Shamsher Bahadur I (1734 – 18 January 1761), was a ruler of the
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 ...
dominion of
Banda in northern
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 ...
. He was the son of
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 ...
and
Mastani
Mastani (29 August 1699 – 28 April 1740 Common Era, CE) was the daughter of Chhatrasal and Ruhani Bai Begum. She was the second wife of the Maratha Empire, Maratha Peshwa (Prime Minister) Baji Rao I. Her relationship within the Maratha Brahmi ...
.
Early life
Krishna Rao was the son of
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, ...
Baji Rao I and his second wife Mastani, daughter of
Chhatrasal
Chhatrasal Bundela (4 May 1649 – 20 December 1731) was an Indian warrior and ruler from the Bundela Rajput clan, who fought against the Mughal Empire, and established his own kingdom in Bundelkhand during the 17th-18th centuries.
Early l ...
and his Persian Muslim wife, Ruhani Bai. Bajirao wanted him to be accepted as a
Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
Brahmin
Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (guru ...
, but because of he was out of wedlock child , Brahmin priests refused to conduct the Hindu
upanayana
''Upanayana'' ( sa, उपनयनम्, lit=initiation, translit=Upanāyanam) is a Hindu educational sacrament, one of the traditional saṃskāras or rites of passage that marked the acceptance of a student by a preceptor, such as a ''guru'' ...
ceremony for him.
His education and military training was conducted in line with other sons of the Peshwa family, even though many Maratha nobles and chiefs didn't recognize Mastani as a legitimate wife of the Peshwa.
After the death of both Baji Rao and Mastani in 1740, Shamsher was taken into the household of
Kashibai
Kashibai was the first wife of Bajirao I, the Peshwa (Prime Minister) to the fourth Maratha Chhatrapati (Emperor) Shahu. With Bajirao, she had four children, including Balaji Baji Rao and Ragunath Rao. Balaji succeeded Bajirao as Peshwa upon t ...
, Baji Rao's widow, and raised as one of her own. He married Laal Kunwar on 14 January 1749 and soon after her death in 1753, Shamsher Bahadur was married to Mehrambai on 18 October 1753. Shamsher Bahadur had one son by Mehrambai named Krishna Sinh later known Ali Bahadur. He was his successor as
Subedar
Subedar is a rank of junior commissioned officer in the Indian Army; a senior non-commissioned officer in the Pakistan Army, and formerly a Viceroy's commissioned officer in the British Indian Army.
History
''Subedar'' or ''subadar'' was the ...
of Banda.
Military Career and Reign
Shamsher Bahadur was bestowed upon a portion of his father's dominion of
Banda and
Kalpi
Kalpi is a historical city and municipal board in Jalaun district in Uttar Pradesh, India. It is on the right bank of the Yamuna.
Once Kalpi was more important Than Orai It is situated 78 kilometres south-west of Kanpur from which it is conn ...
in present day North Indian state of
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...
.
He, alongside
Raghunathrao
Raghunathrao Bhat (a.k.a. Ragho Ballal or Ragho Bharari) (18 August 1734 – 11 December 1783) was the 11th Peshwa of the Maratha Empire for a brief period from 1773 to 1774. He was known among the Hindus for his extremely successful North-west ...
,
Malharrao 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 ...
,
Dattaji Shinde,
Jankoji Shinde and other Sardars, went to Punjab in 1757–1758 to fight the
Durrani Empire
The Durrani Empire ( ps, د درانيانو ټولواکمني; fa, امپراتوری درانیان) or the Afghan Empire ( ps, د افغانان ټولواکمني, label=none; fa, امپراتوری افغان, label=none), also know ...
and conquered
Attock
Attock ( Punjabi and Urdu: ), formerly known as Campbellpur (), is a historical city located in the north of Pakistan's Punjab Province, not far from the country's capital Islamabad. It is the headquarters of the Attock District and is 61st lar ...
,
Peshawar
Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...
,
Multan
Multan (; ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan, on the bank of the Chenab River. Multan is Pakistan's seventh largest city as per the 2017 census, and the major cultural, religious and economic centre of southern Punjab.
Multan is one of the List ...
in 1758. He was part of Maratha Conquest of North India.
In 1761, he and his army contingent fought alongside his cousins from the Peshwa family in the
Third Battle of Panipat between the Marathas and Afghan forces of
Ahmad Shah Abdali
Ahmad Shāh Durrānī ( ps, احمد شاه دراني; prs, احمد شاه درانی), also known as Ahmad Shāh Abdālī (), was the founder of the Durrani Empire and is regarded as the founder of the modern Afghanistan. In July 1747, Ahm ...
. He was wounded in that battle and died a few days later at Deeg.
Descendants
Upon the death of Shamsher, his son
Krishna Sinh (Ali Bahadur) (1758-1802), became the Nawab of the dominion of
Banda (present day
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...
) in northern
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 ...
, a vassal of
Maratha polity.
Under the auspices of the powerful Maratha nobles, Ali Bahadur established his authority over large parts of Bundelkhand and became the Nawab of Banda and placed his trusted aide Ramsingh Bhatt as kotwal of Kalinjar.
His son and successor Shamsher Bahadur II held allegiance towards the Maratha polity and fought the English in the
Anglo-Maratha War of 1803 His descendant Ali Bahadur fought alongside
Rani Lakshmibai
Lakshmibai, the Rani of Jhansi (; 19 November 1828 — 18 June 1858),Though the day of the month is regarded as certain historians disagree about the year: among those suggested are 1827 and 1835. was an Indian queen, the Maharani consort of ...
in the
First War of Indian Independence of 1857. After his defeat, Banda state was abolished. The present day descendants of Shamsher Bahadur live in Central India.
See also
*
Mastani
Mastani (29 August 1699 – 28 April 1740 Common Era, CE) was the daughter of Chhatrasal and Ruhani Bai Begum. She was the second wife of the Maratha Empire, Maratha Peshwa (Prime Minister) Baji Rao I. Her relationship within the Maratha Brahmi ...
*
Peshwa Bajirao
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 ...
*
Bhat family
The Bhat Peshwa family earlier known as Bhat family is a prominent Indian Chitpavan Brahmin family who dominated India for around 100 years in the late 18th century and early 19th century. Most of the members in this family were the Peshwas (prim ...
References
In Popular Culture
In the 2015 film ''
Bajirao Mastani
''Bajirao Mastani'' is a 2015 Indian Hindi-language epic historical romance film directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, who co-produced it with Eros International and composed its soundtrack. The film stars Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone and Priy ...
'' he was referenced and his naming ceremony was shown. In the 2019 film ''
Panipat
Panipat () is a historic city in Haryana, India. It is 95 km north of Delhi and 169 km south of Chandigarh on List of National Highways in India, NH-1. The three major battles fought in First Battle of Panipat, 1526, Second Battle of ...
'', Shamsher Bahadur I was played by
Sahil Salathia.
Further reading
*
Ranjit Desai
Ranjit loda Desai (8 April 1928 – 6 March 1992) was an Indian Marathi-language writer from Maharashtra, India. He is best known for his historical novels Swami and Shriman Yogi. He was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1964 and the Padma Sh ...
. ''Swami'' , a historical novel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaekwad
1734 births
Indian Hindus
1761 deaths
Peshwa dynasty
People of the Maratha Empire
Marathi people
18th-century Indian monarchs