Peshwa

Peshwa[a] was second highest office in the Maratha Confederacy, next in rank and prestige
only to that of the Chhatrapati. Initially serving as the appointed prime minister in the Maratha
empire, the office became hereditary after the death of Shahu in 1749. During the reign of
Shahu, the office of Peshwa grew in power and the Peshwas came to be the de facto rulers of
the Maratha empire. However following the defeat of the Marathas in 1761, the office of the
Peshwa became titular as well and from that point onwards served as the ceremonial head of
the Confederacy underneath the Chhatrapati.[1]
 Peshwa

Flag

Last to serve
Baji Rao II
6 December 1796 – 3 June 1818

Residence Shaniwar Wada,

Pune (1732–1818)
Bithur, Kanpur
(1818–57)
 Appointer Chhatrapati (until
1751)
Hereditary (1751–
1818)

Formation 1674

First holder Moropant Trimbak

Pingle

Final holder Baji Rao II

Nana Saheb II
(tituler)

Abolished 3 June 1818 (de jure)

16 July 1857 (de
facto)

All Peshwas during the rule of Shivaji, Sambhaji and Rajaram belonged to Deshastha Brahmin
community.[2][3] The first Peshwa was Moropant Pingle, who was appointed as the head of
the Ashta Pradhan (council of eight ministers) by Shivaji the founder of the Maratha Empire.
The initial Peshwas were all ministers who served as the chief executives to the king. The
later Peshwas held the highest administrative office and also controlled the Maratha
confederacy. Under the Chitpavan Brahmin Bhat family, the Peshwas became the de facto
hereditary administrators of the Confederacy. The Peshwa's office was most powerful under
Baji Rao I (r. 1720–1740). Under Peshwa administration and with the support of several key
generals and diplomats, the Maratha Empire reached its zenith, ruling major areas of India.
The subsequent Peshwas brought in autonomy and as a result later on many states were
controlled and administered by the Maratha chiefs such as Scindias and Gaekwads.

In 1760, the peace of Peshwa government was broken by a rising of Kolis under their Naik
Javji Bamble. Javji withdrew to the hills and organised a series of gang robberies, causing
widespread terror and misery throughout the country. For twenty years he held out bravely,
defeating and killing the generals the Peshwa's Government sent against him. At last he was
so hotly pursued that, on the advice of Dhondo Gopal, the Peshwa's governor at Nasik, he
surrendered all his forts to Tukoji Holkar and, through Holkar's influence, was pardoned and
placed in military and police charge of a district of sixty villages with powers of life and death
outlaws. In 1798, a fresh disturbance took place among the Kolis. The leader of this outbreak
was Ramji Naik Bhangria, who was an abler and more daring man than his predecessors, and
succeeded in baffling all the efforts of the Government officers to seize him. As force seemed
hopeless, the Government offered Ramji a pardon and gave him an important police post.[4]

First use

Malik Ambar, Peshwa of the

Ahmadnagar Sultanate

The word Peshwa is from Persian ‫ پیشوا‬pēshwā, meaning "foremost, leader".[5] The term was
inherited from the political vocabulary of previous Persianate empires operating in the
Deccan. As early as 1397, the Bahmani Sultanate designated its prime minister as "peshwa".
In the 16th and 17th centuries, this practice was continued by the Ahmednagar Sultanate and
the Bijapur Sultanate, both successor states of the Bahmani Sultanate.[6] After the coronation
of Shivaji in 1674, he appointed Moropant Trimbak Pingle[7] as his first Peshwa. Shivaji
renamed this designation as Pantpradhan in 1674 but this term was less commonly used.
Moropant Trimbak Pingale's son, Nilopant Moreshvar Pingale, succeeded him during
Sambhaji's rule after Moropant Pingle's death in 1683.[8]

Ramchandra Pant Amatya

(Bawadekar)

