SERFOJI II BHONSLE ,THE LAST KING OF TANJORE BORN 1977 SEPTEMBER 24

SERFOJI II BHONSLE ,THE LAST KING OF TANJORE

BORN  1777 SEPTEMBER 24

Serfoji II Bhonsle (Marathi: सर्फोजी, Tamil: சரபோஜி) (September 24, 1777 – March 7, 1832) was the last ruler of the Bhonsle dynasty of the Maratha principality of Tanjore to exercise absolute sovereignty over his dominions.

His descendants, however, have managed to thrive as titular Maharajahs of Thanjavur to the present day. Serfoji belonged to the Bhonsle clan of Marathas and was descended from Shivaji's half-brother Venkoji. He ruled Thanjavur from 1798 until his death in 1832

Birth[edit]

Serfoji was born on September 24, 1777 in the royal house of the Maratha king, Chattrapati Shivaji. Raja Thulajah, the king of Thanjavur adopted him as his son on January 23, 1787 by duly performing all of the     Religious rites.

The boy was entrusted to the care of Rev. Christian Freidrich Schwartz, a Danish missionary.











Difficulties faced in early life[edit]

But Thulajah died soon afterwards and his half-brother Amar Singh who had earlier been appointed regent to the boy-king usurped the throne in 1787. Amar Singh denied the young prince the benefits of basic education.

At this juncture, Rev. Schwartz intervened to save the young prince and sent him to Madras where he was educated by Rev. Wilhelm Gericke of the Lutheran Mission. Soon, he became proficient in Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Sanskrit, French, German, Danish, Greek, Dutch and Latin.

Restoration to the throne[edit]

Meanwhile, the British interposed on his behalf and Serfoji ascended the throne of Thanjavur on June 29, 1798. In return for their assistance, Serfoji was forced to cede the administration of the Kingdom to the British and, in return, was granted an annual pension of 100,000 star pagodas and one-fifth of the state's land revenue.

Serfoji's sovereignty was restricted to the Fort of Thanjavur and its surrounding areas. Therefore, Serfoji is remembered in history as the last sovereign ruler of Thanjavur.

Reign and administration[edit]

Tanjore painting of a royal procession: Maharaja Amarasimha and Serfoji
From the collection of the V&A Museum.
During Serfoji's reign which lasted from 1798 until his death in 1832, for the first time, the proceedings of the Tanjore durbar were recorded in paper. The Delta region was divided into five districts each under a Subedar. Cultivable lands yielded good profits and the judiciary system was highly efficient and praiseworthy.

Serfoji is also credited with having built a lot of chathrams or rest houses for weary pilgrims. These pilgrims received free boarding and lodging and their needs were taken care of by the State.

 In all Serfoji built three important chathrams, including one at Orathanadu.It is believed that serfoji sacrificed his wife muktambal by slaying her and threw her in a lake from which he got many gold to make many sathirams.

Contribution to the Sarasvati Mahal Library[edit]

Entrance of the Sarasvati Mahal Library, Tanjore, Tamil Nadu, India.
The Sarasvati Mahal Library was founded as a Palace Library by the Nayak kings of Thanjavur (1535–1675), it was however Serfoji who enriched it with priceless works, maps, dictionaries, coins and artwork.

The bibliophile that he was, he purchased around 4000 books from different parts of the world and enriched his library with his enormous book collection. Medical treatises, in the library collection contained his remarks alongside, in English.

 His library included treatises on Vedanta, grammar, music, dance and drama, architecture, astronomy, medicine, training of elephants and horses, etc. Serfoji set up the first Devanagari printing press in South India, using stone letters. He sent many Pundits far and wide and collected huge number of books and manuscripts for this Library. All the books in the library carry his personal autograph in English.

Apart from these, the Library contains a record of the day-to-day proceedings of the Maratha court known as the Modi documents, French-Maratha correspondence of the 18th century.

The Encyclopedia Britannica in its survey of the libraries of the world mentions this as "perhaps the most remarkable library in India".[1]

The Library is situated in the centre of Nayak palace and it was opened for public in 1918. There is also a small museum there for the visitors.