Though they united on occasion, as against the British (1775–82), more often they quarreled. Thereafter the Maratha state was a confederacy of five chiefs under the nominal leadership of the peshwa at Poona (now Pune) in western India. The effective control of the peshwas ended with the great defeat of Panipat (1761) at the hands of the Afghans and the death of the young peshwa Madhav Rao I in 1772.

The leading Maratha families- Sindhia, Holkar, Bhonsle, and Gaekwar-extended their conquests in northern and central India and became more independent and difficult to control. After his death (1749) they became the effective rulers. In Shahu’s later years the power of the peshwas increased. He also decided to expand northward with armies under the peshwas’ control. He confided power to the Brahman Bhat family, who became hereditary peshwas (chief ministers). After the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb’s death (1707), Maratha power revived under Shivaji’s grandson Shahu. Maratha confederacy, alliance formed in the 18th century after Mughal pressure forced the collapse of Shivaji’s kingdom of Maharashtra in western India.

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