Balaji Baji Rao
Balaji Baji Rao, commonly known as Nana Saheb I, was the eighth Peshwa of the Maratha Empire. He succeeded his father, Baji Rao I, as Peshwa in 1740.
During his tenure, the Chhatrapati served largely as a titular head, while effective power remained with the Peshwa. Under Balaji Baji Rao’s administration, the Maratha Empire evolved into a confederation, with prominent chiefs such as the Holkars, the Scindias, and the Bhonsles of Nagpur gaining semi-autonomous authority. The Maratha domains reached their greatest territorial extent during his period.
Balaji Baji Rao’s administration, assisted by his paternal cousin Sadashivrao Bhau, introduced several fiscal and administrative reforms. Under his leadership, the boundaries of the Maratha Empire extended from Peshawar in the northwest to Srirangapatna in Karnataka, and to Midnapore in West Bengal.
Balaji Baji Rao sponsored public works across the empire, including the construction of canals, bridges, temples, and travellers’ rest houses, particularly in Pune, the imperial capital. During his twenty-year reign, he brought under Maratha dominance several major powers of the Indian subcontinent—subduing the Mughals in the north, the Nizam of Hyderabad in the south, and the Nawab of Bengal in the east. He also weakened Afghan control over Punjab, curtailed their incursions toward Delhi, subdued the Rajput and Rohilla states, and effectively neutralized the State of Oudh.
Early years and family
Balaji Rao, later known as Balaji Baji Rao or Nanasaheb, was born on 8 December 1720 into the Bhat family to Peshwa Baj Rao I and Kashibai.After the death of Baji Rao I in April 1740, the fifth Maratha ruler, Chhatrapati Shahu I appointed the 19-year-old Balaji Rao as Peshwa in August of the same year, despite opposition from several Maratha chiefs, including Raghoji I Bhonsle.
When Balaji Rao was ten years old, his grandmother, Radhabai, met Gopikabai—a young girl from the prominent Raste family of Pune—during a family visit. Gopikabai was six years old at the time, and Radhabai was impressed by her orthodox upbringing, piety, and knowledge of religious customs typical of a devout Brahmin household. Impressed by her virtues, Radhabai proposed her marriage to Balaji Rao. The two were married on 11 January 1730.
The couple had three sons: Vishwasrao, who was killed in the Third Battle of Panipat in 1761; Madhavrao I, who succeeded Nanasaheb as Peshwa; and Narayanrao, who later succeeded Madhavrao during his late teens. Nanasaheb’s brother, Raghunathrao, was an able administrator but his ambitions to become Peshwa ultimately proved disastrous for the Maratha Empire.
Rivalry with Raghoji Bhonsle
In the early years of Balaji Baji Rao’s tenure as Peshwa, Raghoji I Bhonsle played a key role in extending Maratha influence in the southern and eastern regions of the Indian subcontinent. However, his relationship with the Peshwa was strained from the outset.Shortly before Balaji Baji Rao’s appointment as Peshwa, Raghoji had led a Maratha force to the southern territories to assist Pratap Singh of Thanjavur, a member of the Bhonsle clan, against Dost Ali Khan. Raghoji killed Dost Ali in May 1740 and installed Dost Ali’s son, Safdar Ali Khan, as the Nawab of Arcot. Upon returning to Satara, Raghoji unsuccessfully protested Balaji Baji Rao’s appointment as Peshwa before returning south. There, in March 1741, he defeated Chanda Sahib but was soon forced to retreat due to the intervention of Chanda Sahib’s French allies from Pondicherry. After returning to Satara, Raghoji continued to oppose Balaji Baji Rao’s authority.
In 1743, Raghoji Bhonsle attacked the forces of Alivardi Khan in Orissa. Alivardi Khan subsequently paid ₹2,000,000 to Balaji Baji Rao, who assisted him in driving Raghoji out of Orissa in 1744. Raghoji then appealed directly to Shahu I, who appointed him in charge of Maratha affairs in Orissa, Bengal, and Bihar. By 1752, Raghoji had taken over the administration of Orissa and was conducting regular raids into Bengal and Bihar to collect chauth. The political instability caused by his campaigns in Bengal later facilitated the rise of the East India Company in the region.
