The Great marathi confederacy a tl

ANyway guys I have been very interested in Indian history and so I have created this tl. I hope to make it as realistic as plausable. Before you read i would like to tell you I suck at actually describing the battle as it occurs on the field. So expect not to see much description on those parts of the tl. Otherwise i hope you will enjoy this tl.


" Those islamic enemis knew what would happen to them against our superior weaponry." Indian soldier at third battle of Paniput.


The Maratha conquests of the nizams and the Durrani

In 1759 Abdali shah raised a powerful coalition against the maratha confederacy. Earlier the maratha made rapid gains bringing an end to the mughal empire and to finish the conquest Balaji balaji rao ordered an invasion of punjab. This brought the confederacy into conflict with the Durrani.

After much discussion Sadashivrao bao raised an army of 70000 to put down the durrani threat. *He after much debate agreed with his generals to not bring any pilgrims with him during the conquest. This would prove descive in the coming battle.





Without pilgrims the maratha armies moved at a breakneck pace and by July 5th 1760 Delhi had fallen. Soon skirmishes arose along the yamuna river beetween Durrani and Marathi forces. It was called battle of Kunjpura where the entire garrison of 30000 afghan soldiers led by Shuja and Najib ud daula were ambushed and destroyed. Only 15000 Marathi soldiers fell that day. With the victory here Sadashivrao turned his attention against Abdalis forces on the eastern side of the river.


In the dead of night Sadashivraos forces launched a surprise nigh attack against Abdali and his soldiers. Many soldiers had been asleep and when the marathas attacked the entire durranni camp was caught by surprise. To make matters worse a maratha cannon blew up the munitions tent of the durrani. The explosion killed many in the vicinity. It was more of a massacre than a battle. By morning Abdali had been slain and his forces destroyed. The surprise night crosisng of the river proved descisive in the battle.


With abdali and much of the durrani army destroyed Sadashivrao continued his offensive. In a rapid advance Sadashivrao and his forces conquered the rest of punjab by January 1761.

However Sadashivrao decided to end the durranis once and for all. In march 1762 Sadashivrao and his army now numbered 100000 invaded the heartland of the durranis. By 1764 after intense fighting the Durrani empire was annexed by the marathas. With the fall of the durrani virtually no state stood in the way of maratha dominence in india.


Balaji knew that the marathis still couldn face the european powers. SO he decided to unite the rest of india before taking on Europe. He used much of the loot gathered from the conquest of durrani to order the construction of a larger navy. Soon academies for naval training and modern naval ships based off the european style were being built.
Throughout this period the marathis grew extremly amicable with the french. The french were iven better trade deals and many perks over the other major powers. In return france supplied naval advisors to the marathis whose navy soon followed the french model. Meanwhile with coffers being depleted in 1768 Balaji turned his eyes toward the nizams of the south. On may 5th he ordered the hero Sadashivrao to raise some 60000 soldiers and conquer the rest of sothern India from the nizams.

Throughout the period he also ordered the constructions of new temples and soon started work on the rebuilding of the ancient nelanda university in India.

In 1769 Sadashivrao and his armies conquered Orissa crushing the nizam who ruled their. The orrisans had no way of opposing the superior maratha armies and were also blockaded into submission by the maratha navy. Using their now pwoerful navy the marathas blockaded much of the southern india controlled by the nizams crippling the nizams powers leading to amphibious assault which captured much of the south indian coasts.

Meanwhile on land the Marathi armies soon captured much of kannada and after bitter fighting put an end to the sultans of hyderabad taking hyderabd in 1771.

By 1772 Maratha forces capptured travancore ending nizam rule.. But the Marathas were far from satisfied. In 1772 led by Sadashivrao the marathis invaded Mysore. In a series of battles Mysore fell by 1774 to the triumphant armies of sadashivrao bao. With the conquest of mysore virtually all of southern india was under marathi control.


By 1773 the maratha confederacy had conquered nearly the entire indian subcontinent. Balaji soon saw his coffers filed with blots of gold. Many temples were built, celebrations were held across the empire. The powerful navy soon numbered some 100 ships rapidly expanding.
But not all was well. The British empire which was seeing the Maratha grow strong grew wary of the indian kingdom. To the BEI the maratha confederacy was a threat. This was further compounded when the BEI learned of the MIC which had been formed by rich buisnessmen and merchants in the confederacy eager to trade with europe and africa bypassing the silk route to make more profit.



Soon the pieces were in place. The marathis led by Balaji knew they would come into conflict with the British and both sides knew war was inevitable. The stage was set to determine once and for all which side would be destined to unite the indian subcontinent.
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* otl Sadashivrao brought 200k pilgrims with him and with these ppilgrims was starved out by adbali.
 
The Great Anglo-Marathi war
" Oh the horror I remember at Calcutta we were besieged by those indians we were forced to eat our horses, dogs, rats, insects, than ourselves"(British POW)
1779: The Maratha confederacy under Balaji declared war upon the UK to retake the indian possestions in bengal and other areas from the british.
At this time England was busy fighting the war of american independance in the americas. King George knew he could spare little troops to the indian continennt and the BEI was outnumbered by many soldiers.

