The Bhonsle (or Bhonsale, Bhosale, Bhosle) are a prominent group within the Maratha clan system of India.
History
Earliest members
The earliest accepted members of the Bhonsles are Mudhoji Bhonsle and his kin Rupaji Bhonsle, who were the village headman (pāṭīl) of Hingani — this branch has been since known as Hinganikar Bhonsles. A branch seem to have split soon, who went on to claim an ancestral right to the post of district steward (deśmukhī) of Kadewalit: Suryaji Bhonsle during the reign of Ahmad Nizam Shah I (early 1490s), and his son Sharafji Bhonsle during the conquest of the region by Daniyal Mirza (1599). Historical records indicate that this shrine received extensive patronage from Maloji onwards. Vajpeyi too advocates that Dhere's theory be probed in greater detail — "[f]rom pastoralist big men to warlords on horseback, is not an impossible distance to cover in two to three centuries." Also, he was often opposed by the orthodox Brahmin community of Maharashtra.
Compelled to postpone his coronation, Shivaji had his secretary Balaji Avji Chitnis sent to the Sisodiya Rajputs of Mewar for inspection of the royal genealogies; Avji returned with a favorable finding — Shahji turned out to be a descendant of Chacho Sisodiya, a half-Rajput uncle of Mokal Singh. People like Chacho were categorized into separate caste-groups at the lower end of the hierarchy—even unfit for inter-dining with—, and excluded from Rajput ganayats. It is very plausible that the idea of coronation was Bhatt's suggestion — during the previous encounter, he had already proclaimed Shivaji to have been born into a "pure royal family".