Ranoji Scindia or Ranoji Shinde was a Maratha army commander and the founder of the Shinde clan, who served the

Peshwas 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 ...

of the

Maratha Empire 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 ...

in several military campaigns. The Scindia dynasty rose to prominence in the 18th century and went on to dominate central India as one of the most prominent powers due to their influential presence in

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 ...

and their highly modernised army.

Early life

Ranoji Scindia was born to a

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India **Marathi people (Uttar Pradesh), the Marathi people in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Mar ...

family, who were the hereditary Patils of

Kanherkhed Kanherkhed is a village in Satara district, Maharashtra, India. It was the home village of Scindia family that later ruled the Gwalior State. Scindia's are Deshmukh Deshmukh (IAST:Dēśamukh) is a historical title conferred to the rulers of ...

, a village in present day Satara district in the

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

n state of

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

. He adopted and christened his surname from Shinde to Scindia when he became the independent ruler in Malwa and central India thus founded the Scindia dynasty. The Scindia family had, in the previous centuries, served as

shiledar Shiledar was a term used for a soldier's position in India's Maratha Confederacy (1630–1818), particularly during the reign of Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. The word ''shiledar'' means "a soldier who possesses his own sword and horse for taking ac ...

s (cavalrymen) of the

Bahmani Sultanate The Bahmani Kingdom or the Bahmani Sultanate was a late medieval Persianate kingdom that ruled the Deccan plateau in India. The first independent Muslim sultanate of the Deccan, the Bahmani Kingdom came to power in 1347 during the rebellio ...

Military career

As a young man, Ranoji started in the service of

Balaji Vishwanath Balaji Vishwanath Bhat (1 January 1662 – 12 April 1720) was the first of a series of hereditary Peshwas hailing from the Bhat family who gained effective control of the Maratha Confederacy and other Mughal vassals during the early 18th centur ...

Peshwa. At that time Ramchandrababa Sukhtankar, one of the Peshwa's diplomats, recognised Ranoji's talents and had him made the personal bodyguard of the Peshwa's son,

Bajirao I Bajirao I (né Visaji, ; 18 August 1700 – 28 April 1740) was the 7th Peshwa of the Maratha Empire. He was appointed Peshwa at the age of nineteen by Shahu I, following the death of his father, Balaji Vishwanath. He is credited with establis ...

. Upon the death of his father, Bajirao was appointed as the Peshwa at the age of twenty by Chhatrapati

Shahu I Shahu I (Shivaji Sambhaji Raje Bhonsale; ; 18 May 1682 – 15 December 1749) was the fifth Chhatrapati or head of state of the Maratha Empire founded by his grandfather, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Shivaji I. He was born into the House of B ...

. This evoked jealousy from senior officials at the Maratha court. This in turn led Baji Rao to promote talented young men who were barely out of their teens such as Ranoji Scindia,

Malhar Rao Holkar Malhar Rao Holkar (16 March 1693 – 20 May 1766) was a noble subedar of the Maratha Empire, in present-day India. He was one of the early officers along with Ranoji Scindia, appointed by Peshwa Bajirao I to help spread the Maratha rule to nort ...

, the Pawar brothers, Pilaji Jadhav, and Fateh Singh Bhosle as commanders of his troops. None of these men belonged to families that held hereditary Deshmukhi rights under earlier rulers such as the Deccan Sultanates. Ranoji Scindia, along with Malharrao Holkar and Pawar brothers, was in charge of the Maratha campaign initiated by Peshwa Bajirao in

Malwa Malwa () is a historical region, historical list of regions in India, region of west-central India occupying a plateau of volcanic origin. Geologically, the Malwa Plateau generally refers to the volcanic plateau, volcanic upland north of the ...

in 1726. Ranoji was also involved in Bajirao's several battles, such as the

Battle of Palkhed The Battle of Palkhed was fought on 28 February 1728 at the village of Palkhed, near the city of vaijapur, in what is now Maharashtra, India, between the Maratha Empire and the Hyderabad State wherein the Marathas defeated the Nizam of Hyderab ...

and the

Battle of Bhopal The Battle of Bhopal was fought on 24 December 1737 in Bhopal between the Maratha Empire and the combined army of the Mughal chiefs, Nizam of Hyderabad, Rajput kingdoms and the Kingdom of Oudh in which Marathas under the leadership of Peshwa ...

. He established his capital at

Ujjain Ujjain (, , old name Avantika, ) or Ujjayinī is a city in Ujjain district of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the fifth-largest city in Madhya Pradesh by population and is the administrative as well as religious centre of Ujjain ...

in 1731. He appointed Ramchandrababa Sukhtankar as his

dewan ''Dewan'' (also known as ''diwan'', sometimes spelled ''devan'' or ''divan'') designated a powerful government official, minister, or ruler. A ''dewan'' was the head of a state institution of the same name (see Divan). Diwans belonged to the el ...

, or administrator, and Made Yashaji Rambhaji sarsenapati oo commander-in-chief of his army, while he spent most of his life on military campaign. Some historians credit Sukhtankar with bringing the

Kumbh mela Kumbh Mela (, ; ) is an important Hinduism, Hindu pilgrimage, celebrated approximately every 6 or 12 years, correlated with the partial or full orbital period, revolution of Jupiter. It is the largest peaceful gathering of people in the w ...

to Ujjain in 1732. An early account of the Haridwar Kumbh Mela was published by Captain Thomas Hardwicke in 1796 CE.

Family

Ranoji had five sons: Jayappajirao, Jyotibarao, Dattajirao, Tukojirao, and

Mahadji Shinde Mahadaji Shinde (23 December 1730 – 13 February 1794), later known as Mahadji Scindia or Madhava Rao Scindia, was a Maratha statesman and general who served as the Maharaja of Gwalior from 1768 to 1794. He was the fifth and the youngest son o ...

. The eldest four died fighting in various battles in northern India between 1750-1761. Mahadji, the youngest, had an illustrious career in the second half of the 18th century.Rathod, N.G., 1994. The Great Maratha Mahadaji Scindia. Sarup & Sons.page=1

/ref> His descendants were the rulers of the princely state of

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 ...

who ruled during British colonial period from 1731 to1947.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scindia, Ranoji Maratha Chiefs in the Maratha Empire 1745 deaths Maratha generals Ranoji People from Ujjain Year of birth unknown Maharajas of Gwalior

Early life

Military career

Family

See also

References