Sindia

Sindia, the title of the Mahratta princes or rulers of Gwalior in India. The founder of the family was RANOJI SINDIA, who from a menial station in the household of the Peshwa rose to a high rank in the bodyguard, and after 1743 received in hereditary fief one-half of the extensive province of Malwa. His son, MĀDHA VĀ RAO (MADHOJI) SINDIA (1750-94), joined the Mahratta confederation, and was present at the battle of Panipat (1761), where he was so desperately injured as to be left for dead; but he recovered. In 1770, along with the Peshwa and Holkar, he aided the emperor of Delhi to expel the Sikhs from his territories, the administration of which was handed over to Sindia, thus making him the most powerful of the Mahratta chiefs. He first came into collision with the British in 1779; but in the war which followed fortune distributed her favours with impartiality, and by the treaty of Salbye (1783) Sindia was recognised as a sovereign prince and confirmed in all his possessions. In 1784 he captured the stronghold of Gwalior, and in the following year marched on Delhi, and subsequently seized Agra, Alighur, and nearly the whole of the Doab (q.v.). The manifold advantages of European discipline had struck him forcibly during the war with the British, and, with the aid of an able French officer, he raised and drilled an army of troops, with whom he reduced Jodhpur, Udai-pur, and Jeypore, three Rajput states, and effectually humbled the pride of Holkar. See H. G. Keene's Mādhava Rao Sindhia ('Rulers of India' series, 1892).—DAULAT RAO SINDIA (1794-1827) continued his granduncle's policy, and during the troubles which convulsed Holkar's dominions at the commencement of the 19th century ravaged Indore and Poona, but was routed in 1802 by Holkar. Having joined the rajah of Berar in a raid on the Nizam (1803), he brought down upon himself the vengeance of the East India Company. The confederated Mahrattas were routed at Assaye and Argaum by Sir Arthur Wellesley, and were scattered irretrievably at Laswari by Lord Lake. Thereupon Sindia hastened to sign a treaty by which all his possessions in the Doab and along the right bank of the Jumna were ceded to the British. Gwalior was, however, restored in 1805, and from that time became the capital of Sindia's dominions.—During the reign of MUGAT (JANAKJI) RAO (1827-43), a minor, the Gwalior dominions were in such a state of anarchy that the British felt called upon to interfere; a war ensued, and the Mahrattas were routed at Maharajpūr (December 29, 1843) by Lord Gough, and at Panniar by Major-general Grey on the same day. Gwalior fell into the hands of the British, 4th January 1844, and Sindia submitted to the conditions demanded of him, besides maintaining a contingent force of sepoys at Gwalior. During the Mutiny BAJI RAO (1843-86), successor of Mugat, took the field against the Gwalior contingent, which had joined the rebels; but most of his troops deserted him during the battle (June 1), and he narrowly escaped by fleeing to Agra. He was subsequently reinstated by Sir Hugh Rose, and received from the British government substantial marks of its goodwill and approbation. He was succeeded by his adopted son in 1886, when the British cantonment was removed from Gwalior.