Madhav Rao Bhat II (18 April 1774 – 27 October 1795) was the 12th

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 ...

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 Sh ...

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 1773 on the orders 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 ...

. Madhavrao II was considered the legal heir, and was installed as ''Peshwa'' by the

Treaty of Salbai The Treaty of Salbai was signed on 17 May 1782, by representatives of the Maratha Empire and the British East India Company after long negotiations to settle the outcome of the First Anglo-Maratha War it was signed between Warren Hastings and Mah ...

in 1782 after

First Anglo-Maratha War The First Anglo-Maratha War (1775–1782) was the first of three Anglo-Maratha Wars fought between the British East India Company and Maratha Empire in India. The war began with the Treaty of Surat and ended with the Treaty of Salbai. The w ...

Early life

Madhavrao II was the

posthumous Posthumous may refer to: * Posthumous award - an award, prize or medal granted after the recipient's death * Posthumous publication – material published after the author's death * ''Posthumous'' (album), by Warne Marsh, 1987 * ''Posthumous'' ...

son of 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 Narayanr ...

by his wife, Gangabai. After Narayanrao's murder by

's supporters, he became the Peshwa. But he was soon deposed by Nana Phadnavis and 11 other administrators in what is called "The Baarbhaai Conspiracy" (Conspiracy by the Twelve). Raghunathrao was tried, convicted, and sentenced to death by the justice Ram Shastri Prabhune but the sentence was never carried out. They instead installed Gangabai's newborn son, Madhavrao II, as the Peshwa. The twelve then formed a council of the state known as the ''Bara Bhai'' for the conduct of the affairs of the state in the name of the new Peshwa, Sawai Madhav Rao, as he was made Peshwa when he was barely 40 days old. His time in power was dominated by the political intrigues of Nana Fadnavis.

Reign

Madhav Rao Narayan, the Maratha Peshwa with Nana Fadnavis and Attendants

First Anglo-Maratha War

After the British loss in 1782 in the

, Mahadji Shinde got Madhvrao recognized as Peshwa by the British. However, all powers of the Peshwa were in the hands of ministers like

Nana Fadnavis 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 ...

, Mahadaji Shinde and others.

Involvement in Anglo-Mysore Wars

Mysore had been attacking the Maratha Confederacy since 1761. To counter the menace presented by Mysore's

Hyder Ali Hyder Ali ( حیدر علی, ''Haidarālī''; 1720 – 7 December 1782) was the Sultan and ''de facto'' ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore in southern India. Born as Hyder Ali, he distinguished himself as a soldier, eventually drawing the at ...

and

Tipu Sultan Tipu Sultan (born Sultan Fateh Ali Sahab Tipu, 1 December 1751 – 4 May 1799), also known as the Tiger of Mysore, was the ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore based in South India. He was a pioneer of rocket artillery.Dalrymple, p. 243 He i ...

the Peshwa supported the English. During the

Third Anglo-Mysore War The Third Anglo-Mysore War (1790–1792) was a conflict in South India between the Kingdom of Mysore and the British East India Company, the Kingdom of Travancore, the Maratha Empire, and the Nizam of Hyderabad. It was the third of four Angl ...

the

British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...

was alarmed by the strength and the gains made by the Maratha Confederacy not just against Mysore but also in India.

Chaos in Delhi, Mughal Darbar

In 1788,

Ghulam Qadir Ghulam Kadir, fully Ghulam Abd al Qadir Ahmed Khan ( ur, غلام عبد القادر احمد خان, unknown – 3March 1789), was a leader of the Afghan Rohilla during the late 18th century in the time of the Mughal Empire. He is particularly ...

attacked

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...

, Mahadaji Shinde led the army of

Marathas The Marathi people ( Marathi: मराठी लोक) or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed as a ...

and saved the

Mughal Emperor The Mughal emperors ( fa, , Pādishāhān) were the supreme heads of state of the Mughal Empire on the Indian subcontinent, mainly corresponding to the modern countries of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. The Mughal rulers styled t ...

and his family.

Subjugation of Rajput

In 1790, the Mahadji Shinde won over Rajput States in the Battle of Patan. After the death of Mahadaji Shinde In 1794, the Maratha power got concentrated in the hands of

Zoo

Madhavrao was fond of the outdoors and had a private collection of exotic animals such as lions and rhinos. The area where he hunted became later the

Peshwe Park The Peshwe Park, is located near Saras Baug in Pune, India. It is managed by the Pune Municipal Corporation. It is spread over an area of 7 acres. Now it is an energy park that stresses the importance of renewable energy in today’s times. The ...

zoo in Pune. He was particularly fond of his herd of trained dancing deer.

Death

Madhavrao committed suicide at the age of 21 by jumping off from the high walls of the Shaniwar Wada in

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

. The cause of the suicide probably was that he could not endure the highhandedness of

. Just before his suicide, it is said that in ordering the execution of the despised police commissioner, Ghashiram Kotwal, Madhavrao was able to defy the wishes of Nana for the first time.Kotani, H., 2005. The Death of Ghasiram Kotwal: Power and Justice in the Maratha Kingdom. Minamiajiakenkyu, 2004(16), pp.1-1

/ref> Thomas Daniell, Sir Charles Warre Malet, Concluding a Treaty in 1790 in Durbar with the Peshwa of the Maratha Empire

Thomas Daniell, Sir Charles Warre Malet, Concluding a Treaty in 1790 in Durbar with the Peshwa of the Maratha Empire

Succession

Peshwa Sawai Madhavrao II died in 1795 with no heir. Therefore, he was succeeded by

's son,

Baji Rao 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 ...