The Mahratta confederacy consisted of a powerful network of warrior Hindu families centred on the western Deccan. The confederacy was founded by Maharaja Shivaji in AD 1674 when he gained control of territories around Pune. After a lifetime of guerrilla warfare, Shivaji died in 1680, leaving the kingdom open to attack from the Mughals. The Mughal emperor Aurangzeb (reigned 1658-1707) was especially interested in crushing the Mahrattas and carried out campaigns against them from 1682 until his death. Although the Mughals enjoyed military successes, in 1705 the Mahrattas marched northward, taking Malwa, an important Mughal province. This established them as a major power – and turned the rest of the 18th century into a three-way power struggle between the Mughals, Mahrattas and the East India Company.

In 1707 Shāhujī took control of the Mahratta state. Like some of the Muslim rulers in South Asia who accepted Mughal authority, he received an imperial decree from the Mughal emperor confirming his possessions. Shāhujī increased the importance of the position of Peshwa (prime minister), which became a hereditary leadership of the Maharatta confederacy. Peshwa Balaji Baji Rao (1740-1761) presided over the greatest Maharatta expansion, taking armies into central and eastern India. However his ambitions brought him into conflict with the British, who finally subjugated the Mahrattas in 1818.