The Rise of the Marathas Class 8: Notes and Questions

What The Rise of the Marathas is about

Weightage: CBSE sets no Class 8 Social Science paper or marks: Class 8 is assessed by your school, which teaches from NCERT Exploring Society: India and Beyond. School papers usually mix MCQs, short answers (2-3 marks), source or picture-based questions and longer answers (5 marks).Source: docs/research/cbse-8-2026-27.md (NCERT book list, Reprint 2026-27)

Key concepts

Who are the Marathas? Cultural roots

NCERT section Who are the Marathas?

The Marathas are people native to the Deccan plateau, mainly present-day Maharashtra, identified by their language Marathi, which has a continuous literary history (writings in prose or poetry over time) since the 12th century.

Background: in the 13th century the Yadava dynasty ruled most of Maharashtra from Devagiri (present-day Daulatabad); in the early 14th century the Khilji Sultanate overcame it.

Bhakti: between the 7th and 17th centuries many saints across India preferred devotion (bhakti) to mere external ritual and composed songs in the people's languages. In Maharashtra, Dnyaneshwar, Namdev, Tukaram and Ramdas made texts like the Upaniṣhads and the Bhagavad Gītā available in Marathi; some also encouraged social organisation and political awareness (like the Sikh Gurus). This gave society a solid cultural foundation that later helped the Marathas organise politically.

Worked example

How did the bhakti saints of Maharashtra help the later rise of Maratha power? (2 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Translated key texts into Marathi; spread ideas in the people's language.
2. Encouraged social organisation and political awareness; solid cultural foundation.

Answer: Saints like Dnyaneshwar, Namdev, Tukaram and Ramdas made texts such as the Bhagavad Gītā accessible in Marathi and some promoted social organisation and political awareness. This built a strong shared culture that later helped the Marathas organise themselves into a political power.

Rise of Chhatrapati Shivaji

NCERT section Foundation of Maratha Power and the Rise of Chhatrapati Shivaji

Birth and youth: born 1630 in the Bhonsle clan to Shahji (who served the Deccan sultanates) and Jijabai; grew up in the family jāgīr at Pune under Jijabai's care. (A jāgīr is land granted for service, from which the holder collects taxes.) Pune suffered from the Deccan sultans' constant infighting.

Early moves: at 16 (1646) he captured neglected forts around Pune and strengthened them. His vision of 'Swarājya' (a sovereign kingdom) grew to include political, economic and cultural aspects.

Navy (1657): as the kingdom reached the west coast, he built a navy, a revolutionary step: Bijapur (Adil Shahi) had merchant ships but no full-time navy, and the Mughals used a navy very little. Coastal forts like Sindhudurg followed.

Guerrilla warfare: small groups using speed, surprise and knowledge of terrain to beat bigger armies.

Key episodes:

• Afzal Khan (Bijapur general): met Shivaji at the foot of Pratapgad; Shivaji killed him (with the wāgh nakh, 'tiger's claw') and hidden Marathas routed his army.
• Shaista Khan (Mughal): after three years of invasion, a night raid on his camp; he lost fingers and left, a raid the book compares to a modern surgical strike.
• Surat: in retaliation Shivaji sacked this rich Mughal port, gaining about one crore rupees, but spared religious places and the house of the charitable Mohandas Parekh; reported in the London Gazette.
• Purandar: defeated by Jai Singh, he signed a treaty, gave up much territory; Sambhaji entered Mughal service.
• Agra (1666): insulted at court, placed under house arrest; escaped hidden in baskets of sweets and fruit.
• Coronation (1674) at Raigad with Vedic rites as 'Shri Raja Shiva Chhatrapati'; began the Rājyābhiṣheka shaka era.
• Dakṣhiṇa-digvijaya (1677): conquest of northern Tamil Nadu and parts of Karnataka, giving strategic depth (e.g. Gingee). He also forbade the Dutch from trading slaves.
• Died of fever at about 50 (1680). He inspired Chhatrasal of Bundelkhand and the poet Bhushan.

