Sardars of the Peshwas: The Pethes

The Pethes were originally a family from Guhagar where they, like many other noble families from Konkan like the Mores, Gokhales, and Ranes served as officers of the Adilshahs. Their original surname is said to be Abhyankar.

Vishwanath Krushnaji Pethe

Vishwanath Krushnaji Pethe, called as Visaji, was the son of Krushnaji Bhairav Pethe and the grandson of Bhairavji Pethe. The Pethes served as the hereditary Mokadams (Head of the village) of Guhagar before migrating to the Desh plateau where they first served the Nagpurkar Bhosales. Visaji was a part of the 1718 campaign to Delhi which ensured the release of Yesubai and other members of Shivaji Maharaj's family who were in the custody of the Mughals since the capture of Raigad. As per the Treaty of 1718, the Marathas were given the right to collect taxes in the 6 subahs of the Deccan viz, Khandesh, Ahmadnagar, Berar, Bidar, Bijapur, and Hyderabad. Visaji was appointed as the Kamavisdar of Khandesh. He was also given the village of Kiwale near Pune by Shahu Maharaj in 1722. The Pethes built a wada and several temples there. The wada had, among many other things, an Agnihotra and a Hattikhana.

Visaji had 3 children, Trimbakrao, Madhavrao, and Rakhmabai. Rakhmabai was married to Chimajiappa Peshwa in 1716. It was Rakhmabai's marriage to Chimajiappa that cemented the relationship between the two families.

Trimbakrao Pethe

Trimbakrao Pethe was born in 1713. He started out as a clerk and rose through the ranks, eventually being appointed in his father's place as the Kamavisdar of Khandesh in 1729. In 1735 he was made the subhedar of Khandesh. He built the Pethe Wada in Kasba Peth in Pune was built sometime in the late 1730s.

In 1742, he was charged with leading raids into Varhad to counter Raghuji Bhosale. During one such skirmish, he was captured and placed under arrest for over a year. He was freed in 1743 after Shahu Maharaj ordered his release.

In 1750, while the Peshwa was away on an expedition, the rebel forces of Umabai Dabhade, Tarabai, and Damaji Gaekwad set out to invade Pune. The responsibility of defending it lay on the shoulders of the generals who were there at the time, the Purandares, Pethes, and Mehendales, which they did successfully. In a letter to the Peshwa, Trimbakrao said, "sinhachya guhet undir shirat ahe, apan kontich kalji karu nahi" (you needn't worry, a mouse is trying to enter the lion's den). In order to project normalcy and stop the citizens of Pune from panicking, Trimbakrao organized the munja (thread ceremony) of Madhavrao Peshwa amidst this panic.

Upon the Peshwa's return, Trimbakrao was appointed as the Mutalik at Satara. While at Satara he managed to please Tarabai and win her over to the Peshwa's faction. After sorting out the affairs at Satara, he returned to Pune in 1757, where he settled permanently from thereon.

Trimbakrao did not participate in the fatal Panipat campaign led by Sadashivraobhau. He however did accompany Nanasaheb Peshwa as a part of the reserve force. However, they had to return since the Marathas had already lost the battle before this reserve force even crossed Malwa.

After Nanasaheb's death, a cold war erupted within the Peshwa court, splitting it into 2 factions, one lead by Madhavrao and Gopikabai, and the other one lead by Raghunathrao, each backed by its own set of advisors, generals, and officers. Trimbakrao Pethe was an important part of Madhavrao's faction. He was instrumental in getting him the post of the Peshwa from Tarabai and served as one of his most trusted advisors during that period. His antagonism with Raghunathrao and his faction, particularly Sakharam Bapu Bokil was well known.

He accompanied Madhavrao on his first campaign to Karnataka. After the end of this campaign, a civil war broke out within the Marathas. Madhavrao had no option left but to surrender and signed the Treaty of Alegaon. His surrender left his core supporters cornered. They had to resort to all kinds of measures to save themselves from Raghunathrao's wrath. Gopalrao Patwardhan had to join the Nizam, while Baburao Phadnis and Trimbakrao Pethe took refuge with Babuji Naik Baramatikar. Raghunathrao sent an army to arrest them. Though the arrest was avoided, all their saranjams were confiscated. Trimbakrao had to spend some time underground by seeking refuge on several forts.

Affer the Battle of Rakshasbhuvan in 1763, Madhavrao proved his mettle and restored his power. Trimbakrao's relations with Raghunathrao also eventually improved, so much so that all the saranjams that had been confiscated were returned to him and he accompanied Raghunathrao on the campaign to the north in 1766.

After this, he continued to accompany Madhavrao on his Karnatak Campaigns till 1770. After 1770, Madhavrao, due to his ill health, couldn't continue to lead any campaigns. Trimbakrao was made the commander of the Karnatak expedition of 1770 to 1772. He was accompanied by many able generals such as the Rastes, Patwardhans, Guttikar Ghorpades, Mehendales, Asalekar Potnis'. The Battle of Moti Talav was the pinnacle of this campaign, where Haider and Tipu had to escape in the guise of beggars. This campaign ended with a treaty in 1772 and the Marathas returned to Pune.

