Daulat Scindia - Ascent of Scindias

Ascent of Scindias

Daulatrao was a member of the Sindhia dynasty, and succeeded to the Gwalior throne in February 1794 at the age of 15, upon the death of Maharaja Mahadji Sindhia. Mahadji left no heir, and Daulatrao was a grandson of his brother Tukaji. Gwalior state was part of the Maratha Empire, which was founded by Shivaji in the 17th century. De facto control of the empire passed from Shivaji's successors to the hereditary chief ministers of the Empire, entitled peshwas and the empire expanded greatly in the 18th century at the expense of the Mughal Empire. As the empire expanded, commanders of the Maratha armies were given authority to collect chauth (tribute) in the conquered territories on behalf of the Peshwa. Daulatrao's ancestor Ranoji Sindhia had conquered territories in the Malwa and Gird regions from the Mughals, eventually establishing a state which was initially based at Ujjain, but was named after the strategic fortress of Gwalior. His wife Baija Bai was a powerful and an intelligent lady of her time. She played an important role in the affairs of the Gwalior state.

The Maratha defeat at the Third Battle of Panipat checked the Maratha expansion towards the Northwest, and hastened the decentralization of power in the empire to a 'pentarchy' made up of the five most powerful Maratha dynasties: the Peshwas of Pune, the Sindhias of Gwalior, the Holkars of Indore, the Bhonsles of Nagpur, and the Gaekwads of Baroda.

Daulatrao's predecessor Mahadji had, in the aftermath of Panipat, turned Gwalior into a chief military power of the confederacy, developing a well-trained modern army under the command of Benoît de Boigne. Daulatrao therefore looked upon himself less as a member of the Maratha Confederacy and more as the chief sovereign in India.