Worked example

Why was Chhatrapati Shivaji's creation of a navy called revolutionary? (2 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Needed to secure coastal resources as the kingdom reached the west coast.
2. Neighbours lacked a full-time navy: Bijapur only merchant ships; Mughal navy very limited.

Answer: When his kingdom reached the west coast he needed to protect its coastal resources, so he built a full-time naval force. At the time neither Bijapur (which had only merchant ships) nor the Mughals (whose navy was very limited) had such a force, so it was a revolutionary step.

The Marathas after Chhatrapati Shivaji

NCERT section The Marathas after Chhatrapati Shivaji

Sambhaji succeeded Shivaji. Aurangzeb invaded the Deccan, conquered Bijapur and Golconda, captured Sambhaji, tortured and executed him, and took Raigad.

Rajaram became Chhatrapati and moved to Gingee (Tamil Nadu), spreading the conflict south. The Marathas held their forts and often had the upper hand; Aurangzeb died (1707) without subduing them. Led by Tarabai (Rajaram's queen), they went on the offensive into Mughal lands.

Structural change: the centralised state of Shivaji's time became decentralised: still nominally under the Chhatrapati, but chiefs gained power, especially the Peshwa (Persian for 'prime minister'). Bajirao I and his son Nanasaheb Peshwa drove pan-Indian expansion. Regional chiefs' autonomy sometimes caused indiscipline and abuse, unlike Shivaji's values.

North: briefly held Lahore, Attock, Peshawar; heavy defeat by the Afghans at Panipat (1761); recovery under Peshwa Madhavrao I; Mahadji Shinde recaptured Delhi in 1771 (held till the British took it about three decades later).

British: the Marathas were the chief rivals of the British in the late 18th century. Three Anglo-Maratha wars (1775-1818): the first ended in Maratha victory; internal disunity and British organisation and technology ended Maratha power in 1818. The book's conclusion: in effect, the British took India from the Marathas more than from the Mughals or any other power. Nana Phadnavis organised the first pan-Indian anti-British alliance, even with old rivals Hyder Ali and the Nizam.

Worked example

Explain the role of Tarabai in Maratha history. (3 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Rajaram's queen; ruled in the early 18th century after his death.
2. Saw north India was unprotected while Aurangzeb was in the Deccan; sent large armies north.
3. Architect of northward expansion; preserved Maratha independence.

Answer: Tarabai, Rajaram's queen, ruled after his death in the early 18th century. She realised that with Aurangzeb and his army tied down in the Deccan, north India was unprotected, so she organised large Maratha armies to invade Mughal territories there. Her strategy and tenacity outsmarted the Mughals, preserved Maratha independence and made her the architect of the northward expansion.

Civil administration under Chhatrapati Shivaji

NCERT section Maratha Administration: Civilian administration

Shivaji set up a relatively centralised administration:

• Abolished hereditary posts and land assignments; paid salaries to officials from the treasury.
• Transferred officials periodically so none grew powerful enough to dictate terms.
• Pensions for widows of soldiers killed in battle, and military posts for their sons.
• Minted gold and copper coins in his own name in Devanagari, signs of sovereignty and cultural identity.
• Strict orders not to mistreat subjects: his letter allows cutting teak for the navy only with permission, but forbids touching mango and jackfruit trees that people raise 'like their children'; he warns that gains made by oppression soon perish with the oppressor.

Aṣhṭa pradhāna maṇḍala (council of eight ministers):

Minister	Role
Pradhān (Peshwa)	Prime Minister
Amātya	Finance
Mantrī	Intelligence
Sachiv	Land revenue
Sumant	Foreign affairs
Senāpatī	Commander-in-chief
Nyāyādhīsh	Chief Justice
Panḍitrāo	Religious affairs

Chauth and sardeshmukhi: taxes on provinces not directly ruled: chauth = 25%, sardeshmukhi = a further 10%. In return the Marathas protected them and did not interfere internally; the Mughals accepted this in treaties, and some provinces later joined the empire.

