Normally the term refers to religious leaders across the Muslim world (sub-continent and Iran in particular).
But I read that Maratha were also referred as Peshwa? Were they also religious leaders (Brahmin) or Peshwa got different meaning here?
Historically, are there any Brahmin dynasties in India or they kept themselves restricted to mandir and pooja?
Re: Peshwas
wiki says:
The word Peshwa is from Persian پیشوا pēshwā, meaning “foremost, leader”. They were also known as kings
Peshwa - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
But were maratha Peshwas religious leaders of the region?
Re: Peshwas
After establishment of Shivaji's empire, Brahmins were prominently advisors in their cabinet, they were called Peshwas. Soon leadership passed to them and they started commanding Maratha empire. They were the main adversary to Abdali in third battle.
Bhonsle of Baroda and Scindhia of Gwalior are Peshwas decendent. Even same for Jhansi ki Rani :)
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Were there any religious sentiments in Maratha movement? Was that against Mughals or against Muslims?
Re: Peshwas
Peshwa is Persian for supreme leader.
Urdu has adopted the word for Mazhabee Pesha. As is Faith based leaders
The Maratha's original leader Shivaji did not us the term Peshwa nor did his subjects originally refer to him as such. He was actually referred to by his followers as Chatrapatti. The master of the umbrella... or Umbrella leader... in English "Overall leader"
I believe since Mughal court were his main rivals and rivals of he Marhatha confederacy they referred to him as "Peshwa" supreme leader of the Mahratas and I think the name stuck from there. Persian being the court language of the Moguls
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That makes sense, otherwise it is difficult to understand how such a pure Persian term got recognition with Marathas.
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Were there any religious sentiments in Maratha movement? Was that against Mughals or against Muslims?
Intial defiance was against Kingdom of Bijapur, whose subject pune was then, Shivaji's father, Shahji was commander of Bangalore fort, though Shivaji remained in Pune under her mother's guidance. Movement was due to maratha pride, it was ethno-religious in nature.
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The Mahratha confederacy was one of my favourite powers in relatively modern Indian History. Shame the British Divide and conquer policy wrecked them and Tipu Sultan. Also very sad that they had to end up fighting Abdali the Great King of Afghanistan at Panipat. The biggest winner of that period was probably Hyderabad Deccan. The Nawabs did very well for themselves.
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Maratha confederacy was equally powerful, Marthas were expert gurilla fighters, at height, there empire was upto Attock, against the advice, in fighting in plains, which proved fatal to them. In effect, they diminshed abdali effectively, apart from raiding delhi, Abdali couldn't do much. Abdali can be inturn thanked, as his action led to formation of Sikh empire which effectively dealt with pathans till british overtook them :)
Re: Peshwas
Maratha confederacy was equally powerful, Marthas were expert gurilla fighters, at height, there empire was upto Attock, against the advice, in fighting in plains, which proved fatal to them. In effect, they diminshed abdali effectively, apart from raiding delhi, Abdali couldn't do much. Abdali can be inturn thanked, as his action led to formation of Sikh empire which effectively dealt with pathans till british overtook them :)
Lol you indians. Abdali crushed marahatas, your marahatas never recovered from that defeat...infact weakening of marahatas made it easy for british to conquer india....
Sikhs were already there when abdali afghans conquered punjab.....they used to terrorize local muslim population , mostly in east punjab....Abdali sent many forces to crush sikhs but sikhs used to retreat to hills before the arrival of afghan armies....in the absence of afghans, they used to harass muslims again.....so yea afghans had trouble in dealing with sikhs.
Ranjeet singh's sikhs had successes over afghans in punjab, kashmir, hazara and peshawer for following reasons.
!- Timur shah made the mistake of making ranjeet singh governor of lahore
1- Internal conflicts of afghans and wars with persia over herat.....due to which their focus and attention on punjab decreased.
2- Small presence of durrani soldiers in punjab and kashmir...
3- Lack of support from local muslims of punjab and kashmir. They were indifferent to the war between sikhs and afghans in kashmir while in punjab muslims of warrior castes supported sikhs against pashtuns...
4- Numerical strength of sikh forces was far greater than any pashtun tribe. Sikhs were highly organized armies trained in european fashions equiped with latest artillary. E.g Mashawanis and tareens of haripur were outnumbered by sikhs , yet they were able to engage sikhs for 6 months at sri kot in which hari singh nearly lost his life. Yet these very small tribes got defeated at the end, no other pashtun tribe came to their rescue. At that time the responsibility was on each pashtun tribe to defend themeselves. The independence of each tribe came at a price in hazara and in peshawer.
5- In punjab the only resistance to sikhs were offered by kheshgi pashtuns of kasur and durranis of multan and mankera...sikhs couldnt have conquered punjab if they had faced resistance from local punjabi muslims.
6- Disunity and tribalism of pakhtuns, sikhs took advantage of it. There was some display of unity by pakhtuns of peshawer under syed ahmad barelwi due to which they successfully defeated sikhs in two battles but soon syed ahmad and his hindostani got into quarrel with local pakhtuns, forgetting about the threat from sikhs.
6- Afghan rule over khyber pakhtunkhwa and FATA was nominal, tribes were independent. This lack of centralized rule proved disastrous for durrani empire on eastren front during their wars with sikhs and british.
