Gaekwad dynasty
Maratha Dynasty
Gaekwads (also spelled as Gaikwads, Gaekwars) (IAST: Gāyakavāḍa), was a Hindu Maratha dynasty of the former Maratha Empire founded by Chatrapati Shivaji Raje Bhonsle. Its subsequent (erstwhile) princely state of Baroda in western India from the early 18th century until 1947. The ruling prince was known as the Maharaja Gaekwad of Baroda. With the city of Baroda (Vadodara) as its capital, during the British Raj its relations with the British were managed by the Baroda Residency. It was one of the largest and wealthiest princely states of British India, with its wealth coming from the lucrative cotton business as well as rice, wheat and sugar production.
Early history
The Gaekwad rule of Baroda began when the Maratha general Pilaji Rao Gaekwad conquered the city from the Mughal Empire in 1721. The Gaekwads were granted the city as a Jagir by Chhatrapati Shahu I, the emperor of the Maratha Empire and Peshwa Bajirao I played an important role in helping Pilaji Rao Gaekwad strengthen his position in Baroda and establish his rule there.
In their early years, the Gaekwads served as subordinates of the Dabhade family, who were the Maratha chiefs of Gujarat and holders of the senapati (commander-in-chief) title. When Umabai Dabhade joined Tarabai's side against Balaji Baji Rao, Pilaji's son Damaji Rao Gaekwad commanded the Dabhade force. He was defeated, and remained in Peshwa's custody from May 1751 to March 1752.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Gaekwad dynasty” is maratha Dynasty. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Gaekwad, dynasty and Maratha, not as a finished interpretation.
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This entry incorporates text from “Gaekwad dynasty” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.