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History Optional PYQ Master Pack · Model answer

The Marathas posed a significant threat to the integrity of the Mughal Empire. Discuss.

  • UPSC 2023
  • The Eighteenth Century

From Shivaji's defiance of Aurangzeb to the Peshwas' reduction of a Mughal emperor to a pensioner in his own capital, the Marathas represent the single most sustained internal challenge to Mughal sovereignty across nearly a century and a half.

You are reading the opening of the model answer. The full answer is part of the History Optional PYQ Master Pack.

What the full answer covers

  • Early Resistance and the Deccan Stalemate
  • Expansion into the Mughal Heartland After 1707
  • Delhi as a Maratha Protectorate
  • The Symbolism-Substance Divide
  • The Final Blow and Its Context

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