Baka Bai | |
---|---|
Born | 1774 |
Died | 1858 (aged eighty-four) Nagpur [1] |
Spouse | Raghoji II Bhonsle |
House | Bhonsle (by marriage) |
Religion | Hinduism |
Baka Bai (1774-1858) was a Maratha stateswoman and favourite wife of Raghoji II Bhonsle, the king of Nagpur. After her husband's death, she played a key role in the intrigues at the royal court of Nagpur. [1] [2] [3] [4]
Baka Bai was the fourth and favourite wife of Raghoji II Bhonsle, the Maratha monarch of Nagpur Kingdom. [3] [2] She was present at the Battle of Argaon in 1803, in which the Marathas were defeated. [1] After her husband's death on 22 March 1816, Baka Bai brought her step-son Parsoji II Bhonsle to the royal palace, who succeeded to the throne of the kingdom.
Parsoji II was blind, lame and paralysed, thus soon after his accession he became totally deranged, and it became necessary to appoint a Regent. [5] Baka Bai was selected to manage the Raja's person and the kingdom. She became very influential, owning Makardhokra, Amgaon, Dighori, and other villages. She held the status of dowager queen and formed a strong faction at the Nagpur royal court, including Dharmaji Bhonsle, Naroba Chitnis and Gujabdada-Gujar. [6] [5] [3] However, the talented Appa Sahib assassinated Dharmaji Bhonsle, persuaded several members of Bakabai's faction to support him in his endavour of becoming regent, and acquired the regency. [7]
By January 1817, Appa Sahib established his authority in court and poisoned Parsoji II to eliminate any obstacles in his path to the throne. [8] Appa Sahib immediately ascended the throne before any opposition by Baka Bai's faction. [5] [9]
Appa Sahib was defeated at the Battle of Sitabuldi by the British and a treaty was signed on 9 January 1818, reducing Nagpur to tributary status. However, shortly after the treaty was concluded he renewed resistance, raising the local Gonds in rebellion, who burnt Makardhokra, Amgaon, Dighori, and other villages belonging to Baka Bai. [5] [9] [3]
Appa Sahib was arrested and deposed, and sent to Allahabad under a strong escort. [10] Meanwhile, Baka Bai and the other widows of Raghoji II Bhonsle were persudaded by the British Resident minister, Richard Jenkins, to adopt Bajiba, a maternal grandson of Raghoji II Bhonsle. [10] Bajiba was crowned as Raghuji III Bhonsle. [6] Baka Bai was at the head of the regency for the raja's minority, but only had charge of the palace affairs and the young king. [11] [7] The administration was carried out by Richard Jenkins, the British Resident minister at Nagpur. [5] [1]
When Raghuji III died in 1853 without a male heir, the Kingdom of Nagpur was about to be annexed by the Doctrine of Lapse policy devised by Lord Dalhousie. [12] Baka Bai tried all peaceful measures to resist the unjust policy, but eventually agreed to receive a pension along with the other Bhonsle family members. [13] [14] She received the largest share of the pension, Rs. 1,20,000. [13] [3] However, despite her protests, the Nagpur treasury was thoroughly looted by the British after the annexation of the kingdom. [6] [13]
During the Revolt of 1857 there was unrest in Nagpur and the whole of the Central Provinces, but due to Baka Bai using all her power and influence to help the British government, a large uprising was prevented. [15] [16] This greatly pleased the British government, because as a leading Maratha kingdom which had been recently annexed, its defection to the rebel cause would have served as an important centre of revolt to the Maratha region and to the north of the Nizam's dominions. [11] [5]
Baka Bai died sometime in September 1858, aged eighty-four. She was remembered for her piousness, especially in the Hindu community of the Central Provinces. [1]
Baka Bai is often represented as a traitor, who supported the colonial British Government despite her kingdom being annexed by them. [17] However, this is not completely true, as she was considered hostile to the British government. [1] But she soon realized that the British were going to be the paramount rulers of the Indian Subcontinent. She only tried to resist the British annexation of the kingdom by peaceful means, since she wanted to secure titles and privilges for her descendants. [15] She succeeded in creating a new title for her adopted descendants- "Raja Bahadur of Deur". [16]
Light on her character has also been shed in the book "Nagpur ke Bhonsle" (Bhonsles of Nagpur). [17] [18]
Shahu I was the fifth Chhatrapati of the Maratha Empire founded by his grandfather, Shivaji I. He was born into the Bhonsle family, and was the son of Sambhaji I and Yesubai. At a young age, he was taken into custody at the Siege of Raigad by Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, and held captive by the Mughals. He was released from captivity after the death of Aurangzeb in the hope of engineering an internecine struggle among the Maratha factions of Tarabai and Shahu. Raja Shahu emerged victorious in the bloody Battle of Khed and was crowned as Chhatrapati.
