Mahadaji Shinde (23 December 1730 – 13 February 1794), later known as Mahadji Scindia or Madhava Rao Scindia, was a

Maratha The Marathi people (; Marathi: , ''Marāṭhī lōk'') or Marathis (Marathi: मराठी, ''Marāṭhī'') are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are native to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-A ...

statesman and general who served as the

Maharaja of Gwalior The Gwalior State was a List of Maratha dynasties and states, state within the Maratha Confederacy located in Central India. It was ruled by the Scindia, House of Scindia (anglicized from Sendrak), a Hindu Maratha Confederacy, Maratha dynasty. ...

from 1768 to 1794. He was the fifth and the youngest son of Ranoji Rao Scindia, the founder of the

Scindia dynasty House of Scindia or earlier known as the Sendrak was a Hindu Maratha Royal House that ruled the erstwhile Gwalior State in central India. Ranoji Scindia rose as a prominent military commander under Peshwa Bajirao I. Ranoji and his descendants, a ...

. He is reputed for having restored the Maratha rule over North India and for modernizing his army. Mahadji was instrumental in resurrecting Maratha power in North India after the

Third Battle of Panipat The Third Battle of Panipat took place on 14 January 1761 between the Maratha Empire and the invading army of the Durrani Empire. The battle took place in and around the city of Panipat, approximately north of Delhi. The Afghan (ethnonym), Af ...

in 1761, and he rose to become a trusted lieutenant of the

Peshwa The Peshwa was the second highest office in the Maratha Empire, next in rank and prestige only to that of the Chhatrapati. Initially serving as the appointed prime minister in the Maratha Kingdom, the office became hereditary when Shahu gave t ...

, leader of the

Maratha Confederacy The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern polity in the Indian subcontinent. It comprised the realms of the Peshwa and four major independent Maratha states under the nominal leadership of the former. ...

. Along with

Madhavrao I Madhavrao I (formerly known as Madhavrao Ballal Bhat) was the second son of Peshwa Balaji Bajirao and grandson of Peshwa Bajirao I, who served as the 9th Peshwa of the Maratha Empire. During his tenure, the Maratha Empire recovered from losse ...

and Nana Fadnavis, he was one of the three pillars of Maratha Resurrection. He modernized his army under adventurers like Benoît de Boigne, which allowed Maratha dominance of North India. During his reign, Gwalior became the leading state in the

and one of the foremost military powers in India. After accompanying

Shah Alam II Shah Alam II (; 25 June 1728 – 19 November 1806), also known by his birth name Ali Gohar, or Ali Gauhar, was the seventeenth Mughal emperor and the son of Alamgir II. Shah Alam II became the emperor of a crumbling Mughal Empire. His power w ...

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

in 1771, he restored the

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an Early modern period, early modern empire in South Asia. At its peak, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus River Basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to ...

in Delhi and became the ''Naib Vakil-i-Mutlaq'' (Deputy Regent of the Empire). Mahadji Shinde fought about 50 battles in his lifetime against various opponents. He defeated the

Jats The Jat people (, ), also spelt Jaat and Jatt, are a traditionally agricultural community in Northern India and Pakistan. Originally pastoralists in the lower Indus river-valley of Sindh, many Jats migrated north into the Punjab region in ...

of Mathura and during 1772–73 Pathan Rohillas in

Rohilkhand Rohilkhand (today Bareilly, Moradabad, Badaun and Rampur; ) is a region in the northwestern part of Uttar Pradesh, India, that is centered on the Bareilly and Moradabad divisions. It is part of the upper Ganges Plain, and is named after the ...

and captured

Najibabad Najibabad is a town in the Bijnor district of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, located near the city of Bijnor. It is a major industrial centre and has national transport links via rail and roadways such as NH 119 and NH 74. History Nawab ...