Worked example

Why did Shivaji pay salaries instead of granting hereditary posts and land? (2 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Hereditary posts/land let officials build independent power.
2. Salaries plus transfers kept officials dependent on and loyal to the king.

Answer: Hereditary posts and land grants could let officials build their own power base and defy the ruler. Paying salaries from the treasury, and transferring officials periodically, kept them dependent on the state so they could not dictate terms to the king.

Military: army, forts and navy

NCERT section Military administration; Maritime supremacy; Judicial system; Trade networks

Army: infantry, cavalry and navy. Cavalry: bārgīrs (horses and equipment paid by the state) and shiledārs (paid for by the soldiers themselves). In the 18th century they adopted European-style disciplined troops and artillery; Mahadji Shinde had a large European-style army. Preferred weapons: swords and lances; also guns, and rockets from Shivaji's time (metal tube rockets by 1770).

Forts, 'the core of the state': they controlled routes and sheltered troops in guerrilla war. Ramachandrapant Amatya's Ādnyāpatra says the kingdom was created from forts alone and survived Aurangzeb's decades of attack because of forts, even after mighty Bijapur and Bhaganagar fell.

Navy: in the 18th century Kanhoji Angre won many naval battles using geography and tactics though Maratha ships were less advanced. Europeans forced Indian ships to buy passes (cartaz); the Marathas challenged this and demanded passes from Europeans, who called Angre a 'pirate'. In 1665 the ruler of Muscat captured four of Shivaji's ships and planned an attack, but retreated on hearing the navy had over a hundred ships.

Justice: efficient and moderate in using the death penalty. The panchāyat (a local gathering of officials and prominent men, not today's Panchayat) gave justice; appeals went to a Maratha chief; a kotwāl kept order in towns like Pune and Indore.

Trade: Shivaji and his officials sent ships to Mocha (Yemen), Muscat (Oman) and Malacca (Malaysia) carrying gold and textiles; roads, bridges, and ferries (e.g. in 18th-century Odisha).

Worked example

Distinguish between bārgīrs and shiledārs. (2 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Both cavalry.
2. Who paid for the horse and equipment?

Answer: Both were cavalrymen. Bārgīrs had their horses and equipment paid for by the state, while shiledārs paid for their own horses and equipment.

Cultural revival and remarkable Maratha women

NCERT section Cultural Revival; The mighty Maratha women

Shivaji's cultural vision:

• His seal was in Sanskrit, not the usual Persian; it describes his authority as growing like the new moon and ruling for the people's welfare.
• He commissioned the Rājya-Vyavahāra-Koṣha, giving Sanskrit equivalents for Persian administrative words; foreign loanwords in Maratha diplomacy fell considerably.
• A devout Hindu who respected other religions; his saffron flag was adopted by all Marathas; he rebuilt desecrated temples and promoted Sanskrit and Marathi literature and traditional arts.
• His greatest contribution, says the book: showing people that mighty empires could be defeated and Indians could build and run their own empire.

Moḍī script: a cursive form of Devanagari used for Maratha correspondence. 18th-century coins sometimes copied the Mughal style with Indian symbols (e.g. the Gaṇapatī-Pantapradhān rupee, in Devanagari and Persian). The Bhonsles of Nagpur helped revive worship of Lord Jagannath at Puri.

Ahilyabai Holkar (Holkar dynasty, around Indore): after losing husband and son, governed wisely for thirty years; built and restored hundreds of temples, ghats, wells and roads from Kedarnath to Rameswaram; rebuilt the Kashi Vishwanath temple (destroyed by Aurangzeb) and the Somnath temple (destroyed by Mahmud of Ghazni); promoted Maheshwar handloom weaving.

Tarabai: warrior queen, architect of the northward expansion (see above).

