Anandibai was a

Peshwa The Peshwa (Pronunciation: e(ː)ʃʋaː was the appointed (later becoming hereditary) prime minister of the Maratha Empire of the Indian subcontinent. Originally, the Peshwas served as subordinates to the Chhatrapati (the Maratha king); later, ...

Queen and the wife of

Raghunathrao Raghunathrao Bhat (a.k.a. Ragho Ballal or Ragho Bharari) (18 August 1734 – 11 December 1783) was the 11th Peshwa of the Maratha Empire for a brief period from 1773 to 1774. He was known among the Hindus for his extremely successful North-west ...

, the 11th Peshwa of the

Maratha Empire The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern Indian confederation that came to dominate much of the Indian subcontinent in the 18th century. Maratha rule formally began in 1674 with the coronation of Shi ...

. In August 1773, she successfully plotted the death of her nephew, the 17-year-old Peshwa

Narayanrao Narayanrao Bhat (10 August 1755 – 30 August 1773) was the 10th Peshwa of the Maratha Confederacy from November 1772 until his assassination in August 1773. He married Gangabai Sathe who later gave birth to Sawai Madhavrao. Early life Narayanra ...

. Her husband was acting regent at the time and next in line for the throne, at the time of Narayanrao's death.

Early life and marriage

Anandibai was born into a

Chitpavan The Chitpavan Brahmin or Konkanastha Brahmin is a Hindu Maharashtrian Brahmin community inhabiting Konkan, the coastal region of the state of Maharashtra. Initially working as messengers and spies in the late seventeenth century, the community ...

Brahmin family belonging to

Guhagar Guhagar (Marathi pronunciation: �uɦaːɡəɾ is a census town in Ratnagiri district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Guhagar is known for its virgin beach, coir items, coconuts, betel nuts and mainly Alphonso mangoes. The nearest city ...

village in the

Konkan The Konkan ( kok, कोंकण) or Kokan () is a stretch of land by the western coast of India, running from Damaon in the north to Karwar in the south; with the Arabian Sea to the west and the Deccan plateau in the east. The hinterland ...

region of what is now

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

state. She was the daughter of Raghu Mahadev Oak. Her cousin

Gopikabai Gopikabai (December 20, 1724 in Supa, near Pune, India – August 11, 1778 in Nashik) was Peshwin of Maratha Empire, as the wife of Peshwa Balaji Baji Rao (also called Nanasaheb Peshwa). She had a very orthodox religious upbringing and belief ...

(of the Raste family), was the wife of Peshwa Balaji Bajirao. In December 1756, when Anandibai was yet a child, she was married to

Raghunath Rao Raghunathrao Bhat (a.k.a. Ragho Ballal or Ragho Bharari) (18 August 1734 – 11 December 1783) was the 11th Peshwa of the Maratha Empire for a brief period from 1773 to 1774. He was known among the Hindus for his extremely successful North-west ...

, younger brother of

Balaji Baji Rao Baji Bajirao (8 December 1720 – 23 June 1761), also known as Nana Saheb I, was the 8th Peshwa of the Maratha Confederacy in India. He was appointed as Peshwa in 1740 upon the death of his illustrious father, the Peshwa Bajirao I. During ...

. She was his second wife. Raghunathrao's first wife (Janaki Bai of the Barwe family) had died in August 1755. Both Balaji and Raghunath were the sons of

Baji Rao I Baji Rao I (18 August 1700 – 28 April 1740), born as Visaji, also known as Bajirao Ballal (Pronunciation: ad͡ʒiɾaːʋ bəlːaːɭ, was the 7th Peshwa of the Maratha Empire. During his 20-year tenure as a Peshwa, he defeated Nizam-ul-M ...

of the

. The position of Peshwa was an administrative appointment made by the Chhatrapati (King), and it was not actually hereditary. Indeed, Baji Rao I was only the second man from his family to be named Peshwa.

Assassination of Narayanrao

After the death of

Madhavrao I Peshwa Madhavrao Bhat I (February 15, 1745 – November 18, 1772) was the 9th Peshwa of the Maratha Empire. During his tenure, the Maratha empire fully recovered from the losses they suffered during the Third Battle of Panipat, a phenomenon kn ...

in 1772, his brother

was to take the throne but he was still a minor. There was debate among the Peshwas about who should become the next regent. Finally it was decided that Narayanrao would be the peshwa with his uncle Raghunathrao acting as regent. Initially this arrangement worked but soon Narayanrao imprisoned his uncle on charges of plotting to overthrow him. On 30 August 1773 in

Shaniwar Wada Shaniwar Wada is a historical fortification in the city of Pune, India. Built in 1732, it was the great seat of the Peshwas of the Maratha Empire until 1818. Following the rise of the Maratha Empire, the palace became the center of Indian poli ...