Rebellion by Tarabai and Umabai
, the senior widow of the third Maratha ruler, Rajaram I, was granted asylum by her nephew, Chhatrapati Shahu I, after being released from captivity by her stepson Sambhaji II of Kolhapur. During the 1740s, in Shahu I’s final years, Tarabai presented to him a boy named Rajaram II, claiming he was her grandson and a direct descendant of the first Maratha ruler, Shivaji I. Shahu I accepted this claim and adopted the boy. Upon Shahu I’s death in 1749, Rajaram II succeeded him as Chhatrapati.In 1750, while Balaji Baji Rao was campaigning against the Nizam of Hyderabad, Tarabai urged Rajaram II to dismiss him from the office of Peshwa. When the Chhatrapati refused, she imprisoned him in a dungeon at Satara on 24 November 1750, claiming that he was an impostor whom she had falsely presented as her grandson. Tarabai failed to secure support from other Maratha nobles or from the Nizam, Salabat Jung, but she managed to gain the backing of Umabai Dabhade. Umabai was the matriarch of the Dabhade family, hereditary Senapati or commanders-in-chief of the Maratha Empire and controllers of large territories in Gujarat. Her husband had been killed by the Mughals, and her eldest son by Baji Rao I for rebelling against Shahu I. Although Shahu I had pardoned the Dabhades and allowed them to retain their jagirs and titles on the condition that they remit half their Gujarat revenues to the royal treasury, the family had never done so. After Shahu I’s death, Balaji Baji Rao—facing an empty treasury—insisted that they honor this agreement. When Umabai met him in 1750, she argued that the arrangement had been made under duress; the Peshwa rejected her claim.
In support of Tarabai’s rebellion, Umabai dispatched a force of 15,000 troops under her lieutenant Damaji Rao Gaekwad. Gaekwad advanced toward Pune, causing Balaji Baji Rao’s mother Kashibai and grandmother Radhabai to flee to Sinhagad. While encamped at Pargaon near Pune, Gaekwad received a letter from the Peshwa loyalist Mahadji Purandare, denouncing him as a traitor. Gaekwad then redirected his march toward Satara. He defeated Mahadji’s brother, Trimbakrao Purandare, at Nimb—a small town north of Satara—but was later defeated on 15 March 1751 at the Venna River and forced to retreat with heavy losses.
On learning of the rebellion, Balaji Baji Rao marched swiftly from the Mughal frontier, covering 400 miles in 13 days. He reached Satara on 24 April 1751, captured the Yavateshwar garrison, and defeated Tarabai’s troops. After Gaekwad’s forces were surrounded, Balaji Baji Rao demanded that he cede half of Gujarat and pay a war indemnity of ₹2,500,000. Gaekwad refused, saying he was only a subordinate acting under Umabai’s orders. On 30 April, Balaji Baji Rao launched a surprise attack, forcing Gaekwad’s surrender. Balaji Baji Rao then besieged Satara Fort, demanding that Tarabai release Rajaram II, whose health had declined during captivity. She refused, and Balaji Baji Rao withdrew to Pune rather than engage in a prolonged siege.
A subsequent mutiny by Tarabai’s own troops weakened her position. Realizing the futility of continued resistance, she sought peace. She met Balaji Baji Rao in Pune, dismissed her adviser Baburao Jadhav, and accepted the supremacy of the Peshwa’s office. On 14 September 1752, both swore mutual peace at the Khandoba temple in Jejuri, where Tarabai declared under oath that Rajaram II was not her grandson but an impostor of the Gondhali caste. Despite this, Balaji Baji Rao retained Rajaram II as the titular Chhatrapati, a ceremonial and powerless figurehead.
