Hindu nationalists revere the Maratha Empire, which originated among a Hindu warrior people of the western Deccan peninsula. Their reverence stems from the fact that it was this state that reversed centuries of steadily increasing Muslim political control over the subcontinent. By the mid 18th-century, it was the largest state in South Asia and the Mughal emperors in Delhi were its puppets.

Illustrative Example (p 88) –  Local Resistance