While individually the Marathas were clever and brave, they lacked the corporate spirit so essential for national independence. Discuss with reasons.

Answer:

The Marathas rose as a formidable power in the eighteenth century, yet their failure to present a united front against the British is often attributed to a lack of collective or "corporate" spirit.

Individual Ability

• Leaders like the Peshwas, Mahadji Scindia, Nana Phadnavis and Ahilyabai Holkar showed courage, diplomacy and administrative skill.

Absence of Corporate Spirit

Confederacy of rival chiefs:

• The Maratha polity became a loose confederacy of Scindia, Holkar, Bhonsle and Gaekwad, often pursuing selfish interests.
• Mutual jealousy and internal wars (e.g., after the Third Battle of Panipat, 1761) weakened them.

British exploitation of disunity:

• The English used subsidiary alliances and divide-and-rule to defeat the chiefs one by one in the Anglo-Maratha Wars.

Other Reasons

• Weak central authority, financial disorder and lack of a broad national ideology beyond regional loyalties.

Therefore, though individual Marathas were brave and capable, the absence of unity and corporate purpose left them vulnerable, allowing the British to subdue them piecemeal.