Solution-Class 7-History-Chapter 10-The Expansion of the Maratha Power -Maharashtra Board

Chauthai is the right to collect one-fourth part of the revenue from the territory of the other rulers.

Sardeshmukhi is the right to collect one-tenth part of the revenue from the territory of the other rulers.

Balaji was from town Shrivardhan in Konkan

Raja Chhatrasal ruled Bundelkhand

Bajirao died at Raverkhed

Chimajiappa defeated the Portuguese

• Kanhoji Angre was the chief of the Maratha navy.
• Initially he was a supporter of Maharani Tarabai and attacked the territory of Shahu Maharaj.
• Shahu Maharaj sent Balaji Vishwanath to tackle Kanhoji Angre.
• Balaji Vishwanath avoided the war and convinced Kanhoji Angre to join the side of Shahu Maharaj.

• Nizam-ul-Mulk was the Mughal Subhedar of Deccan.
• He tried to establish his separate existence at Hyderabad.
• He was opposed to grant of Chauthai and Sardeshmukhi rights of Deccan to the Marathas.
• He captured some parts of Pune Pargana.
• Bajirao decided to checkmate the Nizam.
• Bajirao’s army defeated Nizam’s army in the Battle of Palkhed, near Aurangabad.
• Thereafter the Nizam accepted the right of the Marathas to collect Chauthai and Sardeshmukhi.

• Balaji Vishwanath who hailed from Shrivardhan, in the Konkan, was very competent and experienced.
• He convinced many sardars that Shahu Maharaj was the real heir of the Maratha Empire.
• Shahu Maharaj appointed Balaji Vishwanath as Peshwa.
• He tactfully avoided war with Kanhoji Angre and won over him to the side of Shahu Maharaj.
• He strengthened the position of Shahu Maharaj in Maharashtra and in the North.
• With the help of the Sayyid brothers, he obtained the Sanads of Chauthai and Sardeshmukhi of the Mughal territory in Deccan from the Mughal emperor.

• On the death of Balaji Vishwanath, his son Bajirao I was appointed as Peshwa by Shahu Maharaj in 1720 CE
• Bajirao defeated the Nizam-ul-Mulk in the Battle of Palkhed and made him accept the right of Marathas to collect Chauthai and Sardeshmukhi from the Mughal territory in the Deccan.
• He decided to expand the Maratha power in the north and dispatched Malharrao Holkar, Ranoji Shinde and Udaji Pawar in an expedition to Malwa under the leadership of his brother Chimajiappa.
• He defeated Mohmmad Khan Bangush and restored the kingdom of Bundelkhand to Chhatrasal.
• He defeated the Nizam in the battle at Bhopal and made him agree to get the Subhedari of Malwa for the Marathas from the Mughal Emperor.
• Bajirao sent his brother Chimajiappa to subdue the Portuguese.
• Bajirao breathed his last at Raverkhedi in April, 1740.
• He was an able General who established the Maratha supremacy in the North.
• He had made the Marathas a formidable power in the whole of India.

Two separate Marathas States were formed, because

• After the release of Shahu Maharaj, Maharani Tarabai refused to accept his claim on the throne.
• After defeating Maharani Tarabai in the Battle of Khed, Shahu Maharaj captured Satara and crowned himself as Chhatrapati.
• Satara became the capital of the Maratha kingdom.
• Tarabai proclaimed her minor son Shivaji-II as Chhatrapati at Panhala in 1710.

Azamshah released Shahu Maharaj from his custody, because

• He believed that the release of Shahu Maharaj would lead to conflict between him and Maharani Tarabai for the gadi of the Maratha Chhatrapati.
• This would sap the strength of the Marathas.

• The Mughal empire was under the threat of the Irani and the Afghani invasion from the north-west.
• The local Rajput, Jat Rohilas and local Pathan rulers also posed a threat to the empire.
• The internal competition and tussle in the court weakened the Mughal power.

Therefore Delhi needed help from the Marathas.