Extent of the Maratha Confederacy,

1795

Ramchandra Amatya recaptured many forts from the Mughals between 1690 and 1694,
some in person, as well as personally conducting guerilla war techniques. When Rajaram I
fled to Jinji in 1689, before leaving Maharashtra, he gave "Hukumat panha" (King Status) to
Pant. Ramchandra Pant managed the entire state under many challenges such as the Mughal
influx, the betrayal of Vatandars, and scarcity of food. With his help, Sachiv kept the Maratha
State on a sound economic footing.[9]
Bhat Family
The Maratha war of succession between Tara Bai and Shahu resulted in latter's victory and
assumption of Maratha throne as Chhatrapati. In 1713, Shahu appointed Balaji Vishwanath
(Bhat), as Peshwa. The appointment of Balaji's son, Baji Rao I, as Peshwa in 1719 by Shahu
made the position hereditary in the Bhat family. Baji Rao proved his loyalty by controlling the
feudal chieftains who wanted independence from the Maratha Empire. The rebellion of
General Trimbak Rao Dabhade, the senapati (commander in chief), over Chauthai (revenue
collection) of Gujarat is one example of such internal Maratha feuds. The followers of Baji
and Trimbak clashed at the Battle of Bilhapur on 1 April 1731, and Trimbak was killed. In
gratitude, Shahu gave the Peshwas and the Bhat family unchallenged control over Maratha
empire.[10] who also appointed Baji Rao's son as Peshwa in 1740, gave considerable authority
to the Peshwas to command the Maratha armies, and they responded well during his reigns.

At the time of his death in 1749, Shahu made the Peshwas his successors under these
conditions: Shivaji's descendants, who remained as the titular Raja of Satara, were called
Swami (Marathi for the 'real owner') by the Peshwas who reported to them, and officially they
were to seek guidance from the Raja. However, the Peshwa also became a ceremonial head
of state after the battle of Panipat and the death of Madhavrao.

Legacy
The first Peshwa to receive the status of a pantpradhan was Ramchandra Pant Amatya
Bawdekar in 1689 by Rajaram. The first (Bhat) Deshmukh family Peshwa was Balaji
Vishwanath (Bhat) Deshmukh. He was succeeded as Peshwa by his son Baji Rao I, who never
lost a battle. Baji Rao and his son, Balaji Baji Rao, oversaw the period of greatest[11] Maratha
expansion, brought to an end by the Marathas' defeat by an Afghan army at the Third Battle of
Panipat in 1761. The last Peshwa, Baji Rao II, was defeated by the British East India Company
in the Battle of Khadki which was a part of Third Anglo-Maratha War (1817–1818). The
Peshwa's land (Peshwai) was annexed to the British East India Company's Bombay province,
and Bajirao II, the Peshwa was pensioned off.
Statue of Balaji Vishwanath, the first
Peshwa from the Bhat family, at
Shrivardhan, Raigad district, Maharashtra,
India.

Statue of Bajirao I, the second Peshwa

from the Bhat family, outside Shaniwar
Wada, Pune, Maharashtra, India.
Shaniwar Wada's Delhi Gate. It was the seat
of the Peshwas at Pune, Maharashtra,
India.

List of Peshwas
Sr. Name Reign Began C.E. Reign Ended C.E.

1 Moropant Trimbak Pingle 1674 1683

2 Nilakanth Moreshvar Pingale 1683 1689

3 Ramchandra Pant Amatya 1689 1708

4 Bahiroji Pingale 1708 1711

5 Parshuram Trimbak Kulkarni 1711 1713

Hereditary Peshwas from Bhat
family

Reign Reign
Sr. Name Particulars Began Ended Portrait
C.E. C.E.

Balaji
Vishwanath
Assisted the Syed Brothers in deposing the
6 (Sixth 1713 1720
Mughal Emperor Farrukhsiyar in 1719
appointed
Peshwa)

Known as Thorle (elder) Bajirao and

acknowledged as the most influential of the nine
Peshwas. Said to have fought for the
establishment of "Hindu Pad Padshahi"(Hindu
Empire). Helped conquer Central India (Malwa)
Baji Rao I
and Rajputana and extended his dominions into
(Seventh
7 Gujarat in the northwest and Deccan in the 1720 1740
appointed
south. Attacked Delhi in 1737. Fought in over 41
Peshwa)
battles and is one of the few to have never lost a
single battle. Died at the age of 40 of sudden
fever in camp en route to Delhi; he has been
commemorated in the form of an equestrian
statue erected at Shaniwar Wada in Pune.