. His role during the

First Anglo-Maratha War The First Anglo-Maratha War (1775–1782) was the first conflict fought between the British East India Company and Maratha Empire in India. The war began with the Treaty of Surat and ended with the Treaty of Salbai. As per the treaty, th ...

was greatest from the Maratha side since he defeated the British in the Battle of Wadgaon which resulted in the Treaty of Wadgaon and then again in Central India, singlehandedly, which resulted in the Treaty of Salbai in 1782, where he mediated between the

and the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

. Mahadaji Shinde was also a scholar of Sanskrit.

Relations with the Mughals

spent six years in the Allahabad fort and after the capture of Delhi in 1771 by the Marathas, left for his capital under their protection. He was escorted to Delhi by Mahadaji Shinde and left Allahabad in May 1771. During their short stay, Marathas constructed two temples in the Allahabad city, one of them being the famous Alopi Devi Mandir. After reaching Delhi in January 1772 and realizing the Maratha intent of territorial encroachment, Shah Alam ordered his general Najaf Khan to drive them out. In retaliation, Tukoji Rao Holkar and Visaji Krushna Biniwale attacked Delhi and defeated Mughal forces in 1772. The Marathas were granted an imperial '' sanad'' for Kora and Allahabad. They turned their attention to Oudh to gain these two territories. Shuja was however, unwilling to give them up and made appeals to the English and the Marathas did not fare well at the Battle of Ramghat. The Maratha and British armies fought in Ram Ghat, but the sudden demise of the Peshwa and the civil war in

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

to choose the next Peshwa forced the Marathas to retreat. Mahadji Sindhia was deputed the '' Vakil-i-Mutlaq'' (Regent of the empire) of Mughal affairs in 1784. R.S. Chaurasia says in regards to Mahadaji Shinde's relationship with Shah Alam II that though the

was in name the sovereign of India in practice he was a puppet overseen by Mahadaji Shinde. William Dalyrmple states that Sindhia had kept the imperial family starved and quotes a couplet of Shah alam II to Sindhia which states: "Having lost my kingdom and wealth, I am now in your hands, do as you wish" . File:Planquin gifted by Shah Alam, Mughal Emperor.jpg, Planquin gifted to Shinde from Mughal Emperor

at Jai Vilas Palace Museum,

Gwalior Gwalior (Hindi: , ) is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; It is known as the Music City of India having oldest Gwalior gharana, musical gharana in existence. It is a major sports, cultural, industrial, and political c ...

File:Seals authorizing Mahadji Shinde as Wakil-i-Mutalik of the Mughal Emperor.jpg, Seals authorizing Mahadji Shinde as Wakil-i-Mutalik of the

File:Badshahi Panjaa.jpg, Badshahi Panjaa - Hand, a dignity conferred upon Mahadji Shinde by the Mughal Emperor

Battles in Rohilkhand

The Marathas invaded

to retaliate against the Rohillas' participation in the

Panipat Panipat () is an industrial , located 95 km north of Delhi and 169 km south of Chandigarh on NH-44 in Panipat district, Haryana, India. It is famous for three major battles fought in 1526, 1556 and 1761. The city is also known as ...

war. The Marathas under the leadership of Mahadji Shinde entered the ''

land Land, also known as dry land, ground, or earth, is the solid terrestrial surface of Earth not submerged by the ocean or another body of water. It makes up 29.2% of Earth's surface and includes all continents and islands. Earth's land sur ...

'' of

Sardar Sardar, also spelled as Sardaar (, , 'commander', literally 'headmaster'), is a title of royal family, royalty and nobility that was originally used to denote princes, noblemen, chiefs, kings and other Aristocracy (class), aristocrats. It ha ...

