Background
Maloji was born in 1552 to Babaji Raje Bhonsle (d 1597), a patil of the Hingni Berdi and Devalgaon villages around Pune.
Maloji was born in 1552 to Babaji Raje Bhonsle (d 1597), a patil of the Hingni Berdi and Devalgaon villages around Pune.
The family belonged to the Bhonsle Maratha clan, and claimed descent from the Suryavanshi Sisodia Rajput royal family of Udaipur. Maloji had a younger brother, Vithoji. The Jadhavs provided military service to the Ahmednagar Sultanate.
Maloji married Uma Bai (also known as Dipa Bai), the sister of Jagpalrao Nimbalkar, who was the deshmukh of Phaltan.
He had two sons: Shahaji and Sharifji. This irked Lakhuji, who considered Maloji to be a non-noble Shiledar.
He dismissed Maloji from his services. Later, Nimbalkar"s influence and the rising status of the Bhosale family helped Shahaji marry Jijabai.
According to one account, Maloji and Vithoji once found a treasure while tilling a field and became rich.
They raised a small troop, and briefly harassed Lakhuji. In 1577, like the Nimbalkars, the two brothers joined the service of the Ahmednagar Sultanate, under Murtaza Nizam Shah I. Maloji became a trusted aide of Malik Amber, who rose to the Prime Ministership of the Ahmadnagar Sultanate. Maloji"s cousins, the Ghorpades of Mudhol, also became successful noblemen, serving the rival Sultanate of Bijapur.
In 1595 or 1599, Maloji was given the title of raja by Bahadur Nizam Shah II, the ruler of the Ahmednagar Sultanate.
On the recommendation of Malik Ambar, he was given the jagir of Pune and Supe parganas, along with the control of the Shivneri and Chakan forts. Maloji carried out the restoration of the Grishneshwar temple near Verul, and also constructed a large tank at the Shambhu Mahadev temple in Shingnapur.
Maloji died during a battle against the Bijapur Sultanate, at Indapur. Other accounts put the year of his death as 1620 or 1622.
