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International Journal of Creative and Open Research in Engineering and Management

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ISSN: 3108-1754 (Online)
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Volume 02, Issue 03

Published on: March 2026 2026

RELATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY AND SACRED GEOGRAPHY: REIMAGINING THE MARATHA POLITY IN EARLY MODERN INDIA

N R Gopal

Dept. of English CUHP, Dharamshala

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Abstract

This paper redefines the Maratha polity as a model of relational sovereignty as opposed to an example of a regional military power that primarily fought the Mughal Empire. It states that Maratha power was created as a result of the interplay of rajadharma, sacred geography, control of space through forts, mobile warfare, and negotiated local power. By relying on the writings of J. Duncan M. Derrett, Henri Lefebvre, Michel de Certeau, Diana Eck, and Sumit Guha, the study shows that the Maratha polity was not politically incomplete due to the fact that it did not have strict centralization; rather, the ability to integrate ethics, landscape, mobility, and mediation in a sustainable form of rule was its unique strength. The paper provides a theoretical and philosophical framework for explaining the polity based on the ideas of sacred geography and relational sovereignty to comprehend the Maratha state formation as a new model of early modern Indian polity.

How to Cite this Paper

Gopal, N. R. (2026). Relational Sovereignty and Sacred Geography: Reimagining the Maratha Polity in Early Modern India. International Journal of Creative and Open Research in Engineering and Management, <i>02</i>(03). https://doi.org/10.55041/ijcope.v2i3.082

Gopal, N. "Relational Sovereignty and Sacred Geography: Reimagining the Maratha Polity in Early Modern India." International Journal of Creative and Open Research in Engineering and Management, vol. 02, no. 03, 2026, pp. . doi:https://doi.org/10.55041/ijcope.v2i3.082.

Gopal, N. "Relational Sovereignty and Sacred Geography: Reimagining the Maratha Polity in Early Modern India." International Journal of Creative and Open Research in Engineering and Management 02, no. 03 (2026). https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.55041/ijcope.v2i3.082.

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References


  1. de Certeau, Michel. The Practice of Everyday Life. Translated by Steven Rendall, University of California Press, 1984.

  2. Derrett, J. Duncan M. “Rājadharma.” Journal of Asian Studies, vol. 35, no. 4, 1976, pp. 597-609.

  3. Desai, Ranjit Ramchandra. "Shivaji". Encyclopedia Britannica, 1 Mar. 2026, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Shivaji.

  4. Eck, Diana L. India: A Sacred Geography. Harmony Books, 2012.

  5. Gordon, Stewart. The Marathas 1600-1818. Cambridge UP, 1993.

  6. Guha, Sumit. “An Indian Penal Régime: Maharashtra in the Eighteenth Century.” Past & Present, no. 147, 1995, pp. 101-26.

  7. Lefebvre, Henri. The Production of Space. Translated by Donald Nicholson-Smith, Blackwell, 1991.

  8. O’Hanlon, Rosalind. “Entrepreneurs in Diplomacy: Maratha Expansion in the Age of the Vakil.” Indian Economic & Social History Review, vol. 57, no. 4, 2020, pp. 503-34.

  9. Seshan, Radhika. “The Maratha State: Some Preliminary Considerations.” Indian Historical Review, vol. 41, no. 1, 2014, pp. 35-46.


 

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  • Published on: Mar 18 2026
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