Nagpur Province was a province of British India that covered parts of the present-day states of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Chhattisgarh. The city of Nagpur was the capital of the province.
The Kingdom of Nagpur was an Indian kingdom in the 18th and 19th centuries. It came under the rule of the Marathas of the Bhonsle dynasty in the mid-18th century and became part of the Maratha Confederacy. The city of Nagpur was the capital of the state.
Mudhoji II, also known as Appa Sahib, of the Bhonsale dynasty, ruled the Kingdom of Nagpur in central India from 1816 to 1818. His reign coincided with the Third Anglo-Maratha War between the Maratha Empire and the British East India Company, which ended with the defeat of the Marathas.
Raghoji I or Raghuji the Great of the Bhonsale dynasty, was a Maratha general who established the Nagpur Kingdom in much of east-central India during the reign of Chhatrapati Shahu I. His successors ruled the kingdom until 1853.
Shrimant Maharaja Sir Pratap Singh Rao Gaekwad, who belonged to the Gaekwad dynasty of the Marathas, was the ruling Maharaja of Baroda. He succeeded to the throne upon the death of his grandfather Sayajirao Gaekwad III in 1939. In 1947, British India was partitioned into two independent dominions, and Pratap Singh acceded his state to the Dominion of India. By 1949, Baroda had been merged into India.
Raghuji II or Raghuji was the Maratha ruler of the Kingdom of Nagpur in Central India from 1788 to 1816.
The history of Nagpur, in central India, spans over 5,000 years, including the Kingdom of Nagpur in the 18th and 19th century. Human existence around present-day Nagpur city can be traced back 3,000 years to the 8th century BC. Menhir burial sites at Drugdhamna indicate megalithic culture existed around Nagpur and is still followed in present times.
The Battle of Pachgaon was fought on 26 January 1775 for accession to the throne of the Nagpur Kingdom in central India. Mudhoji Bhonsle killed his brother and rival Sabaji, securing the undisputed regency for Mudhoji's infant son Raghoji II. The battle ended a struggle begun when their brother, the ruler Janoji Bhonsle, died in 1772 after adopting Raghoji II as his heir.
The following list includes a brief about the titles of nobility or orders of chivalry used by the Marathas of India and by the Marathis/Konkanis in general.
Raghuji III or Raghuji, was the Maratha ruler of the Principal States of Nagpur in Central India from 1818 to 1853.
Mudhoji I was the ruler of the Nagpur kingdom from 1772 to 1788. During his regency the kingdom remained peaceful and prospered.
Chand Sultan (1706-1739) was a Gond king of Nagpur. He was the eldest son and successor of Bakht Buland Shah of Deogarh. He ascended the throne of Deogarh in 1706 and shifted his capital from Deogarh to Nagpur. He carried out further reforms in his kingdom and planned layout of the new city of Nagpur and under him, the kingdom prospered. He was a kind ruler who loved his people and extended his territory considerably to the east of the river Wainganga.
The Bhonsles of Nagpur were a Maratha royal house that ruled the Kingdom of Nagpur from 1739-1853. They hailed from the Bhonsle clan of Marathas and were one of the most important and powerful Maratha chiefs in the Maratha Empire.
The Gonds of Deogarh were a Gond royal house that originally ruled the zone which became the Nagpur Kingdom after being practically being made state pensionaries by the Bhonsle Maratha leader Raghoji I Bhonsle. They made Nagpur region a prosperous and plentiful kingdom, founding the city of Nagpur and building further infrastructure. However, internal bickering led to their downfall.
Bhaskar Ram Kolhatkar, known as Baba Bhaskar Pandit by the people of Bengal, was a Maratha general and statesman. He was the dewan of the raja of Nagpur, Raghuji Bhonsle. He played an important role in the kingdom of Nagpur's expansion. The first Maratha invasion of Bengal in 1741, as also the third in 1744, was led by him. He was an able military leader, proven by his success in the Maratha invasions of Bengal and conquest of Chhattisgarh. He was killed by Alivardi Khan on 30 March 1744.
Raghunath Singh was the Diwan of the Gond king of Deogarh. He tried to unsuccessfully overthrow Raghuji Bhonsla's sway with the help of the Gond king of Chandrapur, Nilkanth Shah.
The Kingdom of Chanda was one of the main Gond kingdoms, ruling parts of central India. In 1751, it was conquered by the Maratha ruler of Nagpur, Raghoji I Bhonsle.
Mohan Singh was the last ruler of the Haihaiyavanshi Kingdom, the dynasty which ruled Chhattisgarh for over 700 years. He ruled Chhattisgarh under the suzerainty of the Bhonsles of Nagpur Kingdom.
The House of Bhonsle are a prominent Indian Marathi royal house. They claimed descent from the Rajput Sisodia Dynasty, but were likely Kunbi Marathas.