Given below are two statements, one labeled as Assertion (A) and the other labeled as Reason (R). **Assertion (A):** The Third Battle of Panipat (1761) shattered the dream of a centralized Maratha empire ruled directly from Pune and accelerated the decentralization of the Maratha Confederacy. **Reason (R):** The heavy casualties suffered by the Peshwa's central army at Panipat severely weakened the Peshwa's military and financial leverage over the semi-independent Maratha chiefs like the Scindias and Holkars.

Options:

• A: Both (A) and (R) are true and (R) is the correct explanation of (A).
• B: Both (A) and (R) are true but (R) is NOT the correct explanation of (A).
• C: (A) is true but (R) is false.
• D: (A) is false but (R) is true.

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