Maratha & British Rule in Gujarat
Between the Mughals and the British, Gujarat is not one state but a patchwork: Maratha Gaekwads at Baroda, a scatter of some two hundred princely states, and British districts under the Bombay Presidency. That patchwork is the reason integration in 1947 was such a large job here.
Mental model
The Marathas run in two halves. First half = the KING: Shivaji builds a state out of forts and guerrilla war (ganimi kava), is crowned Chhatrapati at Raigad, taxes through chauth and sardeshmukhi, and governs with the Ashta Pradhan council of eight. Second half = the PESHWA: after Shivaji and Sambhaji, real power shifts to the Peshwas at Pune — Balaji Vishwanath, Baji Rao I (the great expander), Balaji Baji Rao (under whom comes the disaster of Panipat 1761). The empire ends as a confederacy of houses (Gaekwad of Baroda, Scindia, Holkar, Bhonsle), and the Anglo-Maratha wars close it. The Gujarat link is the Gaekwads of Baroda.
Associations
A short trigger on the left, everything it pulls with it on the right.
Gaekwad = Baroda, always.
Of all Gujarat's princely houses, one name does most of the work in questions. Pilaji Gaekwad established Maratha power at Baroda; Sayajirao Gaekwad III is the reformer — compulsory primary education, libraries, and financial support for Dr Ambedkar's studies abroad.
Bassein 1802 is the hinge.
The Treaty of Bassein brought the Peshwa under subsidiary alliance, and with the Maratha centre subordinated, the British moved into Gujarat as the paramount power without ever conquering it as a single unit.
Things to remember
The night-before list. Short enough to recall cold.
- 1Pilaji Gaekwad founded Maratha rule at Baroda in the early eighteenth century; the Gaekwads remained a princely house until the merger after Independence.
- 2Baroda was one of the few princely states entitled to a twenty-one gun salute, ranking with Hyderabad, Mysore, Kashmir and Gwalior.
- 3Sayajirao Gaekwad III introduced compulsory and free primary education in his state and funded Dr B. R. Ambedkar's higher studies.
- 4The Treaty of Bassein (1802) placed the Peshwa under a subsidiary alliance and opened western India to British paramountcy.
- 5British Gujarat was administered as districts of the Bombay Presidency, while most of Saurashtra and Kachchh remained princely territory.
In detail
- Shivaji was crowned Chhatrapati at Raigad fort in 1674; his council of eight ministers was the Ashta Pradhan, headed by the Peshwa.
- Chauth and sardeshmukhi were the two Maratha levies on territories outside their direct rule.
- The Third Battle of Panipat in 1761 was fought between the Marathas and Ahmad Shah Abdali and broke Maratha ascendancy in the north.
- Baroda (Vadodara) was ruled by the Gaekwad house, whose best-known modern ruler Sayajirao Gaekwad III introduced compulsory primary education and supported Dr. Ambedkar's studies.
- The Treaty of Bassein (1802) with Peshwa Baji Rao II brought the Marathas under subsidiary alliance and triggered the Second Anglo-Maratha War.
Where people slip
- The Gaekwads are Marathas ruling in Gujarat — a question can correctly place them in both answers, so read whether it asks about origin or territory.
Check yourself
Nothing here is scored — it will not change your mastery figures.
The ruler of Baroda who introduced compulsory primary education in his state and supported Dr B. R. Ambedkar's studies was:
From the question bank
Which Maratha clan established its dominant hold over central Gujarat, ruling from Baroda (Vadodara)?
From the question bank
The British East India Company established its first factory (trading post) in Gujarat at which port town in 1613?
Books to read
- NCERT Class VII — Our Pasts II
- Medieval India by Satish Chandra
- Standard Gujarat state board history textbook (Gaekwad rule in Gujarat)
Official sources
Hand-checked official domains only — the notes above carry no links of their own.