,
Indian express article about Shaniwar Wada in an effort to free himself, Raghunathrao hired Kalbelia, Gardis as mercenaries. These men scaled and captured Shaniwar Wada. They quickly reached Narayanrao's chambers and held him captive. Narayanrao tried to appeal to his uncle but Anandibai intervened and did not allow his requests to reach Raghunathrao. According to popular legend, Raghunathrao had sent a message to Sumer Singh Gardi to fetch Narayanrao using the Marathi word ''dharaa'' (धरा) or 'hold' (actual phrase in Marathi - " नारायणरावांना धरा"/"Narayanrao-ana dhara"). This message was intercepted by his wife Anandibai who changed a single letter to make it read as ''maaraa'' (मारा) or 'kill' . The miscommunication led the Gardis to chase Narayanrao, who, upon hearing them coming, started running towards his uncles' residence screaming, "Kaka! Mala Vachva!!" ("Uncle! Save me!"). But nobody came to help him and he was killed in the presence of his uncle.

Aftermath

After Narayanrao's death, Raghunathrao became Peshwa but

Nana Phadanvis Nana Fadnavis (Pronunciation: aːna pʰəɖɳəʋiːs, fəɖ- also Phadnavis and Furnuwees and abbreviated as Phadnis) (February 12, 1742 – March 13, 1800), born Balaji Janardan Bhanu, was an influential minister and statesman of the Marath ...

ordered an investigation into the death of Narayanrao. The Chief Justice, (or ''Mukhya Nyayadhish'') of the Marathas, Ram Shastri Prabhune, found Anandibai and Raghunathrao guilty of murder. A part of the letter of Raghunathrao's order to the Gardis was examined by Ram Shastri who determined that the initial order "restrain him" () had been changed to "kill him" () - a difference of only one letter in the Marathi language. Raghunathrao swore that he had not ordered the murder of his nephew. It was widely believed in the palace that the author of this change was Anandibai herself. Anandibai's husband was overthrown by Nana Phadanvis and 12 others in the Barabhai conspiracy. The result of this was that the one-year-old baby

Madhavrao II Madhav Rao Bhat II (18 April 1774 – 27 October 1795) was the 12th Peshwa of the Maratha Empire in India, from his infancy. He was known as Sawai Madhav Rao or Madhav Rao Narayan. He was the posthumous son of Narayanrao Peshwa, murdered in 177 ...

, born to Narayanrao's widow, Gangabai (Sathe) after his death, was put on the throne, effectively putting the power in the hands of Nana Phadanvis.

Later life

As she and her husband were fleeing from the forces of Nana Phadanvis, she gave birth to

Bajirao II Shrimant Peshwa Baji Rao II (10 January 1775 – 28 January 1851) was the 13th and the last Peshwa of the Maratha Empire. He governed from 1795 to 1818. He was installed as a puppet ruler by the Maratha nobles, whose growing power prompted him ...

on 10 January 1775 in the Dhar fort, under the control of the Pawars. On 11 December 1783, her husband, Raghunathrao died,
Nashik District Gazetteer leaving behind three sons.

In popular culture

* In the 1994

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

TV series ''

The Great Maratha ''The Great Maratha'' is an Indian historical drama television series directed by Sanjay Khan and produced by Numero Uno International Limited. The drama aired on DD National. The series is based on the life of Mahadaji Shinde. The show compr ...

'', Anandibai's character was portrayed by

Utkarsha Naik ''Siddhi Vinayak'' is an Indian romantic thriller television series that aired from 26 October 2017 to 18 January 2019 on &TV. The series is produced by Prashant Bhatt and Sanjay Memane. After a successful run, the show was replaced by ''Main ...

. *

Sonalee Kulkarni Sonalee Benodekar (née 'Kulkarni; born 18 May 1988) is an Indian actress who mainly acts in Marathi cinema and Bollywood films. After working as a model in her early career, Sonalee made her debut in Kedar Shinde's film Bakula Namdeo Ghotale, ...

portrayed Anandibai in the 2014 Marathi language film, ''

Rama Madhav ''Rama Madhav'' is a 2014 Indian Marathi-language historical drama directed by Mrinal Kulkarni, It takes place during the Peshwa era. ''Rama Madhav'' was released on 8 August 2014. Plot The story starts from where Chhoti Rama is playing. All ...

'' * Kunjika Kalwit plays Anandibai in the 2019 Marathi language series, ''Swamini''

References