Early Modern India

The Tanjore Bhosales or Thanjavur Bhosales were a dynasty that was started in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, in the later half of the seventeenth century by Venkoji Raje Bhosale, the son of Shahaji raje Bhosale, and step-brother of the famous Shivaji raje Bhosale, the great Maratha warrior king.

List of kings

Venkoji (Ekoji I) raje Bhosale (born 1630 as per Maratha records and 1700 or later as per English records - died 1683) was the son of Shahaji raje Bhosale and his wife Tukabai (from the family of Mohites hailing from Bijapur, Karnataka). His father Shahaji raje was a noble in the Adilshahi court of Bijapur and held entrusted with the jagir of Bangalore. (It is to be noted that he stayed with his parents and his eldest step brother Sambhaji, who died early. His younger step-brother, Shivaji, the natural brother of Sambhaji, stayed at their Poona jagir along with mother Jijabai, who was Shahaji raje's eldest wife). Like his father, Venkoji too became a noble in the Bijapur court, and often assisted the Bijapur armies in their fight against his half brother, Shivaji.

In 1673, the Madurai Nayak invaded the Thanjavur kingdom. Its erstwhile ruler appealed to the Bijapur court for help, which in turn deputed Venkoji to drive out the Nayak of Madurai from Thanjavur. Venkoji successfully drove away the Nayak from Thanjavur, but became king himself (as per Wilkes, after the deposed ruler of Thanjavur refused to pay for Venkoji's war expenses). After the death of the Bijapur sultan, Venkoji crowned himself king of Thanjavur.

In 1676, Shivaji embarked on his southern campaign to unify the South under the Maratha rule. Shivaji first captured Gingee in Tamil Nadu with help from Sultan Tanashah of Golkunda. Since Gingee was in his control, he wanted a link between Maharashtra and Gingee, which was the Mysore region. This was a region that was traditionally the jagir of his father Shahaji raje, but had since been neglected. Therefore he approached his step-brother and demanded Mysore as his share of the paternal estate. Predictably, Venkoji refused. Venkoji even walked away from their meeting place without informing his brother (probably fearing detention).

Angry at this insolence from his younger brother. Shivaji attacked and took possession of Venkoji's territory (Jagdevgad and its surrounding regions, Chidambar,Vridhachal and Kolar). Shivaji placed another half-brother, Santaji, to watch Venkoji's movements along with his lieutenant, Hambirrao Mohite. Venkoji retaliated by attacking Santoji's and Hambirrao's forces at Ahiri (6 November 1677). But Venkoji was completely routed. Shivaji also conquered Venkoji's territories in the Mysore region (but a small portion, the regions of Bangalore, Hoskat, and Asilikatte in Balapur were given to Venkoji's wife, Dipabai, as a maintenance grant). Eventually Venkoji sued for peace and paid almost 600,000 rupees as compensation to Shivaji.

In 1680, Shivaji came to an understanding with the Bijapur court, whereby Venkoji, the vassal of Bijapur, was forced to accept his elder brother Shivaji as his overlord and pay him an annual tribute (the tribute stopped after the death of Shivaji, which took place in the same year).

Kilavan, the chief of Ramnad, wanted to free himself from the yoke of his overlord, the Nayak of Madurai. He sought Venkoji's help in order to achieve this. In the war that followed, Venkoji and his partner won the day.

Venkoji was a great patron of the arts and literature. Venkoji himself wrote an telegu version of the epic Ramayana. He also constructed several temples which stand testimony to the grandeur of Thanjavur.

Shahuji I (born 1672). He was the eldest son and successor of Venkoji. He inherited his father's throne at the tender age of twelve.

Shahuji helped his cousin Rajaram (the younger son of Shivaji of Maharshtra) recapture the fort of Jinji from the Mughals. As a result a Mughal force under Zulfikar Khan attacked Thanjavur (in 1691) and made Shahuji I a vassal. The Mughals even took away lands conquered from Nayaki (Queen) Mangammal of Tiruchirapalli which had earlier been captured by Shahuji. In 1700, Shahuji's lieutenant, Babaji, attacked Tiruchilapalli along with the king of Ramnad. But the Nayaki Mangammal inflicted a defeat on the forces of Shahuji and Ramnad.

Meanwhile Shahuji found common cause with the Nayaki and switched sides. This infuriated the Ramnad Sethupathy Kilavan. He sent a huge army which defeated the forces of Nayaki Mangammal and even captured the fort of Aranthangi (in 1709) from Shahuji.

Shahuji I patronised the arts, literature and architecture during his tenure, but in 1709, he abdicated the throne of Thanjavur and became an ascetic.

Serfoji I (1675-1728) was the brother and successor of Shahuji I

He captured the Marava kingdom and annexed it to Thanjavur. He also created two zamindaris of Sivaganga and Ramnad from a portion of Marava.

Serfoji was also said to be a great patron of the arts and literature.

Tukoji (1677-1735) was the younger brother and successor of Serfoji I. He aided Meenakshi, the queen of Tiruchirapalli in quelling a revolt by the Polygars.

He was responsible for introducing Hindustani music in Thanjavur. He also composed a musical work called Sangeeta Samamrita. He was also said to be a linguist.

Ekoji II (1696-1737) was the son and successor of Tukoji. He resisted a attack by Chada sahib, the nawab of Carnatic. But Ekoji couldn’t rule for long . He died within a year due to supposed ill heath.

