Bajirao I was the 7th Peshwa of the Maratha Confederacy. He, after Shivaji, is considered to be the most charismatic and dynamic leader in Maratha history. He was just twenty years old and already had a reputation for rapid decisions and a passion for military adventure.
The Maratha Confederacy, also referred to as the Maratha Empire, was an early modern polity in the Indian subcontinent. It comprised the realms of the Peshwa and four major independent Maratha states often subordinate to the former. It was established in 1674 with the coronation of Shivaji as the Maratha Chhatrapati and recognised by Emperor Bahadur Shah I as a tributary state in 1707 following a prolonged rebellion. Following this, the Marathas continued to recognise the Mughal emperor as their nominal suzerain, similar to other contemporary Indian entities, though in practice, imperial politics at Delhi were largely influenced by the Marathas between 1737 and 1803.
The Peshwa was the second highest office in the Maratha Confederacy, next in rank and prestige only to that of the Chhatrapati. Initially serving as the appointed prime minister in the Maratha Kingdom, the office became hereditary after the death of Shahu in 1749. During the reign of Shahu, the office of Peshwa grew in power and the Peshwas came to be the de facto rulers of the Maratha Confederacy. However following the defeat of the Marathas in 1761, the office of the Peshwa became titular as well and from that point onwards served as the ceremonial head of the Confederacy underneath the Chhatrapati.
House of Scindia or earlier known as the Sendrak was a Hindu Maratha Royal House that ruled the erstwhile Gwalior State in central India. It had the Patil-ship of Kanherkhed in the district of Satara and was founded by Ranoji Scindia, who was sardar of maratha empire and real maratha warrior clan appointed by chattrapati shahuji maharaj-1's servant family from kokan worked as prime minister also known as Peshwa Bajirao I. Ranoji and his descendants, along with their rivals the Holkars, played a leading role during the Maratha ascendancy in northern India in the 18th-century. The Gwalior State became a princely state during the British Raj in the 19th and the 20th-centuries. After India's independence in 1947 and the abolition of princely states, several members of the Scindia Dynasty went on to enter Indian politics.
Balaji Baji Rao, often referred to as Nana Saheb I, was the 8th Peshwa of the Maratha Confederacy. He was appointed as Peshwa in 1740 upon the death of his father, the Peshwa Bajirao I.
Gaekwads, a Hindu Maratha dynasty of the former Maratha Confederacy and its subsequent (erstwhile) princely state of Baroda in western India from the early 18th century until 1947. The ruling prince was known as the Maharaja Gaekwad of Baroda. With the city of Baroda (Vadodara) as its capital, during the British Raj its relations with the British were managed by the Baroda Residency. It was one of the largest and wealthiest princely states existing alongside British India, with wealth coming from the lucrative cotton business as well as rice, wheat and sugar production.
Balaji Vishwanath Bhat was the first of a series of hereditary Peshwas hailing from the Bhat family who gained effective control of the Maratha Confederacy and other Mughal vassals during the early 18th century. Balaji Vishwanath assisted a young Maratha king Shahu to consolidate his grip on a kingdom that had been racked by civil war and persistently intruded on by the Mughals under Aurangzeb. He was called the Second Founder of the Maratha State. He secured a grant from the Mughal court that confirmed Shahu as the legitimate Mughal vassal, at the expense of his rival Sambhaji II. Later, his son Bajirao I became the Peshwa.
Maharani Tarabai Bhosale (née Mohite) was the regent of the Maratha Empire from 1700 until 1708. She was the queen of Rajaram I, and daughter-in-law of the kingdom's founder Shivaji I. She is acclaimed for her role in keeping alive the resistance against Mughal rule in Konkan, and acting as the regent of the Maratha Empire during the minority of her son, Shivaji II. She defeated Mughal forces of Aurangzeb in several battles and expanded the Maratha Empire.
Pilajirao Gaekwad was a Maratha general. He is considered to be the founder of the Gaekwad dynasty of the Maratha Empire, who became Maharaja of Baroda.
Chimaji Balaji Bhat, commonly known as Chimaji Appa, was a military commander and statesman of the Maratha Empire. As the younger brother of Peshwa Bajirao I and the son of Peshwa Balaji Vishwanath, Chimaji played a crucial role in expanding and consolidating Maratha power during the early 18th century. Known for his strategic acumen and leadership in various military campaigns, Chimaji is particularly celebrated for his successful campaign against the Portuguese, which culminated in the capture of the Vasai fort in 1739.
Ranoji Scindia was the founder of the Scindia dynasty, a gifted military commander under whose leadership Malwa was conquered. Scindia dynasty rose to prominence in the 18th century and went on to dominate India as one of the most prominent powers due to their influential presence in Delhi and their highly modernised army.
Dabhade surname signifies Maratha and Koli clans found largely in Maharashtra, India. The Maratha Dabhades were originally centered on Talegaon Dabhade, but became the chiefs of Gujarat. They held the hereditary title of Senapati (commander-in-chief) and several jagirs in Gujarat until 1751. That year, Umabai Dabhade and her relatives were arrested for a rebellion against the Peshwa, and were stripped of their titles.
Umabai Dabhade was a prominent member of the Maratha Dabhade clan. The members of her family held the hereditary title senapati (commander-in-chief), and controlled several territories in Gujarat. After the deaths of her husband Khande Rao and her son Trimbak Rao, she exercised executive powers while her minor son Yashwant Rao remained the titular senapati. Her unsuccessful rebellion against Peshwa Balaji Baji Rao resulted in the downfall of the Dabhade family.
Kampel is a panchayat village in the Indore block of the Indore district, Madhya Pradesh, India. It was the headquarters of a pargana in Mughal Empire before the administrative center of the region was shifted to Indore city under the Holkars of the Maratha Empire.
Rao Nandlal Chaudhary was a Gaur Brahmin and the chief of the Zamindars of Kampel, near Indore. Under the suzerainty of the Mughals, he controlled Kampel and some of its surrounding area including Indore. He accepted the suzerainty of the Marathas, after the Nizam acceded to the Peshwa's demands in 1724.
Damaji Rao Gaekwad was the second Maharaja of Baroda reigning from 1732 to 1768 until his death.
Trimbak Rao Dabhade was a Senapati of Maratha empire during 1729–1731. He was the son of Khande Rao Dabhade and Umabai Dabhade.
Kashibai Bhat was the first wife of Bajirao I, the Peshwa to the fourth Maratha Chhatrapati (Emperor) Shahu. With Bajirao, she had four children, including Balaji Baji Rao and Ragunath Rao. Balaji succeeded Bajirao as Peshwa upon the latter's death in 1740. Also following Bajirao's death, Kashibai fostered her step-son, Shamsher Bahadur, whose mother was Bajirao's second wife, Mastani.
The Bhatt Peshwa family earlier known as Bhat family is a prominent Indian Chitpavan Brahmin family who dominated India for around 100 years in the late 18th century and early 19th century. Most of the members in this family were the Peshwas in the Peshwa Era of the Maratha Empire, and Peshwa later became their family name. During their regime, most of the Indian subcontinent was under their control. The last Peshwa, Baji Rao II, was defeated by the British East India Company in the Third Anglo-Maratha War in 1818. The territory was annexed to the British East India Company's Bombay Presidency, and he was pensioned.
The Battle of Palkhed was fought on 28 February 1728 at the village of Palkhed, near the city of vaijapur, in what is now Maharashtra, India, between the Maratha Confederacy and the Hyderabad State wherein the Marathas defeated the Nizam of Hyderabad.
Nizam of Hyderabad [3] 
Bajirao's Maratha faction 
Trimbak Rao Dabhade †