throw some light on raise and fall of Marathas?

1)  Maratha kingdom was another powerful regional kingdom to arise out of continuous opposition to Mughal rule.

2)  Shivaji carved out a stable kingdom with the support of powerful warrior families known as deshmukhs

3)  Group of highly mobile, peasant pastoralists provided the backbone of the Maratha army. Shivaji used these forces to challenge the Mughals.

4)  After the death of Shivaji, effective power in Maratha state was wielded by a family of Chitpavan Brahmanas who served Shivaji’s successors as Peshwa or the Prime Minister

5)  Poona became the capital of Maratha Kingdom. Under the Peshwas, Marathas developed a very successful military organisation. Their success lay in bypassing the fortified areas of the Mughals, by raiding cities and by engaging Mughal armies in areas where their supply lines and reinforcements could be easily disturbed.

6)  Between 1720 and 1761, Maratha Empire expanded. Malwa and Gujarat were seized from the Mughals by 1720s. By 1730s, the Maratha king was recognized as overlord of the entire Deccan peninsula

7)  After raiding Delhi in 1737, the frontiers of Maratha domination expanded rapidly, into Rajasthan and Punjab in North, into Bengal and Orissa in the East, and into Karnataka and Tamil countries in the South

8)  Though they were not formally included in Maratha Empire, they were made to pay tribute as a way of accepting Maratha sovereignty.

9)  Moreover, these military campaigns made other rulers hostile towards Marathas. As a result, they were not inclined to support the Marathas during the Third Battle of Panipet in 1761