The forces of Balaji invade and destroy British resistance in Bengal. The BEI decided to make their stand at Calcutta. It was here that the famous battle was fought. Sadashivrao and 60000 Marathas faced the british-Bengali force of 40000. A few minor skirmishes were fought which ended in pyhric victories for the BEI. Sadashivrao soon launched assaults that forced the BEI army to take refuge in the city itself. When the BEI retreated into the city Sadashivrao ordered an encirclement and besieged the city. The BEI was caught completly by surprised and trapped with no way to escape. BY August supplies had dwindled and starvation set in. By September the BEI which had been reduced to eating rats decided to sally out and face the marathis. Before the siege Sadashivrao had sent spies into the city who informed him of every movement the british made. The British as he found out would leave through the south gate and storm the weak defenses their and make a retreat to the woods.
On September fifth the general of the BEI ordered the sallying order. It was a horrible mistake. The British who thought they would face little rsistance rode out through the south gaate toward whaat they percieved was the weak point. What they didnt know was that it was an ambush. The BEI forces quickly ooveran the small force but when they passed the first line they realized their mistake. Suddenbly they faced heavy cannon fire leading to many soldiers dying. Soon the BEI calvary were torn to pieces by the cannon fire. The heavy smoke caused many units to walk right into the cannons trap where they were blown apart. Finnally the army was encircled and then the British general surrendered. In one battle the entire BEI force of the easit india company had been defeated by the marathis. With the main force depleted Calcutta fell and shortly therafter the rest of BEngal. In 1780 off the coast of Bengal the Maratha navy won a decisive victory against the British asian fleet then under the command of Samuel Hood who perished in the fighting. On July 6th 1780 the British sued for peace and in the treaty of Bengal the the entirety of the country was annexed to the Marathis and the East india company was forced to leave. The loss of India was a major blow ton the eempire and to make matters worse the war of American independance was in the favour of the Franco-American alliance. never again woould the british step foot in India.

In 1781 Balaji declared war on the portugues and soon goa and the indian possestions were taken. The only power remaining in India were the French who were allowed to keep Pondicherry and the other territories.

In 1782 Balaji died of Malaria. He was succeeded by hs younger son Shivaji who would become SHivaji II of the maratha confederacy.

Throughout the 1780s Shivaji and his advisors would spend a huge sum on rebuilding Nelanda University. They also worked on rebuilding the indian temples which had been destroyed by the mughals. In 1786 Shivaji moved the capitol city to a more central location. In what is the Marathi province of Khandesh Shivaji II constructed the new capitol city. When it was completed in 1794 it would be one of the most beutiful cities in the world.

WIth nearly impentrable defenses beutiful temples large universities, huge houses and buisness centers the city dwarfed Delhi. The Imperial Palace which was built in the city was twice the size of the taj majahal built by Shah Jahan. It was here to this queen of cities that the capitol was moved to.

Throughout this period roads were constructed across the confederacy. Soon roads connected virtually every town. The roads also led to the capitol city. So in effect every major road led to the capitol city which soon bustled into a major commercial center. Messaging posts were built every 20 miles making it easy for messengers to rest while carrying email. Rest areas were also bult. The paved roads allowed the Marathi troops to move efficiently and quickly to any part of the empire in a faster period of time.

By 1797 the Maratha confederacy had some of the best developed infastructure ever created. Much of the construction projects came from the loot taken during Marathi campaigns. The loot proved to be a vital asset in allowing the construction projects to take place. Many temples also donated money to the cause and gave it to the Confedracy.

Nearly a decade earlier the French revoulution had broken out. Many of the aristocrats tried to flee france. Many were given refuge in the maratha confederacy. Soon much of the french aristocracy which was being butchered by Robespierre and the Jacobins found refuge in Marathi lands.

Many of the officers core of the french navy who were nobles fled to the maratha empire. Here they found jobs teaching navlal students how to run ships and the likes. It was said in France if you were about to be executed by the revolters flee to Indian lands to keep your comfortable lives. The French Emigres who were given free plots of land were treated similiar to the maratha aristocrats.

The French emigres brought proved to be extremly useful in bolstering the marathi navy.

By the 1790s the maratha confederacy was on the road to becoming a great power. Soon for the maratha empire the future was bright. But this future would come to a startling end when in 1790 Shivaji was murdered and a large civil war broke out. It would be kknown as the Marathi civil war
 
Great. A couple of nitpicks:

1) The BEIC is basically the size of the british army, and although the British Asian Navy is small, They would in all likely hood, atleast be a pyrrhic victory for the marathi, considering the training of the british in comparison to training in The MC.
2) Why would he French prefer the MC, with the risk of yellow fever and cholera, and in Tropical/Subtropical heat, when there is cleaner, cooler Prussia, the US of A, or GB?
3) Is there a possibility to spell check? It would greatly help the reading.
 
Great. A couple of nitpicks:

1) The BEIC is basically the size of the british army, and although the British Asian Navy is small, They would in all likely hood, atleast be a pyrrhic victory for the marathi, considering the training of the british in comparison to training in The MC.
2) Why would he French prefer the MC, with the risk of yellow fever and cholera, and in Tropical/Subtropical heat, when there is cleaner, cooler Prussia, the US of A, or GB?
3) Is there a possibility to spell check? It would greatly help the reading.
1) Yes it was a pyhric victory. What I tried to say is it was descive because it broke British power in the area. In reality battle itself is Pyric.
2) Well because throughout this time period the Franco-marathi relations were at an all time high. Next many nobility fled because they were recompensated for the fortunes they lost. This meant they could lead the same lifestyle as in France. The Gov afforded this due to the treasure trove of wealth at the time. So people risked migrating here for a better life.
3) Sorry about spellcheck. Il try but unfortunatly Im not english so I am not very good with the english language.
 
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