WHY  MARATHAS DID NOT ESTABLISH PAD PADSHAHI AT DELHI WHEN                                          THEY WERE CAPABLE      P A R T..I                                                         Dr K Prabhakar Rao                                                        INTRODUCTION  

                    India lost its Hindu rule after the defeat of Prithviraj Chauhan at tarain in 13 th century at the hands of Mohd Ghori, the brigand and  ruler of Kabul. The slave dynasty was established under Kutubuddin Aibek. Slave dynasty was followed by Khiljis, Tughlaqs,  and Lodhis. Delhi sultanate continued to rule till they were vanquished by Baber in 1527 at  battle of Panipat   when Baber defeated and killed Ibrahim Lodhi the ruler of Delhi.. The Mughal rule was established with a succession of rulers and Mughals remained powerful rulers till the death of Aurangzeb the last great Mughal in 1707 in Deccan at Ahmed nagar. Infact Aurangzeb remained in Deccan fighting the Marathas and Deccani Muslim sultans of Bijapur and  Golconda  for 25 long years. After the death of Aurangzeb, the Mughal rule was weakened. This is because  Aurangzeb never trusted any one and did not develop his sons to succeed him. In his life time, he was  too suspicious of his own sons and kept them at bay. He imprisoned his eldest son and he died in prison. Another son prince Akbar was hounded out of India after he rebelled against his rule and then took refuge with Chatrapthi Sambhaji maharaj the son of great Chatrapathi Shivaji Maharaj. Akbar finally  escaped to Persia after his futile rebellion. Bahdur Shah  succeeded  Aurangzeb at advanced age and ruled for 7 years. There was hardly any time for him to prove and strengthen the empire. After Bahadur Shah, the  musical chair for the throne started. Series of rulers followed and Sayyad brothers at Delhi became king makers. Zahandar shah, Farukh siyar, Rafi ud darjat, Rafiud dowla  became rulers at Delhi one after the other and were done to death soon. Then came Mohd Shah rangila ( Ali gaur) who eliminated Sayyad brothers and ruled for  24 years.  The successive rulers were just nominal emperors and lost their hold and their authority was limited to few areas  around Delhi. Mughal dynasty was terminated with the arrest of Bahadur shah II after the 1857 war and he was sent to Rangoon prison where he died in captivity. It is  seen that  Although Mughal  rulers existed for 150 years after the death of Aurangzeb the great last Mughal, the empire rapidly  weakened. There was not a single emperor in the dynasty after Aurangzeb who could  put all stones in one bag and restore the lost authority. Its authority rapidly   crumbled. With rise of the English men in north India after the battle of Plassey in 1757, Mughal authority lost its complete authority and they were rather at the mercy of  the East India company. Maratha power in the mean time was growing rapidly and they made in roads into north India convincingly defeating Mughal  troops repeatedly.

 INNER CONFLICTS AFTER SAMBHAJIS DEATH AND RISE OF SAHU 

             As stated,    Mughal Empire was precariously struggling for survival after the death of Bahadur shah and it was further weakened as years grew. At the same time Marathas under Peshwa became very strong. Although Sahu became the Maratha ruler after Raja ram having been released in 1707 from Mughal captivity since1689, there was great inner fight among Tarabai wife of late Chatrapathi Raja ram and   Sahu for supremacy. Finally sahu succeed and became Chatrapathi. Marathas became powerful only during the reign of Peshwa. Sahu for all purposes handed over authority to Peshwa.  A  nominal Maratha  counter king also remained at Kolhapur  with Sahu as Chatrapathi at satara and  Peshwa was the real power and commanded great authority. Marathas dictated terms to Delhi  during the rule of later Mughals. If they wanted they could throw out Mughal nominal emperor. Then why it did not happen? Certain aspects need carful attention. Politics in Maratha country and contemporary situation played great part in rise of Maratha power.what prevented Marathas to annhilate Mughals when they were very weak? Marathas also no doubt had limitations. These are to be studied.Although Marathas were in command of situation grand oppertunity was lost to  establish  Hindu empire at Delhi. What went wrong and why it did not happen?

               Sahu spent 18 years in captivity of Mughals after he and his mother were captured along with Sambhaji Maharaj who was caught unawares at sangameswar by Mughal forces.Sambhaji was betrayed by his brother in law shirke. Yesu Bai mother of sahu  was very well treated at the palace of Auragzeb by Jeenatunisa second daughter of Aurangzeb.  Her son was  brought up as prince and the emperor sweetly called him Sahu meaning prince. Sambhaji was executed earlier after capture. Rajaram  succeeded to the throne and the war was conducted against Mughals. Tarabai the wife of Raja ram was very brave and effective. She led Maratha forces valiantly after the death of Raja ram with the help of very brave Maratha generals Santaji Ghorpade, Danaji Jadhav,  Prahlad Nirji,. It was an intense guerilla war conducted against Aurangzeb and  he was put to great embarrassment and humiliation till he died in frustration unable to succeed against Marathas in 1707. Surviving eldest son Bahadur Shah succeeded him after defeating his  brothers in various  battles. They were slain in these battles. He was prudent and on clever advise he released Sahu from detention at palace. It was hoped that  once Sahu was released,  he would cross swords with Tarabai in an effort to  claim the throne of Marathas. This happened as expected. Sahu defeated Tarabai at Khed near Pune. Maratha nobles such as  Dhanaji dal and  khanado ballar shifted oyalties nad changed over to sahu. . sau captured important forts  chandan  nandan, satara, parli from Tarabai and  he assumed  authority as Chatrapathi on 12  January  1708 at Satara    It is believed that  an assurance was taken by mughals from sahu that he  would be vassal to Mughal empire. Sahu thus had soft corners for Mughals who  brought him up at their palace as a prince and his mother  Yesu bai was well honored at the palace. She was released from Delhi at a later date at the request of Peshwa Balaji Vishwanath who  infact  took part in palace intrigues along with his 10000 strong troops   at Delhi that resulted in the deposing    of emperor Farukhsiyar and Mohammed Shah ( rangila) ascended the Delhi throne. Farukh siyar perished in prison in most pathetic way. Thus there was no question of challenging Mughal authority by Sahu in near future. He remained passive towards Mughals and most of the time he spent sorting out feuds among Marathas and sorting out his house. . Balaji vishwanath was appointed as Peshwa in1713. Although Tarabai was defeated at Kheda, she  escaped to  Panhala fort and  instigated and tried to sow seeds of discontentment  in the powerful Maratha nobles  from the clans of  Ghorpade, Chavas, Dhabde and Thorat. Sahu captured panhala and Tarabai escaped to Rangna and then to malwan. Sahu did not press on and soon Tarabai recovered Panhala and established it  as her center . Sahu captured Raigar in 1711.  Shivaji III the son of Tarabai claimant to the throne died and she was deposed from authority by  Rajas Bai second wife of Raja ram. Sambhaji the son of Rajas bai was  put on the throne  opposing sahu. This was termed as Palace revolution. Finally sahu accepted Sambhaji ( Junior) as the ruler of Kolhapur as independent ruler in 1731.

Continued