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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 Sh ...
. Along with Santaji Ghorpade 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 a ...
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 Adil ...
'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 J ...
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 with Baji Prabhu Deshpande


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 Salh ...
. 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 ...
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. 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, 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 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