Shankaraji Narayan Gandekar (1665–1707), also known as Shankaraji Narayan Sacheev or Shankaraji Narayan, was a popular Minister (''

Pradhan Pradhan (Devanagari: प्रधान) is generally ministerial title of Sanskrit origin used in the Indian subcontinent. The Sanskrit ''pradhāna'' translates to "major" or "prime"; however, the more modern Hindi definitions provided by the Oxf ...

'') and

Count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

(''

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 ...

'') of the

Maratha Kingdom 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. ...

. He also served as Imperial Secretary (''Sacheev'') during Rajaram's reign. He also served as Deputy to the Crown (''Rajadnya'') under

Sambhaji Sambhaji (Sambhajiraje Shivajiraje Bhonsle, ; 14 May 1657 – 11 March 1689), also known as Shambhuraje, ruled from 1681 to 1689 as the second king ( Chhatrapati) of the Maratha Empire, a prominent state in early modern India. He was the elde ...

. His contribution to the war of independence against

Mughal Mughal or Moghul may refer to: Related to the Mughal Empire * Mughal Empire of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries * Mughal dynasty * Mughal emperors * Mughal people, a social group of Central and South Asia * Mughal architecture * Mug ...

rule is considered to be immensely supportive. He was also the founder of the princely state of

Bhor Bhor () is a town and a municipal council in Pune district in the state of Maharashtra, India. Geography Bhor is located at . It has an average elevation of 588 metres (1929 feet). Demographics India census, Bhor had a populat ...

located, 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 ...

district.

Early life and career

Shankaraji was born in a

Deshastha Brahmin Deshastha Brahmin is a Hinduism, Hindu Brahmin caste, subcaste mainly from the Indian state of Maharashtra and North Karnataka. Other than these states, according to authors K. S. Singh, Gregory Naik and Pran Nath Chopra, Deshastha Brahmins a ...

family in or around 1665. His grandfather was an Officer-in-confidence of

Shivaji Shivaji I (Shivaji Shahaji Bhonsale, ; 19 February 1630 – 3 April 1680) was an Indian ruler and a member of the Bhonsle dynasty. Shivaji carved out his own independent kingdom from the Sultanate of Bijapur that formed the genesis of the ...

's father

Shahaji Shahaji Bhonsale (; 18 March 1594 – 23 January 1664) was a 17th century Indian military leader who served the Ahmadnagar Sultanate, the Bijapur Sultanate, and the Mughal Empire at various points in his career. As a member of the Bhonsle dynas ...

, and his father Naro Mukund was a ''Sabnis'' of Fort Sudhagad during

's regime. Being friendly and watchful since childhood, Shankraji became well conversant with the people and geography of the Maval region 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 ...

at a very early age. In 1677, he started his career under ''Peshwa'' Moropant Pingale, and soon he was engrossed by

Ramchandra Pant Amatya Ramchandra Neelkanth Bawadekar (1650–1716), also known as Ramchandra Pant Amatya, served on the Council of 8 (''Ashta Pradhan'') as the Finance Minister (''Amatya'') to King (''Chhatrapati'') Shivaji, dating from 1674 to 1680. He then served ...

for the purpose of some special assignments in the Maval region. During

's reign, he was awarded the post of Deputy to the Crown (''Rajadnya'') for his excellent performance in his field. He had in his charge the Subha of Mawal and north Konkan.

Contribution to the Maratha War of Independence

After the execution of Sambhaji by

Aurangzeb Alamgir I (Muhi al-Din Muhammad; 3 November 1618 – 3 March 1707), commonly known by the title Aurangzeb, also called Aurangzeb the Conqueror, was the sixth Mughal emperors, Mughal emperor, reigning from 1658 until his death in 1707, becomi ...

in 1689, Shankaraji gathered his soldiers in Maval and started attacking nearby Mughal forces. Initially, he conquered the forts of Wai and Rajgad. Thereafter, jointly with

, he captured the forts of Pratapgad, Rohida, Torna and Purandar. Aurangzeb's General Shaikh Nijam was also defeated by him near Sangameshwar. Jointly with Ramchandra Pant, Santaji and Dhanaji, he attacked another Mughal General Sarjah Khan near Satara and vanquished his army. Rajaram was so delighted with his victories that he conferred on him the post of ''Sacheeva'' (Secretary) in October 1690 and, additionally, he was given charge of the entire

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 ...

region. Thenceforth, Dhanaji was directed to work under his supervision. He was also responsible for Rajaram's ''Zanana'' (Queens) at fort Karigad. As mentioned in the Jedhe Shakawali, he quickly shifted the ''Zanana'' to fort Sudhagad during the capture of Karigad by Alibaig, the Mughal Officer at

Junnar Junnar (Marathi pronunciation: ͡ʒunːəɾ is a city in the Pune district of the Indian state of Maharashtra. The city has history dating back to the first millennium. The nearby fort of Shivneri was the birthplace of Maratha king Shivaji ...

, and later on recaptured the fort. He also captured Fort Siddhgad located near

Bhimashankar Bhimashankar Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to ''Shiva'' situated in its eponymous village, Bhimashankar, in Pune district of Maharashtra. It is a key pilgrimage centre and contains one of the 12 ''Jyotirlingas''. The temple's Shiva lingam ...

through his subordinate Gunaji Sawant.

Later career and death

After Rajaram's death in 1700, Shankaraji became one of the closest advisors of Rajaram's Queen

Tarabai Maharani Tarabai Bhonsle ( Marathi: ̪aːɾabaːi; ; 1675 – 9 December 1761) was the regent of the Maratha Empire from 1700 until 1708. She was the queen of Rajaram I, and daughter-in-law of the kingdom's founder Shivaji I. She is acclaim ...

. Jointly with Parshuram Pant Pratinidhi, he helped Tarabai to enable her son

Shivaji II Shivaji II (Shivaji Bhonsale, ; 9 June 1696 – 14 March 1726) was the fourth Chhatrapati of the Maratha Kingdom. He was the son of the Maratha Chhatrapati Rajaram I, and his wife Tarabai. He later became the first Raja of Kolhapur State, Ko ...

to occupy the vacant throne of Rajaram. In 1705, he captured fort Rohida and re-annexed fort Rajgad to the

. In 1707 after Shahu's release from Mughal camp civil war between Shahu and Tarabai commenced. Shahu appealed Shankaraji to join him or face the consequences. Shankaraji who was loyal to Tarabai was caught into a great perplexity and depression and ultimately committed suicide in November 1707 at Ambawde near Nagnath. A deeply moved Shahu appointed Shankaraji's orphan son Naro Shankar on his vacant post.

References

Bibliography

*{{cite book, title=The British Raj and the Indian princes: paramountcy in western India, 1857-1930, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zNeAAAAAIAAJ, first=Ian, last=Copland, year=1982, publisher=Sangam Books, isbn = 9780861312450

External links

*'Shankaraji Narayan' (

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 ...

) by K.V. Purandare *'Marathi Riyasat Volume II' (

) by Govind Sakharam Sardesai *‘ Jedhe Shakawali’ (

) Edited by Dr. A.R.Kulkarni People from Maharashtra