Murari Rao (Murari Rao Ghorpade, ; 1699 – 8th May 1779) 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 ...

general and statesman who held Gooty and the surrounding territories, which extended eastward to

Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...

and

Pondicherry Pondicherry, officially known as Puducherry, is the Capital city, capital and most populous city of the Puducherry (union territory), Union Territory of Puducherry in India. The city is in the Puducherry district on the southeast coast of Indi ...

. From 1741 to 1743, he administered the fort of

Tiruchirappalli Tiruchirappalli (), also known as Trichy, is a major tier II city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Tiruchirappalli district. The city is credited with being the best livable and the cleanest city of T ...

and its surrounding regions. He was the grandnephew of

Santaji Ghorpade Santaji Ghorpade (Santaji Mhaloji Ghorpade, ; 1660–1696) was a Maratha (caste), Maratha general and statesman who served as the 7th Senapati of the Maratha Empire during the reign of Chattrapati Rajaram I. He is widely regarded as one of the ...

and served as the chief of Sandur, a cadet branch of the Ghorpades of

Mudhol Mudhol is a city previously known as "'Muduvolalu"' in the Bagalkot District, Bagalkote District in the northern part of the South Indian state of Karnataka. It is about from the district headquarters of Bagalkot and from subdivision of Jamakh ...

. Murari Rao's administration represents the only period of

occupation in Tiruchirappalli. Murari Rao occupied Tiruchirappalli at the head of a strong Maratha army after defeating and imprisoning the Carnatic general,

Chanda Sahib Chanda Sahib (died 12 June 1752) was a subject of the Carnatic Sultanate between 1749 and 1752. He was the son-in-law of the Nawab of Carnatic Dost Ali Khan, under whom he was a Dewan. An ally of the French, he was initially supported by ...

, in 1741 with the help of Raghuji I. However, he was forced to relinquish the fort by Asaf Jah. The Nizam sieged Trichinopoly for four months, and after receiving no reinforcements, Murari Rao was eventually bought off by the Nizam and handed the fort over to him on 29 August 1743. Murari Rao was a disciple and an ardent devotee of Satyabodha Tirtha Swami of

Uttaradi Matha Sri Uttaradi Math (also written as Uttaradi Matha or Uttaradi Mutt) (IAST:''Śrī Uttarādi Maṭha'') (also known as Uttaradi Pitha), is one of the main monasteries (matha) founded by Madhvacharya with Padmanabha Tirtha as its head to pre ...

. Murari Rao Ghorpade was the founder of the

Ghati Subramanya Ghati Subramanya (Kannada: ಘಾಟಿ ಸುಬ್ರಮಣ್ಯ) is a Hindu temple, situated in the village of Sri Subamanya Ghati near Tubagere, Doddaballapura, Karnataka, India. It is 60 km from the city of Bangalore and is a popula ...

Temple and the

Makalidurga Makalidurga is a hill fort situated near the village of the same name. It is 60 km north of Bangalore and 10 km after Doddaballapura on the way to Gauribidanur. The fort at the summit has an old temple of Shiva with Nandi and in leg ...

Fort.

Background

Assistance to Nayaks of Chitradurg

In 1748, the Chief of Harapanahalli, a traditional adversary of Chitradurga, besieged the fort of Mayakonda, a stronghold of Chitradurga. Aligning himself with the Nawab of Savanur and the Keladi ruler, the Harapanahalli Chief faced the Nayak of Chitradurga, who was supported by the Maratha commander Siddhoji Ghorpade of Gutti. The ensuing battle resulted in the death of the Chitradurga ruler, Madaka Nayak the Elder. In 1749, his successor, Kasturi Rangappa Nayak II, enlisted the aid of Murari Rao of Gutti, successfully lifting the siege of Mayakonda and restoring Chitradurga's control over the fort.

Wars With Hyder Ali

Murari Rao also fought in battles against Hyder Ali and

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 ...

. He was the ruler of Sandur State till its annexation by the Mysore Sultanate. He defeated Hyder Ali in Battle of Ooscota but was later defeated and imprisoned at Kabbaldurga fort near Bangalore till his death.

References

{{reflist Maratha generals 1699 births 1779 deaths Indian warriors