Worked example

Give three contributions of Ahilyabai Holkar. (3 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Governed the Holkar state wisely for thirty years, caring for common people.
2. Built/restored temples, ghats, wells, roads from Kedarnath to Rameswaram; rebuilt Kashi Vishwanath and Somnath.
3. Promoted the Maheshwar weaving industry.

Answer: 1. She governed the Holkar kingdom around Indore wisely for thirty years after losing her husband and son, caring for ordinary people. 2. She built and restored hundreds of temples, ghats, wells and roads across India, including rebuilding the Kashi Vishwanath and Somnath temples. 3. She promoted the Maheshwar handloom industry, which still thrives.

Thanjavur Marathas and the Maratha legacy

NCERT section In focus: Thanjavur; The Maratha legacy

Thanjavur: Ekoji, Shivaji's half-brother, conquered Thanjavur (Tamil Nadu) in the late 17th century. The Thanjavur Marathas built a syncretic culture where Tamil, Telugu and Marathi influences mixed freely; many rulers were poets and dramatists; Thanjavur painting with gold foil flourished.

Serfoji II: knew many Indian and European languages; wrote the Marathi play Devendra Kuravanji describing world geography; under him modern Carnatic music took shape and early Bharatanatyam developed; founded Dhanwantari Mahal, offering free treatment with Indian and Western medicine; started a printing press, the first by a native Indian ruler; had the Bhonsle family history inscribed on the Brihadishwara temple, one of India's largest single inscriptions.

Legacy (book's conclusion): the Marathas challenged Mughal dominance and built the largest Indian empire before the British, with efficient administration; revived local traditions without religious discrimination; and the ideal of Swarājya later inspired Indians to believe they could govern themselves, planting early seeds of the freedom movement.

Worked example

Why is Serfoji II remembered as a remarkable ruler? Give three reasons. (3 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Scholar: many languages; Devendra Kuravanji.
2. Arts: Carnatic music and early Bharatanatyam took shape.
3. Welfare and learning: Dhanwantari Mahal, printing press, Brihadishwara inscription.

Answer: Serfoji II knew many Indian and European languages and wrote the Marathi play Devendra Kuravanji on world geography. He patronised musicians, and modern Carnatic music and early Bharatanatyam took shape in his time. He also set up the Dhanwantari Mahal for free treatment with Indian and Western medicine and the first printing press started by a native Indian ruler.

The Rise of the Marathas in real life

Each concept, met in an everyday situation. Read the situation, answer the question in your own words, then compare with the model answer. The one-line hook is what to remember.

Topics in this chapter

• Chhatrapati Shivaji and the Foundation of Maratha Power
• Maratha Governance, Expansion and Legacy

The Rise of the Marathas: key facts

Shivaji timeline

1630	birth
1646	rule begins
1657	navy
1666	Agra escape
1674	coronation at Raigad
1677	dakṣhiṇa-digvijaya
1680	death

After Shivaji

1682-1707	Mughal-Maratha wars
1754	control over Delhi begins
1761	Panipat defeat
1771	Delhi recaptured (Mahadji Shinde)
1775-1782	First Anglo-Maratha War (Maratha victory)
1818	Third war ends Maratha power

Taxes

• •Chauth = 25%
• •Sardeshmukhi = additional 10%
• •in return: protection, no interference

Levied on provinces not directly ruled.

Aṣhṭa pradhāna

Pradhān	PM
Amātya	finance
Mantrī	intelligence
Sachiv	land revenue
Sumant	foreign affairs
Senāpatī	army
Nyāyādhīsh	justice
Panḍitrāo	religion

Terms

• •Swarājya = sovereign self-rule
• •Jāgīr = land granted for service
• •Peshwa = prime minister
• •Bārgīr/Shiledār = state-equipped/self-equipped cavalry
• •Cartaz = European sea pass
• •Kotwāl = town police
• •Moḍī = cursive Devanagari

The Rise of the Marathas: map work

The places on the official CBSE map list for this chapter. Find each one on an outline map of India and practise marking it.

