The Peshwas

Under Shahu, the Bhat family of Shrivardhan (Raigad) came to prominence and the Chitpavan Brahman Balaji Vishwanath Bhat (1713-1720), who had helped Shahu to strengthen his position, became his Peshwa (prime minister) and brought in the sanads (deeds) of Swaraj, Chauth and Sardeshmukhi from the Mughals. His son, Peshwa Bajirao I (1720-1740), attempted to break the narrow limits of Maharashtra by adopting a forward policy and building Maratha power on the ruins of the Mughal empire. He installed the Maratha sardars in the North, who later developed the Maratha confederacy. Gujarat, Malwa, Bundelkhand came under Maratha control and a new band of sardars such as Shinde, Holkar, Gaikwad and Pawar came to prominence.

Historians regard Bajirao I the founder of Greater Maharashtra, because it was under his reign that Maharashtra became the centre of Indian politics. During his short career, he established Marathi supremacy in the Deccan and political hegemony in the North. His son, Balaji (1740-1761) succeeded him and expanded the Maratha borders to Attack (Punjab). Shahu died in 1749 and his adopted son Ramraja, being incompetent, remained a titular Chhatrapati. The Peshwas thus became the de facto rulers of Maharashtra, and Pune became the centre of Maratha politics. The tragic disaster of the Marathas at Panipat (1761) at the hands of the Afghan ruler, Abdali, temporarily weakened their power but did not destroy it. Madhavrao I (1761-1772), a noble Peshwa, restored Maratha prestige by defeating the enemies and introducing efficient administration. His premature death was a great destabiliser of Maratha power. Grant Duff says, "The plains of Panipat were not more fatal to the Maratha empire than the early end of this excellent prince."

The domestic feuds that ensued led to the murder of the next Peshwa leader, Narayanrao (1773), whose posthumous child, Madhavrao II (1773-1795), managed the affairs of state with the help of the Barbhai council, of which Nana Phadnis and Mahadji Shinde were prominent members. Power thus shifted from the Peshwas to the Karbharis (managers). The English gradually began to intrude into Maratha territory. They were humbled in 1781, but the last Peshwa, Bajirao II (1795-1818) succumbed, and surrendered power in 1818. Mountstuart Elphinstone, the liquidator of Maratha power, then created a Maratha state at Satara by installing Pratap Singh (1793-1847), a descendant of Shahu, on the throne as Raja to win the sympathies of the Marathas. He was deposed in 1839, and his brother Shahaji became Raja. The state lapsed to the English in 1849. Thus the hegemony of the Marathas-who had dominated the political scene of Indian history for over two centuries-came to an end.

The contribution of the Marathas to Indian history can be summed up in the words of Jadunath Sarkar, who says, "The Marathas have an historic advantage of unique importance in India today. Their ancestors had faced death in a hundred battle fields, had led armies and debated in the chamber of diplomacy; had managed the finances of kingdoms and grappled with the problems of empire; they had helped to make Indian history in the immediate and not forgotten past. The memory of these things is a priceless asset to their race."