8 Balaji Bajirao Known as Nanasaheb Peshwa. Managed to 1740 1761

(Eighth extend the Maratha territories into most of
appointed North-West, East and Central India. Captured
Peshwa) Attock on the banks of the Indus River and
Peshawar in 1758 in the Battle of Attock. Under
his leadership, the Maratha Empire reached its
peak but his general and cousin lost the Third
Battle of Panipat against Ahmad Shah Abdali in
1761. Contributed to the development of the city
of Pune which was the seat of the Peshwas.
 Built the famous Parvati Temple, Lakdi Pool and
established Nana Peth (area) in Pune. Built a
water reservoir near Katraj to provide clean
water to Pune city; this 250-year-old system is
still functioning.

Fraught with internal dissensions and

successful Wars with the Nizam. During his
tenure, Maratha power recovered from the
losses suffered during the Third Battle of
Madhav-Rao Panipat, a phenomenon known as Maratha
I (First Resurrection. Repaired the recently weakened
9 1761 1772
hereditary administration, treasury, and accounts of the
Peshwa) Maratha Empire. He died of tuberculosis in 1772;
a memorial commemorating his greatness
stands at Peshwe Park in Pune. One of the
theory says that he was assassinated by her
aunt, Anandi Bai (wife of Raghunath Rao).

Assassinated by Gardi guards. Raghunath Rao

was in favor of just kidnapping him but Anandi
Bai (wife of Raghunath Rao) decided to kill him.
10 Narayan-Rao 1772 1773
Narayan Rao was assassinated in Shanivar
Wada. Nowadays, it is considered one of the
haunted place in Maharashtra.

Responsible for extending the Maratha empire

to the zenith in the North as a General and also
Raghunath- saw the decline of Maratha power in North India.
11 1773 1774
Rao Deposed by Nana Phadnis and 11 other
administrators in what is now called "The
Barbhai Conspiracy".

Appointed Peshwa as an infant with a council of

Maratha Generals and ministers as regents. Era
Madhav-Rao
12 dominated by the political intrigues of Nana 1774 1796
II
Phadnis. Saw the resurgence of Maratha power
in North India.
 1st Reign – Was defeated by Yashwantrao
Holkar, ruler of Indore, at the Battle of Poona.
Fled to British protection, and in December 1802,
concluded the Treaty of Bassein with the British
13 Baji Rao II East India Company, ceding territory for the 1796 1802
maintenance of a subsidiary force and agreeing
to treaty with no other power. This provoked the
Second Anglo-Maratha War that began the
breakup of the Maratha confederacy.

Amrut
Rao[12][13]
(Appointed Appointed Peshwa by Yashwantrao Holkar after
– as Peshwa defeating Baji Rao II and Daulat Rao Sindhia in 1802 1803
by Battle of Poona.
Yashwantrao
Holkar)

2nd Reign – During his second reign began the

Third Anglo-Maratha War. After the defeat at the
Battle of Koregaon in January 1818, he was on
the run from the British. Eventually, the British
took over his dominion and made the Maratha
13 Baji Rao II 1803 1851
King Pratap Singh of Satara declare in favour of
the British. This ended the Peshwa's legal
position as head of the Maratha confederacy. On
3 June 1818, Baji Rao surrendered to the British;
he was banished to Bithur near Kanpur.

Nana Sahib
Was a leader during the Indian Uprising of 1857.
(Pretender
As the adopted son of the exiled Maratha
14 to the 1851 1857
Peshwa Baji Rao II, he sought to restore the
position of
Maratha confederacy and the Peshwa tradition.
Peshwa)

in 1864 he captured Pune from Britishers

15 Bajirao III 1859 1896
mentioned in Pune piller
Notable generals and
diplomats

His Highness Shrimant Sawai

Madhavrao Peshwa or Madhav Rao II
Narayan and his Prime minister Nana
Phadnavis, with two attendants at
Pune.

