|Original kingdom||Mewar (Udaipur)|
|Other kingdoms||Maratha Empire, Satara, Kolhapur, Thanjavur, Nagpur, Akkalkot and Sawantwadi|
|Nishan||Rudra on flagpole|
|Clan God||Mahadev (Khanderao)|
|Clan goddess||Tulja Bhavani|
|Devak||Panch Pallava, Rui tree (Giant Milkweed tree)|
|Locations||Maharashtra, Karnataka and Thanjavur.|
The most prominent member of the royal clan was Shivaji, the founder of the Maratha Empire. His successors ruled as Chhatrapatis (Emperors/Maharajas) from their capital at Satara, although de facto rule of the empire passed to the Peshwas, the Maratha hereditary chief ministers, during the reign of Shahu I. In addition to the Bhonsle Maharajas of Satara, rulers of the Bhonsle clan established themselves at Nagpur and Kolhapur in modern-day Maharashtra in the 18th century. The Bhonsle of Thanjavur were descendants of Shivaji's stepbrother Venkoji, while the Bhonsle of Satara and Kolhapur were descended from Shivaji's sons, Sambhaji and Rajaram.
After the British defeat of the Marathas in the Third Anglo-Maratha War in 1818, the Marathas were forced to accept British rule. The four Bhonsle dynasties continued as rulers of their princely states, acknowledging British sovereignty while retaining local autonomy. The states of Nagpur, Thanjavur, and Satara came under direct British rule in the mid-nineteenth century when their rulers died without male heirs. Kolhapur state remained autonomous until India's independence in 1947, when the rulers acceded to the Indian government.
Some historical accounts state that Shahaji and Shivaji were of Rajput descent. These include Pandit Ganga Bhatt of Varanasi, who had been hired for the purpose by Shivaji, and in 1674 presented a genealogy tracing Shivaji's ancestry to the Suryavanshi Kshatriya Sisodia of Mewar.
Scholars such as Jadunath Sarkar have contested Shivaji's Rajput origin, saying that it was a fabrication required during his coronation. Others, such as C. V. Vaidya, do not accept this and point to works authored before his rise that refer to the connection. For example. the Radha Madhav Vilas Champu, written by the poet Jayaram, mentions Shahji Bhosle, the father of Shivaji, as being a Sisodia Rajput and Shahji's letter to Sultan Adil Shah in 1641 refers to the Bhonsle as Rajputs. The discovery of Persian Farmans in the 1920s also dented the claim of those such as Sarkar. The documents bear seals and tughra of Bahmani and Adil Shahi sultans and establish the direct descent of Shivaji and Ghorpade with that of Sisodia of Chittod.
Knights, Regents and Monarchs
- Maloji Bhosale (1552–1597), father of Shahaji who served as a knight for the Ahmadnagar Sultanate
- Shahaji (1594–1664), father of Shivaji who served as a knight for the Ahmadnagar Sultanate and later the Adilshahi of Bijapur
- Shivaji (1630–1680), first Chhatrapati of the Maratha realm
- Sambhaji (1657–1689), son of Shivaji and his successor as Chhatrapati
- Rajaram Chhatrapati (1670–1700), second son of Shivaji; succeeded Sambhaji as Chhatrapati
- Tarabai (1675–1761), commander of Maratha forces after the death of her husband Rajaram in 1700; regent for her son Shivaji II until first being deposed by Shahu I and then by her husband's other widow, Rajasbai.
Other Maharajas of the Dynasty include:
House of Satara
- Shahu I (1708–1749), son of Sambhaji I, became Chhatrapati in 1708 after defeating his aunt Tarabai in a war of succession.
- Ramaraja (1749–1777), grandson of Rajaram and Tarabai; adopted son of Shahu I.
- Shahu II of Satara (1777–1808), son of Ramaraja.
- Pratap Singh
House of Kolhapur
- Shivaji II of Maratha Realm, later Shivaji I of Kolhapur (1700–1714); imbecile son of Rajaram and Tarabai
- Sambhaji II (1714–1760): His mother, Rajasbai, the second wife of Rajaram, deposed Tarabai's son Shivaji II and put her own son on the Kolhapur throne.
- Shivaji II (1760–1812) (adopted from the family of Khanwilkar)
- Shahaji I (1822–1838)
- Shivaji III (1830–1866)
- Rajaram I (1866–1870) (adopted from the family of Patankar)
- Shivaji IV (1870–1883)
- Shahu I (1883–1922) (adopted from the family of Ghatge of Kagal)
- Rajaram II (1922–1940)
- Shivaji V (1940–1946)
- Shahaji II (1946–1983)
- Shahu II (1983–Present)
- Raghoji I (1738–1755)
- Janoji (1755–1772)
- Mudhoji I (1772–1788)
- Raghoji II (1788–1816)
- Mudhoji II (1816–1818)
- Raghoji III (1818–1853)
Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu
- Shahaji Raje (1594–1664)
- Ekoji I (1676–1684) half-brother of Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj
- Shahuji I of Thanjavur
- Serfoji I
- Ekoji II
- Shahuji II of Thanjavur
- Pratapsingh of Thanjavur
- Thuljaji became vassal of the East India Company
- Serfoji II (1798–1832)
- Shivaji of Thanjavur (1832–1855). After his death, the state was absorbed by the East India Company
- H. S. Sardesai (2002). Shivaji, the great Maratha, Volume 2. Genesis Publishing Pvt Ltd. p. 428. ISBN 9788177552843.
- Sumitra Kulkarni, The Satara Raj, 1818-1848: A Study in History, Administration, and Culture, p. 44
- N. S. Karandikar, Sri Swami Samarth, Maharaj of Akkalkot, p. 66
- Mário Cabral e Sá, Lourdes Bravo da Costa Rodrigues Great Goans: Francisco Luis Gomes; Raulu Chatim; Monsignor S. Rodolfo Dalgado; Frank Moraes; Angelo Fonseca; Vassudeva Madeva Salgaocar, p. 114
- Rajarshi Shahu Chhatrapati Papers: 1900-1905 A.D.: new government policies, p. 123
- S. K. Mhamai Sawants of Wadi: Coastal Politics in 18th and 19th Centuries
- Busch, Allison (2011). Poetry of Kings: The Classical Hindi Literature of Mughal India. Oxford University Press. p. 191. ISBN 978-0-19-976592-8.
- Shiri Ram Bakshi (1998). Sharad Pawar, the Maratha legacy. APH Publishing. pp. 25–. ISBN 978-81-7648-007-9. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
- Bhatia, H. S. (2001). Mahrattas, Sikhs and Southern Sultans of India: Their Fight Against Foreign Power (2nd ed.). Deep & Deep. ISBN 9788171003693. Retrieved 2012-08-31.
- Gadre, Prabhakar. Bhosle of Nagpur and East India Company. Retrieved 2012-12-27.