Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Mughals Versus Marathas
Around the late 17th century the Delhi-based Mughals were making inroads into South In-
dia, gaining the sultanates of Ahmednagar, Bijapur and Golconda (including Hyderabad)
before moving into Tamil Nadu. But it was here that Emperor Aurangzeb (r 1658-1707)
came up against the Marathas who, in a series of guerrilla-like raids, captured Thanjavur
and set up a capital at Gingee near Madras.
Although the Mughal empire gradually disintegrated following Aurangzeb's death, the
Marathas went from strength to strength, and they set their sights on territory to the north.
But their aspirations brought them into conflict with the rulers of Hyderabad, the Asaf
Jahis, who had entrenched themselves here when Hyderabad broke away from the declin-
ing Mughal rulers of Delhi in 1724. The Marathas discovered that the French were provid-
ing military support to the Hyderabadi rulers in return for trading concessions on the Coro-
mandel Coast. However, by the 1750s Hyderabad had lost a lot of its power and became
landlocked when much of its coast was controlled by the British.
Thousands were burned at the stake during the Goa Inquisition, which lasted more than 200 years. The
judgment ceremony took place outside the Se Cathedral in Old Goa.
Down in the south, Travancore (Kerala) and Mysore were making a bid to consolidate
their power by gaining control of strategic maritime regions and access to trade links.
Martanda Varma (r 1729-58) of Travancore created his own army and tried to keep the loc-
al Syrian Orthodox trading community onside by limiting the activities of European
traders. Trade in many goods, with the exception of pepper, became a royal monopoly, es-
pecially under Martanda's son Rama Varma (r 1758-98).
Mysore started off as a landlocked kingdom, but in 1761 a cavalry officer, Hyder Ali, as-
sumed power and set about acquiring coastal territory. Hyder Ali and his son Tipu Sultan
eventually ruled over a kingdom that included southern Karnataka and northern Kerala.
Tipu conducted trade directly with the Middle East through the west-coast ports he con-
trolled. But Tipu was prevented from gaining access to ports on the eastern seaboard and
the fertile hinterland by the British East India Company.
