The Gaikwads of Baroda: English Documents Vol. I
Overview
This 202-page documentary collection edited by J. H. Gense (1936) presents English-language archival materials chronicling the Gaekwad dynasty’s foundational period in Baroda (Vadodara, Gujarat). The volume focuses on Pilaji Rao Gaekwad, who conquered Baroda from declining Mughal authority in 1721, and his successor Damaji Rao Gaekwad (1732-1768), documenting their transformation from Maratha military commanders into sovereign rulers of a major princely state.
The documents include diplomatic correspondence with English trading companies, revenue settlement records, accounts of conflicts with European factors, details of Damaji’s maritime activities in Gujarat, and internal Maratha political struggles. This material captures critical mid-18th-century dynamics when regional powers were consolidating control over territories fragmented by Mughal decline, while navigating relationships with emerging European commercial-military presences. Essential for understanding Maratha state-formation, 18th-century Gujarat history, and early English-Maratha relations. Available through Archive.org (DLI collection), public domain.
Historical Context: The Maratha Confederacy and Gujarat
The emergence of the Gaekwad dynasty in Gujarat occurred within the broader framework of the Maratha Confederacy’s expansion in the early eighteenth century. Following Aurangzeb’s death in 1707, Mughal authority in the Deccan and western India progressively disintegrated, creating opportunities for regional powers to assert independence. The Marathas, under Chhatrapati Shahu I (r. 1707-1749) and his Peshwa Balaji Vishwanath, adopted a systematic strategy of territorial expansion based on military conquest followed by extraction of chauth (one-fourth of revenue) and sardeshmukhi (an additional ten percent levy) from newly subjected territories.
Gujarat became a focal point of Maratha ambitions in the 1720s. The region’s commercial prosperity, anchored by Surat’s maritime trade and the textile production centers of Ahmedabad and Cambay, made it economically attractive. Strategically, control over Gujarat provided access to seaports essential for projecting naval power and taxing maritime commerce. The Maratha administrative system in Gujarat initially operated through the Dabhade family, who held the hereditary title of senapati (commander-in-chief) and served as the Peshwa’s principal agents in the region. Under this framework, subordinate commanders like the Gaekwads received jagirs (revenue assignments) in exchange for maintaining military forces and collecting revenues on behalf of the Maratha state.
The Maratha Confederacy of this period was not a centralized empire but rather a complex hierarchical structure wherein powerful sardars (chiefs) exercised considerable autonomy within their territorial domains while acknowledging the Peshwa’s nominal suzerainty. This system encouraged aggressive expansion by individual commanders seeking to maximize their revenue assignments, but it also generated internal conflicts over territorial jurisdiction and revenue rights. The relationship between centripetal forces emanating from Pune (where the Peshwa was based) and centrifugal tendencies among provincial commanders profoundly shaped the Gaekwad dynasty’s trajectory throughout the eighteenth century.
Pilaji Rao Gaekwad: Conquest and State Formation (1690s-1732)
Pilaji Rao Gaekwad, born in the late seventeenth century, entered Maratha service as a military commander under the Dabhade family’s patronage. He was adopted by his uncle Damaji I Gaekwad (d. 1721), who had received the hereditary title of Shamsher Bahadur from Chhatrapati Shahu for distinguished military service. This adoption positioned Pilaji within the Maratha military aristocracy and provided him with opportunities for advancement through military entrepreneurship.
In 1721, Pilaji achieved his defining military success by conquering Songadh Fort from the Mughals, followed by the capture of Baroda itself. These conquests occurred during a period when Mughal authority in Gujarat had become largely nominal, with local governors unable to mount effective resistance against Maratha incursions. Chhatrapati Shahu formally recognized Pilaji’s conquests by granting him Baroda and its surrounding territories as a jagir. This marked the formal establishment of Gaekwad authority in central Gujarat, though Pilaji remained subordinate to the Dabhade family and, through them, to the Peshwa.
