The Gaekwad or Gaikwad (once rendered as Guicowar, also given (incorrectly) as Gaekwar) (Gujarati: ગાયકવાડ; Marathi: गायकवाड Gāyǎkǎvāḍǎ) was a Maratha dynasty that ruled the princely state of Baroda in western India from the mid-18th century until 1947. The ruling prince was known as the Maharaja Gaekwad of Baroda, or more commonly as the Gaekwad.
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The Gaikwads are a Maratha clan and are considered as Chandravanshi Maratha's Descendants of Lord Shrikrisna Stem. The family name is a combination of the words gai (cow) and kavad (door).
Gaikwad / Gaykawad / Gaekwad
The Gaikwads rule of Baroda began when the Maratha general Pilaji Rao Gaekwad conquered the city from the Mughal Empire in 1721. The Gaikwads were granted the city as a fief by the Peshwa, the de facto leader of the Maratha empire. The leader DAmaji rao Gaikwad fought along with Sadashivrao Bhau, Srimat Vishwas Rao, Malhar Rao Holker, Jayappa & Mahadji Shinde in the Third War of Panipat. After the central rule of the Peshwas was weakened following the defeat at the hands of the Afghans at the Third Battle of Panipat in 1761, the Gaikwads, along with several powerful Maratha clans, established themselves as virtually independent rulers of the further regions of the empire, while recognizing the nominal authority of the Peshwas and suzerainty of the Bhonsle Maharaja of Satara.
The Gaekwads, together with the other Maratha chieftains, fought the British in the First Anglo-Maratha War. In 1802, the British intervened to defend a Gaekwad Maharaja who had recently inherited the throne against rival claimants, and the Gaekwads concluded a treaty with the British that recognized their independence from the Maratha empire and guaranteed the Maharajas of Baroda local autonomy in return for recognizing British suzerainty.
Maharaja Sayyaji Rao III, who took the throne in 1875, did much to modernize Baroda, establishing compulsory primary education, a library system and the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda. He also encouraged the setting up of textile factories, which helped create Baroda's textile industry. He is well known for offering a scholarship to study at Columbia University to one of the most prominent Indian Bharat Ratna Dr. B. R. Ambedkar.
Upon India attaining its independence in 1947, the last ruling Maharaja of Baroda acceded to India. Baroda was eventually merged with Bombay State, which was later divided, based on linguistic principle, into the states of Gujarat and Maharastra in 1960.
Gaekwad, or Gayakwad, also survives as a fairly common Maratha surname, found mainly in the Indian state of Maharashtra.
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