Maratha Confederacy

This is a pioneering work in which the nature of Maratha power in eighteenth century in India has been carefully analyzed. The political domination of the Indian subcontinent by the Maratha sardars was so comprehensive that the terms Maratha history and eighteenth century Indian history are, by and large, synonymous. However the transformation of the real authority at the centre from the Chatrapati to the Peshva and then to the Karbhari weakened the Chatrapati, the primary cohesive force of Maratha power. The relationship of the central government with the Maratha sardars had different significant facets; administrative, financial and military features of the Maratha confederacy, which are vitally significant in understanding the nature of Maratha power. These developments and relationships are explored in this penetrating work by V.S. Kadam with particular reference to provinces like Gujarat, Malva, south Rajputana and Bundelkhand which has been meeting grounds of the north and the south. The roles of the most prominent Maratha sardars like Shinde, Holkar, Pavar, Gaikvad and Nagpurkar Bhosale, in addition to the not-so-prominent sardars, in the Maratha confederacy and their changing relations with the central authority have been analyzed with the help of unpublished documents from Pune, Kolhapur, Baroda and Sitansu archives.