Peshawe

The Peshawe dynasty is vastly misunderstood among other dynasties in India. Instead of counting them among the best administered and bravest (They are the one who officially overthrown Delhi sultanate and won area up to Attock in Pakistan.) they are blamed for numerous things. Particularly, Marathas sulked endlessly, as they had to fight under Peshawe’s (Brahmins) supervision in post-Shivaji period.

Strong navy was ultimate dream of Shivaji and he worked relentlessly for this dream and succeeded up to great extent. He halted British businessman from establishing strong base in Kokan area and stunted the growth of Portuguese outside Goa. His ships used to wreck havoc up to Arabian Peninsula. Among the other things, Peshawe’s are blamed for not building maintaining Navy in Arabian seas. Even if we accept this blame, we should consider the reasons behind it. It was almost impossible for them to keep eye on Navy’s growth because they were concentrating mainly on expanding empire on the west and northern front. They won area up to Gwalior, and virtually stopped further invasions from west and central Asia. Plus, they were fighting with their own brethren. Holkar, Shinde, Bhosle (Nagpur) were not co-operating with them at best and fighting against them at worst. .

An important thing to note is, British established their firm base in Calcutta first as they realized that it is impossible to expand their empire from Western Ghats. So, considering Peshawe’s did grave mistake by neglecting Navy, they were fairly successful in keeping sea enemies at bay as even Portuguese remained confined to Goa and there by serving the purpose of Navy.

It is a fashion to criticize the Peshawe’s because, first, there no more Peshwe’s left and second, Maratha’s still wield power in Maharashtra. But, I don’t think that Peshwe’s were Brahmins nor Shivaji was Maratha. They were great people who worked selflessly with grand aim in mind and they worked incessantly to achieve that goal. It’s because their bravery that we still boast name of our country as Bharat and still follow our religion and our tradition. Blaming someone because of caste politics is not only an attempt to trivialize their life but also an insult to their achievements.