Dabhade
Dabhade (Pronunciation:
Rise to power
At Dabhoi in 1731 the Marathas and their allies used flintlocks as well as matchlocks. Several Maratha contingents were composed of what one might term peripheral peoples. Sardars from the Gaikwad, Bande and Dabhade clans recruited Kolis armed with matchlocks. The coastal Kolis had gained firearms and infantry warfare experience while serving as auxiliary matchlock levies to the Portuguese and to a lesser extent the British.[3]
The Dabhade clan traces its ancestry to Bajajirao Dabhade. His son Yesajirao Dabhade was the personal bodyguard of the
Rebellion against Peshwa Baji Rao
The Dabhades carried out several raids in the rich province of
Aftermath
Umabai pretended reconciliation with Peshwa Baji Rao, but always maintained a grudge against him for killing her son. Under her, the Dabhades never actually remitted half of the revenues to Shahu's treasury, but Shahu did not want to take any extreme measures against a grieving widow and a mother who had lost her son. However, after Shahu's death in 1749, Peshwa Balaji Baji Rao, who was facing an empty treasury, sought a share of revenues from the Dabhades.[6]
Umabai then joined Tarabai in a rebellion against the Peshwa. In November 1750, she dispatched 15,000 troops under Damaji Gaekwad to support Tarabai. Damaji was defeated by the Peshwa loyalists after a few initial successes. He remained in the Peshwa's captivity from May 1751 to March 1752.[6]
Decline
Shortly after the Peshwa's arrest, Umabai, Yashwant Rao and their relatives were also arrested. The Dabhades were deprived of their jagirs as well as their hereditary title senapati.[7] In March 1752, Damaji Gaekwad agreed to Peshwa's demands, and abandoned the service of the Dabhades. Subsequently, the Gaekwad dynasty replaced the Dabhades as the Maratha chiefs of Gujarat. Gaekwad agreed to provide an annual maintenance expense to the Dabhades, but the latter lost all of their power and much of their wealth.[6]
Umabai died on 28 November 1753. After her death, Peshwa Balaji Rao took Yashwant Rao on his Carnatic campaign. On the way, Yashwant Rao died of fatigue in Miraj, on 18 May 1754.[6] The Dabhade family line was continued by Trimbak Rao Dabhade II, who controlled a small riyasat (estate).
The family was divided into the Senior Branch and Junior Branch in 1933. The descendants presently live in Talegaon Dabhade and Pune. Sardar Jayendraraje Sangramsinhraje Dabhade is the head of the senior branch since 1993 and Sardar Satyasheelraje Padmasenraje Dabhade is the head the junior branch since 2014.
Notable members
- Khanderao Dabhade, Maratha military leader and Commander-in-Chief
- Trimbak Rao Dabhade
- Umabaisaheb Khanderao Dabhade, wife of Khanderao; exercised executive powers while her minor son was the titular commander
See also
References
- ^ Economic and Political Weekly, Volume 24 p.249 [1]
- ^ Ghurye, Govind Sadashiv (1957). The Mahadev Kolis. New Delhi, India: Popular Book Depot. p. 104.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ISBN 978-0-521-82444-6.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: date and year (link - ^ "Baroda State: History". Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 7. Oxford at the Clarendon Press. 1908. p. 31.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-521-26883-7.
- ^ a b c d e Charles Augustus Kincaid & Dattatray Balwant Parasnis (1918). A History of the Maratha People Volume 3. Oxford University Press. pp. 2–10.
- ISBN 9781932705546.