Najib-ud-Daula which was held by his son Zabita Khan after the sardar's death. Zabita Khan initially resisted the attack with Sayyid Khan and Saadat Khan behaving with gallantry, but was eventually defeated with the death of Saadat Khan by the Marathas and was forced to flee to the camp of Shuja-ud-Daula and his country was ravaged by Marathas. Mahadji Shinde captured the family of Zabita Khan, desecrated the grave of

Najib ad-Dawlah Najib ad-Dawlah (), also known as (), was an Afghan Yousafzai Rohilla who earlier served as a Mughal serviceman but later deserted the cause of the Mughals and joined Ahmad Shah Abdali in 1757 in his attack on Delhi. He was also a House C ...

and looted his fort. With the fleeing of the Rohillas, the rest of the country was burnt, with the exception of the city of Amroha, which was defended by some thousands of Amrohi Sayyid tribes. The Rohillas who could offer no resistance fled to the Terai whence the remaining Sardar Hafiz Rahmat Khan Barech sought assistance in an agreement formed with the Nawab of

Oudh The Kingdom of Awadh (, , also Oudh State, Kingdom of Oudh, Awadh Subah, or Awadh State) was a Mughal subah, then an independent kingdom, and lastly a British protectorate in the Awadh region of North India until its annexation by the Br ...

, Shuja-ud-Daula, by which the Rohillas agreed to pay four million rupees in return for military help against the Marathas. Hafiz Rehmat, abhoring unnecessary violence unlike the outlook of his fellow Rohillas such as Ali Muhammad and Najib Khan, prided himself on his role as a political mediator and sought the alliance with Awadh to keep the Marathas out of Rohilkhand. He bound himself to pay on behalf of the Rohillas. However, after he refused to pay,

attacked the Rohillas.

First Anglo Maratha War (1775–1782)

After the defeats of the able British generals, Goddard and Murre in

Konkan The Konkan is a stretch of land by the western coast of India, bound by the river Daman Ganga at Damaon in the north, to Anjediva Island next to Karwar town in the south; with the Arabian Sea to the west and the Deccan plateau to the eas ...

and

Central India Central India refers to a geographical region of India that generally includes the states of Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. The Central Zonal Council, established by the Government of India, includes these states as well as Uttar Prades ...

, respectively,

Warren Hastings Warren Hastings (6 December 1732 – 22 August 1818) was a British colonial administrator, who served as the first governor of the Presidency of Fort William (Bengal), the head of the Supreme Council of Bengal, and so the first governor-gener ...

was forced to accept a fresh treaty, known as the Treaty of Salbai, recognizing the terms of the Marathas, which were to recognize Sawai Madhavrao as the Peshwa and grant

Raghunathrao Raghunathrao, also known as Ragho Ballal or Raghoba Dada (18 August 1734 – 11 December 1783), was the younger son of Peshwa Bajirao I who served as the 11th Peshwa of the Maratha Empire for a brief period from 1773 to 1774. He defeated ...

a pension. The treaty also forced the British to evacuate and return to Shinde all his territories west of the

Ganges The Ganges ( ; in India: Ganga, ; in Bangladesh: Padma, ). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international which goes through India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China." is a trans-boundary rive ...

. A resident, Mr. David Anderson (1750-1825), of St. Germains (who had negotiated the treaty) was at the same time appointed to Mahadji's court.

Later years (1785-1792)

Relations with Sikhs The Maratha-Sikh treaty in 1785 made the small Cis-Sutlej states, autonomous protectorate of the

Scindia Dynasty House of Scindia or earlier known as the Sendrak was a Hindu Maratha Royal House that ruled the erstwhile Gwalior State in central India. Ranoji Scindia rose as a prominent military commander under Peshwa Bajirao I. Ranoji and his descendants, a ...

and established Maratha influence once again in the Punjab region. All Sikh Sardars and Rajas paid tribute to Mahadji as he was deputed the ''Vakil-i-Mutlaq'' (Regent of the empire) of Mughal affairs in 1784. Relations with Durrani Empire Mahadaji Shinde's achievements impressed

Timur Shah Durrani Timur Shah Durrani (; ;), also known as Timur Shah Abdali or Taimur Shah Abdali (December 1746 – 20 May 1793) was the second ruler of the Afghan Durrani Empire, from November 1772 until his death in 1793. An ethnic Pashtun, he was the second e ...

