24th November 1777 – 16th March 1832 Raje Serfoji Maharaj Bhosale Of Thanjavur

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24th November 1777 – 16th March 1832 Raje Serfoji Maharaj Bhosale Of Thanjavur

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The Maratha kings have made an important contribution to the history and culture of Thanjavur, the erstwhile Cholamandalam.   Rajah Serfoji was one among the Maratha kings who played an important role in the history and culture of Thanjavur.
The first Maratha to set foot in Thanjavur was Venkoji Rajah Bhosale, the stepbrother of the legendary Maratha King Shivaji.  He took over the kingdom in 1676 without shedding blood.  After him, his descendants ruled over the kingdom till 1855 AD.
Rajah SerfojiRajah Serfoji was the most traveled among the 12 Maratha kings who reigned over Thanjavur.  He had extensively travelled to Kasi, Benaras and Rameshwaram.  A learned scholar and lover of arts, he had the habit of collecting lot of manuscripts, books, paintings and artefacts for his Palace library.  In memory of his contribution, the library was named after him as Thanjavur Maharaja Serfoji’s Saraswati Mahal Library.
Born on 24th November 1777, in the Bhosale family of Maharashtra, Sefoji was adopted by Tulaja II, who was king of Thanjavur. Serfoji belonged to the eight generation of the Great Grandfather of Chatrapathi Shivaji – Srimant Babaji. Serfoji completed his education and language studies under Rev. C F Schwartz.  He was able to read, write and speak English, French, Italian and Latin languages apart from Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Marathi and Sanksrit.  He was crowned in 1798 AD and ruled up to 1832 till his death.  He built the Sardar Mahal, Saje Mahal and Yellow Mahal in the year 1825 AD after his travels to Kasi.
The Sardar Mahal is more than 175 years old and is situated north to the Krishna Vilas Tank, which is now closed.  This was the residential palace of King Serfoji and his descendants.  Performing arts like drama, dance, music and other art forms were performed at the Sadar Mahal Palace.  Proof of this is evident from the Marathi Modi documents in the Saraswati Mahal library.
The eighth World Tamil Conference gave a new lease of life to these Mahals, which are now preserved by theDepartment of Archaeology, State Government of Tamil Nadu. The arts and artefacts collected by King Serfoji are displayed in the erstwhile Residential palace of Serfoji.  This was opened to the public on 12th October 1997.  This was done with the aim of showcasing the contribution of the Maratha kings to Thanjavur and to South Indian culture and literature and also to make the general public aware of their history.
The Palace was named Rajah Serfoji’s Memorial Hall in 1997 and was registered as a trust with Srimant Tulajendra Raja P Bhosale, a descendant of Rajah Sefoji.  The hall was restructured and repainted, it originally had some stucco work on the upper borders of the wall. On display are household articles, costumes, gold and silver ware, armouries, earthenware, manuscripts, wooden and ivory objects, various kinds of paintings like oil, water colour and so on. A small garden has been developed at the place where the Krishna Vilas Tank stood. A secret underground passage located on eastern side of the Sardar Mahal, which was in use till 1855 before being closed has also been reopened to the public.

Thanjavur Maratha kingdom

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Thanjavur Maratha Kingdom
Tanjore Maratha Kingdom.jpg
Approximate extent of the Thanjavur Maratha Kingdom, during its accession to the British in 1798
Official language Marathi, Tamil,Telugu
Capital Thanjavur
Government Monarchy
Preceding state of Thanjavur Marathas Vijayanagara Empire, Thanjavur Nayak, Pudukkottai state
Succeeding states of Thanjavur Marathas Pudukkottai state
Thanjavur Marathas of the Bhonsle dynasty, were the rulers of Thanjavur principality of Tamil Nadu between the 17th to the 19th century C.E. Their native language was Marathi. Venkoji was the founder of the dynasty.

§Maratha Conquest of Thanjavur[edit]

Following the demise of Chola rule in the 13th century, the Thanjavur country came under the rule of the Pandyas who ruled for about a century. Following the invasion of Malik Kafur, the Tanjore country fell into disorder. The rule of the Delhi Sultanate lasted for half a century before Pandya chieftains reasserted their independence. Soon afterwards, however, they were conquered by the Vijayanagar Empire. The supremacy of Vijayanagar was challenged by the Nayaks of Madurai who eventually conquered Thanjavur in 1646. The rule of the Thanjavur Nayaks lasted until 1673 when Chokkanatha Nayak the ruler of Madurai invaded Thanjavur and killed the ruler Vijayaraghava.
Chokkanatha placed his brother Alagiri on the throne of Thanjavur, but within a year the latter threw off his allegiance, and Chokkanatha was forced to recognise the independence of Thanjavur. A son of Vijaya Raghava induced the Bijapur Sultan to help him get back the Thanjavur throne. In 1675, the Sultan of Bijapur sent a force commanded by the Maratha general Venkoji (alias Ekoji) to recapture the kingdom from the new invader. Venkoji defeated Alagiri, and occupied Thanjavur. He did not, however, place his protege on the throne as instructed by the Bijapur Sultan, but seized the kingdom and made himself king. Thus began the rule of theMarathas over Thanjavur.

§Maratha Kings[edit]

Part of a series on
History of Tamil Nadu
Thanjavur temple.jpg

§Venkoji[edit]

Main article: Venkoji
Venkoji, a half-brother of the great Maratha king Shivaji was the first Raja of Thanjavur from the Bhosale dynasty. It is believed that he took over the administration of Thanjavur in April 1674 and ruled till 1684. During his reign, his brother Shivaji invaded Gingee and Thanjavur in 1676–1677 and made his brother Santaji the ruler of all lands to the north of the Coleroon. During the last years of his reign, Venkoji also allied with Chokkanatha of Madurai to repulse an invasion from Mysore..

