Satara State

Satara State
1818 (1818)–1849 (1849)
Flag
Satara State in 1832
Status	Princely state of the British East India Company
Capital	Satara
Official languages	Marathi
Religion	Hinduism and other minority religions
Government	Monarchy
Chhatrapati/Raja
• 1818 – 1839	Pratap Singh (first)
• 1839 – 1849	Shahaji (last)
History
• Established	1818 (1818)
• Disestablished	1849 (1849)
Area
1901	11,144 km2 (4,303 sq mi)
Population
• 1901	671,000
Currency	Rupee, Paisa, Shivrai
Preceded by Succeeded by Maratha Confederacy Company rule in India
Today part of	India

The Satara State was a Maratha rump state in India created after the fall of the Maratha Confederacy in 1818 following the Third Anglo-Maratha War, and annexed by the British in 1849 using the Doctrine of lapse. The state was ruled by the Bhonsle dynasty, descendants of Shivaji, the founder of the Maratha kingdom.

The first Raja of the state was Pratap Singh who was installed on the throne by the British after they defeated Peshwa Bajirao II in 1818. Pratap Singh was deposed in 1838. His brother, Shahaji succeeded him but died without a natural heir in 1848. At that time, the East India Company government refused to accept Shahaji's adopted son as his successor under the company's Doctrine of lapse, a policy introduced by the then Governor, Lord Dalhousie, and absorbed the territory into the growing British dominion. ^{[1] [2]}

Rulers of Maratha Empire

Satara State:

• Shivaji I (r. 1674–1680) (Founder of the Maratha Empire and Crowned as Chhatrapati in 1674 at Raigad Fort.)
• Sambhaji (r. 1680–1689) (Son of Shivaji & Fought against Aurangzeb but was captured and executed in 1689.)
• Rajaram I (r. 1689–1700) (Younger son of Shivaji and Rajaram Maharaj died of lung disease in 1700.)
• Shivaji II (r. 1700–1708) (Grandson of Shivaji Maharaj and Released by the Mughals in 1707 after Aurangzeb’s death. His reign saw the rise of the Peshwas, who became the de facto rulers of the Maratha Empire.)
• Shahu I (r. 1708–1749) (son of Sambhaji and grandson of Chhatrapati Shivaji, he was the first ruler of Satara after the Mughal emperor released him from captivity)
• Rajaram II (r. 1749–1777) (nominally, grandson of Rajaram I) and (Queen Tarabai ruled after Shahu I but had little real power as the Peshwas controlled the administration)
• Shahu II (r. 1777–1808) (His reign saw increasing British interference)
• Pratap Singh (r. 1808–1839) – After the fall of the Peshwas in 1818, He signed a treaty with the East India Company ceding part of the sovereignty of his kingdom to the British company ^[3]
• Shahji III (APPA SAHEB) (r. 1839–1848) (The last ruler before the British annexed Satara under the Doctrine of Lapse)
• Venkatji (Bhau Saheb) (r. 1848–1864)
• Pratapsinhji I (Bhau Saheb) (r. 1865–1874)
• Rajaram III (Abba Saheb) (r. 1874–1904)
• Shivaji Rajaram (Anna Saheb) (r. 1904–1914)
• Pratapsinh II (Bhau Saheb) (r. 1914–1925)
• Shahu (Bala Saheb) (r. 1925–1950)
• Pratapsinh (Baba Saheb) (r. 1950–1978)
• Udayanraje Bhosale (r. 1978–Present)

Territory

The state comprised the modern day Satara district, and parts of the Pune district, the Sangli district, the Solapur district and the Bijapur district, Karnataka.

See also

• Kolhapur State

References

1. Kulkarni, Sumitra (1995). The Satara raj, 1818-1848 : a study in history, administration, and culture (1st ed.). New Delhi: Mittal Publications. pp. 2–3. ISBN   9788170995814.
2. Ramusack, Barbara N. (2007). The Indian princes and their states (Digitally print. version. ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press. pp. 81–82. ISBN   978-0521039895 . Retrieved 13 October 2016.
3. Kulkarni (1995), p. 21.