Pilaji’s decade-long rule (1721-1732) involved continuous military campaigns to consolidate and expand his territorial holdings. He participated in expeditions across Gujarat, extracting chauth from resistant local rulers and Mughal remnants. His military activities, however, brought him into conflict with both regional powers and his Maratha superiors. A significant confrontation occurred in April 1731 at the Battle of Bhilapur, where Peshwa Bajirao I defeated a coalition that included Pilaji Rao, Kantaji Bende, and Triambakrao Dabhade. This defeat was precipitated by complex factional politics within the Maratha leadership, particularly tensions between the Peshwa and the Dabhade family over authority in Gujarat.
Following his defeat, Pilaji was appointed deputy to Yashwantrao Dabhade and received the title Sena Khas Khel, partially restoring his position within the Maratha hierarchy. He used this rehabilitation to continue expanding his territorial control, engaging in conflicts with neighboring powers including Maharaja Abhay Singh of Marwar (Jodhpur). The rivalry with Abhay Singh proved fatal. On May 14, 1732, Pilaji was assassinated at Dakor, a pilgrimage town, allegedly by emissaries of Abhay Singh. According to historical accounts, Abhay Singh had invited Pilaji to negotiate arrangements for chauth collection and arranged his murder during these discussions. Pilaji was cremated at Savli village on the Baroda-Dakor road.
Pilaji’s assassination illustrated the violent and unstable nature of eighteenth-century state formation in India. His legacy consisted of establishing Gaekwad territorial control in central Gujarat and creating the institutional foundations—military forces, revenue administration, and diplomatic networks—that his son would inherit and expand.
Damaji Rao Gaekwad: Consolidation and Conflict (1732-1768)
Damaji Rao Gaekwad (also known as Damaji II to distinguish him from his grand-uncle Damaji I) succeeded his father Pilaji in 1732 at a relatively young age. His thirty-six-year reign proved pivotal in transforming the Gaekwad house from subordinate military commanders into quasi-independent rulers of Gujarat. However, this transformation required navigating treacherous political terrain, including direct military confrontation with the Peshwa.
The defining crisis of Damaji’s early reign occurred in 1750-1752 during a succession dispute at Satara. When Umabai Dabhade, widow of the senapati, allied with Tarabai (the widow of Maratha king Rajaram) against Peshwa Balaji Baji Rao, Damaji deployed a 15,000-strong force to support the Dabhade-Tarabai faction. Damaji’s loyalty to the Dabhades reflected his position as their subordinate, but it also represented a political calculation that backing the Satara court’s authority against Peshwa dominance might preserve greater autonomy for regional commanders like himself. In February 1751, Gaekwad forces achieved initial success by defeating Peshwa troops at Bahadurpura.
However, on March 15, 1751, the military situation reversed dramatically when Peshwa forces inflicted a crushing defeat on Damaji near Satara. Damaji was captured and remained in the Peshwa’s custody from May 1751 to March 1752. This imprisonment represented a critical juncture in Gaekwad history. The Peshwa possessed the power to permanently destroy the Gaekwad house by redistributing its territories to more compliant commanders. Instead, Balaji Baji Rao pursued a diplomatic resolution.
In March 1752, Damaji concluded an agreement that fundamentally restructured his relationship with the Peshwa and transformed the political landscape of Gujarat. Under its terms, Damaji abandoned the Dabhades and accepted direct subordination to the Peshwa. In exchange, he was formally recognized as the Maratha chief of Gujarat, superseding the Dabhades who had previously held that position. The Peshwa committed to providing military assistance for expelling remaining Mughal forces from Gujarat. Financially, Damaji agreed to pay the Peshwa an annual tribute of Rs. 5,25,000 (rupees five hundred twenty-five thousand) plus a one-time payment of Rs. 15,00,000 (rupees fifteen hundred thousand). While these payments acknowledged Peshwa suzerainty, they also confirmed Gaekwad control over Gujarat’s substantial revenue base.
