BHONSLE ,THE MARATHA CLAN 1597-1808

BHONSLE ,THE MARATHA CLAN 1597-1808

The Bhonsle (or Bhonsale, Bhosale, Bhosle)[7] are a prominent group within the Maratha clan system.

Traditionally a warrior clan,[8][9] some members served as rulers of several states in India, the most prominent being Shivaji, the founder of the Maratha Empire which displaced the Moghul Empire as the preeminent political and military power in India. His successors ruled as chhatrapatis (emperors/maharajas) from their capital at Satara, although de facto rule of the empire passed to the Peshwas, the Maratha hereditary chief ministers, during the reign of Shahu I. In addition to the Bhonsle
 Chhatrapatis of Satara, rulers of the Bhonsle clan established themselves as junior branch of Chhatrapatis at Kolhapur, and as Maharajas of Nagpur in modern-day Maharashtra in the 18th century

After the British defeat of the Marathas in the Third Anglo-Maratha War in 1818, the four Bhonsle dynasties continued as rulers of their princely states, acknowledging British suzerainty while retaining local autonomy. The states of Satara, Thanjavur, and Nagpur came under direct British rule in the mid-nineteenth century when their rulers died without male heirs, although the British allowed titular adoptions to take place.

Kolhapur state remained autonomous until India's independence in 1947, when the rulers acceded to the Indian government.Akkalkot State,[10][11] Sawantwadi State[12] and Barshi[6] were amongst other prominent states ruled by the Bhonsles

Shivaji was not a Kshatriya as required and hence had to postpone the coronation until 1674 and hired Gaga Bhatt to trace his ancestry back to the Sisodias