aptured the throne. Serfoji II was restored in 1799 with the assistance of the British who induced him to relinquish the administration of the kingdom and left him in charge of Thanjavur fort and surrounding areas alone. The kingdom was eventually absorbed into British India in 1855 by the Doctrine of Lapse when Shivaji, the last Thanjavur Maratha ruler, died without a legitimate male heir.
Five years after its annexation, the British replaced Negapatam (Nagaippatinam) with Tanjore (Thanjavur) as the seat of the district administration. Under the British, Tanjore emerged as an important regional centre. The 1871 India census recorded a population of 52,171, making Tanjore the third largest town in the Madras Presidency
