Raghoji I Bhonsle

Raghoji I Bhonsale (died 14 February 1755) of the Bhonsale dynasty, was a Maratha general who took control of the Nagpur Kingdom in east-central India during the reign of Shahu. His successors ruled the kingdom until 1853.

The Bhonsale family were originally headmen from Deor or Deur (presently in Koregaon Taluka, District Satara and was under Deshmukhi rights of Bhoite Clan), a village in Satara District. Raghoji's grandfather and his two brothers had fought in the armies of Shivaji, and to the most distinguished of them was entrusted a high military command and the collection of chauth (tribute) in Berar.

Nagpur was then the capital of a Gond kingdom ruled by Chand Sultan, who had moved the capital to Nagpur from Deogarh. On Chand Sultan's death in 1739, there were disputes as to his succession, and his widow invoked the aid of Raghoji, who was governing Berar on behalf of the Maratha. Raghoji, on being called in by the contending Gond factions, replaced the two sons of Chand Sultan on the throne from which they had been ousted by a usurper, and retired to Berar, with a suitable reward for his assistance. Dissensions, however, broke out between the brothers, and in 1743 Raghoji again intervened at the request of the elder brother and drove out his rival. But he had not the heart to give back a second time the country he held within his grasp. Burhan Shan, the Gond Raja, though allowed to retain the outward insignia of royalty, became practically a state pensioner, and all real power passed to the Marathas.

Bold and decisive in action, Raghoji was the type of a Maratha leader; he saw in the troubles of other states an opening for his own ambition, and did not even require a pretext for plunder and invasion. Twice his armies invaded Bengal, and he obtained the cession of Cuttack. Chanda, Chhattisgarh, and Sambalpur were added to his dominions between 1745 and 1755, the year of his death. He was succeeded by Janoji Bhonsle.

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