Courses
Courses for Kids
Free study material
Offline Centres
More
Store Icon
Store

Why did the Marathas want to expand beyond the Deccan?

seo-qna
SearchIcon
Answer
VerifiedVerified
443.1k+ views
Hint:The Marathas were a group of warriors speaking Marathi. They belonged to the western region of the deccan plateau (present day known as Maharashtra). The Marathas rose to immense power under the leadership of Shivaji Maharaj in the 1700's. Deccan refers to the western and southern India.

Complete answer:
The Marathas had never attempted to make a mark in history until the reign of Shah Jahan. They were peaceful peasants like the other hindu castes and never bothered the rulers of Delhi. It was the king of Bijapur who educated them to attain the rule by a hardworking race. The Marathas wanted to seize the power and expansion of the Mughals. They seized Malwa and Gujarat from the Mughals in the 1720’s to overpower them. By 1730’s the Marathas were seen as the overlord of the entire Deccan peninsula.
After conquering the deccan in the deccan wars, they eyed to rule the entire nation and decided to expand beyond the deccan. By the 18th century, the Marathas were successful to overpower a large part of the Indian subcontinent.

Note:The Maratha empire formerly existed from 1674. After the death of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in 1707, the Marathas defeated the Mughals in Delhi and Bhopal and were successful in expanding their rule till Peshawar by 1758. The fall of the Marathas was caused with their defeat to the East India Company in 1818 in the second anglo Maratha war.