The Sagas
The House of Scindia
From Ranojirao's rise under Bajirao I to the guardianship of Delhi, the building of Gwalior, and a modern century of public life. Produced with the Scindia Research Centre.
12 films · Hindi narration · English title cards
Ranojirao, the founder
He came out of Kanherkhed in the service of Bajirao I, carried Maratha power into Malwa, made his seat at Ujjain and raised Mahakaleshwar again. The house he founded would guard Delhi.
Swarajya carried north
Before the Marathas stood outside Delhi, before Mughal power began breaking apart across Malwa, one cavalry commander carried Swarajya past the Narmada.
1761
Panipat broke the empire. One warrior walked out of it wounded and spent the rest of his life putting the pieces back.
The Lion of Panipat
Four brothers martyred in a single day and himself gravely wounded. Everyone agreed the Marathas were finished. Mahadji Scindia disagreed.
After Panipat
Broken is not the same as defeated. The rebuilding of Maratha power after 1761, and the man who carried most of it on his back.
The Architect
Courage had not been enough at Panipat. In 1784 Mahadji handed Benoît de Boigne a brief that would turn Maratha infantry into something Europe had to take seriously.
The army, then the temples
He built India's first complete modern army, and then went back for its temples. The dharmic half of Mahadji's project is the half that gets left out.
Who Delhi answered to
The Mughal emperor still sat on the throne. For years the man he actually answered to was a Maratha. At Burari Ghat, Dattaji Scindia paid for that in blood.
Baiza Bai
She rode at the head of her own troops, struck coins in her own name, and lent the East India Company money she could call in whenever it suited her. They could not beat her or buy her, so they took her throne.
Scindia and Gaekwad
Two houses out of ordinary farming families, two and a half centuries of friendship, and one betrothal that took eighty-three years to complete.
Madho Rao Scindia II
A ruler who built railways, waterworks and institutions, and is remembered far less than the century he shaped.
Jiwajirao Scindia
A tribute on his birth anniversary to one of modern India's more consequential and least discussed princely rulers.