King and I-story of maratha empire and the present peshwa-2014

King and I

 File:Madhu Rao Narayan the Maratha Peshwa with Nana Fadnavis and attendants Poona 1792 by James Wales.jpg

 

A modest apartment, a borrowed Maruti 800 for outings, Mahendra Peshwa, descendant of the legendary Maratha rulers, is like any other middle-class guy. Except for that last name...

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Tagged Under | Peshwas | disinheritance | descendants | royalty | Pune
Royalty
It is a well-documented fact that as the Peshwas battled the British tooth and nail (Photo: Rahul Chandawarkar)
A modest apartment, a borrowed Maruti 800 for outings, Mahendra Peshwa, descendant of the legendary Maratha rulers, is like any other middle-class guy. Except for that last name.








It is a well-documented fact that as the Peshwas battled the British tooth and nail (Photo: Rahul Chandawarkar)
I may be a Peshwa descendant, but does it really mean anything in 2009? When a traffic policeman stops me today and checks my driving licence, he does not even raise an eyebrow. The name Peshwa means nothing to him. He couldn’t care less. And this, in Pune, a city from where my forefathers ruled large parts of India for nearly a hundred years.
Why just the policeman. I am a non-entity even at the Parvati hill temple, which houses the family’s Lord Shiva deity. I am not allowed to enter the sanctum to perform a puja, despite the temple being run by the Dev Deveshwar Sansthan trust started by Nanasaheb Peshwa, my forefather in 1749. Today, none of my family members is on the five-man committee and this prevents us from performing even a puja.
We have filed a case with the Charity Commissioner in Pune in 2001 demanding permanent places for at least two Peshwas on the committee, given the history of the trust. However, as is typical in India, no decision has been forthcoming from the commissioner for eight long years.
It is a well-documented fact that as the Peshwas battled the British tooth and nail, the British confiscated and destroyed all the Peshwa property in Pune, except the Parvati hill temple run by the Dev Deveshwar Sansthan.
Presently, the only property that our family owns is in far away Varanasi, where we have two small ghats and two temples, one dedicated to Lord Shiva and the other to Lord Ganesha. These temples and ghats were built by another of my forefathers, Amrutrao Peshwa, brother of Bajirao Peshwa II in 1807. I  go on an annual pilgrimage to Varanasi every winter. It is the best time of the year to visit, as the weather is cool.
Presently, my father and his brother, as direct descendants of the Peshwas get a pension of Rs 13,360 per annum each from the Government of India treasury in Allahabad. This amount is the interest calculated at 4 per cent on the promissory notes deposited by the Peshwas with the British in 1855.
According to my father, Krishnarao, the British confiscated 90 per cent of the promissory notes and all the gems and jewellery belonging to the Peshwas in 1855. We have been requesting the government to release the balance amount in the treasury or at least increase the rate of interest, but our requests have fallen on deaf ears so far.
However, in spite of all this, I am proud to be a Peshwa. Our forefathers ruled large parts of the country and it feels special to be part of a clan with so much history.
Today, I live in a modest apartment in the Karvenagar area of Pune with my wife and teenaged, college-going daughter. No luxury and riches for us. I ride an old scooter and when the family has to go out together, I use my father’s old, beat-up Maruti Suzuki 800 car. I also personally shop for vegetables, milk, bread and groceries every day.
