Possible to win Prestige Campaign without defeating the Maratha Confederacy ?

It seems that every Prestige Campaign I play requires me at some point to take on and defeat the Maratha Confederacy in order to obtain the top Prestige Ranking.

Has anyone eber won the Prestige Campaign without also having to do so ?

Well, no harm I suppose in replying to my own query :rolleyes:

It is possible, but not easy. I was able to win without eliminating them, but was not able to avoid going to war. It required somewhat intensive management of the Mughal Empire and (in an ahistorical anomaly) the Ottoman Empire by constant feeding of technical advances, but I was able to keep the Mughal Empire around until about 1775 and the Ottoman Empire as a buffer to keep them from crossing into Arabia.

In 1780, I sent five armies from Europe to India to attack Ceylon, Mysore (eliminating them as a faction), Carnatica, Orissa, and Hyperbad. I also sent one war-fleet to India and one to the Straits of Madagascar to deal with their sole trade fleet. After taking the five initial provinces and sinking their fleets, I requested peace in exchange for a few techs, allowing me to regroup, destroy those pesky universities, and wait for the inevitable attack. Once they attached into Carnatica and Hyperbad, I was able to beat them with the garrison troops there while sending armies to Bengal and Bijapur. After trading a couple of American Provinces and two techs to Russia in exchange for Rumelia in 1792, I sailed right into the Prestige Victory with a margin of 850 points over the Marathas