The Marathas Part 14 Peshwa Balaji Rao Section II The Second Phase – Coming of Age

Canberra, 23 January 2022 While the Persian adventurer Ahmad Shah Abdali was repeatedly attempting to make inroads into North India, and the French were laying the foundations upon which the English would later build their Eastern Empire, the Maratha king Shahu continued to dither as an indecisive head of the greatest power of the time […]

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The Marathas Part 6 Shivaji Bhonsle Section V Coronation and the Great Southern Campaign

Canberra, 23 August 2021 By the early 1670s, Shivaji was acutely aware of the need to establish a politically legitimate ‘Hindu’ kingdom in the Deccan, although an informal kingdom was already in existence. For him personally, there were several disadvantages to not being ‘crowned’ as a king. While it was true that he had conquered […]

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Indian History Part 68 The Qutb Shahis of Golconda-Hyderabad Section V: Plateauing and Decline

Canberra, 08 December 2018 Muhammad Quli was succeeded to the throne by Muhammad Qutb Shah, the son of his brother Muhammad Amin who had pre-deceased him. The nephew Muhammad was also Muhammad Quli’s son-in-law, having married his daughter Hayat Bakshi Begum in 1607. There was some fear amongst the nobles that other contenders to the […]

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