Sujanbai was the widow and successor (1737) of Ekoji II. She fought a succession battle with Katturaja, a pretender to the throne, who claimed to be a son of Serfoji I. She also had to cope with an ambitious minister named Sayyid. Katturaja sought the help of the French and Chanda Sahib and eventually usurped the throne of Thanjavur. He was also helped by Sayyid in his endeavour, who in turn imprisoned Sujanbai and let Katturaja take her place instead.

Shahuji II. Katturaja assumed the name Shahuji II when he ascended the throne of Thanjavur (in 1738). Katturaja had earlier promised Karaikkal to the French. But Katturaja dithered on his promise. As a result the French encouraged Chanda Sahib to overthrow Katturaja. They did the same with the pretext that Katturaja was not a legitimate son of Serfoji (and was born the son of a washer-woman). Katturaja was imprisoned.

Katturaja then exhorted Pratapsingh, a son of Tukoji and his concubine Annapurna, to ascend the throne, lest an outside claimant usurp the throne.

Pratapsingh did ascend the throne. But he had to face a challenge from Katturaja who wanted to make a comeback to power, along with Chanda Sahib and some palace officials like Sayyid and Koyaji Kattigai. The plot was discovered and Sayyid was executed.

Pratapsingh (died 1763) ascended the throne in 1739. In 1748, when Katturaja made his attempts to seize power, he sought the help of the French. The English (in the form of the British East India Company) sided with Pratapsingh, but switched sides to Katturaja when he offered them Devekottai. The Company tried to seize Devekottai by force on two occasions. However after the second attempt Pratapsingh entered into a treaty with them and gave them Devekottai.

Dost Ali, the nawab of Carnatic, overthrew Pratapsingh and seized temporary power at Thanjavur. But Marathas from Maharashtra launched an attack, killing Dost Ali, and Pratapsingh was reinstated.

Soon afterwards (in 1742) the nizam of Hyderabad attacked Thanjavur, making its people his vassals.

The nawab of Carnatic, Muhammad Ali, attacked Thanjavur. However, their common ally, the British East India Company, mediated a truce between them. Pratapsingh had to pay 2,000,000 in arrears and an annual tribute of 4,000,000 to the nawab of Carnatic. In return, Coiladdy and Yelengadu were ceded to Thanjavur.

Pratapsingh also lost Hanumantagudi to the raja of Ramnad. He died on 16 December 1763.

Thuljaji (1738-1787) was the eldest son and successor of Pratapsingh. He tried wresting back Hanumantgudi from the raja of Ramnad, but was defeated by the joint forces of Ramnad and the nawab of Carnatic. Thuljaji was also deposed (in 1773) from Thanjavur as a consequence of this war.

Thuljaji was restored to the Thanjavur throne by the British East India Company in 1776, but thereafter he had to pay annual tribute to both the company and the nawab of Carnatic.

In 1780, a war broke out between Tipu Sultan of Mysore and the British, and Tipu's forces attacked and plundered Thanjavur (1784) leaving behind an impoverished state.

Thuljaji was well versed in Sanskrit, Telugu and Marathi. He was a great patron of arts and litreture. He died in 1787 at the age of forty-nine. He had no son, so his adopted son, Serfoji II (from within the Bhosale family), ascended the throne at the tender age of ten. Thuljaji's brother, Amar Singh, acted as his regent.

Serfoji II (1777-1832). His uncle, Amarsingh (Ramaswami Amarsimha Bhosale), deprived Serfoji of even a basic education after usurping his throne soon after the death of Thuljaji. So his father's confidante, Rev Schwartz, a Danish Missionary, sent him to Madras, where he became proficient in Tamil, Telugu, English, French, German, Latin, Danish, Dutch, Urdu, and Sanskrit.

He was restored to the Thanjavur throne by the British East India Company, but the real power remained with the company. Thuljaji however proved an efficient administrator, social reformer and educationist. He constructed several schools, hospitals, public conveniences, water tanks, buildings, zoological garden, a meteorological station, and a shipyard in Thanjavur. He patronised the arts and literature and personally penned works such as Kumarasambhavachampu, Mudrakshachaya, and Devendra Kuruvanji. He contributed immensely to the Saraswati Mahal Library. He introduced western music into Thanjavur. He also had the history of the Bhosale dynasty engraved in the Brihadeshwara temple.

Serfoji II died on 7 March 1832. His funeral procession was said to have been attended by almost 90,000 people, indicating his popularity.

Shivaji II (died 1855) was the son and successor of Serfoji II. He ruled from 1832 to 1855 and patronised the arts and literature.

After the death of Shivaji II, and in the absence of any legitimate heirs, the Thanjavur kingdom was annexed by the British East India Company under the terms of their 'Doctrine of Lapse' (which was abandoned in 1858). The kingdom of Thanjavur continued to have titular monarchs, but with no political power.

These later titular maharajahs were: Rani Vijaya Mohana bai (1845-1886), the  daughter of Shivaji II, Shambhusinghji rao (died 1891) was the adopted son of Rani Vijayabai. The adoption and succession were not recognised by the government of India, and therefore Shambhusinghji rao was not allowed to use the royal titles of his predecessors.

Main Sources

Majumdar, R C - Ancient India, Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Ltd, 1987

Prasad, L - Studies in Indian History, Cosmos Bookhive, Gurgaon, 2000

Thapar, Romila - Penguin History of India, Volume 1, Penguin Books, London, 1990

Text copyright © Abhijit Rajadhyaksha. An original feature for the History Files.