Ranoji

Shinde Shinde (pronunciation: �in̪d̪e is a clan of the Maratha clan system of Kunbi (Kurmi) origin; variations of the name include Scindia and ''Sindhia'', '' Sindia''. The ''Shinde'' last name may be also found in the Dalit community. The Scindia ...

the founder of the

Scindia The Scindia dynasty (anglicized from Shinde) is a Hindu Maratha dynasty of maratha origin that ruled the erstwhile State of Gwalior. It had the Patil-ship of Kumberkerrab in Wai. It was founded by Ranoji Scindia, who started as a personal servan ...

dynasty from

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 ...

caste that produced outstanding Maratha military commanders during the 18th century. Later the Scindia served as vassals of the British from the northern

Princely state A princely state (also called native state or Indian state) was a nominally sovereign entity of the British Raj, British Indian Empire that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule, ...

Gwalior Gwalior() is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; it lies in northern part of Madhya Pradesh and is one of the Counter-magnet cities. Located south of Delhi, the capital city of India, from Agra and from Bhopal, the s ...

Early life

Ranoji Scindia belonged to a

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

family. The family held hereditary rights as the Patil of

Kanherkhed Kanherkhed is a village in Satara district, Maharashtra, India. It was the home village of Shinde (Scindia) family that later ruled the Gwalior State. Shinde's are Deshmukh Deshmukh (IAST:Dēśamukh), is a historical title conferred to the r ...

village in present day

Satara district Satara district (Marathi pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, aːt̪aɾaː is a Districts of Maharashtra, district of Maharashtra state in western India with an area of and a population of 3,003,741 of which 14.17% were urban (). Satara (city), ...

in the

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 ...

n state of

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

. The Shinde family in the previous centuries had served as

shiledar Shiledar was a term used for a soldier's position in India's Maratha Empire (1630–1818), particularly during the reign of Shivaji. The word ''shiledar'' means "a soldier who possesses his own sword and horse for taking active part in combat/war". ...

s (cavalrymen) under the

Bahmani Sultanate The Bahmani Sultanate, or Deccan, was a Persianate Sunni Muslim Indian Kingdom located in the Deccan region. It was the first independent Muslim kingdom of the Deccan,

Career

Ranoji as a young man started in the service of

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 ...

Peshwa. At that time Ramchandrababa Sukhtankar, a diplomat of the Peshwa recognised Ranoji's talents and got him appointed as the personal servant of the Peshwa's son,

Bajirao I Baji Rao I (18 August 1700 – 28 April 1740), born as Visaji, also known as Bajirao Ballal (Pronunciation: ad͡ʒiɾaːʋ bəlːaːɭ, was the 7th Peshwa of the Maratha Empire. During his 20-year tenure as a Peshwa, he defeated Nizam-ul-M ...

. Upon the death of his father, Bajirao was appointed as the Peshwa at the age of twenty by Chhatrapati Shahu. This evoked jealousy from senior officials at the Maratha court. This in turn led Baji Rao to promote as commanders of his troops, talented young men who were barely out of teens such as Ranoji,

Malhar Rao Holkar Malhar Rao Holkar (16 March 1693 – 20 May 1766) was a noble subedar of the Maratha Empire, in present-day India. He was one of the early officers along with Ranoji Scindia to help spread the Maratha rule to northern states and was given the es ...

, the Pawar brothers, Pilaji Jadhav,and Fateh Singh Bhosle. None of these men belonged to families that held hereditary

Deshmukh Deshmukh (IAST:Dēśamukh), is a historical title conferred to the rulers of a . It is used as a surname in certain regions of India, specifically in the states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh whose family received it as a ...

i rights under earlier rulers such as the Deccan Sultanates. Ranoji along with Malharrao Holkar and Pawar brothers was in charge of the Maratha campaign initiated by Peshwa Bajirao in

Malwa Malwa is a historical region of west-central India occupying a plateau of volcanic origin. Geologically, the Malwa Plateau generally refers to the volcanic upland north of the Vindhya Range. Politically and administratively, it is also syno ...

in 1726. Ranoji established his capital at

Ujjain Ujjain (, Hindustani language, Hindustani pronunciation: Help:IPA/Hindi and Urdu, �d͡ːʒɛːn is a city in Ujjain district of the States and territories of India, Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the fifth-largest city in Madhya Prad ...

in 1731. He appointed RamchandraBaba Sukhtankar as his Diwan or administrator and Made Yashaji Rambhaji as Sarsenapati of his Army then spent most of his life on Maratha military campaigns. Some historians credit Sukhtankar with bringing the

Kumbh mela Kumbh Mela or Kumbha Mela () is a major pilgrimage and festival in Hinduism. It is celebrated in a cycle of approximately 12 years, to celebrate every revolution Brihaspati (Jupiter) completes, at four river-bank pilgrimage sites: Allahabad ( ...

to Ujjain in 1732. An early account of the Haridwar Kumbh Mela was published by Captain Thomas Hardwicke in 1796 CE.

Family

Ranoji had five sons, namely, Jayajirao, Jyotibarao, Dattajirao, Tukojirao, and

Mahadji Shinde Mahadaji Shinde (b. 23 December 1730 – 12 February 1794), later known as Mahadji Scindia or Madhava Rao Sindhia, was a Maratha statesman and ruler of Ujjain in Central India. He was the fifth and the youngest son of Ranoji Rao Scindia, the fo ...

. the first four died fighting in various battles in northern India between 1750-1761. Mahadji, the youngest had an illustrious career in the second half of the 18th century.Rathod, N.G., 1994. The Great Maratha Mahadaji Scindia. Sarup & Sons.page=1

/ref> His descendants during British colonial (1818-1947) were the rulers of the Princely state of Gwalior.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scindia, Ranoji 1745 deaths Indian generals Ranoji People from Shajapur Year of birth unknown