How the school exam asks The Rise of the Marathas

The question patterns to expect, and the method that works for each.

Tricks to remember The Rise of the Marathas

Short memory aids. Say each one aloud once, then use it on a question the same day.

• Shivaji's life in six stops

  'Fort, Fleet, Fang, Feast-baskets, Five-word title, Far south': forts (1646), navy (1657), tiger claw vs Afzal Khan, baskets from Agra (1666), 'Shri Raja Shiva Chhatrapati' (1674), dakṣhiṇa-digvijaya (1677).

  Use it when: Sequencing his career.

• Chauth and sardeshmukhi

  'Chauth = chauthai = one-fourth (25%); sardeshmukhi = add a tenth (10%)'.

  Use it when: Tax percentages.

• Eight ministers

  'Please Allow My Sister Some Sweet Nimbu Pani': Pradhān, Amātya, Mantrī, Sachiv, Sumant, Senāpatī, Nyāyādhīsh, Panḍitrāo.

  Use it when: Aṣhṭa pradhāna.

• Cavalry types

  'Bārgīr = Borrowed horse (state's); Shiledār = Self-equipped'.

  Use it when: Military administration.

• Serfoji's five firsts

  'Play, Music, Medicine, Press, Inscription'.

  Use it when: Thanjavur section.

The Rise of the Marathas: exam-level solved questions

Ordered from exam level to HOTS. Cover the solution, write your own, then compare step by step.

Case-study practice (Section E style)

Read the situation, then answer every part. In a school exam set on the board pattern this is a 4-mark question split into 1 + 1 + 2 marks.

Where the marks are

How a typical answer is split into step marks. Show every step: a right final answer alone rarely earns full marks.

Where students lose marks in The Rise of the Marathas

The slips examiners see most often, and what to write instead.

• ✗Mistake: Saying Shivaji won at Purandar

  Remembering only victories.

  Wrong working

  Shivaji defeated Jai Singh at Purandar.

  Right working

  Shivaji had to concede defeat to Jai Singh at Purandar and sign a treaty giving up much territory.

  ✓Do this: Note the setbacks too: Purandar and Agra.

  Usually costs: 1 mark.

• ✗Mistake: Mixing up chauth and sardeshmukhi

  Both are taxes.

  Wrong working

  Sardeshmukhi was 25% and chauth was 10%.

  Right working

  Chauth was 25%; sardeshmukhi an additional 10%; in return the Marathas protected the province.

  ✓Do this: Chauth = fourth.

  Usually costs: 1 mark.

• ✗Mistake: Equating the Maratha panchāyat with today's Panchayat

  Same word.

  Wrong working

  The Maratha panchāyat was an elected village government.

  Right working

  It was a local gathering of officials and prominent men that delivered justice; appeals went to a Maratha chief.

  ✓Do this: Read the book's caution: not to be confused with today's Panchayat.

  Usually costs: 1 mark.

• ✗Mistake: Forgetting the shift from centralised to decentralised rule

  Treating Maratha history as one block.

  Wrong working

  The Marathas were always ruled directly by the Chhatrapati.

  Right working

  Shivaji's state was centralised; in the 18th century chiefs and especially the Peshwas held real power under a nominal Chhatrapati.

  ✓Do this: Divide into 'Shivaji' and 'after Shivaji'.

  Usually costs: 1-2 marks.

• ✗Mistake: Writing that the Marathas lost the First Anglo-Maratha War

  Knowing only that the British won in the end.

  Wrong working

  The British won all three Anglo-Maratha wars.

  Right working

  The First Anglo-Maratha War (1775-1782) was a Maratha victory; the third (1818) ended Maratha power.

  ✓Do this: Check the timeline.

  Usually costs: 1 mark.

NCERT exercise guide: The Rise of the Marathas

What each exercise in the NCERT chapter tests, how to approach it, and a question of the same kind solved step by step. Questions here are written in our own words.

