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Home / IAS Preparation / Maharani Tarabai

Maharani Tarabai - Information, Early Life, Major Wars & Conflicts

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Maharani Tarabai Bhonsle was the daughter-in-law of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, founder of the Maratha kingdom. Tarabai Bhosle was married to Rajaram Bhonsle 1, the second son of Shivaji Maharaj and the third Chhatrapati of the Maratha Kingdom. Tarabai Bhonsle was an iconic and courageous Maratha queen, showing all the characteristics of a true warrior. In this article, we will be discussing the eventful life of Maharani Tarabai, the conflict with Shahu and how she firmly repelled the Mughal attack. 

This topic about the Maratha queen is very significant concerning the UPSC IAS exams. It is a very important part of the medieval History subject in the General Studies Prelims syllabus and General Studies Mains Paper 1 syllabus.

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Who Was Rani Tarabai Bhonsale?

Maharani Tarabai belonged to the Mohite clan and was the daughter of Hambir Rao Mohite, the commander-in-chief of Marathas. Since early childhood, her father trained her in archery, sword fighting, and diplomacy. She had also witnessed some bloody battles between Marathas and the Mughals and she learnt a lot about fighting wars from a very early age. 

At the age of eight, she got married to Rajaram Bhonsle 1. She became the queen of the Maratha empire in 1789 when Rajaram Bhonsle was crowned Chhatrapati of the Maratha Kingdom. The untimely demise of Rajaram Bhonsle 1 left a big void in the Maratha Empire, and the relentless attacks by the Mughals left the Maratha Empire in a precarious condition.

Taking charge of the situation, Tarabai Bhosale proclaimed her infant son Shivaji 2 as the heir apparent to the throne, and she became regent of the Maratha empire. The Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb thought that the Marathas were at their weakest and that he could easily defeat the Marathas. But this was not the case, so she valiantly marshalled the troops and protected the Maratha throne with the help of Dhanaji Jadhav, who was the commander-in-chief of the Maratha Army. 

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Rani Tarabai as Regent of the Maratha Empire

The second phase of her life started when she took up the title of the regent of the Maratha Empire after the death of her husband. Her father’s guidance and teaching during the early stage of her life made her well-versed in civil, political and military affairs and it helped her command the Maratha Empire. 

Maharani Tarabai decided to take the fight to the Mughals, and she started raiding and attacking Mughal territories beyond the Deccan region. She frequently visited different forts under her control to mobilise men and resources for the war. Tarabai Bhonsle forged critical military and civil alliances with other Hindu rulers of the Deccan and Central India. This helped her in augmenting the resources. Immediately after the death of Rajaram Bhonsle 1, Aurangzeb attacked with significant force, and he hoped that Tarabai would get afraid and meekly surrender before him. 

After the death of her husband, Tarabai quickly took charge of the army and caught Aurangzeb by surprise and countered the attack courageously. In 1700, she dispatched around 50000 troops towards Chanderi, which is present-day Madhya Pradesh. By 1702, her armies had reached Khadesh, Berar and Telangana. 

Maharani Tarabai fought several pitched battles with Mughal commanders. By 1705, Marathas had crossed the Narmada River and briefly made incursions in the Malwa area. In 1706, Maharani Tarabai was captured by the Mughals and remained in custody for 4 days. 

Khafi Khan, the Mughal court historian of that time, was quite lavish in his praise for Tarabai. He said in his records that “Maharani Tarabai won the hearts of her officers and or all the struggles and schemes and seizes of Aurangzeb up to the end of his reign the power of the Marathas increased day by day”. Her judgement was always spot on, and hence her opinions were respected in matters of policy and administration as well. The nobles in the court of Maratha held her in high esteem and obeyed her orders diligently. 

Also, check out the article on Babur Mughal Empire with this link!

Rani Tarabai’s Conflict Against Balaji Baji Rao

There is also an intriguing aspect of Tarabai’s life. She not only fought against the Mughals and other Muslim rulers, but she also faced a civil war within the Maratha Empire itself. She entered into a conflict with Peshwa Balaji Baji Rao or Nana Saheb 1, who was the Peshwa of Marathas. Balaji Baji Rao was an exemplary ruler like his father, Baji Rao I. The seat of power was shifted from Satara to Pune by Peshwa as he believed that Tarabai was strong in Satara. 

As a result, there were simmering tensions between Tarabai and Peshwa Balaji Baji Rao for the control of the vast Maratha Empire. During the 1740s, in order to stop Balaji Baji Rao from having unfettered control over the Maratha kingdom, she came up with an astute political move. She brought forward a young man and presented him as his grandson who lived in a hidden identity until that time and was raised by a soldier’s wife. She said that this boy's name was Rajaram II, and he was a direct descendent of Shivaji and, therefore, the rightful heir to the throne.

After the death of Shahu, Rajaram II took up the title of Chhatrapati in 1749. In 1750 when Pesh was on the Mughal frontier, she asked Rajaram II to remove Balaji Baji Rao from the role of Peshwa, but Rajaram II did not accept the proposal. This angered her, and she imprisoned Rajaram II in Satara and disowned him, claiming that he was not his grandson.

Maharani Tarabai allied with other Maratha kings to fight against Peshwa Balaji Baji Rao. However, despite early setbacks, Peshwa managed to inflict a heavy defeat on the forces of Tarabai and her allies. He then asked Tarabai to release Rajaram II who was held captive and his mental and physical condition kept deteriorating. However, Tarabai refused, and Peshwa also left Satara for Pune. 

