Scindia

Maratha Clan
Shinde
शिंदे
Surname Shinde (alternately Scindia, Sendrak)
Caste Hindu-Maratha (96 clan)
Lineage Claimed Suryavansha (Serpent or Sheshvanshi Branch)
Heraldic Title: Prabhakarvarma.[1]
Religion: Hinduism.[2]
Original kingdom Ranathambore and Pattadakal
Other kingdoms Gwalior, Ujjain, Badami.
Capitals Satara Villages.
Colour Red.
Nishan Serpent on flagpole.
Clan god Jyotiba ( Mahadev ).
Clan goddess Tulja-Bhavani (Tuljapur,Maharashtra) Kalika, Mahagauri, Ramvardayini.
Devak Mrugvell or Aagada (A kind of plants found in Maharashtra), Kalamb, Rui and Morvell.[3]
Guru Kaundinya.
Gotra Kaundinya
Veda Rigveda.
Mantra Yajurveda - Madhyandin, Gayatri Mantra..
Prawar Angiras, Brihaspati and Kaundinya.
Victory Weapon Sword
Guhyasutra Paraska
Locations Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Goa
Languages Marathi, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Sanskrit.

Scindia (Marathi: शिंदे, anglicized from Shinde and also spelled as Sindhia, Sindia) is a Maratha clan in India. This clan included rulers of the Gwalior State in the 18th and 19th centuries, collaborators of the colonial British government during the 19th and the 20th centuries until India became independent, as well as politicians in independent India.

Contents

History

The Shinde dynasty was founded by Ranoji Shinde, who was the son of Jankojirao Shinde, the Patil of Kanherkhed, a village in Satara District, Maharashtra. The closing years of Peshwa Baji Rao's career saw the strengthening of the Maratha confederacy. 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 and Daulatrao Shinde. The Sindhia 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 the state of Ajmer.

After the defeat of the allied Maratha states by the British in the Third Anglo-Maratha War of 1818, Daulatrao Scindia was forced to accept local autonomy as a princely state within British India and to give up Ajmer to the British. After the death of Daulatrao, Maharani Baiza Bai ruled the empire, saving it from the British power, till the adopted child Jankoji Rao took over the charge. Jankoji died in 1843, and his widow Tarabai Raje Shinde successfully maintained the position and adopted a child from close lineage named Jayajirao.

The Scindia family ruled Gwalior until India's independence from the United Kingdom in 1947, when the Maharaja Jivajirao Scindia acceded to the Government of India. Gwalior was merged with a number of other princely states to become the new Indian state of Madhya Bharat. George Jivajirao served as the state's rajpramukh, or appointed governor, from 28 May 1948 to 31 October 1956, when Madhya Bharat was merged into Madhya Pradesh.

In 1962, Rajmata Vijayraje Scindia, the widow of Maharaja Jiwajirao, was elected to the Lok Sabha, beginning the family's career in electoral politics. She was first a member of the Congress Party, and later became an influential member of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Her son Madhavrao Scindia was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1971 representing the Congress Party, and served until his death in 2001. His son, Jyotiraditya Scindia, also in the Congress Party, was elected to the seat formerly held by his father in 2004.

Vijayaraje's daughters have supported the Bharatiya Janata Party. Vasundhara Raje Scindia contested and won five parliamentary elections from Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. Under the Vajpayee government from 1998 onwards, Vasundhara was in charge of several different ministries. In 2003 she led the Bharatiya Janata Party to its largest majority in Rajasthan, and became the state's Chief Minister. Her other daughter, Yashodhara Raje Scindia, contested assembly elections from Shivpuri in Madhya Pradesh and won in 1998 and 2003. Upon the BJP's win in the state, she became the state's Minister for Tourism, Sports and Youth Affairs. Vasundhara's son Dushyant Singh entered the Lok Sabha in 2004 from Rajasthan.

Origins

The Scindia family is traditionally considered to be descendants of King Shinde ( Sendrak ) and Old Maratha stem. The Shinde served the Peshwa, and were also Shiledars under the Bahamani sultanates of the Deccan.[4]

Branches

Aapteekar, Bhuse, Desai, Kulhar, Kolhe, Kurvasinde, Jatayoo, Jadbuddhe, Jade, Jayshinde, Dable, Dorge, Durdayshinde, Nagawade, Nekulshinde, Neknamdar, Nebhale, Pratapshinde, Bhagalkar, Bhure, Bhore, Bhed, Mung, Ghate, Muke, Mungekar, Mugool, Tingre, Vijayshinde, Valekar, Shishupalshinde, Saktpalshinde, Sitajashinde, Bhairavshinde, Mahakalshinde, Mulshinde, Mude, Paigude. (Total 35)

Subclans

Titles

In the course of their military service, the Scindia were bestowed numerous titles by the British Empire, which grew more elaborate with the passage of time:

Scindia Maharajas of Ujjain and Gwalior

Notables

Reference

  1. ^ Maratha Kshatriyancha Itihaas, edition 1929 By K.B. Deshmukh. (Marathi)
  2. ^ Thomas Edmund Farnsworth Wright; Oxford University Press (15 November 2006). A dictionary of world history. Oxford University Press. pp. 401–. ISBN 9780199202478. http://books.google.com/books?id=2QcZAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA401. Retrieved 15 May 2011. 
  3. ^ R. M. Betham (1 December 1996). Maráthas and Dekhani Musalmáns. Asian Educational Services. pp. 152–. ISBN 9788120612044. http://books.google.com/books?id=6mATx3PBupsC&pg=PA152. Retrieved 7 May 2011. 
  4. ^ Richard M. Eaton (19 December 2005). A social history of the Deccan, 1300-1761: eight Indian lives. Cambridge University Press. pp. 188–. ISBN 9780521254847. http://books.google.com/books?id=DNNgdBWoYKoC&pg=PA188. Retrieved 16 July 2011. 

Further reading

External links