Baiza Bai of Marathwada: Women Confederacy & ...

Baiza Bai of Marathwada: Women Confederacy & the British

Author Name : Krishnika Kapoor

DOI: https://doi.org/10.56025/IJARESM.2023.114232153

ABSTRACT

Baiza Bai was a bold Maratha Queen who was also a quick-witted banker of her time. Her life, statecraft, administration, and experiences of the Maratha Empire are a matter of pride. Unfortunately, her unseating was attempted by many, but she still remains amongst many who faced the English invaders, who with her diplomatic skill, secured her empire. Maratha Empire, and its various clans including the Scindia family, was a confederation that rose to dominate much of the Indian Subcontinent. They continued treating women the same as in any period but in the face of political, administrative, or armed predicaments, or denouement of a war, battle, or foreign invasion, women of these Maratha clans have been known to resist, retaliate, and contain the state of affairs.

With the British advance on the Indian soil and into the affairs of kingdoms in India, the Maratha Empire and their internal matters were also necessary for the British to intrude upon to ensure their pre-eminence. This paper will investigate the British interference into the matters of the Scindia Empire of Gwalior and their encounter with Baiza Bai’s regency and deposition. It will also discuss the changes her overthrow brought to their control over Gwalior. It will further investigate how Baiza Bai’s bequest was analogous to that of other notable women of the empire.

Keywords: Women, Baiza Bai, Maratha Empire, British, Scindia