CleanupBot II at 19:35, 13 August 2023

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{{use dmy dates|date=February 2016}}
{{use Indian English|date=February 2016}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Maloji Raje Bhosale
| title =
| birth_date = 1552
|death_date = Early 17th century
| death_place = [[Indapur]]
| parents = Babaji Bhosale (father)
| children = [[Shahaji]], [[Sharifji]]
}}
'''Maloji Bhosale''' was a [[Maratha]] [[sardar]] (general) who served the [[Ahmadnagar Sultanate]] in [[Malik Ambar]]'s army. He was the father of [[Shahaji]] and the grandfather of [[Shivaji]], the founder of the [[Maratha Empire]].

== Early life ==

Maloji was born in 1552 to Babaji Bhosale (d. 1597), a [[Patil (title)|patil]] (chief) of the Hingni Berdi and Devalgaon villages around [[Pune]].<ref name="Salma314">{{cite book |author=Salma Ahmed Farooqui |title=A Comprehensive History of Medieval India: From Twelfth to the Mid-Eighteenth Century |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sxhAtCflwOMC&pg=PA314 |year=2011 |publisher=Dorling Kindersley India |isbn=978-81-317-3202-1 |pages=314–}}</ref><ref name="Kulkarni1963">{{cite book |author=V. B. Kulkarni |title=Shivaji: The Portrait of a Patriot |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nU8_AAAAMAAJ |year=1963 |publisher=Orient Longman |page=27}}</ref> Maloji had a younger brother, Vithoji.

== Military career under the Jadhavs of Sindkhed ==
Maloji and his brother Vithoji migrated away from Pune, and initially served as petty horsemen under the [[Jadhav]]s of [[Sindkhed]].<ref name="Satishh2005">{{cite book | author=Satish Chandra | title=Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0Rm9MC4DDrcC&pg=PA316 | access-date=8 October 2012 | year=2005 | publisher=Har-Anand | isbn=978-81-241-1066-9 | page=316}}</ref> The Jadhavs provided military service to the Ahmednagar Sultanate.
Maloji married Uma Bai (also known as Dipa Bai), the sister of Jagpalrao [[Nimbalkar]], who was the [[deshmukh]] of [[Phaltan]]

[[File:Hazrat Shah Sharif Dargah हजरत शाह शरीफ दर्गा अहमदनगर.jpg|thumb|Hazrat Shah Sharif Dargah where maloji asked for his two sons to the muslim saint]]

According to ''Shivabharata'', composed by Shivaji's court poet Paramananda, Maloji's wife Umabai prayed to the [[Sufism|Sufi]] [[Pir (Sufism)|Pir]] Shah Sharif of Ahmadnagar to bless her with a son. She gave birth to two sons, who were named [[Shahaji]] and Sharifji after the Pir.<ref>{{cite book |author=G. H. Khare |title=Studies in Indology and Medieval History |year=1974 |publisher=Joshi & Lokhande |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Studies_in_Indology_and_Medieval_History/T8EtAQAAIAAJ |page=176 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=James W. Laine |chapter=A Question of Maharashtrian Identity: Hindu Self-definition in the Tales of Shivaji |editor=Meera Kosambi |title=Intersections: Socio-cultural Trends in Maharashtra |publisher=Orient Blackswan |year=2000 |isbn=9788125018780 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XU8dmAiaZSgC&q=maloji&pg=PA59 |access-date=2022-11-15 |page=62 }}</ref>

According to one account, during a [[Holi]] function, the Jadhav chief [[Lakhuji Jadhav|Lakhuji]] remarked, in a lighter vein, that his daughter [[Jijabai]] and Shahaji would make a fine couple. Maloji took Lakhuji's remark seriously, and announced publicly that his son was engaged to Lakhuji's daughter. This irked Lakhuji, who considered Maloji to be a non-[[nobility|noble]] [[Shiledar]].<ref name="Chintaman1931">{{cite book | author=Chintaman Vinayak Vaidya | title=Shivaji: the founder of Maratha Swaraj | url=https://archive.org/details/shivajithefounde035304mbp | access-date=8 October 2012 | year=1931 | publisher=C. V. Vaidya | pages = [https://archive.org/details/shivajithefounde035304mbp/page/n27 10]–15}}</ref> He dismissed Maloji from his services. Later, Nimbalkar's influence and the rising status of the Bhosale family helped Shahaji marry [[Jijabai]].

