Contributions of Thanjavur Maratha Kings- 2nd Edition book written by Prince Pratap Sinh Serfoji RajeBhosle

third king of thanjavur, maharajah serfoji 1 (1712-1728 A.D)

third king of thanjavur, maharajah serfoji 1, ruled tanjore from 1712-1728 A.D. after the death of shahaji ll in 1712 he having no issue of his own was succeeded by his brother serfoji 1 who was his representative at shahakottai fort a few miles west of kumbakonam. his other younger brother tukkoji was similarly a representative of shahaji at mahadeva pattinam fort near mannargudi. serfoji 1 ruled thanjavur with the help of his brother tukkoji. he followed his late brother shahaji ll's domestic policy and in foreign affairs he took part in the politics of ramnad sethupathi. in a war of succession between the sons of kilavan sethupathi of ramnad, serfoji 1 placed bhavani shanker on the throne and divided the sethupathy's territories into three parts, one taken by serfoji 1, the other to the ramnad sethupathi,while the third was made into a new zamindari of sivaganga. the expendition to ramnad was ably conducted by serfoji 1's general ananda raya peshwa who served shahaji ll previously and after serfoji 1 he served the last brother of shahaji ll,tukkoji. during his period the dam at kallanai came into disrepair and serfoji 1 was prevented to carry out the repairs by nayaks of madura who had shifted to trichy as his capital. serfoji 1 threatended invasion and hence the nayak permitted serfoji 1 to carry out the repairs and avoided further famine in his country.

serfoji 1 was by nature pious and intensely religious and endowed agraharam like his brother, scholar king shahaji at thiruvenkadu, mangamadam and at serfojirajapuram in thirukkadiyur. he was himself a scholar and patronished several scholars in his court raghava charitam is ascribed or his authorship.

some noteworthy scholars of his court and their works are bhagavant raya's sachidananda vilasa, raghunatha's narakavarnam and vittala's rukmini swayamvara slokas, and all the three authors works are in marathi. the telugu scholars who adorned his court are giriraja kavi who served shahaji ll also. his work is lilavathi kalyanam, tenali arumayya wrote sudarnasa pariyam, paramananda yathendra thirtha composed dottalim satakamu, mannaru satakamu, viveka chintamani are some of the outstanding telugu works of his times.vedakavi's vidyaparinayam a dance- drama was being staged during the annual festival at anandavalli amman temple. a tamil work by name shivaji charitram was attributed to his period even though serfoji 1 married three wives sulochana bai of ghatge family, rajes bai of sirke family and aparoopa bai, he did not beget a son. he was strict disciplinarian and spared none whether high or low for any breach of rules. he imprisoned his own minister, ayyavayan a scholar and poet for illegal use of goverment funds and his rule was praised by his people.
serfoji 1 died issueless in 1728 and was succeeded of his younger brother tukkoji alies tulaja raja 1.

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Maharajah Serfoji 2 memorial hall museum, sadar mahal palace Thanjavur