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 in cultures of Hindu tradition, mainly used in the Indian subcontinent. The Sanskrit ''pradhāna'' translates to "major" or "prime"; however, the more modern ...

'') 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 Yor ...

(''

Sardar Sardar, also spelled as Sardaar/Sirdar ( fa, سردار, , 'commander', literally 'headmaster'), is a title of royalty and nobility that was originally used to denote princes, noblemen, chiefs, kings and other aristocrats. It has also been u ...

'') of the

Maratha Empire The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern Indian confederation that came to dominate much of the Indian subcontinent in the 18th century. Maratha rule formally began in 1674 with the coronation of S ...

. He also served as Imperial Secretary (''Sacheev'') during

Rajaram Rajaram or Raja Ram is one of the Indian names: * Several Chhatrapatis, leaders of the Maratha Empire in India ** Rajaram I (1670–1700), younger son of Maratha ruler Chhatrapati Shivaji, ruled 1689–1700 ** Rajaram II of Satara, putative grand ...

's reign. He also served as Deputy to the Crown (''Rajadnya'') under Emperor

Sambhaji Sambhaji Bhosale (14 May 1657 – 11 March 1689) was the second Chhatrapati of the Maratha Empire, ruling from 1681 to 1689. He was the eldest son of Shivaji, the founder of the Maratha Empire. Sambhaji's rule was largely shaped by the ongoing ...

. 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 (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

district.

Early life and career

Shankaraji was born in a

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

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

Shivaji Shivaji Bhonsale I (; 19 February 1630 – 3 April 1680), also referred to as Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, was an Indian ruler and a member of the Bhonsle Maratha clan. Shivaji carved out his own independent kingdom from the declining Adi ...

's father

Shahaji Shahaji Bhonsale (Pronunciation: �əɦad͡ʒiː c. 1594 – 1664) was a military leader of India in the 17th century, who served the Ahmadnagar Sultanate, the Bijapur Sultanate, and the Mughal Empire at various points in his career. As a membe ...

, 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 Maval is a tehsil in a subdivision of the same name, in the Pune district of Maharashtra, India. Description The word Maval is derived from a Marathi word ''Maval'', meaning the direction in which the sun sets. This region is towards the wes ...

region of Maharashtra 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 Emperor (''Chhatrapati'') Shivaji, dating from 1674 to 1680.

for the purpose of some special assignments in the

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 Muhi al-Din Muhammad (; – 3 March 1707), commonly known as ( fa, , lit=Ornament of the Throne) and by his regnal title Alamgir ( fa, , translit=ʿĀlamgīr, lit=Conqueror of the World), was the sixth emperor of the Mughal Empire, ruling ...

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

Wai Wai or WAI may refer to : Places * Wai, Maharashtra, a small town in India ** Wai (Vidhan Sabha constituency), a Maharashtra Legislative Assembly constituency centered around the town * Wao State (Vav, Wai, Way), a former princely state in Banas K ...

and

Rajgad Rajgad (literal meaning ''Ruling Fort'') is a Hill region fort situated in the Pune district of Maharashtra, India. Formerly known as ''Murumdev'', the fort was the first capital of the Maratha Empire under the rule of Chhatrapati Shivaji fo ...

. Thereafter, jointly with

, he captured the forts of

Pratapgad Pratapgad is a mountain fort located in Satara district, in the Western Indian state of Maharashtra.The fort is situated 24 kilometres from the Mahabaleshwar hill station. The fort is now a popular tourist destination. The fort's historical ...

Rohida Rohida is a historic village situated in Sirohi district of Indian state of Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest In ...

, Torna and Purandar. Aurangzeb's General Shaikh Nijam was also defeated by him near Sangameshwar. Jointly with Ramchandra Pant,

Santaji Santaji Mahaloji Ghorpade,(1645–1696) popularly known as ‘Santajirao’ or ‘Santaji Ghorpade’, was the most celebrated Maratha warrior and the sixth Sarsenapati of the Maratha Empire during Rajaram's regime. His name became inseparable ...

and

Dhanaji Dhanaji Jadhav (1650–1708) was a warrior of the Maratha Empire. Along with Santaji Ghorpade he made terrifying campaigns against Mughal Army from 1689 to 1696. After Santaji, Dhanaji became the chief of the Maratha army in 1696 and remained on t ...

, 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 ( kok, कोंकण) or Kokan () is a stretch of land by the western coast of India, running from Damaon in the north to Karwar in the south; with the Arabian Sea to the west and the Deccan plateau in the east. The hinterla ...

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 Chatrap ...

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

Bhimashankar Bhimashankar Temple is a Jyotirlinga shrine located 50 km Khed taluka (alias Rajgurunagar), near Pune, in Maharashtra, India. It is located 127 km from Shivajinagar (in Pune) in the Ghat region of the Sahyadri Mountains. Bhīmāshan ...

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 Tarabai Bhosale (Pronunciation: ̪aːɾabaːi ''née'' Mohite) was the regent of the Maratha Empire of India from 1700 until 1708. She was the queen of Rajaram Bhonsale, and daughter-in-law of the empire's founder Shivaji. She is acclaimed ...

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

Shivaji II Shivaji II of Maratha Empire, later Shivaji I of Kolhapur (9 June 1696 – 14 March 1726) was the son of the Maratha Chhatrapati, Rajaram I, and his wife Tarabai. Biography He was born in Bhonsle family. Upon the death of his father, th ...

to occupy the vacant throne of Rajaram. In 1705, he captured fort

and re-annexed fort

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 language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

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

) by

Govind Sakharam Sardesai Govind Sakharam Sardesai (17 May 1865 – 29 November 1959), popularly known as ''Riyasatkar Sardesai'', was a historian from Maharashtra, India. Through his ''Riyasats'' written in Marathi, Sardesai presented an account of over 1,000 years o ...

*‘

Jedhe Shakawali Jedhe Shakawali or Jedhe Chronology is a bare record of events with dates covering the period from 1618 to 1697 AD kept by the Jedhe Deshmukhs of village Kari located near Bhor in Pune district. It is known to be the valuable source for the pol ...

’ (

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