== Ahmednagar Sultanate service ==

According to one account, Maloji and Vithoji once found a treasure while tilling a field and became rich.<ref name="Charles1968">{{cite book|author1=Charles Augustus Kincaid|author2=Dattatraya Balavanta Pārasanisa|title=A History of the Maratha People: From the earliest times to the death of Shivaji|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZrE5AQAAIAAJ|access-date=8 October 2012|year=1968|publisher=S. Chand | page = 114}}</ref> They raised a small troop, and briefly harassed Lakhuji.

In 1577, like the Nimbalkars, the two brothers joined the service of the Ahmednagar Sultanate, under Murtaza Nizam Shah I. Maloji became a trusted aide of [[Malik Amber]], who rose to the Prime Ministership of the Ahmadnagar Sultanate.<ref name="Farooqui">{{cite book | author1=Farooqui Salma Ahmed | author2=Salma Ahmed Farooqui | title=A Comprehensive History of Medieval India: From Twelfth to the Mid-Eighteenth Century | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sxhAtCflwOMC&pg=PA314 | access-date=8 October 2012 | publisher=Pearson Education India | isbn=978-81-317-3202-1 | page=314| year=2011 }}</ref> Maloji's cousins, the Ghorpades of [[Mudhol]], also became successful noblemen, serving the rival Sultanate of [[Bijapur Sultanate|Bijapur]].<ref name="Stewart1993">{{cite book | author=Stewart Gordon | title=The Marathas 1600-1818 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iHK-BhVXOU4C&pg=PA44 | access-date=8 October 2012 | date=16 September 1993 | publisher=Cambridge University Press | isbn=978-0-521-26883-7 | pages=41–44}}</ref>

Maloji rose rapidly in the service of Malik Ambar, fighting against the rival [[Deccan Sultanates]] and the [[Mughals]]. He and his brother were granted the control of three [[pargana]]s (administrative units): [[Ellora|Elur]] (Verul), Derhadi and Kannarad (including Jategau and Vakadi), beside several small towns and villages.<ref name="Chintaman1931"/> In 1595 or 1599, Maloji was given the title of [[raja]] by [[Bahadur Nizam Shah]], the ruler of the Ahmednagar Sultanate.<ref name="Joseph1900">{{cite book |author=Joseph G. Da Cunha |title=Origin of Bombay |url=https://archive.org/details/originbombay00cunhgoog |year=1900}}</ref> On the recommendation of Malik Ambar, he was given the [[jagir]] of [[Pune]] and [[Supa, Parner|Supe]] [[pargana]]s, along with the control of the [[Shivneri]] and [[Chakan, Maharashtra|Chakan]] forts. Maloji carried out the restoration of the [[Grishneshwar]] temple near Verul, and also constructed a large tank at the Shambhu Mahadev temple in [[Shikhar Shingnapur]].<ref name="Sardesai1957">{{cite book | author=Govind Sakharam Sardesai | title=New History of the Marathas: Shivaji and his line (1600-1707) | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zG1DAAAAYAAJ | access-date=8 October 2012 | year=1957 | publisher=Phoenix Publications | page = 58 | isbn=9788121500654 }}</ref>

== Death ==

Maloji died during a battle against the [[Bijapur Sultanate]], at [[Indapur]]. One account puts his year of death as 1606, and mentions that his son Shahaji, five-years old at the time, was raised by his brother Vithoji.<ref name="Chintaman1931"/> Other accounts put the year of his death as 1620<ref name="Eaton2005">{{cite book | author=Richard M. Eaton | title=A Social History of the Deccan, 1300-1761: Eight Indian Lives | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DNNgdBWoYKoC&pg=PA178 | access-date=8 October 2012 | date=17 November 2005 | publisher=Cambridge University Press | isbn=978-0-521-25484-7 | pages=178–}}</ref> or 1622.<ref name="Stewart1993"/> After his death, his jagir was transferred to his son Shahaji.

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Shivaji}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bhonsle, Maloji}}
[[Category:1552 births]]
[[Category:Indian generals]]
[[Category:Indian Hindus]]
[[Category:Year of death uncertain]]
[[Category:17th-century deaths]]
[[Category:Shivaji]]

Maloji Bhosale - Revision history

CleanupBot II at 19:35, 13 August 2023