# Serfoji II

Serfoji II (Tamil: இரண்டாம் சரபோஜி ராஜா போன்ஸ்லே, Marathi: शरभोजी राजे भोसले (दुसरे)) (24 September 1777 – 7 March 1832), or Sarabhoji II Bhonsle, was the last sovereign ruler of the Maratha principality of Thanjavur. He ruled from 1787 until 1793, and then again from 1798 until his death in 1832. Adopted by the previous ruler Thulaja, he eventually was nominated as his successor. During his reign, his powers were ceded to the British East India Company, leaving him and his descendants as titular Maharajas of Thanjavur. He was part of the Maratha Bhonsle dynasty.
He is celebrated for his contributions to art and culture during his time. He has also made significant contributions to opthalmology.

## Early life

Serfoji was born on 24 September 1777 in the Bhonsale royal house of Shivaji I. King Thuljaji, the king of Thanjavur formally adopted him on 23 January 1787, and his education was entrusted to the Danish missionary Christian Friedrich Schwarz. Thuljaji died soon afterwards and his half-brother Amar Singh who had earlier been appointed regent to the boy-king usurped the throne in 1793. Amar Singh denied Serfoji the privilege of basic education. Christian Schwarz intervened and sent him to Madras where he was educated by Wilhelm Gericke of the Lutheran Mission. His early education begun at Civilian Orphan Asylum, now known as St. George School on Poonamalle High Road, Chennai from 1793-1797. Soon, he became proficient in Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Sanskrit, French, German, Danish, Greek, Dutch and Latin.
The British intervened against Amar Singh and placed him on the throne on 23 June 1798. Subsequently, the administration of Thanjavur was given over to the British entirely under the Treaty of 1799. Serfoji retained only a limited administration of the Thanjavur Fort and its surrounding area. In return, Serfoji became entitled to one-fifth of the state's land revenue and an annual pension of 100,000 star pagodas.

## Reign and administration

During Serfoji's reign which lasted from 1798 until his death in 1832, for the first time, the proceedings of the Tanjore durbar were recorded in paper. The Delta region was divided into five districts each under a Subedar Administrative Heads . And created a strong Advisory Board with 6 Intelligent peoples, later who served as administration heads of five divided districts. Cultivable lands yielded good profits and the judiciary system was highly efficient and praiseworthy.
Serfoji is also credited with having built a lot of chathrams or rest houses for weary pilgrims. These pilgrims received free boarding and lodging and their needs were taken care of by the State. In all Serfoji built three important chathrams, including one at Orathanadu.

### Contribution to the Sarasvati Mahal Library

The Sarasvati Mahal Library was founded as a Palace Library by the Nayak kings of Thanjavur (1535–1675), it was however Serfoji who enriched it with priceless works, maps, dictionaries, coins and artwork.
The bibliophile that he was, he purchased around 4000 books from different parts of the world and enriched his library with his enormous book collection. Medical treatises, in the library collection contained his remarks alongside, in English. His library included treatises on Vedanta, grammar, music, dance and drama, architecture, astronomy, medicine, training of elephants and horses, etc. Serfoji set up the first Devanagari printing press in South India, using stone letters. He sent many Pundits including Aarur Swai ||ANIRUDRA|| Thyagarajar Iyer and puthukotai Adhi Nayagam Pillai far and wide and collected huge number of books and manuscripts for this Library. All the books in the library carry his personal autograph in English.
Serfoji was open-minded and tolerant of other faiths. He liberally funded churches and schools run by Christian missionaries. He was also a patron of Thanjavur Bade Hussein Durgah.
Apart from these, the Library contains a record of the day-to-day proceedings of the Maratha court known as the Modi documents, French-Maratha correspondence of the 18th century.
The Encyclopædia Britannica in its survey of the libraries of the world mentions this as "perhaps the most remarkable library in India".
The Library is situated in the centre of Nayak palace and it was opened for public in 1918. There is also a small museum there for the visitors.

### Educational reforms

Serfoji founded a school called Navavidhya Kalanidhi Sala where languages, literature, the sciences and arts and crafts were taught in addition to the Vedas and shastras. Serfoji maintained close ties with the Danes at Tarangambadi and visited their schools quite often and appreciated their way of functioning. Impressed, he tried to implement European methods of teachings and education all over his Empire.
Serfoji assembled a stone type printing press in 1805, called "Nava Vidya Kalasala Varnayantra" which was the first to use the Devanagari script in southern India. Its purpose was to produce copies of great European works for public circulation in the country. It is said that Sir Alexander Johnston, the Chief Justice of Ceylon requested a book from the printing press and in return, received a Marathi translation of Aesop's Fables.

