Rise of Marathas and Peshwas - Class IX

Baji Rao II was the last Peshwa of the Maratha Empire. His reign ended following the defeat of the Marathas in the Third Anglo-Maratha War in 1818.

Peshwa was the Prime Minister in the Maratha Empire. Balaji Viswanath was the first Peshwa. Shahu appointed Balaji Vishwanath as Peshwa on 16 November 1713. He assisted the Maratha Emperor Shahu to consolidate his grip on a kingdom that was damaged by the attacks of the Mughals.

The Maratha administration under the Peshwas functioned as a confederacy (often referred to as a Mandala or Sangha), where various Maratha chiefs held significant autonomy while nominally acknowledging the Peshwa's leadership.

The Huzur Daftar was the central secretariat and the main record-keeping office of the Peshwa government in Pune, serving as the pivot for administrative and financial operations.

Balaji Vishwanath is widely regarded as the second founder of the Maratha Kingdom. He consolidated the empire and established the Peshwa office as the dominant political force after a period of internal instability.

Sambhaji was the eldest son of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and succeeded him as the second Chhatrapati of the Maratha Empire in 1680.

In the first half of the seventeenth century, an epoch making personality emerged in Maharashtra- Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. He established Swaraj by challenging the unjust ruling powers here.

Most of people lived in villages. A village was also called mauja. The chief of the village was the Patil. He used to try to bring maximum land under cultivation. When there was any dispute in the village, the Patil resolved it and made peace.

The Deshpande was the chief of all Kulkarnies in the Pargana. The Deshpande did all at the Pargana level, the work that Kulkarni did at the village level.

A great famine occured in Maharashtra in 1630 CE. People were greatly distressed due to this famine. People were ready to sell themselves for a piece of Bhakri, but there was nobody to buy them.

In initial days the group of villages were known as Pargana. The headquarter of Pargana was called Kasba. And the village smaller than a Kasba was called Mauja.

There was usually a market adjacent to a Kasba which is known as peth. The Shete and Mahajan were the watandars of the peth. The setting up of a peth was the job of the Shete and the Mahajan. For that, they received some land from the government and some rights from the villagers. The Mahajan maintained the acconts of the Peth.

In Maharashtra, the tradition of Saints which began with Sant Dnyaneshwar and Saint Namdeo was carried on by Sants coming from various strata of the society. People of all strata society were part of Saint tradition.

The Deshmukh was the chief of Patils in a Pargana. The Deshmukh did at the Pargana level what the Patil did at the village level.

The chief of village was the Patil. He used to try to bring maximum land under cultivation. When there was any dispute in the village, the Patil resolved it and made peace. A Kulkarni helped the Patil in his work. The Kulkarni kept the record of the revenue that was collected.

Many villages together made a Pargana, But the numer of villages was not the same in all Pargana. The Pune Pargana was a big Pargana, It consisted of 290 villages. There was 64 villages in the Chakan Pargana. The Shirwal Pargana was small, it had only 40 villages.

Shiva Kashid, a brave barber who resembled Shivaji Maharaj, sacrificed his life by dressing as the king to help Shivaji escape the siege of Panhalagad.

Shivaji Maharaj established the Maratha kingdom by challenging and capturing territories from both the Adil Shahi dynasty of Bijapur and the Mughal Empire.

Shaistakhan set up his camp at Lal Mahal in Pune where Shivaji Maharaj had lived his childhood. Khan sent his forces in the regions around Pune. These forces looted the people.

Shivaji Maharaj was born at the Shivneri fort near JUnnar in Pune district on the day of Phalgun Vadya Tritiya in the Shaka year 1551, that is on 19 February 1630.

Shivaji Maharaj began his active political and military career around the age of 18, when he took control of the Torna Fort.

Shivaji Maharaj famously raided and sacked the wealthy port city of Surat in 1664 to fund his military campaigns.

The Marathas asserted their political importance during 700 and 1750 CE period. Chatrapati Shivaji directly challenged the Mughal supremacy.