Balaji Vishwanath, the first of the great Peshwas,the man who started the Peshwa era spanning from 1713-74, father of the legendary Baji Rao, another great hero. This thread takes a look at his life and legacy.

Technically speaking Peshwa was equivalent to the Prime Minister in the Maratha Empire, starting out as subordinates to the Chattrapati, in later years they became the actual ruling power, starting with Balaji Vishwanath.

Moropant Pingle, Shivaji’s revenue minister, was the first ever Peshwa, though Shivaji referred to him as Pant Pradhan. The rise of the Peshwa was more an effect of the internal conflict between Tara Bai and Shahu, and the latter’s victory.

Often called the second founder of the Maratha State, Balaji Vishwanath was the one who made the Peshwa all powerful, from a mere Prime Minister to the main power center. As well as ensuring the hold of the Chitpavan Brahmins over the position, primarily from Konkan.

He had to deal with the threat to the Maratha Empire on 2 fronts, one was the deadly internal conflict between Tarabai and Shahu, and another the continous assault by Aurangzeb. It was a crucial period, where the Empire was facing attack on both ends.

Two noticeable aspects on Maratha history, while they had their own deadly internal rivalries, sometimes leading to a civil war, when it came to facing the Mughals, or other Muslim rulers, they more or less managed to counter them effectively, except Panipat.

Another was the very important role played by women, be it Jijabai who guided Shivaji, or Tarabai who took on Aurangzeb or Ahilyabai Holkar, the women played an equally important role in the affairs of the kingdom.

Balaji Vishwanath was born in Shrivardhan, now in Raigad district, famous for it’s beach, on January 1, 1662. His family held the hereditary Deshmukh of Srivardhan for the Siddis of Janjita. He worked for some time as an accountant general for Dhanaji Jadhav.

However when Dhanaji Jadhav, passed away, Balaji Vishwanath, had a fall out with his son Chandra Rao Jadhav, and joined as an assistant to the newly appointed Maratha emperor Shahu in 1707, who had heard of his abilities.

It was the period when the Maratha Empire was engulfed in a bitter civil conflict between the families of Sambhaji and Rajaram for the throne. Inspite of Sambhaji’s brutal execution and early death of Rajaram, his widow Tarabai continued the fight against Mughals.

While Tarabai continued her resistance to the Mughals, Shahu the son of Sambhaji was held as captivee by the Mughals till 1707. On the other hand, the long Deccan campaign exhausted Aurangzeb who passed away in 1707, leading to another war of succession among his sons.

Following Aurangzeb’s death, the Mughal Governor released Shahu, hoping to use him as a pawn against Tarabai, considering no love was lost between them. Tarabai on the other hand denounced Shahu as an impostor and sent her general Dhanaji Jadhav to attack him.

However Balaji Vishwanath is believed to have met Dhanaji Jadhav, and convinced his master to support Shahu. Dhanaji switched sides, and proclaimed Shahu as the rightful successor, which in turn aroused the jealousy of his son Chandrasen.

Though Shahu appointed Chandrasen Jadhav as Senapati, the latter joined hands with Tarabai, to get even with his long time rival Balaji Vishwanath. Chandrasen attacked Balaji, who was forced to flee to the fort of Purandar.

Shahu bought back Balaji Vishwanath under escort, and Chandrasen defected to Tarabai’s side in 1711. Haibatrao Nimbalkar too defected to Tarabai’s side, leaving Shahu totally vulnerable. It was at such a period, that Balaji stood firmly with Shahu.

Balaji Vishwanath was made the Senakarta, and he soon bought down Tarabai in a palace coup in 1712, with the help of disgruntled people in her own court, that included Rajaram’s other widow Rajasbai who wanted to see her son on the throne.

He used Rajasbai and some other disgruntled elements to conduct a succesful palace coup against Tarabai and her son Shivaji II, while installing Rajasbai’s son Sambhaji II at Kolhapur, effectively shutting out the opposition.

Shahu now had to deal with Kanhoji Angre, the Maratha Admiral, who made use of the internal conflict to declare himself independent. Angre captured Kalyan, Lohgad, defeated Bahiroji Pingale whom Shahu had sent to subdue him.

Balaji Vishwanath once again negotiated with Kanhoji Angre at Lonavala, making an appeal to him for the larger Maratha cause. Angre agreed to support Shahu, become the Sarkhej( Admiral) of the Maratha Navy, adding full strength to the Maratha side.

Angre along with Balaji Vishwanath attacked the Siddis of Janjira, and captured the entire Konkan coast, that included Balaji’s hometown Shrivardhan. Shahu delighted with Balaji Vishwanath’s success appointed him as the Peshwa in November 1713.

On the other hand, post Aurangzeb’s death, the Mughal Empire, was caught up in it’s own internal power struggles, with the Sayyid Brothers- Hussain Ali Khan and Abdullah Khan, turning out to be the actual kingmakers, while the Emperor was more or less a figurehead.

The Mughal Emperor Farrukshiyar, requested the Marathas for help agains the growing influence of the Sayyid Brothers. Unable to face the Maratha guerilla tactics, Hussain Ali Khan who was the Governor of Deccan, sought to make peace with them.

Balaji Vishwanath negotiated a peace treaty with the Mughals in 1718, demanding the right to Chauth and Sardeshmukhi in all Mughal provinces of the Decccan, and restoring all territories conqured by Shivaji Maharaj in Karnataka.

In return the Marathas wud acknowledge the suzerainity of the Mughal Emperor. Farrukhshiyar however refused to sign the treaty and tried to get rid of the Sayyid brothers, who promptly got wind of the plot.

The Sayyid brothers aided by Balaji Vishwanath marched on to Delhi, where the Mughal Emperor Farrukshiyar was overthrown, blinded and imprisoned. The Mughal Emperor was now effectively a puppet of the Marathas and Sayyid Brothers, the downfall had begun.

The once mighty Mughal Emperor had effectively become a Maratha puppet, and in turn actually paid 25% of their revenue as Chauth, and another 10% as protection tax. Balaji Vishwanath broke the back of Mughals, which his son would take forward.

He also secured the release of Shahu’s mother Yesubai, wife Savitribai from Mughal captivity. However the constant warring and conflicts took a toll on his health and he passed away in April 1720 at Saswad near Pune.

Balaji Vishwanath, was one of the shrewdest brains in the Maratha Empire, a man who guided it during the difficult times of the civil war, and more importantly began the process of the downfall of Mughals, reducing them to a nominal power.

.He also laid the foundation for the Maratha Administrative system, as well as their tax collection system, that would hold on for long, till it’s end. The Maratha revenue collection was as significant as their military victories.

While we know about the legendary Baji Rao, not much is known about his equally great father Balaji Vishwanath, who began the era of Peshwa dominance, consolidated the Empire amidst bitter civil conflict and dealt a blow to the Mughals.

The great Peshwas- Balaji Vishwanath, Baji Rao, Balaji Baji Rao, Madhav Rao 1, warriors like Sadashiv Rao Bhau,Chimaji Appa, and regional chieftains like Malhar Rao Holkar, Ranoji Shinde, Mahadji Shinde, this was truly a glory period in Maratha history.