Balaji Baji Rao

Balaji Bajirao
18th century portrait of Balaji Bajirao
8th Peshwa of the Maratha Confederacy
In office August 1740 – 23 June 1761
Monarchs	Shahu I Rajaram II
Preceded by	Bajirao I
Succeeded by	Madhavrao I
Personal details
Born	Balajirao Bhat (1720-12-08)8 December 1720 Sate Mawal, Pune, Maratha Confederacy (modern day Maharashtra, India)
Died	23 June 1761(1761-06-23) (aged 40) Parvati Hill, Pune, Maratha Confederacy (modern day Maharashtra, India)
Spouse	Gopikabai ​ (m. 1730)​ [1]
Children	Vishwasrao Madhavrao I Narayan Rao
Parent(s)	Baji Rao I (father) Kashibai (mother)
Relatives	Raghunath Rao (brother) Sadashivrao Bhau (cousin) Shamsher Bahadur I (half-brother)
Residence(s)	Shaniwarwada, Pune, Maratha Empire (modern day Maharashtra, India)
Signature

Balaji Baji Rao (8 December 1720 – 23 June 1761), often referred to as Nana Saheb I, was the 8th Peshwa of the Maratha Confederacy.^[2] He was appointed as Peshwa in 1740 upon the death of his father, the Peshwa Bajirao I.

During his tenure, the Chhatrapati (Maratha Emperor) was a mere figurehead. At the same time, the Maratha empire started transforming into a confederacy, in which individual chiefs—such as the Holkars, the Scindias and the Bhonsles of Nagpur kingdom—became more powerful. During Balaji Rao's tenure, the Maratha territory reached its zenith. A large part of this expansion, however, was led by the individual chiefs of the Maratha Empire.

Balaji Bajirao's administration worked with his cousin Sadashivrao Bhau, introducing new legislative and financial systems in the state. Under his leadership, the borders of the Maratha Empire expanded to Peshawar in present-day Pakistan, Srirangapatna in the South, and Medinipur in present-day West Bengal. Nanasaheb built canals, bridges, temples and lodges for travellers in the capital city of Pune and in other parts of the Maratha Empire. In his twenty-year reign as the Peshwa, Nanasaheb subdued three major powers under his tenure, viz. Mughals in the North, the Nizam in the South and the Bengal Sultanate. Along with that he also weakened the Afghan control over Punjab, stopped their repeated invasions on the imperial capital of Delhi, subdued the Rajputs and Rohillas and neutralized the state of Oudh.