Canberra, 20 September 2022 Shivaji started his career with a small jagir that had been bestowed on his father and expanded it to a kingdom covering more than half of the modern-day State of Maharashtra. In keeping with this rapid expansion of territorial holdings through conquest, the military system that Shivaji instituted also changed and […]
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The Marathas Part 20 The Prominent Feudatories of the Empire Section V: The Gaekwads of Baroda
September 11, 2022 
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Canberra, 11th September 2022 The Gaekwads were hereditary Patels of Davdi, a village near Talegaon in Pune district. From the time of the Maratha conquest of Gujarat, they were in the direct service of the Senapati, Khande Rao Dabhade. The Senapati was also a hereditary position and equal in status to the Peshwa, being the […]
Continue readingThe Marathas Part 20 The Prominent Feudatories of the Empire Section IV: The Holkars of Indore
September 6, 2022 0 Comments
Canberra, 06 September 2022 Originally the Holkars were a sturdy pastoral tribe, used to living outdoors and constantly moving residence; said to have been Dhangars, they easily adapted to the life of Maratha warriors. The main Holkar family initially lived in Wafgaon in the Khed district near Pune, then moved to Hol Marum near Jejuri […]
Continue readingThe Marathas Part 20 The Prominent Feudatories of the Empire Section III: The Scindias of Gwalior
August 29, 2022 0 Comments
Canberra, 29 August 2022 The earliest mention of Scindia (also spelt Sindia, Sindhia, supposed to have been anglicised from ‘Shinde’) is found during the Bahmani rule in Deccan when a few Scindia families are reported to have risen to eminence in the service of the Sultan. The name is traced back to ‘Sendrak’ an ancient […]
Continue readingThe Marathas Part 20 The Prominent Feudatories of the Empire Section II: The Rajas of Nagpur
August 20, 2022 0 Comments
Canberra, 20 August 2022 The Rajas of Nagpur come from a branch known as the Hingnikar Bhonsles who were closely related to the main branch of the Bhonsles in Satara. The founder of the dynasty Mudhoji is better known as the father of Parsoji Bhonsle who was instrumental in making the dynasty, and the kingdom […]
Continue readingThe Marathas Part 20 The Prominent Feudatories of the Empire Section I: The Rajas of Kolhapur
August 13, 2022 0 Comments
Canberra, 13 August 2022 On Chhatrapati Shivaji’s son and successor Sambhaji being killed by the Mughals, his younger half-brother Rajaram ascended the throne in 1689. He ruled for 11 years and died in 1700, whereupon his widow Tarabai declared her young son Shivaji II the king and started to rule the kingdom as the Regent. […]
Continue readingThe Marathas Part 19 The Saranjamdari System
August 8, 2022 0 Comments
Canberra, 8 August 2022 The great king Shivaji established a well-knit monarchy, within which the king doubled as the supreme military commander and the head of the civil administration. The Maratha military forces, amounting to a standing army of 200,000, were always led into battle by the king, minor skirmishes and battles being delegated to […]
Continue readingThe Marathas Part 18 The March to Destruction: 50 Years of Chaos Section VIII: Balaji Rings the Death Knell: The Third Anglo-Maratha War
August 4, 2022 0 Comments
Canberra 4 August 2022 On the conclusion of the long drawn Second Anglo-Maratha War, Bajirao managed to maintain cordial relations with the English, who left him alone to pursue his personal interests. Bajirao revelled in the new freedom that he enjoyed, free from the restrictive control of Nana Phadnavis and the intrusive actions of powerful […]
Continue readingThe Marathas Part 18 The March to Destruction: 50 Years of Chaos Section VII: The Second Anglo-Maratha War
July 29, 2022 0 Comments
Canberra, 29 July 2022 The new regime in Pune, propped up and controlled by Yashwantrao Holkar was inherently flimsy by nature. For all his military acumen, Holkar was no visionary and did not have a long-term prescience to follow—his governing decisions were always short-sighted and opportunistic. On the other hand, the challenges to the government […]
Continue readingThe Marathas Part 18 The March to Destruction Section VI: Acceleration of Decay and Dissolution
July 21, 2022 0 Comments
Canberra 21 July 2022 Richard Wellesley (1st Marquees Wellesley, 2nd Earl of Mornington) was a member of the English East India Company’s Supreme Council in Calcutta from 1793 and was appointed the Governor–General in 1797, holding the post till 1805. When he took over, Nana Phadnavis in the last years of his life and in […]
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Sanu Kainikara 
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