The 1752 settlement inaugurated a period of rapid Gaekwad territorial expansion. With Peshwa backing, Damaji launched a systematic campaign to eliminate Mughal authority in Gujarat. After a prolonged siege, Maratha forces captured Ahmedabad in March 1753, effectively ending centuries of Muslim rule in Gujarat’s premier city. This conquest had immense symbolic and practical significance. Symbolically, it demonstrated the irreversible decline of Mughal power in western India. Practically, it gave the Gaekwads control over Gujarat’s richest agricultural hinterland and most important commercial center. By the mid-1750s, the Peshwa had formally recognized Gaekwad rights to a large portion of Gujarat’s revenues, effectively making Damaji the region’s paramount power.
Damaji established Vadodara (Baroda) as his capital, developing it from a provincial town into a administrative center. He created a revenue administration based on Maratha principles of direct assessment and collection, supplemented by revenue farming in some districts. The system’s efficiency remained limited—like other eighteenth-century Indian states, the Gaekwads struggled to develop bureaucratic capacity beyond basic revenue extraction. Nevertheless, Gujarat’s commercial prosperity generated substantial revenues that supported the Gaekwad military establishment and allowed for periodic displays of architectural patronage.
Maritime Activities and European Relations
A distinctive feature of Damaji’s reign was his development of naval capabilities and aggressive maritime policy. Unlike most Maratha rulers who focused exclusively on land warfare, Damaji recognized the strategic and economic importance of maritime power in Gujarat. He established a fleet based at Billimora (in present-day South Gujarat) that engaged in both legitimate trade protection and what European sources characterized as piracy.
In 1757, Damaji’s fleet captured an English boat and the galbat (a type of Indian vessel) Shark belonging to European merchants at Surat. This action prompted the Dutch and English to plan a joint naval operation against the Gaekwad fleet at Billimora, though the extent to which this cooperation materialized remains unclear from available sources. Damaji’s naval commander Jayaramrao Appaji became notorious among European traders. In 1764, Appaji refused to return an English ship that had washed ashore in Gaekwad-controlled territory, citing previous grievances against the English.
The relationship between Damaji’s official fleet and independent maritime operators like Appaji Gopal—known to Europeans as the “Billimora Pandit”—remains ambiguous in historical sources. European records indicate English officials were instructed to avoid Damaji’s ports while pursuing Gopal, suggesting some degree of operational separation. However, the line between state-sponsored naval operations and private maritime entrepreneurship was fluid in eighteenth-century Gujarat, and Damaji likely benefited from the activities of nominally independent operators who enjoyed his protection.
These maritime activities reflected broader tensions between indigenous Indian powers and European trading companies. The English East India Company’s factory at Surat, established in 1612, had evolved from a purely commercial establishment into a fortified enclave with its own military forces. The Gaekwads viewed European traders with suspicion, seeing them as agents of potential territorial encroachment disguised as merchants. Conversely, Company officials regarded Maratha maritime activities as threats to their commercial monopolies and as violations of maritime law. These mutual suspicions foreshadowed the larger conflicts between the Maratha Confederacy and the British that would dominate the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.
The British captured Surat in 1759, reducing but not eliminating Gaekwad influence over Gujarat’s maritime trade. Damaji continued to assert his authority over ports and coastal districts, extracting customs revenues and providing (or withholding) protection to merchant vessels as political circumstances dictated.
Administrative Developments and State Structure
The Gaekwad state under Damaji represented a transitional phase between military conquest and bureaucratic administration. Revenue collection remained the primary state function, organized along principles inherited from both Maratha and Mughal precedents. The Gaekwads appointed karkuns (revenue officials) to assess and collect taxes from agricultural districts, while urban areas generated revenues through customs duties (chauth on commerce) and market taxes.
Like other eighteenth-century Indian states, the Gaekwad administration struggled with limited bureaucratic capacity and the challenge of controlling local intermediaries. Revenue collection depended heavily on jagirdars (holders of revenue assignments) and desais (hereditary district officials) whose interests did not always align with central authority. Annual revenue settlements characterized Gaekwad Gujarat, as they did other Maratha territories, reflecting the state’s limited capacity for long-term revenue planning and its dependence on negotiated relationships with local power-holders.