Re: Peshwas
The Mahratha confederacy was one of my favourite powers in relatively modern Indian History. Shame the British Divide and conquer policy wrecked them and Tipu Sultan. Also very sad that they had to end up fighting Abdali the Great King of Afghanistan at Panipat. The biggest winner of that period was probably Hyderabad Deccan. The Nawabs did very well for themselves.
It were marahatas who provoked Abdali by making inroads into punjab which was afghan territory at that time.......
Moreover Rohilla afghans of western U.P were feeling overwhelmed by power of marahatas....it is also said that shah waliullah was concerned that entire hindostan might go into hands of this hindu empire if they are not crushed so he sent a letter to abdali (note that rohillas were followers of shah waliullah) ......
Re: Peshwas
i think the peshwas were also a professional elite in MuGhal Indian Judiciary. kinda:
peshwas = **present day Lawyers**
i also think the Kurdish Army is the Peshmargs are also kinda peshwas...the Kurdish military personnel.
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Sikhs were already there when abdali afghans conquered punjab.....they used to terrorize local muslim population , mostly in east punjab....Abdali sent many forces to crush sikhs but sikhs used to retreat to hills before the arrival of afghan armies....in the absence of afghans, they used to harass muslims again.....so yea afghans had trouble in dealing with sikhs.
Did Abdali come to region to help the Muslims? Baba Bulleh Shah said otherwise. Even Waris Shah condemned these raids.
Re: Peshwas
Did Abdali come to region to help the Muslims? Baba Bulleh Shah said otherwise. Even Waris Shah condemned these raids.
Ibrahim Khan Gardi fought along side Marathas but he was caught and executed by the Afghans in the Third Panipat battle.Abdali had garnered the support of not only Rohillas ,Najib and Shuja but he tactfully struck deals with Hindu clans like Rajputs and Jats.
After the war,it was a total mayhem for the Marathas.Scores of their soldiers were beheaded and their wives and womenfolks were raped and dishonoured and were transported to Afghanistan.Maratha's though never fully recovered from their loss,retook Delhi after 10 years but their dominance was finished in their battle against English .
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@muqqawee
Afghans were rulers of punjab, it was their duty and responsibility to establish their writ by crushing sikh terrorists who were harassing punjabi muslims where they were minority. You must know that supply line for afghan army was not possible from afghanistan, so afghans used to spare muslims but forceibly snatch food and other supplies from hindu and sikh population after refusing to cooperate. Bulleh shah like people didnt distinguish between punjabis on the basis of religion and was critic of pashtuns. Infact he hated pathans from begining, he was born in pathan colony of kasur and didnt like their customs and love for warfares. He complaines about lack of sufism among rigid pathans.
Thats why abdali and other afghans are heroes for those punjabis who are anti-hindus but is villian and looter for those who are pro-india
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@muqqawee Afghans were rulers of punjab, it was their duty and responsibility to establish their writ by crushing sikh terrorists who were harassing punjabi muslims where they were minority. You must know that supply line for afghan army was not possible from afghanistan, so afghans used to spare muslims but forceibly snatch food and other supplies from hindu and sikh population after refusing to cooperate. Bulleh shah like people didnt distinguish between punjabis on the basis of religion and was critic of pashtuns. Infact he hated pathans from begining, he was born in pathan colony of kasur and didnt like their customs and love for warfares. He complaines about lack of sufism among rigid pathans. Thats why abdali and other afghans are heroes for those punjabis who are anti-hindus but is villian and looter for those who are pro-india
who got the right to resources of the land? In case of Punjab, wasn't that right for Punjabis including Sikhs? How come Afghans establish right over Punjab. They were outsiders and people like Bulleh Shah who were attached to the land from the core of their heart were justified against such loot.
Invaders didn't got religion, one who call their war and atrocities as Jehad are mistaken.
Thats my point of view about likes of Ghaznavi to Abdali. Anyone can agree or disagree :)
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@muqawee i forget to mention waris shah. read some of his verses fro punjabi poetry where he is praising mughals and is worried about their decline and the rise of sikh insurgents in punjab during 18th century and the raids conducted by abdali against last sikh insurgents in punjab, he did not praise abdali but also did not show any displeasure.
Re: Peshwas
who got the right to resources of the land? In case of Punjab, wasn't that right for Punjabis including Sikhs? How come Afghans establish right over Punjab. They were outsiders and people like Bulleh Shah who were attached to the land from the core of their heart were justified against such loot.
Invaders didn't got religion, one who call their war and atrocities as Jehad are mistaken.
Thats my point of view about likes of Ghaznavi to Abdali. Anyone can agree or disagree :)
so you are supporter of likes of ranjeet singh, the son of soil?
By the way bulk of afghan army consisted of yousafzais, mohamnads, khattaks, afidis, jadoons, gandapurs, marwats etc.....why pashtuns are foreigners for you? ...........sikhs were totally anti-muslims at that time as policies of mughals against them had antagonized them.......its weird that you feels affinity for them but have hostility towards pashtuns who are now your countrymen.
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French and English fought but now are allies in NATO (will share a/c carrier) so why can't we separate history and facts, whatever they may be, from pakistaniyat and Pakistan?
Judging by your standards, I sure hope that you never have said anything bad about any type of Pakistani ethnicity, caste etc ever on this forum.
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I don’t have anything against Pashtun masses. I salute them for their hard work and struggle 
My problem is only when we present looters as heroes. I don’t have that courage to sing praising notes for looters just because they shared religion or ethnicity with me.
There is always a need to see history from the side of conquered one.