 6a?gad was made ca ital by 4hiva?i because it was a safe lace, high in the mountainous, wooded area. As Pune was in lains, it always had a threat. By /#1(>s, Maratha ower was s reading in large areas and the threat of local battles fought over forts did not e5ist much. Pune remained the ca ital till the end of Maratha em ire in /=/=. !n /#<A, Ba?irao ca tured the Malwa territory in the north, and in /#<', his brother Chimna?i drove out the Portuguese from almost all their ossessions in the northern Gestern :hats. Ba?irao died in /#A( and left three sons behind him. Ba?irao built the >4hanivarwada>, the residence and ruling lace for the Peshwas. ;anasaheb Peshwa 3 /#A( to /#2/ ;anasaheb succeeded Ba?irao as Peshwa in /#A(. He had two brothers, 6aghunathrao, who later betrayed the Marathas and ?oined hands with the British, and ,anardan, who died in his early youth. ;anasaheb was ambitious and a multifaceted erson. !n /#A/, when his uncle Chimna?i died, he returned from the northern districts and s ent nearly a year im roving the civil administration of Pune. The eriod between /#A/ and /#A0 was of com arative calm in the )eccan. ;anasaheb encouraged agriculture, rotected the villagers, and brought about a mar*ed im rovement in the state of the territory. The scene changed in /#0/, when the Mughals, su orted by the -rench, advanced towards Pune, destroying every village in their way. The Marathas fought with great determination, and nothing but the -rench artillery saved them from total defeat. !n /#0A, 6aghunathrao, ;anasaheb>s brother started on an e5 edition to conBuer :u?arat, the state north of Bombay. !n /#02, ;anasaheb marched south to attac* Carnata*a. !n the meantime, news s read that the war had bro*en out between the English and the -rench, in Euro e. !n /#02, the fall of the formidable navy formed by 4hiva?i gave British their chance to regain im ortance in the region. Canho?i Angre headed the navy and its destruction was a crucial blow to Maratha sea ower. !t was a sad outcome of neglect of navy by Marathas, which turned out to be a horrible mista*e. Marathas never regained control of the sea after that.

!n /#2/, the Marathas were defeated at the third Battle of Pani at against Ahmadshah Abdali, a great warrior from Afghanistan. Marathas were fighting to save )elhi 4ultanate and conseBuently their ower in the north. ;a?ib Eddowla was the erson res onsible for calling Abdali. /Ath ,anuary /#2/ was the )3 )ay. This was a crucial blow to the rising Maratha ower from which they never recovered. They lost more than /((,((( men and do7ens of im ortant 4ardars in the battle. ;anasaheb Peshwe 8Bala?i Ba?irao9 lost his brother, 4adashivrao 8After whom the 4adashiv Peth in Pune is named9, and also his first son, +ishwasrao, in this battle. This news shattered Bala?i Ba?irao, who died shortly afterwards, in the tem le on Parvati hill in Pune. The Maratha ower was at the 7enith of its glory during Bala?i Ba?irao>s 8also called ;ana 4aheb Peshwa9 reign. !t never fully recovered from the crushing defeat at Pani at. >Thorale> Madhaorao$s Peshwa 3 /#2/ to /##1 Madhavrao, his second son then too* over, but had to constantly face administrative dis utes with his uncle, 6aghunathrao. )es ite of this, he achieved many remar*able victories and restored the shattered Maratha *ingdom to a large e5tent. His outstanding achievements included defeat of ;i7am 8Hyderabad9, Hyder 8Carnata*a9 and Bhosle of ;ag ur. He also had to fight wars with 6aghunathrao whose greed for ower never waned. Eltimately, Madhavrao too* 6aghunathrao risoner in /#2=F the same year when the ;i7am attac*ed Pune.He was eventually defeated. Madhavrao, also called >Thorale>or :reatest Madhavrao, is entitled to s ecial raise for su orting the oor and for his sense of ?ustice. 6amshastri Prabhune, the chief ?ustice, has become a legend for his wor*. The eo le who rose to ower in his rule were Mahad?i 4hinde, ;ana Phadnis and Haribhau Phad*e who became the *ey figures in the ower structure after his death. He too* ill in /##/ and died in /##1 at an early age of 1#, causing yet another blow to recovering Maratha ower. ;arayanrao Peshwa 3 /##1 to /##< ;arayanrao, Bala?i Ba?irao>s third son succeeded the throne at 4haniwarwada as the ne5t Peshwa. He neither had the courage to ta*e any bold decisions nor administrative s*ills and soon became very un o ular among the oe le. !n /##<, 6aghunathrao, who had been im risoned by Madhavrao, in a room in the alace in Pune, esca ed with the hel of the :ardi eo le. ;arayanrao was murdered at the 4haniwar wada , owing to a cons iracy by Anandibai, 6aghunathrao>s wife. >4awai> Madhaorao Peshwa 3 /##A to /#'0 6aghunathrao was roclaimed the ne5t eshwa, although he was not heir to the title. ;arayanrao>s widow gave birth to a son, 4awai Madhavrao, who was legally the ne5t eshwa. 