Tamilnadu · Part 3

to . Serfoji II aged , was then crowned, with Thuljoji‘s brother Amarsingh acting as Regent. Disputing this succession, the English thrust an agreement on Serfoji II, according to which the latter was forced to cede the administration of the kingdom to the British. Serfoji II was the last ruler of the Bhonsle dynasty of the Maratha principality of Thanjavur. Serfoji II Serfoji II was a remarkable ruler. He was educated by the German Christian missionary Friedrich Schwartz, Serfoji. Similarly Serfoji II turned out to be a well-known practitioner of Western science and medicine. Yet he was a devoted, keeper of Indian traditions. He mastered several European languages and had an impressive library of books in every branch of learning. Serfoji’s modernising projects included the establishment of a printing press (the first press for Marathi and Sanskrit) and enrichment of the Saraswati Mahal Library. His most innovative project, however, was the establishment of free modern public schools run by his court, for instruction in English and the vernacular languages. Serfoji II found in his contemporary missionary scholar C.S. John in Tranquebar, an innovator in education. John carried out reforms and experiments in schooling Serfoji II The Saraswati Mahal library, built by the Nayak rulers and enriched by Serfoji II contains a record of the day-to-day proceedings of the Maratha court - as Modi documents, French-Maratha correspondence of the th century. Modi was the script used to write the Marathi language. It is a treasure house of rare manuscripts and books in many languages Saraswati Mahal library XI History - Lesson - - The Marathas Serfoji’s strategic initiatives in modern education enabled the Thanjavur court elite and subjects to enter and benefit from the emerging colonial social and economic order. The court officials, mostly Brahmins, trained in European knowledge, technologies and arts became leading agents of colonial modernity, equal to the English- educated dubashe s, writers and interpreters, both Hindu and Christian, who mediated between the Europeans and Indian courts. Two of Serfoji’s pandits (one of them was Kottaiyur Sivakolundu Desigar) joined the Company’s College of Fort