Princely state of Jaisalmer
- Chaitanya Raj Singh, was a scion of the royal family of the erstwhile princely state of Jaisalmer.
- In the context of the Jaisalmer princely state, no authentic historical sources mention any Maratha dominance, invasion, taxation, or authority.
- On the contrary, our royal records clearly state that the Marathas never had any interference in the Jaisalmer princely state.
Northern expansion’ of the Marathas
- In the first half of the 18th century, with the Mughal empire breaking up, the then Peshwa of the Maratha empire, Baji Rao I, could not resist a Maratha drive into the north.
- By then, the Marathas were already collecting tribute from erstwhile Mughal dominions in the Deccan.
- The Marathas then pushed into parts of Rajasthan, the areas around Delhi and Punjab, and Bundelkhand, besides attacking parts of Orissa, Bengal, and Bihar, they established control over Malwa after the Battle of Bhopal. The Bengal raids were under Baji Rao’s successors.
- The early conquests in this period, saw the Marathas make little attempt to displace the local powers. Rather, they let local rulers remain in control, entering agreements with zamindars to collect tribute.
- The Marathas were collecting chauth and sardeshmukhi from the Rajput territories.
Jaisalmer never part Maratha empire
- A retired professor of history at Jawaharlal Nehru University said that the Marathas raided parts of Rajasthan a number of times to claim tribute.
- Once the Marathas consolidated their position in the Deccan, they began their expansion towards the north.
- Malwa was annexed to the Maratha empire, and Orissa was also under Maratha rule. To start with, they entered Rajasthan on the invitation of the Rajput chieftains, to address their succession disputes.
- The Rajputs paid tribute to the Marathas. While the Marathas did take control of some territory, no Rajput state was ever annexed to be directly ruled by the Marathas.
- The Maratha equation was not the same with all rulers of that region. The Marathas didn’t raid Jaisalmer and Bikaner. They never went too far. Most of their attacks were confined to Jaipur and Jodhpur. Jaisalmer was under the Bhati clan of Rajputs.
The nature of the Maratha empire
- Maratha rule was patchy and irregular across much of central India. Some regions were fully administered by the Peshwa’s men and others only thinly administered, and populated by recalcitrant zamindars who managed to defy Maratha authority from behind walled strongholds.
- Scholars have been divided over the nature of the Maratha polity and whether it was a confederacy.
- Maratha polity has revolved around three themes: the Maratha polity as a ‘rising’’of the regional consciousness of Maharashtra; the Maratha polity as Hindu response to oppressive Muslim rule; the Maratha polity as brave attempt to change the nature of Hindu society and better the lot of its poorest members.
- It is true that the dominant clan of the Marathas in the 18th century made a general claim of sovereignty over almost the entire north and north-western parts of India as well as the Deccan. However, their actual control varied enormously.
Conclusion
The tight timeline given for the preparation of the new textbooks hardly allows for original research in every single relevant primary source. Also maps should be made using different shades of colours. One indicating direct control, another for tributary states, one for territories that were captured but did not remain under control, and another indicating influence.