Peshwa Baji Rao I laid the
foundation of Shaniwar Wada, who was succeeded by his son Nanasaheb Peshwa(Peshwa
Balaji Bajirao). Nanasaheb Peshwa had 3 sons, Vishwasrao, Madhavrao and
Narayanrao. His eldest son Vishwasrao died
during the third battle of Panipat against Afghan armies and hence after
Nanasaheb, Madhavrao succeeded as the 4th Peshwa of the Maratha Empire which he
remained until his death in 1772.
After death of Madhavrao,
Narayanrao, the youngest son of Nanasaheb Peshwa, took over as the 5th Peshwa.
He was only 17 years old at the time of his brother Madhavrao’s death and
became the youngest Peshwa ruler ever.
This succession was highly
challenged by his own Uncle, Raghunathrao, brother of Nanasaheb. It is said
that Raghunathrao had been fighting for power and even tried to take over the
throne himself rather than letting Nanasaheb succeed. His hunger for the throne
saw an opportunity when 17 year old Narayanrao was declared Peshwa in 1772.
Even Narayanrao didn’t liked his uncle as he believed Raghunathrao responsible
for assassination attempts on his elder brother, Madhavrao. But, it was decided
between Narayanrao and Raghunathrao to work together. His uncle Raghunathrao
and aunt Anandibai were very upset because Narayanrao became Peshwa. Narayanrao
and Raghunathrao were surrounded by ill-intentioned advisors, who poisoned
their minds against each other. Narayanrao’s arrogant, immature and impulsive behaviour
led to differences between them. These differences soon reached their peak and
Narayanrao finally ordered a house-arrest for Raghunathrao.
Raghunathrao’s wife
Anandibai, furious over her husband’s arrest, seeked help of the Gardis, highly
trained assassins for hire. Gardis were originally the Bheels of central India,
a hunting tribe. Narayanrao had a bitter relationship with Gardi. On 30 August
1773 the last day of Ganesh Festival(Anant Chaturdashi), Sumer Singh Gardi with
his several guards of Gardi, entered the palace and making a noisy disturbance
and then charged towards the sleeping Narayanrao’s chambers. Narayanrao, seeing
the Gardis and sensing trouble, ran out of his chambers towards his Raghunathrao’s
quarters, screaming “Kaka! Mala Vachva!!” which means “Uncle! Save me!”. The
Gardis followed Narayanrao to his uncle’s chamber and a menial pulled him while
Sumer Singh Gardi cut him down. Rumor was that Narayanrao’s body was hacked
into so many pieces that they had to carry the pieces in a pot. Narayanrao’s
corpse was cremated secretly by the river at midnight.
It is believed that
Raghunathrao never wanted to kill Narayanrao and only asked Gardis for help in
order to get out of house arrest. And also believed that Raghunathrao had sent
a message to Sumer Singh Gardi to capture Narayanrao. His message was
“Narayanrao la dhara” where dhara means to capture. This message was
intercepted by his wife Anandibai who changed the letter dhara to make it read
as maaraa (kill). The miscommunication led the Gardis to chase Narayanrao and
finally kill him.
Raghunathrao succeeded to the
throne after Narayanrao but even his reign lasted not more than a year.
People here still believe
that the soul of the Narayana Rao still linger in the fort, and on a full moon night, one can still hear the young Peshwa screaming “Kaka! Mala Vachva”, looking for a help that never came.
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