At the time of weak successors of Shivaji, the reign of Maratha kingdom came in the hands of their Peshwa (Prime minister). The rule of Peshwas began during the reign of Balaji Vishwanath. Balaji Vishwanath – Balaji vishvanath was the first Peshwa who had been appointed on this post of Maratha ruler in 1713 CE. During his reign, Sayyid brothers – Abdullah Khan and Hussain Ali were regarded as the empire builders of Delhi.
The Sayyid brothers had dethroned Bahadur Shah – I and enthroned Farrukhsiyar on the Mughal throne, but soon after this, he started a conspiracy against these two brothers. When Mirabakshi Hussain Ali, who was present in Deccan at that time, came to know about this conspiracy, he signed a treaty with Maratha ruler Shahu in the year 1719 CE in order to attack Farukhsiyar.
According to the provisions of this treaty:
1. The Mughals would return all those regions to Shahu which were famous by the name of Shivaji’s ‘Swaraj’.
2. The claim of occupacy of the Marathas on the regions won by them in Khandesh, Barar, Gondwana, Hyderabad and Karnataka in recent time would be accepted.
3. The Marathas would be allowed to collect taxes named Chauth and Sardeshmukhi from six provinces of Deccan.
4. In exchange of Chauth, 15,000 Maratha soldiers would remain in service of the Mughal emperor.
5. Shahu’s mother Yasubai and his wife alongwith the members of the royal family of Marathas who had been imprisoned in Delhi would be freed and sent back.
According to the treaty, when Hussain Ali proceeded towards Delhi, 15,000 Maratha soldiers assisted him under the leadership of Balaji Vishwanath and Khanderao Dhamade. The Sayyid brothers removed Farrukhsiyar and made Rafi – Ud – Darajat as the Mughal emperor, who gave acceptance to the above mentioned treaty.
Gaining the right of collecting Chauth and Sardeshmukhi was a great achievement of Balaji Vishwanath. He is regarded as the second founder (Shivaji was the founder) of the Maratha empire.
Peshwa Bajirao (1720 – 40 CE – After the death of Peshwa Balajji Vishwanath, his elder son Bajirao (1720-40 CE) was appointed on the post of Peshwa. At that time, he was merely 20 years of age. Taking advantage of the miesrable condition of the Mughal empire, he made efforts to seize as many regions as he could.
Through his oratory skills, he gained the support of Shahu, saying that “This is the right time for us to oust the foreigners from the country and become glorious. We should attack on the roots of the dried up tree and the branches will fall down for themselves.” Influenced with the plan of Peshwa, Shahu said that “you will host the Maratha flag on the peak of Mount Everest. Undoubtedly, you are a capable son of a capable father.”
According to his policy, Bajirao crossed the Narmada and occupied Malwa in 1724 CE. The ruler of Jaipur Sawai Jai Singh, who was in royal service, shortly became the friend of Peshwa as he was compassionate with the Marathas. Due to this, the Peshwa had to face very little opposition. The most intense problem which the Peshwa had to face was in establishing cordial relations with Nizam – Ul – Mulk, the most powerful Chieftain of the Mughal empire.
The Nizam considered himself as the undisputed ruler of the south. Due to Maratha invasions in this region, he started to consider them as his greatest enemy. Therefore, he started violating the treaty from 1719 CE onwards, and in place of Shahu, he gave recognition to his opponent Sambhaji as the chief of Maratha empire.
In March 1728 CE Peshwa defeated the army of Nizam at a place named Palkhed near Aurangabad, and forced him to sign the Treaty of Mungi Shivagaon. Provisions of the treaty of Mungi Shivagaon.
1. Nizam shunned the responsibility of providing protection to Sambhaji and accepted to send him to Panhal.
2. It was decided to give up the annexed Maratha region and to release the Maratha prisoners.
3. According to the treaty of 1719 CE, Shahu’s right of collecting Chauth and Sardeshmukhi tax was accepted.
After some time in exchange of Chauth and Sardeshmukhi, the Peshwa pledged that he would not invade the regions held by Nizam and Nizam accepted to remain neutral in the invasions made by the Marathas in South India. Now the Peshwa focussed his attention on North and occupied the Mughal regions of Malwa and Bundelkhand in 1728 CE.
In March 1737 CE, Saadat Khan, the Subedar of Awadh defeated Maratha Commander Malhaar Rao Holkar and boasting of this victory, he sent this news to Delhi that he had ousted the Marathas across the Chambal. To confirm this victory, Bajirao settled the journey of 14 day in just 2 days and rushed upon Delhi. Bajirao sent a message to the Mughal Emperor who was terrified from this attack that the objective of his compaign was nothing but to show that he was still alive.
After returning from Delhi, Peshwa defeated the Nizam and forced him to sign the treaty of Daraha Sarai on 17th January, 1738 CE. According to this treaty, he surrendered the region from entire Malwa and Narmada upto Chambal in the sovereignty of Bajirao.
In 1740 CE, Bajirao defeated Nasir Jung, the second son of Nizam – Ul – Mulk and forced him to sign the treaty of Mungi Sivagaon. According to this treaty, Nasir Jung handed over the districts of Handia and Khargaon to the Marathas. On gth May 1740 CE, Bajirao met sudden death at a place called Ravar on the banks of river Narmada.
