Moropant Trimbak Pingale (1620 - 1683), was the first ''

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 ...

'' 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 ...

, serving under

Shivaji Maharaj Shivaji I (Shivaji Shahaji Bhonsale, ; 19 February 1630 – 3 April 1680) was an Indian ruler and a member of the Bhonsle dynasty. Shivaji carved out his own independent kingdom from the Sultanate of Bijapur that formed the genesis of the ...

as a member of

Ashta Pradhan Ashta Pradhan (Literal translation, literally, 'Council of Eight') was the Cabinet (government), cabinet of the Maratha Confederacy. The council is credited with having implemented good governance practices in the Maratha heartland, as well as fo ...

(Council of Eight Ministers).

Early life

Moropant Trimbak Pingle was born to a

Deshastha Brahmin Deshastha Brahmin is a Hinduism, Hindu Brahmin caste, subcaste mainly from the Indian state of Maharashtra and North Karnataka. Other than these states, according to authors K. S. Singh, Gregory Naik and Pran Nath Chopra, Deshastha Brahmins a ...

family Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and the Maratha Art of War By Murlidhar Balkrishna Deopujari, Page 254
/ref> in 1620 Nimgaon. In 1647, he joined

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Chhatrapati is a royal title from Sanskrit used to denote a king. The word "Chhatrapati" is a Sanskrit language compound word of ''Chatra (umbrella), chhatra'' (''parasol'' or ''umbrella'') and ''Pati (title), pati'' (''master/lord/ruler''). T ...

in establishing the

Military career

He was one of the

warrior A warrior is a guardian specializing in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal society, tribal or clan-based warrior culture society that recognizes a separate warrior aristocracy, social class, class, or caste. History ...

s who participated in the successful 1659 battle of Shivaji Maharaj's forces against the forces of

Bijapur Bijapur (officially Vijayapura) is the district headquarters of Bijapur district of the Karnataka state of India. It is also the headquarters for Bijapur Taluk. Bijapur city is well known for its historical monuments of architectural importa ...

Adil Shah Ali-qoli Khan (), commonly known by his regnal title Adel Shah (also spelled Adil; , "the Just King") was the second shah of Afsharid Iran, ruling from 1747 to 1748. He was the nephew and successor of Nader Shah (), the founder of the Afsharid d ...

which immediately followed Adil Shah's general Afzalkhān's death at Jāwali. He also participated in the battles at Trimbakeshwar Fort and Wāni- Dindori against the

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an Early modern period, early modern empire in South Asia. At its peak, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus River Basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to ...

. He participated in Shivaji's invasion of

Surat Surat (Gujarati Language, Gujarati: ) is a city in the western Indian States and territories of India, state of Gujarat. The word Surat directly translates to ''face'' in Urdu, Gujarati language, Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of t ...

in 1664. He also participated in the

Battle of Salher The Battle of Salher was fought between the Marathas and the Mughal Empire in February 1672 CE. The battle was fought near the fort of Salher in modern-day Nashik district. The result was a decisive victory for the Marathas. This battle is con ...

. Moropant surrounded and attacked the 25,000 strong Mughal infantry at Salher with his 20,000 infantry. Prominent Maratha Sardar and Shivaji's childhood friend Suryaji Kakde was killed by a Zamburak cannon in the battle. Chhatrapati Sambhaji son of Shivaji stayed with Moropant's relatives in Mathura after their escape from

Agra Agra ( ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is the ...

.. Moropant introduced sound revenue administration to

Shivaji Shivaji I (Shivaji Shahaji Bhonsale, ; 19 February 1630 – 3 April 1680) was an Indian ruler and a member of the Bhonsle dynasty. Shivaji carved out his own independent kingdom from the Sultanate of Bijapur that formed the genesis of the ...

's regime, and played an important role in resource planning concerning defenses and maintenance of strategic forts. He was also responsible for the construction and administration of

Pratapgad Pratapgad is a mountain fort located in Satara district, in the Western Indian state of Maharashtra. The fort is situated 24 kilometres from the Mahabaleshwar hill station. The fort is now a popular tourist destination. The fort's historical ...

. At Chhatrapati Shivaji's death, Moropant Pingale was working as a supervisor of fort development activities in

Nashik Nashik, formerly Nasik, is a city in the northern region of the Indian state of Maharashtra situated on the banks of the river Godavari, about northeast of the state capital Mumbai. Nashik is one of the Hindu pilgrimage sites of the Kumbh ...

District for the Salher-Mulher forts. Under Shivaji Maharaj's successor,

Chhatrapati Sambhaji Sambhaji (Sambhajiraje Shivajiraje Bhonsle, ; 14 May 1657 – 11 March 1689), also known as Shambhuraje, ruled from 1681 to 1689 as the second king (Chhatrapati) of the Maratha Empire, a prominent state in early modern India. He was the eldes ...

, he also participated in the battle of

Burhanpur Burhanpur is a historical city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the administrative seat of Burhanpur District. It is situated on the north bank of the Tapti River and northeast of city of Mumbai , southwest of the state's capita ...

in 1681 which resulted in the sacking of the important

Mughal Mughal or Moghul may refer to: Related to the Mughal Empire * Mughal Empire of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries * Mughal dynasty * Mughal emperors * Mughal people, a social group of Central and South Asia * Mughal architecture * Mug ...

trade centre of Burhanpur. He was killed during an ambush by

forces in 1683.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pingale, Moropant Trimbak Peshwa dynasty 1683 deaths 1620s births People from the Maratha Empire Indian military leaders