New History of the Marathas v2.c35.28

v2.c35.28

When the battle of Panipat carried away the three leading members of the Peshwa's house, Bhau Saheb, Vishvasrao, and Nana Saheb soon after the first two, it was commonly believed that the Maratha State would soon collapse. But Madhavrao in a short time managed to raise a new generation of capable leaders to take the place of those that had perished, and he raised the State to such a height of glory that if luckily he had been spared a few years more, there was every chance of the dream of a Maratha Empire for India conceived and fostered by Shivaji, Bajirao and others, coming true. Maratha supremacy never meant extinction of the Muslim or other nationalities. It only meant that supreme political power would rest with the Marathas. The Marathas claimed religious freedom for themselves and for all those who inhabited this vast continent. They did not suppress the Mughal Emperor of Delhi : they helped him to regain his lost throne and to maintain his rights and authority. They only claimed to guide his political counsels.