Khando Ballal Chitnis

Javji Bamble
Annaji Datto Sachiv
Balaji Kunjar
Bapu Gokhale
Govind Pant Bundela
Ibrahim Khan Gardi
Mahadaji Shinde
Malhar Rao Holkar
Nana Phadnawis
Niranjan Madhav Parasnis
Parshuram Pant Pratinidhi
Sakharam Hari Gupte
Pilaji Rao Gaekwad
Ranoji Scindia
Sadashivrao Bhau
Santaji Ghorpade
Shamsher Bahadur
Visaji Krushna Biniwale
In popular culture

Kaustubh Kasture has written a book in

marathi titled "Peshwai-
Maharashtrachya Itihasatil Ek
Suvarnapan" based on Peshwai.[14]
Pramod Oak has written a book in
marathi titled "Peshwe Gharanyacha
Itihas" where he gave detailed
information about Peshwas of Bhat
family.[15]

See also

Chivhe Koli
Maratha titles
Maratha clan system
 List of Maratha dynasties and states
Peshawe Family
List of people involved in the Maratha
Empire

Notes

a. (pronunciation: [pe(ː)ʃʋaː])

References

1. Jaswant Lal Mehta (1 January 2005).

Advanced Study in the History of Modern
India 1707–1813 (https://books.google.c
om/books?id=d1wUgKKzawoC&pg=PR
5) . Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd. p. 314.
ISBN 978-1-932705-54-6.

2. Prasad 2007, p. 88.

3. Vasant S. Kadam (1993). Maratha
Confederacy: A Study in Its Origin and
Development (https://books.google.com/
books?id=ulFuAAAAMAAJ) . Munshiram
Manoharlal Publishers. p. 49.
ISBN 9788121505703. "Under Shivaji the
Great, Sambhaji and Rajaram all the
incumbents of the office of Peshwa were
from the Deshastha (residing in the Desh
area of Maharashtra) subcaste of the
Brahmans."

4. Hassan, Syed Siraj ul (1989). The Castes

and Tribes of H.E.H. the Nizam's
Dominions. New Delhi, India: Asian
Educational Services. p. 333. ISBN 978-
81-206-0488-9.

5. under Jahangir, M. Learning focus.

Longman History & Civics ICSE 7, 84.
 6. Eaton, Richard Maxwell (2005). A social
history of the Deccan, 1300–1761 : eight
Indian lives (https://www.worldcat.org/ocl
c/58431679) . Cambridge, UK: Cambridge
University Press. p. 185. ISBN 0-521-
25484-1. OCLC 58431679 (https://www.w
orldcat.org/oclc/58431679) .

7. Kulkarni 1996, p. 47.

8. Joshi 1980, p. 112.
9. Surendranath Sen, Surendra Nath Sen
(1993). Studies in Indian History:
Historical Records at Goa (https://books.g
oogle.com/books?id=VLEo_DUL9XgC&pg
=PA42) . Asian Educational Services.
p. 42. ISBN 9788120607736.

10. Encyclopædia Britannica, Micropædia Vol.

II, p17
11. Shirgaonkar, Varsha S. "Peshwyanche
Vilasi Jeevan" (Luxurious Life of
Peshwas). Continental Prakashan, Pune
(2012). ISBN 8174210636. In Marathi.

12. Wg Cdr (Retd.) Dr. M. S. Narawane, Battles

of the Honourable East India Company. pg
65

13. Jadunath Sarkar, Fall of the Mughal

Empire:1789–1803. pg 179

14. "पेशवाई [Peshwai]" (https://www.goodread

s.com/book/show/29345449-peshwai) .

15. "Peshve Gharanyacha Itihas" (https://conti

nentalprakashan.com/index.php?id_produ
ct=1597&controller=product&id_lang=1&s
earch_query=Pramod+oak&results=7) .
Bibliography

Kulkarni, A.R (1996). Marathas and the

Marathas Country: The Marathas (http
s://books.google.com/books?id=kyBu
AAAAMAAJ) . Books & Books.
ISBN 9788185016504.
Joshi, Pandit Shankar (1980).
Chhatrapati Sambhaji, 1657–1689 A.D
(https://books.google.com/books?id=9
ngBAAAAMAAJ) . s.chand.

Retrieved from
"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Peshwa&oldid=1214032549"
This page was last edited on 16 March 2024, at
15:43 (UTC). •
Content is available under CC BY-SA 4.0 unless
otherwise noted.