The Marathas, who were Hindu, became a powerful force which stood up against Mughal authority in the days of the Emperor Aurangzeb, who fought them for nearly twenty years in the late seventeenth century in the Deccan. The Marathas established strongholds in places like Malwa and Gujarat as well.
Today, many see them as having been anti-Muslim warriors - but this is misleading. In fact, after the Safavid attack on Delhi in 1739, the Marathas decided to throw their support behind the Mughals, seeing the Empire as the ultimate defence against foreign invaders.
This shows that the Marathas, far from opposing Muslims and seeing them as outsiders and oppressors, in fact ended up forming an alliance to defend the Mughal Empire. This was despite the fact that on the ground, independent Maratha bands continued to cause trouble for local Mughal authorities.
It is also significant that as the Marathas grew in strength they adopted Mughal practices and elements of the Mughal administration. They even formed great armies that emulated a Mughal military style.
The Marathas may have had a complicated relationship with the Mughals, but they definitely saw them as Indian, not as foreign.
Richard Eaton, India in the Persianate Age: 1000-1765 (2019)