Military organization followed standard Maratha patterns. The Gaekwads maintained a standing force of cavalry and infantry, supplemented during major campaigns by contingents provided by subordinate commanders and allied chiefs. Payment consisted partially of cash salaries but relied heavily on jagir assignments, perpetuating the military-agrarian structure typical of pre-colonial Indian states. This system provided military flexibility but constrained administrative centralization, as jagirdars possessed vested interests in maintaining decentralized power.
Damaji’s court at Vadodara served multiple functions: military headquarters, administrative center, and site of political ritual. Darbar ceremonies affirmed hierarchical relationships among the Gaekwad ruler, subordinate commanders, and tributary chiefs. Damaji maintained diplomatic relations with the Peshwa, neighboring Maratha houses (particularly the Holkars and Scindias), Rajput states, and European trading companies. This diplomatic activity required sophisticated political intelligence and negotiating capacity, resources the Gaekwad state gradually developed during Damaji’s reign.
Historiographical Significance
J.H. Gense’s 1936 documentary collection represents an important historiographical intervention in the study of eighteenth-century Gujarat and Maratha history. Published in Bombay by D.B. Taraporevala Sons & Co., the volume forms part of a multi-volume series spanning the Gaekwad dynasty’s history from 1720 to the late nineteenth century. Gense’s editorial work made English-language archival materials accessible to scholars at a time when most primary sources for Indian history remained scattered in private collections or poorly catalogued official archives.
The documents compiled by Gense derive primarily from English East India Company records, including correspondence from the Surat factory, reports to the Company’s directorate in London, and accounts by Company officials stationed in Gujarat. This archival base provides valuable information on European-Maratha interactions but also imposes limitations. European sources inevitably reflect the biases and limited knowledge of their authors, who often misunderstood Maratha political dynamics and whose information about events distant from their factories was necessarily secondhand.
Despite these limitations, Gense’s collection offers crucial evidence for reconstructing political events, economic relationships, and military conflicts during the formative period of Gaekwad rule. The documents illuminate aspects of state formation poorly covered in indigenous sources, particularly commercial relations, maritime activities, and the perspectives of European actors. The 1936 publication date places this work within the colonial historiographical tradition, when British scholars and Indian historians trained in British methods produced numerous documentary collections and institutional histories.
Subsequent historiography has both built upon and critiqued Gense’s work. Post-independence Indian historians have supplemented English sources with Marathi and Gujarati materials—including Maratha court documents, revenue records, and family chronicles—to provide more balanced perspectives on Gaekwad state formation. Scholars have also contextualized the Gaekwads within broader patterns of eighteenth-century Indian state formation, analyzing how regional powers navigated between Mughal decline, Maratha expansion, and European encroachment.
Contemporary scholarship on the Gaekwads and eighteenth-century Gujarat emphasizes several themes: the economic bases of state formation (particularly revenue systems and commercial networks); the role of military labor markets in shaping political structures; the negotiated character of sovereignty in a period of competing authorities; and the complex interactions between indigenous states and European trading companies. The Gaekwad case illuminates these broader patterns while also demonstrating regional specificities, particularly the importance of maritime power and commercial taxation in Gujarat’s political economy.
Damaji Rao Gaekwad died on August 18, 1768, after thirty-six years of rule. His legacy included transforming the Gaekwads from subordinate military commanders into Gujarat’s paramount power, establishing administrative structures that would endure through the colonial period, and navigating the complex political terrain of mid-eighteenth-century India with considerable success. His successors would face different challenges, particularly the rising power of the British East India Company, but they built upon foundations Damaji established. The documentary materials compiled by Gense remain indispensable sources for understanding this critical period in Gujarat’s history and the broader dynamics of state formation in eighteenth-century India.
Scholarly content researched and composed with assistance from Claude (Anthropic), November 2025.