Mahadaji Shinde

Mahadaji Shinde (23 December 1730 – 12 February 1794), later known as Mahadji Scindia or Madhava Rao Scindia

, Mahadji Scindia was a Maratha statesman and general who served as the maharaja of Ujjain. He was the fifth and the youngest son of Ranoji Rao Shinde the founder of the Shinde Dynasty. He is reputed for having restored the Maratha rule over North India and for modernizing his army.

Mahadji was instrumental in resurrecting Maratha power in North India after the Third Battle of Panipat in 1761, and rose to become a trusted lieutenant of the Chattrapati of Satara, leader of the Maratha Confederacy . Along with Madhavrao I and Nana Fadnavis, he was one of the three pillars of Maratha Resurrection. During his reign, scindia kingdom became the leading state in the Maratha Confederacy and one of the foremost military powers in India. He restored the Maratha Empire in India, and took the Mughal emperor who was till then a prisoner of British in Allahabad (Now Prayagraj) as his (Scindia’s) prisoner to Delhi in 1771.

Mahadji Shinde Fought 50 Battles In His Lifetime Against Various Opponents He defeated the Jats of Mathura and during 1772-73 Pashtun Rohillas in Rohilkhand and captured Najibabad. He defeated several Rajput states in Rajputana (Refer to battles of Patan and Merta) and established Scindia supremacy in most of what is now Rajasthan, which continued till 1818. His role during the First Anglo-Maratha War was greatest from the Maratha side since he defeated the British in the Battle of Wadgaon which resulted in the Treaty of Wadgaon and then again in Central India, single handed, which resulted in the Treaty of Salbai in 1782, where he mediated between the Peshwa and the British.