Tamilnadu · Part 2

by Daud Khan, succeeded in taking over Senji. During the Mughal expedition against Senji, a Bundela Rajput chieftain, Swarup Singh was employed as Kiladar (fort commandant) of Senji in . In due course Swarup Singh gained control over the entire Senji. After his death in , his son Tej Singh (Desinghu) assumed the governorship of Senji. Desinghu refused to pay tribute to the Mughal emperor and invited the wrath of Nawab Sadat-ul-lah Khan. In the ensuing battle Raja Desinghu, who was only twenty two years old then, was killed. His young wife committed sati. The gallantry displayed by the daring Rajput youth against the Nawab is immortalized in many popular ballads in Tamil. Senji Fort XI History - Lesson - - The Marathas ranging from residential arrangements for students and innovations in curriculum and pedagogy. But his most important proposal was a project submitted to the English colonial government in , urging it to sponsor free schools for Indian children, for instruction in Tamil and English. This was at a time when English education was not available to non- Christian Indians. Thomas Munro, governor of Madras, proposed a scheme for elementary public schools in the 1820s, but the Company government did not establish a modern school for natives in Madras till . In contrast, from the start, the German missionaries had run several free vernacular and English schools in the southern provinces since . Serfoji II was in advance of both the missionary and the colonial state, for as early as in Thanjavur he had established the Venkoji crowned himself king, and Maratha rule began in Thanjavur in . When Shivaji invaded the Carnatic in , he removed Venkoji and placed his half-brother Santaji on the throne. But Venkoji recaptured Thanjavur and, after his death, his son Shahji became the ruler of Thanjavur kingdom. Shaji had no heir to succeed. So his brother Serfoji I became the next ruler and remained in power for sixteen years ( - ). After him one of his brothers Tukkoji succeeded him, followed by Pratap Singh ( - ), whose son Thuljaji ruled up