### Civic amenities

Serfoji constructed ten water tanks and a number of wells for civic use. He implemented an underground drainage system for the whole of Thanjavur city.

### Medicine

Serfoji established the Dhanavantari Mahal, a research institution that produced herbal (indigenous medicine) medicine for humans and animals. The institution also treated sick people and maintained case-sheets which have become famous. Here, physicians of modern medicine, ayurveda, unani and siddha schools have performed research upon drugs and herbs for medical cure and had produced eighteen volumes of research material. Serfoji also had the important herbs studied and catalogued in the form of exquisite hand paintings.
Based on the medical prescriptions stored at the Dhanvanthri Mahal, a set of poems were compiled detailing the procedures to cure various diseases. These poems were collected and published as a book, called Sarabhendra Vaidhya Muraigal.

### Ophthalmology

In September 2003, during a meeting between Dr. Badrinath and Shivaji Rajah Bhonsle, the current scion of the royal family of Thanjavur and sixth in line from King Serfoji II, the existence of 200-year-old manuscripts in the Saraswathi Mahal library, containing records of the ophthalmic surgical operations believed to have been performed by Prince Serfoji II, came to light Serfoji II regularly carried a surgical kit with him, wherever he went and performed cataract surgeries. Seforji's "operations" have been recorded in detail in English with detailed case histories of the patients he operated. These manuscripts form a part of the collection at the Saraswathi Mahal Library.

### Zoological garden

Serfoji created the first Zoological Garden in Tamil Nadu in the Thanjavur palace premises.

### Shipping

Serfoji erected a shipyard at Manora, around fifty kilometers from Thanjavur. Serfoji also established a meteorological station to facilitate trade. He had a gun factory, a naval library and a naval store with all kinds of navigational instruments.
Serfoji was also keenly interested in painting, gardening, coin-collecting, martial arts and patronized chariot-racing, hunting and bull-fighting.

### Contribution to arts and music

Serfoji was a patron of traditional Indian arts like dance and music. He authored famous works like "Kumarasambhava Champu", "Mudrarakshaschaya" and "Devendra Kuruvanji" and introduced western musical instruments like clarinet and violin in Carnatic Music. Serfoji is also credited with inaugurating and popularising if not inventing the unique Thanjavur style of painting.

### Construction and renovation activities

The five story Sarjah Mahadi in the Thanjavur palace and the Manora Fort Tower at Saluvanayakanpattinam were constructed in Serfoji's reign. He installed lightning rods at the top of these monuments and had the history of the Bhonsle Dynasty inscribed on the south-western wall of the Brihadeeswara Temple. It is considered to be the lengthiest inscription in the world. Serfoji also renovated and reconstructed several existing temples like the Brihadeeswara Temple apart from building new ones. He was also an ardent philanthropist and a member of the Royal Asiatic Society.

### Pilgrimage to Kasi

In 1820-21, Serfoji embarked on a pilgrimage to Kasi along with a retinue of 3,000 disciples and camp-followers. He encamped at several places along the route, giving away alms to the needy and the poor and engaging himself in acts of charity. He was also involved in the renovation of several holy places. Memories of the pilgrimage have survived to the present day in the paintings of the bathing ghats on the Ganges and the different holy sites commissioned by him.

## Death

Serfoji II died on 7 March 1832 after a reign of almost 40 years (His first reign was from 1787 to 1793 and his second reign was from 1798 to 1832). His death was mourned throughout the empire and his funeral procession was attended by over 90,000 people.

## Legacy

In the history of pre-Victorian India, Serfoji's name often pops up at the first instance. He was a great savant and humanist, a man who was far ahead of his times. During his time, Thanjavur was one of the most developed princely states in the Indian subcontinent. While many rajahs were engrossed in fighting and civil wars, Serfoji ushered in an era of peace, prosperity and scientific development and pioneered new administrative and educational reforms. His vision helped Thanjavur forge ahead of other princely states and advance into a new age and emerge as a fitting competitor to European nations. Above all, he was an enlightened and educated soul; the quintessential Indian maharajah of the British colonial era who was at home with both Latin as well as Sanskrit and could converse and compile literary works in both Tamil as well as English.
At his funeral, a visiting missionary, Rev. Bishop Heber observed:
   I have seen many crowned heads, but not one whose deportment was more princely.