Bhonsle

The Bhonsle (or Bhosle, Bhosale, Marathi: भोसले) were a prominent clan within the Maratha clan system who served as rulers of several states in India.

The most prominent member of the clan was Shivaji, the founder of the Maratha Empire. His successors ruled as maharajas from their capital at Satara, although de facto rule of the empire passed to the Peshwas, the Marathas' hereditary chief ministers, during the reign of Shahu I. In addition to the Bhosle Maharajas of Satara, rulers of the Bhosle clan established themselves at Nagpur and Kolhapur in modern-day Maharashtra in the 18th century. The Bhosle of Thanjavur were descendants of Shivaji's stepbrother Venkoji, while the Bhosle of Satara and Kolhapur were descended from Shivaji's sons, Sambhaji and Rajaram.

After the British defeat of the Marathas in the Third Anglo-Maratha War in 1818, the Marathas were forced to accept British rule. The four Bhonsle dynasties continued as rulers of their princely states, acknowledging British sovereignty while retaining local autonomy. The states of Nagpur, Thanjavur, and Satara came under direct British rule in the mid-nineteenth century when their rulers died without male heirs; Kolhapur state until India's independence in 1947, when the rulers acceded to the Indian government.

Contents

Origin

Shivaji's grandfather Maloji Bhonsle claimed descent from the Sisodia clan of Rajputs. According to this theory, Shivaji's original ancestors had migrated from Mewar to Deccan.[1] Some local Brahmins doubted his Kshatriya Rajput ancestry, but the prominent Pandit Gaga Bhatt of Varanasi presented a genealogy declaring that Shivaji's ancestors were Kshatriyas descended from the solar line of the Rajput Ranas of Mewar.[2]

Some of the historical accounts stating that Shahaji and Shivaji were of Rajput descent include:

James Tod and Ojha, who had access to the Rajput records, claimed that as per those records there is a mention of the Bhosles descending from Ajay Singh, the uncle of Vir Hammir. The lineage is follows:[5][6]

  1. Rana Ajay Singh of Mewar
  2. Rana Sujjan Singh (Sajjan Singh)
  3. Dilapee Singh (Dilip Singh)
  4. Sidhoji
  5. Bahiroji or Bhosaji
  6. Devaravji
  7. Ugrasen
  8. Shubhrakrushna
  9. Roopsinhji
  10. Bhoomindraji
  11. Dhapaji
  12. Barahatji
  13. Kheloji
  14. Parasoji
  15. Babaji
  16. Maloji Bhosle
  17. Vithoji (Jinjee)
  18. Shahaji
  19. Shivaji
  20. Sambhaji
  21. Rajaram

The claimed Rajput origin of the Bhonsle has been contested by academics such as Sir Jadunath Sarkar, and the controversy noted to date back to at least the coronation of Shivaji, taken as a de facto recognition of Shivaji's kshatriya-hood by the Brahmins who invested him.[7] Jadunath Sarkar opinion has been however refuted by Prominent Maratha Scholar DR Balkrishna , according to Balkrishna, Sarkar considers 91-Qalmi bakhar a work of post 1760s as a contemporary work however Sarkar suggestion has been refuted by many noted scholars including DR S.N Sen who consider 91-qalmi bakhar as a modern work . 91 qalmi bakhar is considered the earliest book which refers to Shivaji shudra origin however the book has been criticized by many noted scholars as being a late and irreliable work by VK Rajwade, Dr Balkrishna and DR S.N Sen.[8][9] However historians like Jadunath Sarkar and A R Kulkarnee consider it as a contemporary work, VK Rajwade consider it a later work with glowing inaccuracies such as mentioning only one sack of surat and Carnatic expedition before Coronation of shivaji.

Subclans

Maharajas

Satara

Kolhapur

Nagpur

The royal Bhosles of Nagpur are closely connected with the Gujar family, and intermarried with them.[10] The last representative of the Bhosla family of Nagpur was of the Gujar clan.[11]

Thanjavur Maratha kingdom

See also

References

  1. ^ Bhawan Singh Rana (2005). Chhatrapati Shivaji. A.H.W. Sameer series. Diamond Pocket Books. p. 9. ISBN 9788128808265. 
  2. ^ H. S. Sardesai (2002). Shivaji, the great Maratha, Volume 2. Genesis Publishing Pvt Ltd. p. 428. ISBN 9788177552843. 
  3. ^ The Marathas 1600-1818, Part 2, Volume 4 By Stewart Gordon. Page 88.
  4. ^ [James Mill, 1817, THE HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA. BY JAMES MILL, ESQ. , London , Baldwin, Cradock and Joy, Paternoster Row , p. 606]
  5. ^ Har Bilas Sarda (Diwan Bahadur),Speeches and writings
  6. ^ Chintaman Vinayak Vaidya,History of mediæval Hindu India: (being a history of India from 600 to 1200 ...)
  7. ^ Shiri Ram Bakshi (1 January 1998). Sharad Pawar, the Maratha legacy. APH Publishing. pp. 25–. ISBN 9788176480079. http://books.google.com/books?id=iP433CnEW_gC&pg=PA25. Retrieved 15 May 2011. 
  8. ^ http://www.archive.org/stream/shivajithegreatv030775mbp/shivajithegreatv030775mbp_djvu.txt
  9. ^ http://books.google.co.in/books?id=VLEo_DUL9XgC&pg=PA135&dq=ekanav+qalmi+bakhar&hl=en&ei=K8TITsP6J4LNrQev9tyuDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=ekanav%20qalmi%20bakhar&f=false
  10. ^ Nagpur district Gazetteer. "The Bhosla family-Maratha houses related to the Bhosla". http://www.maharashtra.gov.in/pdf/gazeetter_reprint/Nagpur/population_leading.html#.. 
  11. ^ R. V. Russell (2009). The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India. BiblioBazaar, LLC. p. 259. ISBN 0559128681, ISBN 9780559128684. http://books.google.co.in/books?id=CLTfRUOuQ1YC&pg=PA259&lpg=PA259&dq.