Had the British not conquered Bengal in 1759, how would the Maratha Empire developed?
The Maratha's had just become the dominant power in India by 1749. Fate intervened in Bengal a decade later, giving Britain a foothold which, by 1818, would extend to the whole of India and destroy the Marathas.
If Britain never gained hegemony, how would the Maratha develope?
For decades, it had been decentralizing.
Was the Maratha's fate that of the Muslim Mughal Empire, with the central authority ceding more and more power to the local Princes until they were defacto independent?
Is there any realistic change, absent European intervention, that the Maratha Empire might re-centralize into a legitimate federalized Hindu power?
The Maratha's had just become the dominant power in India by 1749. Fate intervened in Bengal a decade later, giving Britain a foothold which, by 1818, would extend to the whole of India and destroy the Marathas.
If Britain never gained hegemony, how would the Maratha develope?
For decades, it had been decentralizing.
Was the Maratha's fate that of the Muslim Mughal Empire, with the central authority ceding more and more power to the local Princes until they were defacto independent?
Is there any realistic change, absent European intervention, that the Maratha Empire might re-centralize into a legitimate federalized Hindu power?