Shriniwasrao Parshuram (1687 – 1746 CE), popularly known as Shripatrao Pratinidhi or Shripatrao Pant Pratinidhi , was a General of the Maratha Empire. He served as

Pratinidhi The Pratinidhi (the Viceroy) was an important member of the ministry in the Maratha Empire. The title of ''Pratinidhi'' means ''the representative of the King,'' and such officials were entitled to sign and seal papers and issue orders in the abse ...

(Chief Delegate) during

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 ...

's reign. After the death of his father

Parshuram Pant Pratinidhi Parshuram Trimbak Kulkarni (1660–1718), popularly known as Parshuram Pant Pratinidhi, was a Minister (''Pradhan'') and Count (''Sardar'') of the Maratha Empire. He served as ''Pratinidhi'' (Chief Delegate) during Rajaram I and Tarabai’s reig ...

in 1718, Shripat Rao won the favour of Shahu by his brilliant efforts as a soldier fighting many battles in the defence 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 1718, he was appointed as the ''Pant Pratinidhi'' of

. Shripatrao was not only a very able administrator and organizer, but a great statesman too. His work to consolidate the Maratha Raj has been praised by most of its historians. Shahu Maharaj depended upon the advice of Shripatrao. If owing to some unavoidable reasons ''Rao'' didn't present at the court at the usual hour the king would go to his house and inquire about him. Thus Shripatrao, unlike his father had no problem of loyalty to

Chhatrapati Chhatrapati is a royal title from Sanskrit used to denote a king. The word "Chhatrapati" is a Sanskrit language compound word of '' chhatra'' ('' parasol'' or ''umbrella'') and '' pati'' (''master/lord/ruler''). This title was used by the Ho ...

Shripatrao was asked by

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 ...

s to establish his headquarters at

Poona 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 ...

. Rao consistently refused to do so. He wanted to be at the side of King of the

. In 1719, on the orders of Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj, he colonized

Sangam Mahuli Sangam or Sangama (the Sanskrit word for confluence) may refer to: Confluence of rivers *Sangam, any confluence of two or more rivers in Indian languages *Triveni Sangam, the confluence of three rivers at Prayagraj: the Ganges, Yamuna and the myt ...

. There he and his family built various temples.

Early life

Shripatrao, was born in 1687 in the

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 of the Pant Pratinidhi, when Parshuram Trimbak was twenty- seven years old. He must have been deeply influenced by his father. He had lived a life of turmoil as well as of glory, and benefited from it. Shahu Maharaj had great respect and regard for Parshuram Pant Pratinidhi.

Campaigns

Campaign against Khatav

Krishnaji Khatavkar had received the pargana of Khatav in 1689 A.D from the Mughal Emperor, Aurangazeb. He refused to accede to the Shahu's authority and had become overbearing. Shripatrao marched towards Khatav and defeated him in battle. Submitting to Shahu's authority was appreciated by Shahu, who released Shripatrao's father.

Karnataka expeditions

In between 1724 and 1727, the Marathas led two expeditions into the Karnataka, one led jointly by Shripatrao Pratinidhi, Peshwa

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 ...

and the Sarlashkar, and the other by Peshwa and Senapati. The first Karnatak expedition, which lasted for two years, from November 1724 and May 1726, led by Fateh Singh Bhonsale, accompanied by both Shripatrao Pratinidhi and Bajirao I, proved to be futile. The Nizam gave lukewarm support to Marathas. However he regarded the south as his sphere of influence and did not want Marathas to interfere with it. He therefore gave secret instructions to officers to thwart the plans of Marathas in Karnatak. The Maratha leaders who led this campaign could not shed their differences. The Marathas could not realize their objective in this campaign. The second Karnatak expedition was led by Bajirao him in October 1727. The Pratinidhi who was secretly negotiating with the Nizam, who was rewarded with a personal jagir i Varhad by Nizam. Bajirao therefore did not associate with Pratinidhi with this expedition. He besieged the fort of Serinaapatnam and succeeded in levying chauth and Sardeshmukhi from the rulers of Mysore and Arcot.

Death

After the death of Shripatrao Pratinidhi in 1746 Shahu Maharaj made his younger brother, Jagjivan Parshuram the next Pratinidhi. Jagjivan parashuram was the youngest son of Parashuram Trimbak Pant. He was born in 1691 and became Pratinidhi at the age of fifty-five.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * {{MarathaEmpire People from the Maratha Empire 1687 births 1746 deaths People from Satara district