BAJIRAO I - AN ARMY GENERAL WHO NEVER LOST

                       Bajirao I ,in his brief military career of over 20 years, he never lost a single battle. Over his entire lifetime, Bajirao I, fought 41 battles and he won all of them without any single defeat. The British army officer said, Bajirao I was the finest army general in India as of that time.

Birth:

                   Bajirao I was born on 18 august 1700. He was born into a Bhat family of Kokanastha Chitpavan brahmin lineage. His father's name is Balaji Vishwanath and his mother was Radhabai. Bajirao's younger brother's name was Chimaji Appa and he also had two sisters Anubai Ghorpade and Bhiubai Joshi. His father was the first Peshwa (Prime minister) of Chhatrapathi Shahu.

Earlier Life:

                        Bajirao I participated in a war along with his father at an early age of 12. After the death of his father in 1720, he was immediatley announced as Peshwa by Shahu. He was only 20 at that time. His appointment made many in the Maratha court jealous as he was only 20 years old. Many criticized the decision of Shahu regarding this decision. But Bajirao later proved that the decision of Shahu in appointing Bajirao as Peshwa. He possessed great military skills.

                     He was first married to Kashibai and had two sons namely NanaSaheb and Raghunatharao. He then married a Muslim girl named Masthani. Masthani gave birth to a son and they named him krishnarao at first and later changed to Shamsher Bahadur as the society didn't accept the child as a Hindu.

Major Battles:

                             Bajirao I, from the beginning aimed at extending the Maratha empire. He embarked on his first major campaign on 1723 and conquered Malwa followed by Gujarat. He then aimed at annexing central India and even eyed on Delhi. Eventually the administrative capital of Maratha was moved from Satara to new city of Pune in 1728. He is credited to have created the later kingdoms of Scindias (Ranoji Shinde) of Gwalior, Pawars (Udaiji) of Dhar,Holkars (Malharrao) of Indore,Gaekwads (Pilaji) of Baroda as part of Maratha empire. An example of his war strategies and tactics came to light in the battle of Palkhed which was fought against Nizam-Ul-Mulk of Hyderabad. Eventually Nizam was defeated by Marathas and Bajirao I was considered as Hero of the war.

Death:

                            Bajirao I died on April 28,1740. He was only 39 when he died and the reason for his death was sudden fever and most probably a Heat Stroke. When he was marching towards Delhi commanding 100,000 troops, he camped on Khargone district, near the city of Indore. There he fell ill and died. He was cremated at Raverkhedi on Narmada river on April 28,1740. He was succeeded by Balaji Bajirao.