Kanchi Shankara Mutt

[SUBSCRIBE INDOLOGY ganapathi]

On Wed, 23 Aug 2000 22:33:58 GMT, Vidyasankar Sundaresan
<vsundaresan at HOTMAIL.COM> wrote:

>Sujan Bai, Ekoji's wife, was Shahuji's mother. She was appointed regent
till>he attained majority. Technically, Shahuji was king until the year
1749,>when Pratapasimha, another son of Ekoji, ousted him. Pratapasimha was
much>older than Shahuji, and could have directly become king in 1736 itself,
>without the intervening regency of the queen. The only problem - he was an
>illegitimate son of Ekoji, or at least, he was originally debarred from the
>succession. The Bhonsale Vamsa Charitram glosses over these events, as it
>was written during the rule of Serfoji (?), a descendant of Pratapasimha.
>
>See R. Sewell's "A Sketch of the Dynasties of Southern India" for details.
I
>remember having read about this conflict in succession elsewhere too, but
>can't place the exact source right now. Some book on Maratha history, which
>gave a little information on the Tanjavur branch of the family.


King Serfoji I, had no issues.  Savayee Sahooji  who was the son of a maid
servant was declared as the son of Serfoji I & his wife Aburooba Bayee.
However this was known subsequently and Thukoji (Brother of Serfoji) became
the King.

After Thukoji, his Son EkojiII  came to power. When he died in 1736AD, his
wife succeeded him. During this time one Kattu Raja, claimed himself as the
erstwhile Shahuji, removed Sujan Bayee and userped the power.After
realising their mistake, the sardars made Prathapa Simhan as the King of
Thanjavur in the year 1739AD. This version of the Maratha history is found
almost in all the books . The version of R.Sewell is not correct.

It is a well established fact that raja Prathapa Simha was the son of King
Thukoji . His mother belonged to a Marathi Royal clan. Thukoji married her
by performing Kathi Kalyaanam, which was custom practised by the
Kshathriyas.When the katturaja was thrown out of power, Prathapa Simhan was
the only legitimate heir born to a Marathi lady. This was clearly mentioned
in the Bhonsle Vamsa Charithram and other manuscripts.

All these information could be verified from the arguments of Advocate
Norton in the case of Kamakshi Ambha Bayee Saheb before the Madras Court
during 1857.

Since Sri. Vidya Sankar  feels that the material (Bhonsle Charithram), on
which I rely upon glosses over some events as it was written during the
period of Serfoji II, a descendent of Prathapa Simhan
 I must place further
evidence to support my statements..

01. Doc. No.3-144, 145 (1739 AD),  5-12 (1742 AD),  3-178 (1742AD),  3-165
(1745 AD) contain information about the grants given by King Prathapa Simhan
(in his capacity as the King Of Tanjore).

02.Doc.No. 1-118 & 119 : The famous Thirvidai Maradhur Ther (Temple Car)
was repaired with the help of Raja Prathapa Simhan  during this period.

03. Another 10 documents are related to the Royal correspondence between
the Thanjavur Marathas and French in Pondicherry.These are very important
documents because the Karaikal region was under the control of the Marathas
was given to the French under a Mortgage Deed for getting a loan from
them.About 60 villages were handed over to them in lieu of the loan. You
can also refer the famous Anandharangam Pillai’s Diary for further study.
The first Deed was executed on 07.10.1739. King Prathapa Simhan and the
then Governor of Pondy Mussae Dumas were the parties to this agreement.

Hence Sri VidyaSankar’s contentions ( that King Prathapa Simha was an
illegitimate son of Ekoji, Shahji was the son of Sujan Bhayee, Shuji ruled
up to 1749 AD etc.,) may not be accepted.

BGS