peshwan.
/ˈpeɪʃwɑː/, U.S. /ˈpeɪʃwə/ Now historical.
A chief minister of the Maratha princes from c1660; (usually with capital initial) any of the rulers of the Maratha kingdom, in central India, from 1713 until 1818. Also: the title of such a person.The Maratha princes descended from Shivājī (1627–80) became titular kings only, the administration being in the hands of the peshwa; by 1713 the holder of the office, Balājī Viśvanāth, was the de facto monarch; by the time of his death in 1720 sovereignty was established as hereditary in his family, who retained their former title as rulers. The Peshwas continued to govern the Maratha kingdom until 1818, when Balājī's descendant Bājī Rāo II was expelled and the peshwaship was abolished by the British.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > sovereign ruler or monarch > other independent rulers > [noun] > peshwa
peshwa1665
1665 Let. 25 Aug. in W. Foster Eng. Factories India 1665–7 (1925) 82 After wee had tooke our last leave, [Rustum Jeamah] sent his Pishwaes sonne through his countrey with us.
1698 J. Fryer New Acct. E.-India & Persia 79 The English have audience of Sevaji. He referred our Business to Moro Pundit his Peshua, or Chancellour, to examine our Articles.
1784 Ann. Reg. 1782 Hist. Europe 5/2 Assuming no other title or character than that of Paishwa, or prime minister.
1804 Ld. Castlereagh in Marquess Wellesley Select. Despatches (1877) 254 It appears hopeless to attempt to govern the Mahratta empire through a feeble and perhaps disaffected Peishwa.
1862 H. Beveridge Comprehensive Hist. India II. v. v. 399 The object of contest was the office of peishwa—in other words, the sovereign power.
1910 Encycl. Brit. I. 432/1 In 1759 the Peshwa obtained possession of the place [sc. Ahmednagar] by bribing the Mahommedan commander.
1988 Oxf. Illustr. Encycl. III. 221 Authority had passed..to a Brahmin family based at Pune, who as hereditary peshwas (ministers) struggled to hold the dissident chiefs together.
2002 India Today (Nexis) 25 Nov. 54 Tax on agriculture is nothing new. Even under the Peshwas farmers paid chauthayees to Sardeshmukhs.
Derivatives
ˈpeshwaship n. the office or rule of a peshwa.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > sovereign ruler or monarch > other independent rulers > [noun] > peshwa > position of
peshwaship1784
1784 Ann. Reg. 1782 Hist. Europe 5/2 From this change, the empire of the Ram-Rajah has been distinguished only by the appelation of the Paishwaship, or otherwise the government of Poonah.
1883 Encycl. Brit. XV. 291 The first collision with the English..arose from a disputed succession to the pèshwaship.
1979 Jrnl. Royal Soc. Arts Nov. 795/2 Malik Ambar..placed a series of puppet princes on the throne under his own peshwaship.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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