Later on, with old age, Tarabai saw the futility of continuing the fight against a young and dynamic leader like Peshwa. She agreed to meet Peshwa in Pune for a peace deal. After the initial reluctance, Peshwa agreed to the peace deal, and both swore at a temple that they would not conspire or fight against each other. On the same day, Tarabai also accepted the superiority of the Peshwa. Rajaram II was also released from captivity, and he was given back the title of Chhatrapati, but the real power remained in the hands of Peshwa Balaji Baji Rao.

Rani Tarabai - War Against Shahu

Although Aurangzeb died in 1707, his death did not mean the end of the Mughal-Maratha War. Instead, the war between these two rivals would move into the next phase. The Mughals knew that it was practically impossible to defeat the Marathas in a full-fledged war, so they resorted to cheap political tricks. 

With Aurangzeb dead, they decided to release Shahu I from their captivity. He was the grandson of Sambhaji Maharaj, the son of Shivaji Maharaj. The reason behind his release was that the Mughals knew that it would spark a succession fight among the Marathas as Shahu I had a greater right to the throne of the Maratha Kingdom than Maharani Tarabai. 

Mughals thought that internal fighting would weaken Marathas organisationally and politically. Moreover, it would also mean the diversion of resources, and they would take advantage and sound the death knell of the Marathas. In fact, the Mughals had released Shahu I on the precondition that he would challenge Tarabai for control of the throne. Their planning worked, and Shahu I challenged Tarabai and claimed himself as the rightful owner of the throne. 

However, Maharani Tarabai did not heed the claims put forward by Shahu I. She reasoned that Shahu was a prisoner of the Mughals and could not be trusted. The dispute regarding the legitimate owner of the throne led to a full-fledged war between Tarabai and Shahu. In the war, many chieftains and nobles sided with Shahu as they believed that he had a more legitimate claim over the throne than Tarabai. Furthermore, the diplomatic and political astuteness shown by Peshwa Balaji Vishwanath made matters worse for her. 

The war did not start on a favourable note for her, and neither did it go her way. Finally, after months of bickering and clash of the troops, Shahu I emerged victorious. He was crowned the Chhatrapati of the Maratha Empire at Satara. Tarabai was humiliated and completely sidelined. However, she did not stop there, and she ended up setting a parallel court at Kolhapur. But this also did not bring any positive thing for her, and the parallel court was also shut by Shahu. 

Angered at Tarabai for going too far, he ordered her imprisonment along with his son Shivaji II. Here meteoric rise in the Maratha political affairs came to an end. Her influence over the administration and military was also over with Shahu taking complete control of the Marathas.

Also, read here about the Third Anglo-Maratha Wars!

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Early Life and Family of Tarabai

Tarabai hailed from the Mohite clan and was the daughter of Hambirrao Mohite, who served as the Commander-in-Chief under Shivaji, the founder of the Maratha kingdom. Her aunt, Soyarabai, was Shivaji's queen and the mother of his younger son, Rajaram I. At the age of 8 in 1682, Tarabai married Rajaram, becoming his second wife.

Following the death of her step-brother Sambhaji, Rajaram ruled the Maratha Empire from 1689 to 1700, with his first wife Jankibai as the queen consort. Upon Rajaram's death in March 1700, Tarabai declared her infant son, Shivaji II (later known as Shivaji I of Kolhapur), as Rajaram's successor, assuming the role of regent herself.

Rani Tarabai’s Later Years
  • Rani Tarabai and her son Shivaji II were imprisoned by Shahu till 1730. She was released only after Sambhaji II turned hostile towards Shahu and forced her release from prison. 
  • In the 1740s, as Shahu was getting old, she sensed another opportunity to regain her influence over the Maratha kingdom. She conspired against Peshwa Balaji Baji Rao by introducing a young boy named Rajaram II who was living in a hidden identity till then as a descendant of Shivaji and rightful claimant of the Maratha empire. 
  • However, this did not bring any favourable results for her as Rajaram II and Peshwa got along well and instead sidelined her again. 
  • She resisted initially but later accepted Peshwa as a superior authority and reached a peace agreement with Peshwa owing complete allegiance to him.
  • She died at the age of 86 in 1761 during the time of the Third Battle of Panipat when the Marathas were defeated comprehensively by Ahmad Shah Abdali. 

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Conclusion

Maharani Tarabai will be remembered as the most important women leader of the Maratha Empire. Her political and military skills helped the Marathas avert the fall of their empire to Aurangzeb. According to many historical experts, had it not been for the courage and leadership skills of Tarabai, the Maratha Empire would have faced the disaster of Panipat in 1700 at the hands of Aurangzeb. 

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Maharani Tarabai FAQs

Yes, Tarabai launched a number of surprise attacks in the Mughal territory. She even launched some of the most vicious attacks and was sitting in the Mughal territory even when she had lost some territories to Aurangzeb’s army.

Devdatta, who was one of the great poets of the 17th century, had described Maharani Tarabai as Goddess Kali. He also said that the way she attacked the Mughal army had given Aurangzeb sleepless nights.

No, Ramraja was not the son of Tarabai. She had introduced Ramraja as her grandson in Shahu’s court. She presented Ramraja to childless Shahu, hoping that after his death, Ramraja will become king of the Maratha empire and she would again have a chance to hold influence over Maratha politics.

The great Shivaji Maharaj, who was also the founder of the Maratha Empire, held the title of Chhatrapati for almost 50 years, which makes him the longest Chhatrapati of Maratha.

Peshwa Balaji Baji Rao was the de facto ruler of the Maratha Empire during the Battle of Panipat. Although Rajaram II was the Chhatrapati, he was only the titular head.

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