New History of the Marathas v1.c2.2

v1.c2.2

The character and achievements of Shivaji and the Peshwas have left a permanent mark on the history of India. They form the most recent example of our genius for nation-making of which we today may well be proud. Of all the diverse races inhabiting the Indian Continent, each gifted with a peculiar trait of its own, the Marathas alone can claim to have made a distinct contribution to the political fortunes of this land by daring to establish Indian self-rule throughout the country, although measured by the length of time their construction proved too short-lived. For over half a century the politics of India were directed from Satara or Poona. The Maratha Government, with all its faults, inspired the people under its rule with a living sense of unity and co-operation without which no self-rule is attainable. It thus provided free scope for the energies of all classes of the people, each according to its natural bent. This is a political lesson which India sorely needs today. If the true function of history is to impart wisdom of the past for the benefit of the present, to warn a nation in the days of prosperity against the hidden dangers of creeping deterioration, as also to stimulate its courage and call forth its recuperative energy in times of adversity,—then India cannot afford to ignore the lessons which Maratha history has left behind in its short but eventful career. The inspiring careers of Shivaji and Baji Rao I, the daring planning and earnest execution of Madhav Rao I and Mahadji Sindia, contrasted with the vices and follies of Raghunath Rao Dada and Baji Rao II, convey a moral which modern India will be the wiser for laying to its heart.