In any case, there is nothing amiss here. The Peshwas themselves were never given to creature comforts. While Bajirao Peshwa I, did construct the Shaniwar wada, home and headquarters of the Peshwas in central Pune, not many Peshwas managed to enjoy its comforts. Least of all Bajirao Peshwa I himself. It is a well-known fact that Bajirao I,  was more on horseback fighting the enemy than relaxing at his home in Pune. Ditto with a majority of Peshwas who were always on the battlefield, fighting the enemy. Don’t forget that the Peshwa army actually went past Attock in present-day Pakistan.
I work as an engineering consultant and am an expert on special purpose machines. In all probability, you will find me rushing from one shop floor to the other on any given day, trying to attend to my clients’ complaints. Like the Peshwas of yore, no creature comforts for me, thank you. The only problem is that my clients and customers assume that I am a rich man and often tease me, saying, “You are a Peshwa, why do you need the money?”
As a child, I grew up on a diet of tales depicting Peshwa Bajirao I’s courage and valour. So quite naturally, he is my hero. Within a short span of just 20 years, he managed to take Shivaji’s concept of Swarajya ( freedom) and convert it to Samrajya (empire). Bajirao I, was the first Peshwa to take the Maratha army past Delhi and bring almost 70 per cent of India under Maharashtrian rule. He is also the only Peshwa to have never lost a battle.
Just how astute Bajirao was, can be gleaned from the manner in which he convincingly outwitted the Nizam of Hyderabad in the battle of Palkhed. A master strategist, Bajirao, with far less manpower and resources than the Nizam, managed to surround the Hyderabad ruler so completely, that the Hyderabadi ruler was forced to surrender without a drop of blood being shed.
I did my initial schooling in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, a cantonment town where we had several friends in both the army and the air force. Coming from the Peshwa family, it was natural for me to be attracted to a career in the armed forces. I was a sergeant in the junior National Cadet Corps (NCC) in my military school in Pune, where I was adept at horse riding and shooting.
However, certain family circumstances prevented me from actually taking up a career in the armed forces after I completed school. I regret that even today. So much so, that if given even half a chance today, I would join the army in a flash.
The present state of Indian politics is simply revolting. I don’t like the manner in which this country is being run. If Bajirao I were to visit Pune today, he would have been appalled by the traffic congestion and the utter lack of town planning. He would also be aghast at the countless loopholes that exist in our policing system. Successive Peshwas, starting with him, had put in place a well worked-out system and plan for Pune.
He would have also been hurt by the class divide that exists in Maharashtra between the Brahmins and Marathas today, created by modern day politicians. In his time, the Peshwa army was not just made up of Marathas, Muslims were also part of it.
The class divide has reached such ridiculous proportions now that when present-day Maharashtrian politicians make speeches, they fast-forward directly from the era of Chhatrapati Shivaji to that of Mahatma Phule, as if the 100-year reign by the Brahmin Peshwas never even happened. Isn’t that downright ridiculous?
I was never really attracted to politics and hence, have never harboured any personal political ambitions. However, among the many political parties in India, I would be more inclined to vote for the BJP.
Nowadays, I get true solace whenever I visit the Shaniwar wada with friends and family for the ‘sound and light’ show depicting the history of the wada and the life of the Peshwas. It leaves me with a lump in the throat every single time. Much like watching the Republic Day parade in New Delhi.
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Centuries old feud between Peshwas and Mastanis ends