§Shahuji I[edit]

Main article: Shahuji I of Thanjavur
Shahuji I was the eldest son of Venkoji and he ascended the throne at the age of twelve. During his reign, the Mughals occupied the Coromandel coast and Tiruchirapalli and forced Shahuji I to pay tribute. Shahuji was a patron of literature. During his reign, there were frequent skirmishes and battles with the Raja of Madurai and Ramnad for control of the border lands.

§Serfoji I[edit]

Main article: Serfoji I
Serfoji I was a younger son of Venkoji and he ruled from 1712 to 1728. His rule was marked by regular warfare and disputes with the Madurai Nayak.

§Tukkoji[edit]

Main article: Tukkoji
Tukkoji, a younger brother of Serfoji I ruled Thanjavur from 1728 to 1736. His reign witnessed the invasion of Chanda Sahib and he is credited with having repulsed a Muhammedan invasion of Madurai.

§Pratapsingh[edit]

Main article: Pratapsingh of Thanjavur
A period of anarchy followed the death of Tukkoji and came to an end when Pratapsingh succeeded to the throne in 1739. He ruled up to 1763. He allied with Muhammad Ali, the Nawab of the Carnatic and aided the British against the French in the Carnatic Warsand the Seven Years’ War. He was the last king to be addressed to be the Directors of the British East India Company as “His Majesty”. In 1762, a tripartite treaty was signed between Thanjavur, Carnatic and the British by which he became a vassal of the Nawab of the Carnatic.

§Thuljaji[edit]

Main article: Thuljaji
Thuljaji was a very weak ruler and the last independent ruler of Thanjavur. In 1773, Thanjavur was annexed by the Nawab of the Carnatic who ruled till 1776. The throne was restored to him by the Directors of the British East India Company. But his restoration came at a heavy price as it deprived him of his independence.

§Serfoji II[edit]

Main article: Serfoji II
Thuljaji was succeeded by his teenage son Serfoji in 1787. Soon afterwards, he was deposed by his uncle and regent Amarsingh who seized the throne for himself. With the help of the British, Serfoji II recovered the throne in 1798. A subsequent treaty forced him to hand over the reins of the kingdom to the British East India Company, becoming part of the Tanjore District (Madras Presidency). The district collectorate system was installed thereafter to manage the public revenues. Serfoji II was however left in control of the Fort and the surrounding areas. He reigned till 1832. His reign is noted for the literary, scientific and technological accomplishments of the Tanjore country.

§Shivaji II[edit]

Main article: Shivaji II of Thanjavur
Shivaji was the last Maratha ruler of Thanjavur and reigned from 1832 to 1855. He was a weak and feeble prince with barely any authority. As his First wife did not have any male heir, The Queen adopted her nephew, and the adoption took place after the Maharaja’s (Shivaji II) death in 1855. The British did not accept this adoption and Thanjavur was annexed by them as per the provisions of the Doctrine of Lapse.

§Literature[edit]

Interior of Durbar Hall, Thanjavur Maratha palace

The Thanjavur Maratha Rajas favoured Sanskrit and Telugu to such an extent that classical Tamil began to decline. Most of the plays were in Sanskrit. Venkoji, the first ruler of the Bhonsle dynasty composed a ‘Dvipada’ Ramayana in Telugu. His son Shahuji was a great patron of learning and of literature. Most of the Thanjavur Maratha literature is from his period. Most of them were versions of the Ramayana or plays and short stories of a historical nature. Sanskrit and Telugu were the languages used in most of these plays while there were some Tamil ‘koothu’ as well. Advaita Kirtana is one of the prominent works from this period. Later Thanjavur rulers like Serfoji II and Shivaji immersed themselves in learning and literary pursuits when they were dispossessed of their empire. Serfoji built the Saraswathi Mahal Librarywithin the precincts of the palace to house his enormous book and manuscript collection. Apart from Indian languages, Serfoji II was proficient in English, French, Dutch, Greek and Latin as well.

§Administration[edit]

Map of the Thanjavur Maratha kingdom

The king was assisted in the administration of his country by a council of ministers. The supreme head of this council of ministers was a Mantri or Dalavoy. The Dalavoy was also the Commander-in-chief of the Army. Next in importance at the court was a Pradhani or Dewan also called Dabir Pandit. The country was divided into subahs, seemais and maganams in the decreasing order of size and importance. The five subahs of the country were Pattukkottai, Mayavaram, Kumbakonam, Mannargudi and Tiruvadi.

§Economy[edit]

The ruler collected his taxes from the people through his mirasdars or puttackdars. They were collected right from the village level onwards and were based on the agricultural produce of the village. Rice was one of the primary crops in the region and the land used for cultivation was owned by big landlords. It was Anatharama Sashtry who proposed collecting taxes to improve conditions for the poor. No foreign trade was carried out. The only foreign trade in the country was carried out by European traders who paid a particular amount of money as rent to the Raja. The currency system used was that of a chakram or pon (1 chakram = one and three-fourths of a British East India Company rupee). Other systems of coinage used were that of pagoda (1 pagoda = three and a half Company rupees), a big panam (one-sixth of a Company rupee) and a small ‘panam (one-thirteenth of a Company rupee).

§See also[edit]

§Bibliography[edit]

  • The Maratha Rajas of Tanjore by K.R.Subramanian, 1928.
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