Practice questions on The Rise of the Marathas

Write each answer on paper first. Open the hint only if you are stuck, and the answer only when you have finished.

1. Q1 · 1 mark · MCQExam level

   Which dynasty ruled most of Maharashtra from Devagiri in the 13th century?
   (a) Hoysala (b) Yadava (c) Bahmani (d) Adil Shahi

   Hint

   Overcome by the Khiljis.

   Answer

   (b) Yadava

2. Q2 · 1 mark · Very short answerExam level

   What was the wāgh nakh?

   Hint

   Tiger.

   Answer

   A small claw-shaped weapon ('tiger's claw') Shivaji used to kill Afzal Khan.

3. Q3 · 1 mark · Very short answerExam level

   Name the script that was a cursive form of Devanagari used in Maratha correspondence.

   Hint

   Fig. 3.20.

   Answer

   Moḍī script.

4. Q4 · 1 mark · Very short answerExam level

   Which Rajput general defeated Shivaji at Purandar?

   Hint

   Sent by Aurangzeb.

   Answer

   Jai Singh.

5. Q5 · 2 marks · Short answerHarder exam level

   Why did the Sanskrit inscription on Shivaji's seal matter?

   Hint

   What was usual?

   Answer

   Most seals of the time were in Persian; a Sanskrit seal asserted his sovereignty and cultural identity and expressed his vision of Swarājya ruling for the people's welfare.

6. Q6 · 3 marks · Short answerHarder exam level

   Why did the Maratha state become decentralised in the 18th century, and what was one drawback?

   Hint

   Rapid expansion; Peshwas; chiefs.

   Answer

   During rapid pan-Indian expansion, power shifted from the Chhatrapati to the Peshwa and regional chiefs, who governed large areas with more autonomy. A drawback was occasional indiscipline and abuse by chiefs, in contrast with Shivaji's values; disunity later helped the British.

7. Q7 · 1 mark · Assertion-reasonHarder exam level

   Assertion (A): Shivaji abolished hereditary posts.
   Reason (R): He wanted officials to be paid from the treasury and transferred so they could not dictate terms to the king.
   (a) Both true, R explains A (b) Both true, R does not explain A (c) A true, R false (d) A false, R true

   Hint

   Centralisation.

   Answer

   (a) Both true and R explains A.

8. Q8 · 2 marks · Short answerHarder exam level

   How did Shivaji show care for soldiers' families?

   Hint

   Widows and sons.

   Answer

   He gave pensions to widows of soldiers killed in battle and offered military posts to their sons.

9. Q9 · 3 marks · Source-basedHOTS / competency

   The Ādnyāpatra warns that European 'hat-wearers' were unlike other merchants. Using the chapter, explain why this warning proved correct.

   Hint

   Navy, gunpowder, territory.

   Answer

   Amatya noted that Europeans wanted territory and relied on navy and gunpowder. Later, Europeans forced Indian ships to buy cartaz, and the British, with superior organisation and technology, fought the Marathas from 1775 and ended their power in 1818, taking over India. So the warning about their ambitions came true.

10. Q10 · 3 marks · Short answerHOTS / competency

    A museum label beside Shivaji's coins and seal reads: 'Small objects, big statements.' Explain the label with three facts from the chapter.

    Hint

    Whose name, which script, which language?

    Answer

    1. He minted gold and copper coins in his own name, which announced that he was a sovereign ruler, not anyone's subordinate. 2. The coins used the Devanagari script, an assertion of his cultural identity. 3. His seal was in Sanskrit instead of the usual Persian, and described his authority growing like the new moon for the welfare of the people, expressing his idea of Swarājya. So these small objects declared independence and a cultural vision.

11. Q11 · 2 marks · Short answerHOTS / competency

    Shivaji forbade the Dutch from trading slaves in the south. Why is this significant?

    Hint

    Others' response.

