Maratha siege of Trichinopoly

01The Rock Fort besieged

Trichy stands round a great rock on the south bank of the Kaveri, crowned by the Ucchi Pillayar shrine of Shri Ganesh, with the island temple of Srirangam across the river. Chanda Sahib had held it since he took it from Queen Meenakshi in 1736. Late in 1740 Raghuji Bhonsle’s army surrounded the town. Chanda Sahib’s brother Bada Sahib marched from Madurai with a relief force and was caught and killed by the Marathas.

02Surrender

With food running out and no hope of relief, Chanda Sahib surrendered on 26 March 1741. He was taken to Satara and kept prisoner for seven years, until the French paid his ransom and he came back to fight for the throne of Arcot. The Marathas left Murari Rao Ghorpade of Gooty to hold Trichy. In 1743 the Nizam came south with a great army and took the fort back, but Murari Rao would play a part in the Carnatic wars for twenty years.

Dynasty · c. 1739–1853 CEBhonsles of NagpurRaghuji Bhonsle, a kinsman of the Chhatrapatis’ clan, was sent to Berar by Shahu and made Nagpur the seat of the largest Maratha state in central India. His armies took Odisha from the Nawab of Bengal, and the house ruled until the British annexed Nagpur in 1853.Read →