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The Mughals were Muslim/Islamic and the Marathas were Hindu, and both struggled against each other for dominance in the Indian subcontinent. From my understanding it, Aurangazeb saw the zenith of expansion of the Mughal Empire c. 1700s but also the resurgence of the Maratha military under Shivaji Bhosale. By 1739, the Mughals were defeated by the invading armies of Nadir Shah, and the booty was enough that Nadir suspended taxation in his empire for three years.

With the crumbling of the empire, the Marathas had routed Moghul armies, and won over several Mughal provinces from the Deccan to Bengal, and internal dissatisfaction arose due to the weakness of the Mughal Empire's administrative and economic systems, leading to the declaration of independence by the Nawabs of Bengal, Bhopal, Oudh, Carnatic, Rampur, the Nizam of Hyderabad and Shah of Afghanistan.

Is it possible that the Mughal Empire can instead be shocked/forced into a revival following Nadir's death? That it can reestablish itself as the premier power of India? And if it were to do that, how would European colonization of India be affected?

Thoughts?
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