Dhanaji Jadhav (1650–1708) was a warrior of the

Maratha Empire The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern Indian confederation that came to dominate much of the Indian subcontinent in the 18th century. Maratha rule formally began in 1674 with the coronation of Shi ...

. Along with

Santaji Ghorpade Santaji Mahaloji Ghorpade,(1645–1696) popularly known as ‘Santajirao’ or ‘Santaji Ghorpade’, was the most celebrated Maratha warrior and the sixth Sarsenapati of the Maratha Empire during Rajaram's regime. His name became inseparable f ...

he made terrifying campaigns against

Mughal Army The Army of the Mughal Empire was the force by which the Mughal emperors established their empire in the 15th century and expanded it to its greatest extent at the beginning of the 18th century. Although its origins, like the Mughals themselves, ...

from 1689 to 1696. After Santaji, Dhanaji became the chief of the Maratha army in 1696 and remained on the post until his death in 1708.

Background

Dhanaji was born in or around 1650, to the warrior

Maratha The Marathi people (Marathi: मराठी लोक) or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed as a M ...

family from Sindkhed to Santaji Jadhav. Dhanaji was brought up by

Shivaji Shivaji Bhonsale I (; 19 February 1630 – 3 April 1680), also referred to as Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, was an Indian ruler and a member of the Bhonsle Maratha clan. Shivaji carved out his own independent kingdom from the declining Adils ...

's mother

Jijabai Jijabai Bhonsle (or Bhonsale, Bhosale, Bhosle) or Jadhav (12 January 1598 – 17 June 1674), referred to as Rajmata, Rastramata, Jijabai or Jijau, was the mother of Shivaji, founder of the Maratha Empire. She was a daughter of Lakhujirao Ja ...

after assassination of Dhanaji's grandfather Achloji, who was Jijabai's brother. Santaji's son Shambhu (Sambhaji) also was brought up by Jijabai, and her son Shivaji after Santaji's martyrdom at the

Battle of Pavan Khind Battle of Pävankhind was a rearguard last stand that took place on 13 July 1660, at a mountain pass in the vicinity of fort Vishalgad, near the city of Kolhapur with the Maratha warrior Baji Prabhu Deshpande and Sambhu Singh Jadhav against Si ...

with

Baji Prabhu Deshpande Baji Prabhu Deshpande ( 1615–1660) was a commander of Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the founder of the Maratha empire. Baji Prabhu is linked with an important rear guard battle enabling Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's escape from Panhala fort; he w ...

Early career

At an early age, Dhanaji joined Maratha army under Shivaji's Military Chief

Prataprao Gujar Prataprao Gurjar (–24 February 1674) was the Senapati of Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's army. He was an aristocratic general who enjoyed the trust of the king and the loyalty of his troops. He defeated a large Mughal Army at the Battle of Sal ...

. In the battles at Umbrani and Nesari, Dhanaji's performance attracted attention of Shivaji for the first time. He was named by Shivaji on his death bed among six pillars of Maratha Empire who would save the kingdom in hard times. They would end up with success in the 27 Years War between Mughal forces of Aurangzeb and the Maratha forces.

Later career and death

In November 1703, Aurangzeb opened talks with Dhanaji through his son Kambaksh to handover Shahu to him. The talks, however, could not succeed due to the so-called extravagant demands by Dhanaji made on behalf of the Maratha king. In 1705, Maratha army containing about 40,000 soldiers headed by Dhanaji smashed into

Surat Surat is a city in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The word Surat literally means ''face'' in Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of the river Tapti near its confluence with the Arabian Sea, it used to be a large seaport. It is now ...

and looted entire region of

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

up to

Bharuch Bharuch (), formerly known as Broach, is a city at the mouth of the river Narmada in Gujarat in western India. Bharuch is the administrative headquarters of Bharuch District. The city of Bharuch and surroundings have been settled since tim ...

. Dhanaji also vanquished the Mughal army under Nazar Ali, the Nawab of Baroda, at Ratanpur and brought huge treasure to Maharashtra. In 1708, with mediation by his assistant

Balaji Vishwanath Balaji Vishwanath Bhat (1662–1720) was the first of a series of hereditary Peshwas hailing from the Bhat family who gained effective control of the Maratha Empire during the 18th century. Balaji Vishwanath assisted a young Maratha Emperor Shah ...

, who would later become

Peshwa The Peshwa (Pronunciation: e(ː)ʃʋaː was the appointed (later becoming hereditary) prime minister of the Maratha Empire of the Indian subcontinent. Originally, the Peshwas served as subordinates to the Chhatrapati (the Maratha king); later, ...

in 1713, Dhanaji left

Tarabai Tarabai Bhosale (Pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, ̪aːɾabaːi ''née'' Mohite) was the regent of the Maratha Empire of India from 1700 until 1708. She was the queen of Rajaram Chhatrapati, Rajaram Bhonsale, and daughter-in-law of the emp ...

and joined hands with Shahu at Khed. Soon thereafter he died, because of leg injury, in Vadgaon (Kolhapur). Subsequently, his son Chandrasen Jadhavrao was placed on his post.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jadhav, Dhanaji People of the Maratha Empire Indian military leaders 1650 births 1708 deaths