{ { Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix = Shrimant Peshwa | office = 7th Peshwa of the Maratha Confederacy | image = Bajirao I painting.jpg | alt = | image_size = | caption = Portrait by an unknown artist | monarch = Shahu I | predecessor = Balaji Vishwanath | successor = Balaji Bajirao | birth_date = | birth_place = Dubere, Sinnar, Maratha Empire (present-day Nashik, Maharashtra, India) | death_date = | death_place = Rawerkhedi, Maratha Confederacy (present-day Khargone district, Madhya Pradesh, India) | spouse = | relatives = | children = 5, including Balaji Baji Rao, Shamsher Bahadur and Raghunath Rao | father = Balaji Vishwanath | mother = Radhabai Barve | term_start = 17 April 1720 | term_end = 28 April 1740 | name = | Religion = | birth_name = Visaji Bhat | signature = Bajirao I signature.png }}
Bajirao I (Bajirao Ballal; ; 18 August 1700 – 28 April 1740), born as Visaji, was the 7th Peshwa of the Maratha Confederacy. During his 20-year tenure as a Peshwa, he defeated the Nizam of Hyderabad at several battles like the Battle of Palkhed and Battle of Bhopal. Bajirao contributed to Maratha supremacy in Southern India and Northern India. Thus, he was responsible for establishing Maratha power in Gujarat, Malwa, Rajputana and Bundelkhand and liberating Konkan (in the western coast of India) from the Siddis of Janjira and Portuguese rule.
Baji Rao's relationship with his wife Mastani is a controversial subject, which has been heavily adapted in Indian novels and cinema.
Early life
Baji Rao was born into the Bhat Family in Sinnar, near Nashik. His father Balaji Vishwanath was the Peshwa of Shahu I and his mother was Radhabai Barve. Baji Rao had a younger brother, Chimaji Appa, and two younger sisters, Anubai and Bhiubai. Anubai was married to Venkatrao Ghorpade (Joshi) of Ichalkaranji and Bhiubai was married to Abaji Naik Joshi of Baramati.
Baji Rao spent his childhood in his father's newly acquired fiefdom of Saswad. He and Chimaji were very close. Baji Rao was inspired by the lives of Shivaji, Ramchandra Pant Amatya and Santaji Ghorpade.
Being born in a Brahmin family, his education included reading, writing and learning Sanskrit however, he did not remain confined to his books. Baji Rao displayed a passion for the military at an early age and often accompanied his father on military campaigns. He was with his father when his father was imprisoned by Damaji Thorat before being released for a ransom. Baji Rao had been on the expedition to Delhi in 1719 with his father and was convinced the Mughal Empire was disintegrating and would be unable to resist northward Maratha expansion. When Balaji Vishwanath died in 1720, Shahu appointed the 20-year-old Baji Rao as Peshwa despite opposition from other chieftains.
Personal life
Baji Rao's first wife was Kashibai, the daughter of Mahadji Krishna Joshi and Bhawanibai of Chas (a wealthy banking family). Baji Rao always treated his wife Kashibai with love and respect. Their relationship was healthy and happy. They had four sons: Balaji Baji Rao (also called Nanasaheb), Ramachandra Rao, Raghunath Rao and Janardhan Rao, who died at an early age. Nanasaheb was appointed Peshwa by Shahu in 1740, succeeding his father.
Baji Rao took Mastani as his wife, the daughter of Rajput king Chhatrasal, born from his Muslim concubine. The relationship was a political one, arranged to please Chhatrasal. Mastani had a son, Krishna Rao, in 1734. Since his mother was Muslim, Hindu priests refused to conduct the upanayana ceremony and he became known as Shamsher Bahadur. After the deaths of Baji Rao and Mastani in 1740, Kashibai raised six-year-old Shamsher Bahadur as her own. Shamsher received a portion of his father's dominion of Banda and Kalpi. In 1761, he and his army fought alongside the Peshwa in the Third Battle of Panipat between the Marathas and the Afghans. Wounded in the battle, Shamsher died several days later in Deeg.
Baji Rao moved his base of operations from Saswad to Pune in 1728, laying the foundation for the transformation of the kasba into a large city. He began the construction of Shaniwar Wada in 1730. It was completed in 1732, beginning the era of Peshwa control of the city.