Families that have been warring ever since Baji Rao Peshwa I married Muslim girl Mastani come together, make peace over kaju katlis and rasagullas Nadeem Inamdar @timesgroup.com IN PUNE



    When he knocked on the heavy wooden front door of the sprawling bungalow on Prabhat Road, Umar Ali Bahadur could barely contain his excitement. When the door was opened by the elegant septuagenarian Vinayak Vishwanath Peshwa, Bahadur felt an immediate connect. Before the door opened he tried to imagine how his host would look. "The man before me looked just like Bade Abba - my father's elder brother," Bahadur beams. "He embraced me with affection and I could feel it was my blood," recalls Bahadur. All of 25, Bahadur has come to Pune in search of his roots and this meeting on Monday night was momentous. He was meeting family.

    The 73-year-old Vinayak Vishwanath Peshwa, a practising Hindu Brahmin in Pune and Bahadur, a devout Muslim from Bhopal are both eighth generation descendants of Baji Rao Peshwa I, a noted general who served as the Prime Minister (or Peshwa) of the fourth Maratha emperor (Chhatrapati) Shahu, between 1720 and 1740 (when he died). The two trace their lineage to the two wives of Baji Rao: Kashibai and Mastani.

    The two families have had little to do with each other over the past generations, as Baji Rao's Hindu family disapproved of his marriage to a Muslim woman. Legend has it that Baji Rao's mother Radhabai connived with his brother Chimanji Appa and tried to send her into exile. Baji Rao's son Balaji too put Mastani under house arrest when he was away on a military campaign. Baji Rao lived with Mastani in his palace - Shaniwar Wada - for a while but later moved her out to a house he built in Kothrud. Earmarking this site, today, is a Mrutyunjay temple on one of the city's thoroughfare - Karve Road.

    There are various versions both about Mastani's origin and death. The most accepted (now even by both sides of the family) is that she was the daughter of Maharaja Chattrasal of Bundelkhand and his Persian wife. She was offered in marriage to Baji Rao, along with a third of her father's kingdom (including Jhansi, Sagar and Kalpi) after the Peshwa saved her father from a Mughal invader - Mohammad Khan Bangash.

    Similarly, while it’s known that Mastani died soon after Baji Rao's death, there are stories that she either committed suicide by consuming poison or jumping into his funeral pyre.

    Cut to present day. History and generations have erased any bitterness that may remain between the two families. Bahadur is a sales officer at DSK Motors Ltd, at Hadapsar. His distant cousin Peshwa is a Remote Sensing Consultant to the Government of Maharashtra, Irrigation and Seismicity Projects. Bahadur had called Peshwa on Sunday to set up the meeting. Peshwa did offer him dinner, but having already had his dinner on his way back from work, Bahadur preferred to concentrate on catching up on lost time. He called his elders back in his village - Pihor - 35 kms from Bhopal and got them talking to Peshwa. This was done over a box of kaju katli that Bahadur had brought with him and the rasagullas his host offered.

    "It was a meeting that took place as Umar was keen to meet me. He and his family members are part of the Peshwa family," says Peshwa. He enthusiastically introduced his son to Bahadur. "We knew that Mastani family has been living in and around their ancestral home in Bundelkhand, but we had no communication." What changed this was a book on Mastani by Kusum Chopra. Bahadur met Chopra at the Peshwa family's Ganpati temple at Sarabaug. It was she who gave him Peshwa's contact.

    "The Peshwa has promised me full support in restoration of Mastani shrine at Pabal. Besides he has pledged support to me in all my endeavours to preserve the shrine of Mastani and Peshwas, which are in dilapidated conditions," Bahadur adds. "I want that the interactions of our family must increase further and our age old ties to strengthen every day. The marriage of Bajirao with Mastani itself the set the trend of liberalism in India and we are proud to cherish the legacy each day," he adds.

    Peshwa has now invited Bahadur to attend Baji Rao's birthday celebrations at Sarasbaug next Sunday. "We have invited him for our family meeting in the temple as Umar is our family member," he said.

    Bahadur, who calls himself a Konkanastha Brahmin Muslim, is all ready for the big day.


Vinayak Vishwanath Peshwa and Umar Ali Bahadur are 8th generation descendants of Baji Rao Peshwa I



5 comments:

  1. Respected sir,
    An interesting read.
    While we have a royal Scindia family,Holkar family etc we don't have a royal peshwa family!in my opinion only the peshwa family has a right to be called royal as the others were mere stooges of the British .
    It was the Peshwa who established Scindia Holkar Gaikwad .if Peshwa Baaji Rao I didn't establish them where would they be now?
    Further it's the Peshwa who challenged and fought the British in 1818.the scindia and Holkar didn't help the Peshwa.
    In 1857 we have the Peshwa fighting the british. The scindia sided with the british!
    Sir,I don't know you personally but I have immense respect for you as you are a PESHWA!
    Regards,
    Ramakrishnan

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. yes very true .pls send me other interesting inforamtion of peshwas to pravee65@hotmail.com

      Delete
  2. Please have a look at this Blog . This Blog is also about Peshwa and Marathas http://thirdbattleofpanipatmaratha.blogspot.in/

    ReplyDelete
  3. i fully agree with mr.Ram Krishnan and these descendant of peshwas should be given Royal respect.

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  4. This comment has been removed by the author.

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