GAEKWAR DYNASTY

also spelled Gaikwar, or Gaekwad, Indian ruling family and title of its head whose capital was at Baroda in Gujarat state. The state became a leading power in the 18th-century Maratha confederacy. The founder of the dynasty was Damaji I who had risen to power by 1740. The last Gaekwar, Sayaji Rao III, died in 1939.