Serfoji I (1675–1728), also called Sarabhoji I, was the son of the Maratha

Maratha

The Maratha are an Indian caste, predominantly in the state of Maharashtra. The term Marāthā has three related usages: within the Marathi speaking region it describes the dominant Maratha caste; outside Maharashtra it can refer to the entire regional population of Marathi-speaking people;...

 ruler of Thanjavur Ekoji I

Ekoji I

Venkoji or Ekoji I was the younger half-brother of Shivaji and founder of Maratha rule in Thanjavur...

 and the Raja

Raja

Raja is an Indian term for a monarch, or princely ruler of the Kshatriya varna...

 of Thanjavur from 1712 to 1728. He was the third Raja of the Bhonsle dynasty

Bhonsle

The Bhonsle were a prominent clan within the Maratha clan system who served as rulers of several states in India.The most prominent member of the clan was Shivaji, the founder of the Maratha empire...

. He consolidated the hold of Marathas over Thanjavur and patronised arts and literature.

The Marava War of Succession

A war of succession broke out in the Marava kingdom in the year 1720. Vijaya Raghunatha, the adopted son of Raja Kilavan had died and a war of succession broke out between two other sons of Kilavan namely Bhavani Shankar and Tanda Teva. Serfoji I supported the cause of Bhavani Shankar and placed him on the throne. But Bhavani Shankar did not fulfill his promise to cede all lands north of the Pambar River

Pambar (Sarpanadi) River

Pambar River, also called Sarpanadi, is a river which flows through the Sivaganga, Pudukkottai and Ramanathapuram districts of Tamil Nadu, India. It originates at Perunganur in Pudukkottai district and flows for about 50 kilometres before joining the Bay of Bengal at Puttukidapatnam. It joins the...

 to Thanjavur. Thanjavur switched sides and began to support another pretender. The Marava army suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Serfoji I. Bhavani Shankar was deposed and the country conquered by Serfoji I. The country was split up into three parts: one part was annexed by Thanjavur while the Zamindar

Zamindar

A Zamindar or zemindar , was an aristocrat, typically hereditary, who held enormous tracts of land and ruled over and taxed the bhikaaris who lived on batavaslam. Over time, they took princely and royal titles such as Maharaja , Raja , Nawab , and Mirza , Chowdhury , among others...

is of Sivaganga

Sivaganga

Sivaganga, also known as Sivagangai, is a town and a municipality in Sivaganga district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the administrative headquarters of Sivaganga district.-Geography:...

 and Ramnad were created out of the other two.

Literature

The reign of Serfoji I was known for literary works of considerable significance. Advaita Kirtana, a Tamil manuscript in the Tanjore library speaks of a breach in the Cauvery dam and refusal of the Madurai Nayak to allow this repair. Drought and famine followed, and then, the necessary repairs were carried out. There is a Sanskrit

Sanskrit

Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...

 manuscript

Manuscript

A manuscript or handwrite is written information that has been manually created by someone or some people, such as a hand-written letter, as opposed to being printed or reproduced some other way...

 named Sarabhoji Charitra which praises the king for fighting with those who came to cut off the Cauvery dam. The reference here has to be traced to an event in the Marava war of succession.

Serfoji I is presented as a pious and charitable monarch. He endowed Brahmanas

Brahmin

Brahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...

 with agraharams like Mangamatam in Tiruverkadu and Sarabhojirajapuram

Sarabhojirajapuram

Sarabhojirajapuram is a village in the Papanasam taluk of Thanjavur district, Tamil Nadu, India. The village was established as an agraharam by the Thanjavur Maratha ruler Serfoji I.- Demographics :...

 in Tirukkadaiyur. Vidyaparinaya written by Vedakavi was enacted in the festival of the Goddess Anandavalli in Thanjavur. It speaks of the marriage of the individual soul with Vidya. Sarabharaja Vilasa and Ratinamanmatha were written by Jagannatha son of a minister of Ekoji. Sivabharata, a Sanskrit manuscript deals with the ancestry and achievements of Shivaji. It was translated into Tamil as Sivajicharitram.

Succession

Serfoji I did not have a legitimate male offspring of his own. However, after his death, a claimant rose in the person of Katturaja who assumed the name Shahuji II and claimed to be an illegitimate offspring of Serfoji II.

Death

Serfoji I died in 1728. One of his queens performed Sati. He was succeeded by his younger brother Tukkoji

Tukkoji

Tukkoji was the fourth Maratha ruler of Thanjavur. He was from the Bhonsle dynasty and was the son of Ekoji I as well as the younger brother of Shahuji I and Serfoji I...

.