Consider the following Peshwas and arrange them in ascending chronological order :
1. Raghunath Rao (Raghoba)
2. Balaji Baji Rao
3. Narayan Rao
4. Balaji Vishwanath
Select the correct answer from the

Question

Consider the following Peshwas and arrange them in ascending chronological order :
1. Raghunath Rao (Raghoba)
2. Balaji Baji Rao
3. Narayan Rao
4. Balaji Vishwanath
Select the correct answer from the codes given below :

UnlockIAS · Accepted Answer

Correct — A, 4, 2, 3, 1. Ranked by when each man actually held the office of Peshwa: Balaji Vishwanath (4) came first, 1713–1720, the man under whom the Peshwaship became hereditary in the Bhat family under Chhatrapati Shahu. Balaji Baji Rao 'Nanasaheb' (2) — Balaji Vishwanath's grandson — was Peshwa 1740–1761, the tenure that ended with the Third Battle of Panipat. Narayan Rao (3) held the office only from 1772 until his murder in 1773. Raghunath Rao 'Raghoba' (1), Narayan Rao's uncle, was the last of the four, Peshwa 1773–1774. Hence the ascending sequence is 4 → 2 → 3 → 1.

Why the other options are wrong — (b) Starts with Narayan Rao (1772) and places Balaji Vishwanath (1713) second — the earliest Peshwa of the four cannot come after the second-last one.  (c) This is simply the printed serial order. It opens with Raghunath Rao (1773–74), the latest of the four, and closes with Balaji Vishwanath (1713–20), the earliest — the sequence is inverted at both ends.  (d) Again begins with Raghunath Rao (1773) and ends with Balaji Vishwanath (1713); it also puts Narayan Rao (1772) ahead of Balaji Baji Rao (1740) — Narayan Rao was Balaji Baji Rao's son, so this reverses father and son.

Concept: The Peshwa was originally the chief minister of the Chhatrapati of the Marathas. From Balaji Vishwanath's appointment in 1713 the post became hereditary in the Bhat family of Shrivardhan, and within a generation the Peshwas at Pune — not the Chhatrapati at Satara — were the working heads of the Maratha confederacy. The Bhat line runs: Balaji Vishwanath (1713–20) → Baji Rao I (1720–40) → Balaji Baji Rao / Nanasaheb (1740–61) → Madhavrao I (1761–72) → Narayan Rao (1772–73) → Raghunath Rao (1773–74) → Madhavrao II 'Sawai Madhavrao' (1774–96) → Baji Rao II (1796–1818).

State PCS 2024 Q1 — History PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2024 Q1 — History PYQ with Answer