Gaekwad dynasty

The Gaekwads of Baroda (also spelled as Gaikwads, Guicowars, Gaekwars) (IAST: Gāyǎkǎvāḍǎ) are Hindu Marathas who trace their origins to Dawadi village near Poona (modern Pune) to a Maratha clan by the name of Matre, which means Mantri meaning Minister.[1] Gaekwad dynasty of the Maratha Empire are originally of Kunbi origin. [2] A dynasty belonging to this clan ruled the princely state of Baroda in western India from the early 18th century until 1947.[3] 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 existing alongside British India, with wealth coming from the lucrative cotton business as well as rice, wheat and sugar production.[4]

Laxmi Vilas Palace of the Gaekwad dynasty.

Gaekwad dynasty
Former Monarchy
1721–1947
Flag

Baroda state in 1909
History 
• Established
1721
• Accession to India
1947
Succeeded by
India

Early history
A print of Maharaja Sayajirao Gaikwad

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 fief by Peshwa Bajirao I, the Peshwa of the Maratha empire.

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 rebellion against Peshwa Balaji Baji Rao, Pilaji's son Damaji Rao Gaekwad commanded the Dabhade force. He was defeated, and remained under Peshwa's arrest from May 1751 to March 1752. In 1752, he was released after agreeing to abandon the Dabhades and accept the Peshwa's suzerainty. In return, Damaji was made the Maratha chief of Gujarat, and the Peshwa helped him expel the Mughals from Gujarat.[5]

Damaji subsequently fought alongside Sadashiv Rao, Vishwas Rao, Malhar Rao Holkar, Janakoji and Mahadji Shinde in the Third Battle of Panipat (1761). After the Maratha defeat at Panipat, the central rule of the Peshwas was weakened. As a result, the Gaekwads, along with several other powerful Maratha clans, established themselves as virtually independent rulers, while recognizing the nominal authority of the Peshwas and suzerainty of the Bhonsle Maharaja of Satara.

British suzerainty
Sayajirao with Richard Temple, the Governor of Bombay and other members of the court. Circa 1880

The Gaekwads, together with several Maratha chieftains, fought the British in the First Anglo-Maratha War.

On 15 March 1802, the British intervened to defend a Gaekwad Maharaja, Anand Rao Gaekwad, who had recently inherited the throne against rival claimants, and the Gaekwads concluded the Treaty of Cambey with the British that recognized their independence from the Maratha empire and guaranteed the Maharajas of Baroda local autonomy in return for recognizing British suzerainty.

Maharaja Sayaji Rao III, who took the throne in 1875, did much to modernize Baroda, establishing compulsory primary education, a library system and the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda. He also encouraged the setting up of textile factories, which helped create Baroda's textile industry. He is well known for offering B. R. Ambedkar a scholarship to study at Columbia University.

Upon India attaining its independence in 1947, the last ruling Maharaja of Baroda, Pratapsinhrao, acceded to India. Baroda was eventually merged with Bombay State, which was later divided, based on linguistic principle, into the states of Gujarat and Maharashtra in 1960.

Gaekwad, or Gayakwad, also survives as a fairly common Maratha surname, found mainly in the Indian state of Maharashtra.

Gaikwad Maharajas of Baroda
Maharaja Sayajirao I

See also

References
  1. Gandhinagar: Building National Identity in Postcolonial India
  2. Ramusack, Barbara N. (2004). The Indian Princes and their States. The New Cambridge History of India. Cambridge University Press. p. 35&36. ISBN 9781139449083.
  3. Streefkerk, Hein (1985). Industrial Transition in Rural India: Artisans, Traders, and Tribals in South Gujarat. Popular Prakashan. p. 111. ISBN 9780861320677.
  4. "India Has Rich State in Baroda". Hartford Courant. 16 August 1927.
  5. Charles Augustus Kincaid and Dattatray Balwant Parasnis (1918). A History of the Maratha People Volume 3. Oxford University Press. pp. 2–10.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
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