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 s...