Baji Rao I

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Baji Rao I : biography

August 18, 1700 – April 28, 1740
  • He moved the administrative capital of the Maratha Empire from Satara to the city of Pune in 1728. His general, Bapuji Shripat, persuaded some of the richer families of Satara to settle in the Pune city, which was divided into 18 peths (boroughs).
  • In 1732, after the death of Maharaja Chhatrasal, a long-time ally of the Maratha Empire, Baji Rao was granted one-third of Chhatrasal’s kingdom in Bundelkhand.
  • An outstanding cavalry leader, Baji Rao was loved by his troops and his people. He fought for the protection of Hindu Dharma, and freed central and western India from Mughals. Under his command, Marathas defeated the Siddis(Moghul admirals), Portuguese, and Nizam, Bangash and other generals.Veer Savarkar, , Publisher – Bharti Sahitya Sadan, New Delhi

, First edition- 1925, Fourth edition -1971

Origins

Baji Rao was the son of the first Bhat family Peshwa, Balaji Vishwanath. At the age of 20, he was appointed by Chhattrapati Shahu as Peshwa upon the death of his father, keeping aside all other claimants. It is quite clear from this appointment that Shahu recognized his talent even as a boy and positioned him as Peshwa. Bajirao was popular with his soldiers and even today his name is an honorable one. Maratha empire at its zenith in 1760 (yellow areas)

Marriage and family

Baji Rao was married to Kashibai, and had two sons together: Nanasaheb was later appointed Peshwa by Shahu in 1740. Their second son was named Raghunathrao.

Mastani

Mastani Baji Rao also took Mastani as a wife. She was the daughter of Maharaja Chhatrasal of Panna by a Muslim wife. She bore him a third son, who was named Krishnarao at birth. The Brahmins did not accept the boy as a pure Hindu Brahmin since his mother was a Muslim. Baji Rao’s love affair with Mastani caused a rift in the orthodox Hindu Pune society of the time, and led to a major crisis within the royal Peshwa family.

Bajirao ardently wanted Krishnarao to be invested with the "sacred thread" of Hinduism and be declared a Brahmin. But he could not get the orthodox Pune Brahmin priests to. He had to bring up the boy as a Muslim. Renamed Shamsher Bahadur, their son fought valiantly for the Marathas in the Battle of Panipat 1761, where he was killed at the age of nearly 27. Shamsher Bahadur’s own son, Ali Bahadur, later ruled over Baji Rao’s lands in Bundelkhand, and founded the state of Banda, Uttar Pradesh.

The historian D. G. Godse claims that Baji Rao’s brother Chimnaji Appa and mother, Radhabai, never accepted Mastani as one of their own. Many attempts were made on her life, presumably by Chimaji Appa; she survived with the help of Chhattrapati Shahu.

Peshwa Baji Rao built a palace for her in Pune, which was called the ‘Mastani Mahal.’ A reconstruction of it can be seen at the Raja Dinkar Kelkar Museum in Pune, including remains from the original palace.

Death

Baji Rao died on April 28, 1740 while still in his prime. He died of a sudden fever, possibly heat stroke, while inspecting his jagirs. He was en route to Delhi with one lakh (100,000) troops under his command at his camp in the district of Khargon, near the city of Indore. He was cremated on April 28, 1740, at Raverkhedi on the river Narmada. A memorial was built by the Scindias. Remains of his residence and a Shiva temple are also located near by.