, ruler of Afghanistan. He sent peace proposals to Mahadaji Shinde offering the Marathas dominion up to

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

and the Shah should have control beyond that territory. Both parties agreed to support one another during times of crisis, with the Afghan ruler committing to provide Sindia with 10,000 cavalry if needed. Although these assurances yielded no successful results, they underscored how Sindia’s steadfast courage and unyielding resolve had made the Marathas a powerful and respected force in North India Writes a contemporary: “Such moves are new and are the result of increased prestige of the

”. Revolt of Mughals under Ismail Beg In 1788, Isma'il Beg, a

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

who served as a general in the Mughal army along with a few hundred Mughal-Rohilla troops led a large-scale revolt against the

Marathas The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern India, early modern polity in the Indian subcontinent. It comprised the realms of the Peshwa and four major independent List of Maratha dynasties and states, Ma ...

, who dominated North India at the time. The reason for this revolt is unknown but most suspect that he was trying to resurrect the Islamic glory in

North India North India is a geographical region, loosely defined as a cultural region comprising the northern part of India (or historically, the Indian subcontinent) wherein Indo-Aryans (speaking Indo-Aryan languages) form the prominent majority populati ...

and depose the Hindu Marathas. However, the revolt was immediately crushed and Isma'il Beg was defeated and executed by the Scindian armies. Defeat and execution of Ghulam Qadir Thereafter, a Rohilla warlord named Ghulam Qadir, descendant of the infamously treacherous Najib-ud-Daualh and an ally of Isma'il Beg, captured Delhi, capital of the Mughals and deposed and blinded the Mughal emperor

, placing a puppet on the imperial throne. He unleashed untold atrocities on the royal family and common populace, slaughtering thousands and looting about 22 Crores. However on 2 October 1788, Mahadji Scindia, upon hearing this news, quickly re-assembled his army and captured Delhi, torturing and eventually killing Ghulam Qadir and restoring Shah Alam II to the throne. Subjugation of Rajputana In 1787, Mahadji attempted to invade

Rajputana Rājputana (), meaning Land of the Rajputs, was a region in the Indian subcontinent that included mainly the entire present-day States of India, Indian state of Rajasthan, parts of the neighboring states of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, and adjo ...

but he was repulsed by the

Rajput Rājpūt (, from Sanskrit ''rājaputra'' meaning "son of a king"), also called Thākur (), is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating fro ...

armies at Lalsot. However, he regrouped his forces and in 1790, he avenged his defeat by crushing the Rajput kingdoms of

Jodhpur Jodhpur () is the second-largest city of the north-western Indian state of Rajasthan, after its capital Jaipur. As of 2023, the city has a population of 1.83 million. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Jodhpur district and ...

and

Jaipur Jaipur (; , ) is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the List of cities and towns in Rajasthan, largest city of the north-western States and union territories of India, Indian state of Rajasthan. , the city had ...

in the battles of Patan and Merta, thereby reducing all major Rajput states to tributary status of the Marathas. Other achievements He worked with the English during the revolt of 1781 and played an important role in capturing Maharaja Chait Singh of Benares and crushing the revolt Another achievement of Mahadji was his victory over the

Nizam Nizam of Hyderabad was the title of the ruler of Hyderabad State ( part of the Indian state of Telangana, and the Kalyana-Karnataka region of Karnataka). ''Nizam'' is a shortened form of (; ), and was the title bestowed upon Asaf Jah I ...

of Hyderabad. After making peace with

Tipu Sultan Tipu Sultan (, , ''Sultan Fateh Ali Sahab Tipu''; 1 December 1751 – 4 May 1799) commonly referred to as Sher-e-Mysore or "Tiger of Mysore", was a ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore based in South India. He was a pioneer of rocket artillery ...

of Mysore in 1792, Mahadji is said to have exerted his influence to prevent the completion of an alliance between the British, the Nizam of Hyderabad, and the Peshwa against Tipu.

