Feudatory states of Maharashtra
The Maratha Empire or the Maratha Confederacy was an Indian power that dominated much of the Indian subcontinent in the 17th and 18th century. The empire formally existed from 1674 with the coronation of Chhatrapati Shivaji and ended in 1818 with the defeat of Peshwa Bajirao II. The Marathas are credited to a large extent for ending Mughal rule in India.
Peshwa
A Peshwa was the equivalent of a modern Prime Minister in the Maratha Empire. Originally, the Peshwas served as subordinates to the Chhatrapati (the Maratha king), but later, they became the de facto leaders of the Marathas, and the Chatrapati was reduced to a nominal ruler. During the last years of the Maratha Empire, the Peshwas themselves were reduced to titular leaders, and remained under the authority of the Maratha nobles and the British East India Company.
All the Peshwas during the rule of Chhatrapati Shivaji and Chhatrapati Sambhaji belonged to Deshastha Brahmin community The first Peshwa was Moropant Pingle, who was appointed as the head of the Ashta Pradhan (council of eight ministers) by Chhatrapati Shivaji, the founder of the Maratha Empire. The initial Peshwas were all ministers who served as the chief executives to the king. The later Peshwas held the highest administrative office and also controlled the Maratha confederacy. Under the Chitpavan Brahmin Bhat family, the Peshwas became the de facto hereditary administrators of the Confederacy. The Peshwa’s office was most powerful under Baji Rao I (1720-1740). Under Peshwa administration and with the support of several key generals and diplomats, the Maratha Empire reached its zenith, ruling most of the Indian subcontinent. However, after the Peshwa Raghunathrao allied himself with the British, the Peshwa’s power declined substantially. The subsequent Peshwas were titular leaders and are said to be responsible for the downfall of Maratha empire, due to inefficiency in handling the affairs of the state. Later on many provinces were controlled and administered either by the Maratha nobles such as Daulat Rao Sindhia, or by the East India Company. During this period, the Maratha confederacy came to its end through its formal annexation into the British Empire in 1818.
Holkar
The Holkar dynasty was a Maratha clan of Dhangar origin in India.The Holkars ruled as Maratha Rajas, and later as Maharajas of Indore in Central India as an independent member of the Maratha Empire until 1818. Later, their kingdom became a princely state under the protectorate of British India. The dynasty was founded with Malhar Rao, who joined the service of the Peshwas of the Maratha Empire in 1721, and quickly rose to the ranks of Subedar. The name of the dynasty was associated with the title of the ruler, who was known informally as Holkar Maharaja.
Malhar Rao Holkar (1694-1766), a Maratha chief serving Peshwa Baji Rao, established the dynasty’s rule over Indore. In the 1720s, he led Maratha armies in Malwa region, and in 1733 was granted 9 parghanas in the vicinity of Indore by the Peshwa. The township of Indore had already existed as an independent principality established by Nandlal Mandloi of Kampel, Nandlal Mandloi was won by the Maratha force and allowed them to camp across the Khan (Kanh) River. In 1734, Malhar Rao established a camp later called Malharganj. In 1747, he started the construction of his royal palace, the Rajwada. By the time of his death, he ruled much of Malwa, and was acknowledged as one of the five virtually independent rulers of the Maratha Confederacy.
Scindia
Scindia is a Hindu Maratha dynasty that ruled the Gwalior State. The Gwalior state was a part of the Maratha Confederacy in the 18th and 19th centuries, and a princely state of the colonial British government during the 19th and the 20th centuries. After India’s independence in 1947, the members of the Scindia family became politicians.
The Scindia dynasty was founded by Ranoji Scindia, who was the son of Jankojirao Scindia, the Deshmukh of Kanherkhed, a village in Satara District, Maharashtra. Peshwa Baji Rao’s career saw the strengthening of the Maratha Empire. Ranoji was in charge of the Maratha conquests in Malwa in 1726. Ranoji established his capital at Ujjain in 1731. His successors included Jayajirao, Jyotibarao, Dattajirao, Jankojirao, Mahadji Shinde and Daulatrao Scindia. The Scindhia state of Gwalior became a major regional power in the latter half of the 18th century and figured prominently in the three Anglo-Maratha Wars. They held sway over many of the Rajput states, and conquered north India.
Bhonsle
The Bhonsle are a prominent group within the Maratha clan system. Traditionally a warrior clan, some members served as rulers of several states in India, the most prominent being Shivaji, the founder of the Maratha Empire which displaced the Moghul Empire as the preeminent political and military power in India. His successors ruled as chhatrapatis (maharajas) from their capital at Satara, although de facto rule of the empire passed to the Peshwas, the Maratha hereditary chief ministers, during the reign of Shahu I. In addition to the Bhonsle Chhatrapatis of Satara, rulers of the Bhonsle clan established themselves as junior branch of Chhatrapatis at Kolhapur, and as Maharajas of Nagpur in modern-day Maharashtra in the 18th century. After the British defeat of the Marathas in the Third Anglo-Maratha War in 1818, the four Bhonsle dynasties continued as rulers of their princely states, acknowledging British suzerainty while retaining local autonomy. The states of Satara, Thanjavur, and Nagpur came under direct British rule in the mid-nineteenth century when their rulers died without male heirs, although the British allowed titular adoptions to take place. Kolhapur state remained autonomous until India’s independence in 1947, when the rulers acceded to the Indian government.
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