Gopikabai Peshwa History | गोपिकबाई पेशवीण यांचा इतिहास पर्व 1 भाग 2

Gopikabai Peshwa History | गोपिकबाई पेशवीण यांचा इतिहास | Marathi Mahiti | Real Prime Videos Parvatibai (6 April 1734 – 23 September 1763) was second wife of Sadashivrao Bhau. She was from Kolhatkar family of Pen and was married to Sadashivrao Bhau after the death of his first wife Umabai and hence became a member of the Peshwa family. She was also a trusted confidante of Shahuji. Her niece was Radhikabai . After her husband became Peshwa, Gopikabai was unable to get along with the other women in the Peshwa household and developed a rivalry with her cousin Anandibai who was married to the Peshwa's brother Raghunathrao. There was also a rift between Gopikabai and Parvatibai, the wife of the Peshwa's cousin Sadashivrao Bhau which occurred when Shahu and Nanasaheb Peshwa selected Parvatibai’s niece Radhikabai to marry her eldest son Vishwasrao. Gopikabai insisted on sending Vishwasrao along with Sadashivrao Bhau (Bhausaheb) to battle against Abdali as she did not want Bhausaheb to take all the accolades after defeating Abdali and wanted Vishwasrao to play a bigger role. She did this to ensure that Vishwasrao becomes the next Peshwa after Nanasaheb. She suspected Nanasaheb of planning to make Bhausaheb the next Peshwa. After the death of Nanasaheb Peshwa, a dispute arose about appointments in the Peshwa administration. Chhatrapati Shahu had died without an heir and by this time the post of Peshwa had become hereditary. Gopikabai, advised by her brother, attempted to involve herself in administrative matters. Since Vishwasrao, Nanasaheb's first son and legal heir, had already died, a dispute arose whether Madhavrao, Nanasaheb's second son or Raghunathrao, Nanasaheb's younger brother should ascend the post. This was fueled by the fact that Gopikabai’s relations with Anandibai, the wife of Raghunathrao, were not cordial. Finally, it was decided that Madhavrao would ascend the post of Peshwa, under the guidance of Raghunathrao. This decision was a setback for Gopikabai who had hoped to have a controlling influence over her son on becoming the Peshwa but now would have to take up matters with Raghunathrao, who in turn was under the strong influence of his wife Anandibai. Moreover, Gopikabai's lack of proper training for court administration made her susceptible to poor advice from courtiers spoiling her relationship with her son. With help from her brother Sardar Raste, who had become an influential moneylender, she tried to influence her son Madhavrao Peshwa. Madhavrao Peshwa started taking an active part in administrative matters and displayed an intelligent decision-making ability. Gopikabai urged him to be assertive and do away with Raghunathrao's control over his administration. A few wrong decisions on Raghunathrao’s part caused a wide rift in the administration. Sardar Raste collaborated with Nizam of Hyderabad and Bhonsale of Nagpur during their invasion of Pune against Raghunathrao’s administration. By sidelining Raghunathrao, Madhavrao Peshwa assumed control of the Peshwa administration. One of his first acts was to punish those who had assisted Nizam, prominent among them Sardar Raste. Gopikabai, who pleaded for mercy for her brother, was sternly warned of the consequences of such an act and was told not to interfere in administrative matters. When she persisted, she was confined to Nashik. Gopikabai remained at Nashik, performing orthodox Hindu rituals, until the death of Madhavrao in 1773 from tuberculosis. As Madhavrao died without an heir, Raghunathrao again made his claim for control of the Peshwa administration at Anandibai's insistence. Narayanrao, Gopikabai's third son, was appointed Peshwa. Upon Narayanrao's appointment, Gopikabai returned to Pune and again began to interfere in the administration. During this time, Gopikabai involved herself increasingly in religious rituals. This was during an era when the Brahmin way of life was at its zenith, and huge monetary grants were given for performing religious rituals. The priestly class occupied an important administrative post. Narayanrao's administration was paralyzed by debt and increasing opposition to him especially from Raghunathrao and Anandibai led to him being murdered. This incident was another setback for Gopikabai, and she again lost the control which she had gained a year and a half earlier and had to return to Nashik. #Gopikabai_peshwa #MarathiHistory #history