Raghoji I Bhonsle
Encyclopedia
Raghoji I Bhonsle was a Maratha
general who took control of the Nagpur Kingdom
in east-central India
during the reign of Shahu. His successors ruled the kingdom until 1853.
The Bhonsle
family were originally headmen from Deor or Deur ( Presently; in Koregaon Taluka; District Satara and was under Deshmukhi rights of Bhoite Clan ) , a village in Satara District
. Raghoji's grandfather and his two brothers had fought in the armies of Shivaji, and to the most distinguished of them was entrusted a high military command and the collection of chauth (tribute) in Berar
.
Nagpur was then the capital of a Gond kingdom ruled by Chand Sultan, who had moved the capital to Nagpur from Deogarh
. On Chand Sultan's death in 1739 there were disputes as to his succession, and his widow invoked the aid of Raghoji, who was governing Berar on behalf of the Maratha .Raghoji, on being called in by the contending Gond factions, replaced the two sons of Chand Sultan on the throne from which they had been ousted by an usurper, and retired to Berar with a suitable reward for his assistance. Dissensions, however, broke out between the brothers, and in 1743 Raghoji again intervened at the request of the elder brother and drove out his rival. But he had not the heart to give back a second time the country he held within his grasp. Burhan Shan, the Gond Raja, though allowed to retain the outward insignia of royalty, became practically a state pensioner, and all real power passed to the Marathas.
Bold and decisive in action, Raghoji was the type of a Maratha leader; he saw in the troubles of other states an opening for his own ambition, and did not even require a pretext for plunder and invasion. Twice his armies invaded Bengal
, and he obtained the cession of Cuttack
. Chanda
, Chhattisgarh
, and Sambalpur
were added to his dominions between 1745 and 1755, the year of his death. He was succeeded by Janoji.
Maratha
The Maratha are an Indian caste, predominantly in the state of Maharashtra. The term Marāthā has three related usages: within the Marathi speaking region it describes the dominant Maratha caste; outside Maharashtra it can refer to the entire regional population of Marathi-speaking people;...
general who took control of the Nagpur Kingdom
Nagpur kingdom
The Kingdom of Nagpur was a kingdom in east-central India founded by the Gond rulers of Deogarh in the early 18th century. It came under the rule of Marathas of the Bhonsle dynasty in the mid-18th century...
in east-central India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
during the reign of Shahu. His successors ruled the kingdom until 1853.
The Bhonsle
Bhonsle
The Bhonsle 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...
family were originally headmen from Deor or Deur ( Presently; in Koregaon Taluka; District Satara and was under Deshmukhi rights of Bhoite Clan ) , a village in Satara District
Satara district
Satara District is a district of Maharashtra state in western India with an area of 10,480 km² and a population of 2,808,994 of which 14.17% were urban . Satara is the capital of the district and other major towns include Wai, Karad, Koregaon, Koyananagar, Rahimatpur, Phaltan, Mahabaleshwar...
. Raghoji's grandfather and his two brothers had fought in the armies of Shivaji, and to the most distinguished of them was entrusted a high military command and the collection of chauth (tribute) in Berar
Berar Province
Berar Province, known also as the Hyderabad Assigned Districts, was a province of British India. The province, formerly ruled by the Nizam of Hyderabad, was administered by the British after 1853, although the Nizam retained formal sovereignty over the province...
.
Nagpur was then the capital of a Gond kingdom ruled by Chand Sultan, who had moved the capital to Nagpur from Deogarh
Deogarh, Madhya Pradesh
Deogarh, also known as Devgarh, is a village in Chhindwara District of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is located 24 miles southwest of Chhindwara, picturesquely situated on a crest of the hills....
. On Chand Sultan's death in 1739 there were disputes as to his succession, and his widow invoked the aid of Raghoji, who was governing Berar on behalf of the Maratha .Raghoji, on being called in by the contending Gond factions, replaced the two sons of Chand Sultan on the throne from which they had been ousted by an usurper, and retired to Berar with a suitable reward for his assistance. Dissensions, however, broke out between the brothers, and in 1743 Raghoji again intervened at the request of the elder brother and drove out his rival. But he had not the heart to give back a second time the country he held within his grasp. Burhan Shan, the Gond Raja, though allowed to retain the outward insignia of royalty, became practically a state pensioner, and all real power passed to the Marathas.
Bold and decisive in action, Raghoji was the type of a Maratha leader; he saw in the troubles of other states an opening for his own ambition, and did not even require a pretext for plunder and invasion. Twice his armies invaded Bengal
Bengal
Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...
, and he obtained the cession of Cuttack
Cuttack
Cuttack is the former capital of the state of Orissa, India. It is the headquarters of Cuttack district and is located about 20 km to the north east of Bhubaneswar, the capital of Orissa. The name of the city is an anglicised form of Kataka that literally means The Fort, a reference to the...
. Chanda
Chanda
In Hinduism, Chanda was a monster in the service of Sumbha and Nisumbha that Chamunda Devi killed. It is also a popular name in the Hindu community...
, Chhattisgarh
Chhattisgarh
Chhattisgarh is a state in Central India, formed when the 16 Chhattisgarhi-speaking South-Eastern districts of Madhya Pradesh gained separate statehood on 1 November 2000....
, and Sambalpur
Sambalpur
Sambalpur is a city in Sambalpur district in the Indian state of Orissa.It lies at a distance of 321 km from the state capital Bhubaneswar. In the year 1876, Sambalpur was established as a municipality. It is currently the headquarters and the largest city of Sambalpur district. It is also...
were added to his dominions between 1745 and 1755, the year of his death. He was succeeded by Janoji.