Anandibai was a

Peshwa The Peshwa was the second highest office in the Maratha Empire, 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 when Shahu gave t ...

the second wife of Raghunathrao, the 11th Peshwa of the

Maratha Empire The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern India, early modern polity in the Indian subcontinent. It comprised the realms of the Peshwa and four major independent List of Maratha dynasties and states, Ma ...

. In August 1773, she successfully plotted the death of her nephew, the 17-year-old Peshwa Narayanrao. Her husband was acting regent at the time and next in line for the throne, at the time of Narayanrao's death.

Early life and marriage

Anandibai was born into a Chitpavan Brahmin family belonging to Guhagar village in the

Konkan The Konkan is a stretch of land by the western coast of India, bound by the river Daman Ganga at Damaon in the north, to Anjediva Island next to Karwar town in the south; with the Arabian Sea to the west and the Deccan plateau to the eas ...

region of what is now

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

state. She was the daughter of Raghu Mahadev Oak. Her cousin Gopikabai (of the Raste family), was the wife of Peshwa Balaji Bajirao. In December 1756, when Anandibai was yet a child, she was married to Raghunath Rao, younger brother of

Balaji Baji Rao Balaji Baji Rao (8 December 1720 – 23 June 1761), often referred to as Nana Saheb I, was the 8th Peshwa of the Maratha Empire. He was appointed as Peshwa in 1740 upon the death of his father, Peshwa Bajirao I. During his tenure, the Chhatra ...

. She was his second wife. Raghunathrao's first wife (Janaki Bai of the Barwe family) had died in August 1755. Both Balaji and Raghunath were the sons of

Baji Rao I Bajirao I (né Visaji, ; 18 August 1700 – 28 April 1740) was the 7th Peshwa of the Maratha Empire. He was appointed Peshwa at the age of nineteen by Shahu I, following the death of his father, Balaji Vishwanath. He is credited with establi ...

of the

. The position of Peshwa was an administrative appointment made by the Chhatrapati (King), and it was not actually hereditary. Indeed, Baji Rao I was only the second man from his family to be named Peshwa.

Assassination of Narayanrao

After the death of

Madhavrao I Madhavrao I (formerly known as Madhavrao Ballal Bhat) was the second son of Peshwa Balaji Bajirao and grandson of Peshwa Bajirao I, who served as the 9th Peshwa of the Maratha Empire. During his tenure, the Maratha Empire recovered from losse ...

in 1772, his brother Narayanrao was to take the throne but he was still a minor. There was debate among the Peshwas about who should become the next regent. Finally it was decided that Narayanrao would be the peshwa with his uncle Raghunathrao acting as regent. Initially this arrangement worked but soon Narayanrao imprisoned his uncle on charges of plotting to overthrow him. On 30 August 1773 in

Shaniwar Wada Shaniwar Wada is a historical fortification in the city of Pune, India. Built in 1732, it was the seat of the Peshwas of the Maratha Confederacy until 1818. The fort itself was largely destroyed in 1828 by an unexplained fire, but the surviving ...

,
Indian express article about Shaniwar Wada in an effort to free himself, Raghunathrao hired Kalbelia, Gardis as mercenaries. These men scaled and captured Shaniwar Wada. They quickly reached Narayanrao's chambers and held him captive. Narayanrao tried to appeal to his uncle but Anandibai intervened and did not allow his requests to reach Raghunathrao. According to popular legend, Raghunathrao had sent a message to Sumer Singh Gardi to fetch Narayanrao using the Marathi word ''dharaa'' (धरा) or 'hold' (actual phrase in Marathi - " नारायणरावांना धरा"/"Narayanrao-ana dhara"). This message was intercepted by his wife Anandibai who changed a single letter to make it read as ''maaraa'' (मारा) or 'kill' . The miscommunication led the Gardis to chase Narayanrao, who, upon hearing them coming, started running towards his uncles' residence screaming, "Kaka! Mala Vachva!!" ("Uncle! Save me!"). But nobody came to help him and he was killed in the presence of his uncle.

Aftermath

After Narayanrao's death, Raghunathrao became Peshwa but Nana Phadanvis ordered an investigation into the death of Narayanrao. The Chief Justice, (or ''Mukhya Nyayadhish'') of the Marathas, Ram Shastri Prabhune, found Anandibai and Raghunathrao guilty of murder. A part of the letter of Raghunathrao's order to the Gardis was examined by Ram Shastri who determined that the initial order "restrain him" () had been changed to "kill him" () - a difference of only one letter in the Marathi language. Raghunathrao swore that he had not ordered the murder of his nephew. It was widely believed in the palace that the author of this change was Anandibai herself. Anandibai's husband was overthrown by Nana Phadanvis and 12 others in the Barabhai conspiracy. The result of this was that the one-year-old baby Madhavrao II, born to Narayanrao's widow, Gangabai (Sathe) after his death, was put on the throne, effectively putting the power in the hands of Nana Phadanvis.

Later life

As she and her husband were fleeing from the forces of Nana Phadanvis, she gave birth to Bajirao II on 10 January 1775 in the Dhar fort, under the control of the Pawars. On 11 December 1783, her husband, Raghunathrao died,
Nashik District Gazetteer leaving behind three sons.

In popular culture

* In the 1994

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

TV series ''

The Great Maratha ''The Great Maratha'' is an Indian historical drama television series directed by Sanjay Khan and produced by Numero Uno International Limited. The drama aired on DD National. The series is based on the life of Mahadaji Shinde. The show compr ...

'', Anandibai's character was portrayed by Utkarsha Naik. * Sonalee Kulkarni portrayed Anandibai in the 2014 Marathi language film, '' Rama Madhav'' * Kunjika Kalwit plays Anandibai in the 2019 Marathi language series, ''Swamini''

References