Everything You Need to Know About the Gaikwad Caste, Heritage, and Famous Figures

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The transformation of the clan from Deccan military commanders into an independent royal house unfolded during the expansion of the Maratha Empire in the early 18th century. General Pilaji Rao Gaekwad led Maratha cavalry units into Gujarat during the 1720s, wresting control from weakening Mughal viceroys. He secured Songadh as an administrative base, eventually shifting regional sovereignty to Vadodara and founding the Royal house of Baroda.

Under the Maratha Confederacy overseen by the Peshwas in Pune, the Gaekwads served as autonomous rulers rather than subordinate governors. The family adopted the royal spelling "Gaekwad," establishing treaties, fielding armies, and minting their own coinage.

Pilaji Rao Gaekwad (Founder, Baroda State c. 1721, 1732)

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Damaji Rao Gaekwad (Consolidated Gujarat)

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Subsequent Baroda Rulers & Regents

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Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III (Reigned 1875, 1939)

Architect of modern administration, free education,

and social reform across Western India.

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Modern Descendants & Preserved Heritage

(Lukshmi Villas Palace; Cultural Patron Radhikaraje Gaekwad)

By the time the British East India Company consolidated regional supremacy, Baroda had achieved a 21-gun salute, placing it among the five most prestigious princely states on the subcontinent alongside Hyderabad, Mysore, Jammu & Kashmir, and Gwalior.