The Cambridge History of India, Vol. I: Ancient India v1.c15.106

v1.c15.106

When the decay of the Mughal Empire began in the time of our Queen Anne, the chief local representatives of the imperial rule, such as the Nizām of Hyderābād, and the Nawābs of Bengal and Oudh, assumed an independent position. It was with these new dynasties that the East India Company came into conflict in the days of General Clive. Thus we may regard the British Empire in India as having been built up from the fragments into which the Mughal Empire broke. In one region, however, the Western Deccan, the Hindus reasserted themselves, and there was a rival bid for empire. From the neighbourhood of Poona the Marāthās conquered eastward to the borders of Bengal, and northward to the walls of Delhi. It was the work of Lord Lake and General Wellesley to defeat the Marāthās.