    Answer

    At that time Europeans captured and sold Indians as slaves with no opposition from Indian powers; Shivaji was the first to intervene, showing deep concern for his subjects.

12. Q12 · 5 marks · Long answerHOTS / competency

    What was Chhatrapati Shivaji's most important contribution to Indian history? Give your view with three pieces of evidence.

    Hint

    Pick one main idea and support it.

    Answer

    Model view: his greatest contribution was showing that mighty empires could be challenged and Indians could build and run their own state (Swarājya). Evidence: (1) starting at 16 with neglected forts, he built a kingdom that defeated Bijapur's Afzal Khan and survived Mughal attacks, crowned in 1674; (2) he created lasting institutions: a navy, salaried officials, a council of eight ministers, Sanskrit seal and coins in his name; (3) his example inspired Chhatrasal, Tarabai's resistance and the later Maratha empire, and, as the book says, planted early seeds of the freedom movement. (Other well-supported views accepted.)

Test your recall

Answer in your head or on paper first, then open the card. Pulling an answer out of memory makes it stick far better than re-reading.

1. 1.Where and when was Chhatrapati Shivaji crowned?Show answer

   At Raigad, in 1674.

2. 2.Who were Shivaji's parents?Show answer

   Shahji and Jijabai.

3. 3.Which Bijapur general did Shivaji kill near Pratapgad?Show answer

   Afzal Khan.

4. 4.Which Mughal port did Shivaji sack, and what did he spare?Show answer

   Surat; he spared religious places and Mohandas Parekh's house.

5. 5.What is the Rājyābhiṣheka shaka?Show answer

   The era Shivaji started from his coronation.

6. 6.What does 'Peshwa' mean?Show answer

   Prime minister (a Persian term).

7. 7.Who recaptured Delhi for the Marathas in 1771?Show answer

   Mahadji Shinde (Scindia).

8. 8.Who organised the first pan-Indian anti-British alliance?Show answer

   Nana Phadnavis.

9. 9.Which Maratha admiral challenged European cartaz?Show answer

   Kanhoji Angre.

10. 10.Who wrote the Ādnyāpatra?Show answer

    Ramachandrapant Amatya, Shivaji's finance minister.

11. 11.Which two temples did Ahilyabai Holkar rebuild?Show answer

    Kashi Vishwanath (Varanasi) and Somnath (Gujarat).

12. 12.Who conquered Thanjavur for the Marathas?Show answer

    Ekoji, Shivaji's half-brother.

Quick revision checklist

The night before the exam: can you do each of these without looking?

• ☐Marathas: Deccan people speaking Marathi; literature since the 12th century.
• ☐Bhakti saints (Dnyaneshwar, Namdev, Tukaram, Ramdas) laid a cultural foundation.
• ☐Shivaji: born 1630; forts from age 16; navy 1657; guerrilla warfare.
• ☐Afzal Khan killed at Pratapgad; Shaista Khan raid; Surat sacked (about one crore).
• ☐Purandar treaty with Jai Singh; escape from Agra 1666.
• ☐Crowned at Raigad 1674; dakṣhiṇa-digvijaya 1677; died 1680.
• ☐Sambhaji executed; Rajaram to Gingee; Aurangzeb died 1707 without victory; Tarabai led expansion north.
• ☐Peshwas (Bajirao I, Nanasaheb) led expansion; Panipat 1761; Delhi 1771 under Mahadji Shinde.
• ☐Anglo-Maratha wars 1775-1818; British took India mostly from the Marathas.
• ☐Salaried, transferable officials; aṣhṭa pradhāna; chauth 25% + sardeshmukhi 10%.
• ☐Forts = core of the state; Kanhoji Angre's navy challenged cartaz.
• ☐Sanskrit seal; Rājya-Vyavahāra-Koṣha; Ahilyabai; Serfoji II at Thanjavur; Swarājya legacy.

The Rise of the Marathas: frequently asked questions