Madhavrao Peshwa died the following year in 1773 and his younger brother Narayanrao was made the Peshwa. However the tensions between Narayanrao and Raghunathrao increased day by day leading to the arrest of Raghunathrao and the unfortunate assassination of Narayanrao at the hands of the Gardis. The Gardis had seized Shaniwar Wada and were not under the control of even Raghunathrao, who had hired them in the first place. There was an atmosphere of panic in Pune at that point. Trimbakrao made the brave decision of entering Shaniwar Wada and recovering Narayanrao's body and cremating it.

Raghunathrao seized power for a while after the death of Narayanrao. However he was overthrown by a band of 12 ministers called the Barbhais. Trimbakrao was a part of this council. Raghunathrao, after being overthrown and sentenced to death, tried to flee and seek the help of the British. He was chased by the Barbhais, led by Trimbakrao Pethe and Haripant Phadke, who won over several generals from Raghunathrao's faction such as the Biniwales, Mehendales, Rastes, and Purandares. Unfortunately, at the Batlle of Kasegaon, Trimbakrao was caught by surprise by Raghunathrao's forces and killed.

Throughout his life, Trimbakrao had been fondly referred to as Trimbakmama. He was actually the mama (maternal uncle) of Sadashivrao, but was lovingly called Mama by everyone. He had dedicated his life to the service of the Peshwas and had proven himself to be reliable and a voice of reason several times. He was frequently employed to resolve several conflicts such as the conflict between the Shindes and the Holkars in 1753 or the Jawhar succession issue.

He was married three times, first, in 1724, to Venubai Ghorpade, the daughter of Anubai Ghorpade, the sister of Bajirao Peshwa. In 1760, he was married to Parvatibai Kolhatkar. Later that year, he married the daughter of Saukar Paithankar Wakhre. This marriage was a political alliance and had taken place because the Marathas were in a dire need of loans that were provided by the Wakhres. Nanasaheb and Trimbakrao were both married to the Wakhre sisters in one mandap.

Trimbakrao had 4 children, Krushnarao, Vishwasrao, Chimabai and Thamabai. Chimabai was married to Morobadada Phadnis while Thamabai was married into the Indorkar Jog family.

Madhavrao Pethe

Madhavrao Pethe was the younger brother of Trimbakrao Pethe. He played a key role in the administration of the Peshwas and looked after several departments such as the Shilekhana (Armoury), Jamdarkhana (Treasury), and Tanksal (Mint). He was given the honor of a palanquin by the Peshwas in 1752.

Amrutrao Pethe

Amrutrao Pethe was the grandson of Trimbakrao Pethe and the son of Vishwasrao Pethe. He was married twice, to Savitribai, the daughter of Haripant Phadke and to Kashibai, the daughter of Shivaram Khasgiwale. He fought at the Battle of Kharda against the Nizam in 1795. This battle was considered to be the final blow t0 the Nizam, after which he never reared his head again.

Trimbakrao Pethe II

Trimbakrao Pethe II was the son of Amrutrao Pethe. Bajirao II, the son of Raghunathrao was made the Peshwa after Sawai Madhavrao's death. Bajirao II went after the Barbhai faction rather vengefully. The Mehendale, Phadnis, Raste, Patwardhan and Pethe families were particularly targetted. He had started to confiscate their wadas and saranjams. In a bid to save their wadas, their ownership was temporarily transferred to other families, The Pethe Wada at Kiwale was given to 5 families. Today it is called Ranade Wada. The Ranades are one of the original 5 families to whom the wada was bequeathed.

The Pethes eventually retreated to Nashik, a city they were already familiar with. Trimbakrao had been sent there earlier by Nanasaheb Peshwa to oversee the construction of the Chakreshwar Temple and later by Madhavrao Peshwa to keep a watch on Raghunathrao while he stayed there. Trimbakrao and Madhavrao each owned a 4 chowki wada in Nashik. Trimbakrao's wada had a Balkrishna Temple and Madhavrao's wada had a Sheshashayi Vishnu Temple in them, both the idols having been gifted to the Pethes by Nanasaheb Peshwa himself. The wadas were partially burnt two times, once by the Holkars in 1797 and the second time during the anti-Brahmin riots of 1948. The descendants of the Pethes continue to live there to date.

Pethe Wada, Nashik

The Pethes built several temples in Nashik such as the Varhareshwar Temple in Jalalpur and the Tilbhandeshwar and Uma Maheshwar Temples in Panchavati along with the Khandoba Kund, one of the 17 kunds of Nashik. They also renovated the Vyadeshwar Temple in Guhagar and built the Nageshwar Temple near Jalgaon along with some owryas at the Vitthal Temple in Pandharpur. Trimbakrao had found some Vijaynagar era bronzes during the Karnatak campaigns and had them installed in temples in Mahuli and Nashik.

The Pethe Wada in Kasba Peth was sold in 1895 to 5 Tambat families, a community of hereditary copper artisans. They have been running their karkhanas there ever since.