In May 1751, Balaji Baji Rao arrested Damaji Gaekwad and his relatives and imprisoned them in Pune. The Dabhades were later detained and stripped of their jagirs and titles. When Damaji refused to yield half of Gujarat’s territory, he was confined in Lohagad Fort. Eventually, after prolonged negotiations, he agreed in March 1752 to abandon the Dabhades and ally with the Peshwa. In return, Balaji Baji Rao appointed him as the Maratha chief of Gujarat and promised military support against the Mughals. Damaji consented to pay an annual tribute of ₹525,000 and a one-time payment of ₹1,500,000, and to maintain a cavalry of 20,000 horses for the Peshwa's services.
Campaign against the Nizam
In 1751, Balaji Baji Rao launched an invasion of the territories of Salabat Jang, the Nizam of Hyderabad, who was supported by the French Governor-General of Pondicherry, Marquis de Bussy-Castelnau. However, due to Tarabai's rebellion and the growing strength of French-trained forces allied with Maratha rivals, Balaji was compelled to withdraw temporarily from his campaigns.After restoring internal stability in 1752, Balaji renewed his offensive against the Nizam. Seeking to counter French influence in the Deccan, he approached the British East India Company for military assistance, but the British declined to intervene. The Marathas supported Salabat Jung’s brother, Ghazi ud-Din Khan, as a candidate for the Nizamship, since he had promised them a payment of ₹6,000,000 along with other concessions. However, Ghazi ud-Din was later poisoned by his stepmother, thwarting Maratha plans.
Ultimately, Balaji Baji Rao and de Bussy-Castelnau concluded a peace agreement, bringing an end to hostilities. Around the same time, Raghoji I Bhonsle also agreed to peace on the condition that the Nizam would grant him several jagirs in Berar.
Relations with Rajputs
Balaji Baji Rao’s father, Baji Rao I, had aimed to establish a Hindu Padshahi across the Indian subcontinent and therefore maintained cordial relations with the Rajput rulers. However, during Balaji Baji Rao’s tenure as Peshwa, relations between the Marathas and the Rajputs deteriorated.Following the death of Jai Singh II of Jaipur in 1743, a war of succession broke out between his sons, Ishwari Singh and Madho Singh I. Madho Singh I was supported by Jagat Singh II of Mewar and Ummed Singh of Bundi. The Marathas initially supported Ishwari Singh, who had offered them greater financial incentives. Later, Jagat Singh secured the support of Malhar Rao Holkar for Madho Singh, while Jayappa Rao Scindia continued to back Ishwari Singh. This conflict strained Maratha–Rajput relations and also caused divisions among the Maratha leaders themselves.
Madho Singh subsequently sought arbitration from Balaji Baji Rao, who personally visited Jaipur and persuaded Ishwari Singh to cede four mahals to Madho Singh. Although Ishwari initially agreed, he reneged on the agreement after Balaji returned to Pune. In response, Malhar Rao Holkar captured the mahals by force and imposed a tribute on Ishwari Singh. When Ishwari failed to pay the arrears, the Marathas declared war on him in 1750. Unable to raise the required funds or further tax his subjects, Ishwari Singh committed suicide by consuming poison.
After Ishwari Singh’s death, Madho Singh ascended the Jaipur throne but grew distrustful of the Marathas due to their treatment of his brother. He later fought against them until Safdar Jang, the Nawab of Awadh, intervened and mediated peace, compelling the Marathas to withdraw after offering an apology and some compensation. Following Safdar Jang’s death, the Marathas once again invaded Rajput territories, prompting Madho Singh to seek assistance from Safdar Jang’s successor, Shuja-ud-Daula, and the Afghan ruler Ahmad Shah Abdali.
In 1749, Abhai Singh of Jodhpur died, leading to a succession dispute between his sons Ram Singh and Bakht Singh. Ram Singh sought support from Jayappa Rao Scindia. By the time Scindia marched to Jodhpur in September 1752, Bakht Singh had died and was succeeded by his son, Vijay Singh. Vijay Singh allied with the Mughals, the Rohillas, and Madho Singh of Jaipur to resist the Marathas. After about a year of conflict, Vijay Singh entered into peace negotiations with Scindia. During one such meeting in July 1755, Jayappa Rao Scindia was assassinated by emissaries of Vijay Singh. This incident renewed hostilities between the Marathas and the Rajputs until Dattaji Rao Scindia concluded a peace treaty in February 1756.