Janki Bhosale ( née Gujar) (1675 - 2 March 1700 CE) was Empress consort 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 ...

as the first wife of

Rajaram I Rajaram Bhosle I (Pronunciation: �aːd͡ʒaɾaːm – 3 March 1700) was the third '' Chhatrapati'' of Maratha Empire, who ruled from 1689 to his death in 1700. He was the second son of the Shivaji, the founder of the empire and younger half ...

. Jankibai was the daughter of

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 ...

, an

aristocratic Aristocracy (, ) is a form of government that places strength in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocrats. The term derives from the el, αριστοκρατία (), meaning 'rule of the best'. At the time of the word' ...

general, who was the commander-in-chief of the

. Her father died in a battle against the

Adil Shahi The Adil Shahi or Adilshahi, was a Shia,Salma Ahmed Farooqui, ''A Comprehensive History of Medieval India: From Twelfth to the Mid-Eighteenth Century'', (Dorling Kindersley Pvt Ltd., 2011), 174. and later Sunni Muslim,Muhammad Qasim Firishta's ...

Nesari Nesari is a village in Gadhinglaj Taluka of Kolhapur district in Maharashtra, India. As of 2011, it had a population of 21,000. It is about 20 kilometres from Gadhinglaj, and 30 kilometres from National Highway 48 (NH48). Geography Nesari i ...

on 24 February 1674.

Shivaji Maharaj 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 ...

, the king of the Marathas upon hearing the solemn news, grieved his general's death. As a result, he married his second son, the ten-year-old Rajaram to the five-year-old Jankibai. They were married in a grand ceremony that took place in

Raigad Fort Raigad is a hill fort situated in Mahad, Raigad district of Maharashtra, India. It is one of the strongest fortresses on the Deccan Plateau. It was previously known as Rairee or Rairy fort. Many constructions and structures on Raigad were ...

on 7 March 1680. Her father-in-law

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 ...

died on 3 April 1680, twenty five days after her marriage.

Death

On 2 March 1700, the thirty-year-old Rajaram died following a brief illness. Sources differ on Queen Janakibai's death . Some records say that she committed Sati with her husband at Sinhagad . However Marathi bakhars and letters reveal that Jankibai was one of the captives taken during the Battle of Raigad along with Maharani

Yesubai Bhonsale ''Yesubai Bhosale'' (born Jivubai Shirke) was the wife of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj, also referred as Maharani, of the Maratha Empire The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern Indian confederat ...

and

Shahuji 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 Mahar ...

. She was released in 1719 from the Mughal captivity by Peshwa Balaji Vishwanath along with Yesubai and other

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 ...

women.

References

{{MarathaEmpire Women of the Maratha Empire Indian queen consorts 1675 births 1700 deaths 17th-century Indian women