Raghoji Bhonsle or Raghoji I Bhonsale or Raghuji the Great (1695 – February 1755) of the Bhonsale dynasty, was a

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 ...

general who took control of the Nagpur Kingdom in east-central

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

during the reign of

Shahu I Chhatrapati Shahu Bhosale I (Pronunciation: �aːɦuː CE) was the fifth Chhatrapati of the Maratha Empire founded by his grandfather, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Born into the Bhonsle family, he was the son of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj ...

. His successors ruled the kingdom until 1853.

Origin

The Bhonsale family were originally headmen from Deor or Deur under the forts Chandan Vandan (presently in Koregaon Taluka, District Satara and was under Deshmukhi rights of

Bhoite Bhoite is a surname found amongst the Maratha caste, mainly in the state of Maharashtra in India but it also appears in Indian states bordering Maharashtra. Origin Some sources, such as ''Shri Swami Samartha'' states Bhoites are Suryavanshi cla ...

Clan), a village in Satara District. Raghoji's grandfather and his two brothers had fought in the armies of Shivaji Maharaj, and to the most distinguished of them was entrusted a high military command and the collection of ''chauth'' (tribute) in Berar.

Rise to power in Nagpur

After Chand Sultan's death in 1739, there were quarrels over the succession, leading to the throne being usurped by Wali Shah, an illegitimate son of

Bakht Buland Shah Bakht Buland Shah was a ruler of the Rajgond dynasty. He added to his kingdom, the territories of Chanda and Mandla, and portions of Nagpur, Balaghat, Seoni, Bhandara and the adjoining Rajput kingdom of Kherla/Khedla. The present districts of ...

. Chand Sultan's widow queen Ratan Kunwar invoked the aid of the Maratha leader Raghoji Bhonsle of Berar in the interest of her sons Akbar Shah and Burhan Shah. Wali Shah was put to death and the rightful heirs placed on the throne. Raghoji I Bhonsle was sent back to Berar with a plentiful bounty for his aid. The Maratha general judged that Nagpur must be a plentiful and rich country by the magnificence of his reward. However, dissensions continued between the brothers and once again, the elder brother Burhan Shah requested the aid of Raghoji Bhonsle. Akbar Shah was driven into exile and finally poisoned at

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

. However this time, Raghoji Bhonsle did not have the heart to leave such a plentiful and rich country, with it being within his grasp. He declared himself 'protector' of the Gond king. Thus in 1743, Burhan Shah was practically made a state pensionary, with real power being in the hands of the Maratha ruler. After this event the history of the Gond kingdom of Deogarh is not recorded. A series of

Maratha rulers The Maratha rulers, belonging to the various dynasties, from the early 17th century to the early 18th century, built and ruled the Maratha Empire on the Indian subcontinent. It was established by the Chhatrapati (the Maratha emperor) in 1670s. S ...

came to power following the fall of the Gonds from the throne of

Nagpur Nagpur (pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, aːɡpuːɾ is the third largest city and the winter capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the 13th largest city in India by population and according to an Oxford's Economics report, Nag ...

, starting with Raghoji Bhonsle.

Reign

Bold and decisive in action, Raghoji was the archetype 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 invasion. Twice his armies invaded

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

, and he obtained the cession of

Cuttack Cuttack (, or officially Kataka ) in Odia is the former capital and the second largest city in the Indian state of Odisha. It is the headquarters of the Cuttack district. The name of the city is an anglicised form of ''Kataka'' which literall ...

. Chanda,

Chhattisgarh Chhattisgarh (, ) is a landlocked state in Central India. It is the ninth largest state by area, and with a population of roughly 30 million, the seventeenth most populous. It borders seven states – Uttar Pradesh to the north, Madhya Prade ...

, and Sambalpur were added to his dominions between 1745 and 1755, the year of his death. He was succeeded by

Janoji Bhonsle The Kingdom of Nagpur was an Indian kingdom in the 18th and 19th centuries. It came under the rule of the Marathas of the Bhonsle dynasty in the mid-18th century and became part of the Maratha Empire. The city of Nagpur was the capital of the st ...

Battle of Damalcherry

Dost Ali Khan ordered Chanda Sahib to march against the Raja of Tirusivapuram. There upon the raja invited the assistance 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 ...

. Soon afterwards took place the ''Battle of Damalcherry'' in 1740, which was a major confrontation between the

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

's Nawab of the Carnatic,

Dost Ali Khan Ali Dost Khan, often referred to as Dost Ali Khan, was the Nawab of the Carnatic from 1732 to 1740. He was the son of Ghulam Ali Khan, brother of the Nawab Saadatullah Khan. His childless uncle adopted him as heir, and he succeeded his uncle ...

and his Maratha opponent Raghoji I Bhonsale. The battle was a victory for the Marathas in which Dost Ali Khan, his son and a number of prominent persons of Arcot were killed and resulted in three years of Maratha rule in the Carnatic.

Expeditions in Bengal

The ''Expeditions in Bengal'' was taken by the

after the successful campaign in Carnatic at the Battle of Trichinopolly. The leader of the expedition was Raghoji of

. Raghoji was able to annex

Orissa Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of Sch ...

and parts of Bengal permanently as he successfully exploited the chaotic conditions prevailing in the region after the death of their Governor Murshid Quli Khan in 1727. Nawab of Bengal ceded territory up to the river Suvarnarekha to the Marathas, and agreeing to pay Rs. 20 lacs as chauth for

(includes both West Bengal and Bangladesh) and 12 lacs for Bihar (including Jharkhand), thus Bengal becoming a tributary to the Marathas.Fall Of The Mughal Empire- Volume 1 (4Th Edn.), J.N.Sarka

References

* Hunter, William Wilson, Sir, et al. (1908). ''Imperial Gazetteer of India'' 1908-1931; Clarendon Press, Oxford. {{DEFAULTSORT:Raghoji 01 Bhosale People of the Maratha Empire 1755 deaths Maharajas of Nagpur Year of birth unknown 18th-century Indian royalty Indian military leaders