Spouses

Shinde has a total of nine wives including: * Annapurnabai (from Nimbalkar family of Beed) * Bhavanibai (from Ghatage family) * Parvatibai (Sister of Narsingh Ghatage) * Bhavanibai (from Mhaske-Deshmukh family of

Sangamner Sangamner is a city and a municipal council located in the Ahmednagar District of Maharashtra state in India. It derives its name from the site of the ''sangam'' (confluence) of three rivers in the area: the Pravara, Mhalungi, and Adhala. Sa ...

) * Gangabai (from Palavekar family) * Radhabai (from Padamsinh Raul family) * Bhagirathibai (from Kardekar family) * Yamunabai (from Ramling Raul family) * Lakshmibai (from Bhope-Kadam family of Tuljapur, Osmanabad)

Death and legacy

After the Battle of Lakheri, Mahadji was now at the zenith of his power, when he died, at his military camp at Wanawdi near Pune on 12 February 1794. He left no male heir, and was succeeded by Daulat Rao Scindia. Keeney, the English biographer of Mahadaji Shinde, has described Mahadaji as ''the greatest man in India in the 18th century''.Page 156
The Great Maratha Mahadaji Scindia, By N. G. Rathod, Publisher: Sarup & Sons, 1994, , 9788185431529 Mahadaji Shinde's role was instrumental in establishing Maratha supremacy over

. Shinde Chhatri, located in Wanawadi, in

is a memorial dedicated to Mahadji Shinde. It is a hall that marks the spot of Mahadji Shinde's cremation on 12 February 1794. The three storied memorial in Rajput architectural style, is one of the most significant landmarks in the city. File:Portrait of Mahadaji Scindia.jpg, Portrait of Mahadaji Shinde by James Wales c.18th century File:Maharaja Mahadji Shinde and Sawai Madhu Rao II Narayan Peshwa.jpg, Mahadji Shinde with Peshwa Madhavrao II File:Mahadji Shinde's handwriting.jpg, Handwriting of Mahadji Shinde File:A Bazaar in Seendhiya's Camp,.jpg, Army camp Built by Shinde painted in 1813 by John Augustus Atkinson File:Shinde Chhatri 10.jpg, Statue of Mahadaji Shinde, inside the Shinde Chhatri

In popular culture

* In 1988 Doordarshan Serial Bharat Ek Khoj produced and directed by

Shyam Benegal Shyam Benegal (14 December 1934 – 23 December 2024) was an Indian film director, screenwriter and documentary filmmaker. Often regarded as the pioneer of parallel cinema, he is widely considered as one of the greatest filmmakers post 1970s. H ...

also picturised an episode where the titular role of Mahadaji Shinde was played by noted TV actor Shreechand Makhija. * In 1994, a TV series named ''

The Great Maratha ''The Great Maratha'' is an Indian historical drama television series directed by Sanjay Khan and produced by Numero Uno International Limited. The drama aired on DD National. The series is based on the life of Mahadaji Shinde. The show compr ...

'' aired on

DD National DD National (formerly DD1) is an Indian state-owned entertainment television channel, founded by the Government of India, owned by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. It is the flagshi ...

based on the life history of Mahadji Shinde. Shahbaz Khan portrayed the character of Mahadji Shinde in this serials TV-series. * In the 2019

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

film ''

'', based on the third battle of Panipat, where Mahadji was injured, his role was played by Sanjay Khapre.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Madhavrao Scindia Maratha Chiefs in the Maratha Empire 1730 births 1794 deaths Scindia dynasty Peshwa dynasty Indian military leaders Hindu monarchs 18th-century regents Maharajas of Gwalior