6aghunathrao tried to maintain his *ingdom by signing treaties with the English, and relied on them for man3 ower in e5change for money and territory. However, his lans did not succeed. 6aghoba was dis laced from ower by a clever lot by the /1 Maratha sardar>s % Barambhainche *arasthaan% 8 Plot by /1 eo le 9 including ;ana, Hol*ar, Phad*e 4hinde . 4awai Madhavrao was then declared the ne5t Peshwa. As he was only one year old at that time, ;ana Phadnis became the main administrator with Phad*e, 4hinde, and Hol*ar ta*ing care of Military duties. These eo le handled the Peshwai well and with great unity till the remature death of 4awai Madhaorao in /#'0. They defeated the rising British Power in /#=A, near Pune and halted their advancements, tem orarily. 4awai Madhaorao>s death was the last blow to the Maratha em ire and all the unity among its leaders vanished after his death causing a downfall of Peshwai in a short time. >4econd> Ba?irao Peshwa 3 /#'0 to /=(1 6aghunathrao died in /#=1, leaving behind him, two sonsF Ba?irao, who in /=/# confronted the British at the Battle of Cir*ee, in PuneF and the younger, Chimna?i A a. Ba?irao became the ne5t Peshwa after

Madhaorao>s death. ;ana was still the administrator and the Peshwai remained in stable condition till his death owing to his su erb administrative s*ills. ;ana died in /=(( and Pune fell into the hands of the 4india>s 8 4hinde9 F the former chiefs of ;ana>s army. They remained in ower for a short while and in /=(1, Ba?irao reestablished himself in Pune, by signing the treaty of Bassein with the British. This essentially ended Peshwai, establishing British su remacy in the region. The ca turing of the Ahmednagar fort in /=(<, roved British su remacy in the )eccan. !n /=(A, :eneral Gellesley roclaimed the )eccan in a state of chaos, established military rule and the Peshwas remained rulers for name>s sa*e. The British 6a? 3 /=/= to /'A# Towards the end of /=(0 4ir ,ames Mac*intosh, the Chief ,ustice of Bombay 8/=(A3/=//9, came from Bombay to visit Colonel Close, the 6esident at Pune. The 6esidency on the >4angam> 8confluence of the Mula and Mutha rivers9 Mac*intosh describes as a set of bungalows, fitted conveniently and lu5uriously. Pune city had its rinci al streets aved with stone, and was rec*oned one of the best built native towns in !ndia. The Peshwa>s residence, that is the 4haniwar wada, added to Pune>s glory. Between /=(0 and /=//, under Colonel Close and for a short while under Mr. 6ussel, affairs went smoothly in Pune. !n /=//, Dord Mountstuart El hinstone succeeded Mr. 6ussel. Ba?irao was very disloyal to the British, and in ;ovember of /=/#, he declared war against them. This battle was fought at Cir*ee, that is the Cantonment area, in the east of Pune. The Peshwa fled and the ower of the country assed from the Peshwas to the British by /=/'. The rest of the nineteenth century witnessed a few minor u risings in and around Pune, but the British established their su remacy. As the Maratha>s were the *ey ower in !ndia at this time, their fall clearly mar*ed the beginning of British 6ule in !ndia. The first ste towards establishing a munici al government in the city of Pune, was ta*en in /=02, when the Pune Munici ality came into e5istence under the Act of /=0(. The fact that Pune is not recogni7ed as a ma?or tourist center, is robably because it cannot boast of outstanding artistic s ecimens of architecture, li*e those of )elhi or Agra. .et, it is rich in its associations with the ast. !n the early 1(th century, the whole of !ndia was in revolt against the BritishF yearning for freedom. Mahatma :andhi launched his movement of non3violence, and eo le artici ated by the thousands in the >Chale ,ao> 8>go away>9 struggle. Parado5ically, Pune witnessed violence when the Cha he*ar brothers *illed a British olice officer by the name of Mr. 6and. "n one hand, as the violence overrode the city, im rovements were made in the education of women and the abolition of child labor. !nde endence was attained in /'A#, but that was not the end of violence. Modern Maharastra 3 /'A# to Present At !ndian !nde endence in /'A#, western Maharashtra and resent3day :u?arat were ?oined as Bombay state. The eastern districts were then art of Hyderabad 4tate, but were later added to Bombay in /'02. The resent state was formed in /'2( when the Marathi and :u?arati linguistic areas of former Bombay state were se arated. Bombay city became the ca ital of the new state.