Rule of the Peshwas (1713-1818)
- The Peshwa or the prime minister was the foremost minister in the Ashta Pradhan, the council of ministers of Shivaji.
- The Peshwas gained more powers and became dominant in the eighteenth Century.
- Balaji Viswanath was the first powerful Peshwa.
Peshwa is a Persian word which means “Foremost” or the “First Minister”.
Balaji Viswanath (1713–1720)
- Balaji Viswanath assisted the Maratha emperor Shahu to consolidate his control over the kingdom that had been plagued by a civil war.
- Kanhoji Angre was the most powerful naval chief on the western coast.
- During the civil war Kanhoji had supported Tarabai.
- The Peshwa convinced him of the common danger from the Europeans and secured his loyalty to Shahu.
- The practice of granting jagirs was revived.
- And the office of Peshwa was made hereditary.
Baji Rao I (1720–1740)
- After Balaji Viswanath, his son Baji Rao I was appointed Peshwa in 1720 by Shahu.
- Baji Rao enhanced the power and prestige of the Maratha Empire by defeating the Nizam of Hyderabad, the Rajput Governor of Malwa and the Governor of Gujarat.
- He freed Bundelkhand from the control of Mughals and for this the Marathas got one third of the territories from its ruler.
- The commander-in-chief, Trimbak Rao, who troubled the Peshwa, was defeated and killed in the battle of Dabhai near Baroda in 1731.
- And the Peshwa assumed the office of the commander-in-chief also.
- By the treaty of Warna signed in 1731, Sambhaji of Kolhapur was forced to accept the sovereignty of Shahu.
- Thana, Salsette and Bassein were captured from the Portuguese in 1738 and they were driven out of the Konkan coast.
- At the same time, the English made friendly overtures to the Marathas and got the right to free trade in the Deccan region.
Balaji Baji Rao (1740–1761)
- Balaji Baji Rao succeeded as the Peshwa after the death of his father Baji Rao I.
- Known as Nana Sahib, he proved to be a good administrator and an expert in handling financial matters.
Carnatic Expedition
- Chanda Sahib, son-in-law of the Nawab of Arcot, after capturing Tiruchirappalli threatened to lay siege to Thanjavur.
- Its Maratha ruler appealed to Shahu for help in 1739.
- Responding to this appeal, the Peshwa sent Raghoji Bhonsle (Sahu’s brother-inlaw) to Thanjavur.
- Raghoji Bhonsle defeated and killed the Nawab of Arcot, Dost Ali, in 1740.
- Tiruchirappalli was captured and Chanda Sahib imprisoned.
- As the Peshwa was subsequently engaged in military expeditions in Bundelkhand and Bengal, Mohammed Ali, who succeeded Dost Ali, could easily retake Arcot and recapture Tiruchirappalli in 1743.
- The Peshwa then sent his cousin Sadasiva Rao to the Carnatic.
- Although the authority of the Marathas was re-established, Tiruchirappalli could not be regained.
Battle of Udgir, 1760
- A war of succession broke out after the death of Nizam Asaf Jah in 1748.
- Peshwa supported the eldest son of the Nizam.
- The army sent by Peshwa under Sadasiva Rao won the battle of Udgir in 1760.
- This success marked the climax of Maratha military might.
- The Peshwa took over Bijapur, Aurangabad, Dulatabad, Ahmednagar and Burhanpur.
- The Marathas had brought Rajaputana under their domination after six expeditions between 1741 and 1748.
- In 1751 the Nawab of Bengal had to cede Orissa and pay an annual tribute to the Marathas.
- As the Marathas were always after the Mughal throne they entered Delhi in 1752 to drive out the Afghans and Rohillas from Delhi.
- Imad-ul-Mulk who was made the Wazir with the help of Marathas became a puppet in their hands.
- After bringing the Punjab under their control, they expelled the representative of Ahmad Shah Abdali, the founder of the Durani Empire in Afghanistan.
- A major conflict with Ahmad Shah Abdali became therefore inevitable.
- The Marathas tried to find allies among the powers in the north-west.
- But their earlier deeds had antagonized all of them.
- The Sikhs, Jat chiefs and Muslims did not trust them.
- The Marathas did not help Siraj-ud-Daulah in the battle of Plassey in 1757.
- So no help was forthcoming from Bengal either.
- A move on the part of the Peshwa against the British, both in Karnataka and Bengal, would have probably checked their advance.
- But the Peshwa’s undue interests in Delhi earned the enmity of various regional powers.
- Ahmad Shah Abdali brought about the disaster at Panipat in 1761.