Birth Of A Legend

"Bravest of the Brave, Fairest of the Fair. Baji Rao died like the most Fascinating Figure in A Romance of Love" Denis Kincaid has written in the "History of the Maratha People".
Such was the fame of Sreemant Baji Rao Peshwa that Valiant, Valorous, Gallant are just some of the adjectives by which we can think of him.

He was born in 1700 on the 18th of August in the small town of Dubere near Nashik in Maharashtra.
Born to the first Peshwa of the Maratha Empire, Shreemant Balaji Vishwanath, it was no wonder that at the tender age of 12 he was accompanying his father to the battlefields,thereby learning the art of Strategic Warfare.
BajiRao became a Peshwa in 1720 and in a short span of 20 years changed the course of Maratha history.

"He had both the Head to Plan and the Hand to Execute" writes Grant Duff in the History of the Marathas. He was feared and respected the world over.
A small piece of history comes to mind. During the battle with Nizam-Ul-Mulk and the Marathas. The defeat of the Iranian invader was so complete that Field Marshall Montegomery has written "Masterpiece of Strategic Mobility".

His statue stands proud and victorious in front of the Shaniwar Wada in Pune. He is pointing to the North towards Delhi. Such was his insight that he had set his eyes to the North to rid the country of the invaders who had come from Iran and Afghanistan.

Today his memorial lies near a small hamlet, Raverkhedi, near the banks of the Narmada river.
Raverkhedi was the check post for the Marathas and also a camp for the Maratha army, where they gathered to cross the Narmada river to reach Delhi. It was here that Baji Rao breathed his last while following Nadir Shah after defeating the Nizams son Nasir Jung.

His memorial today lies in a precarious position between Two dam sites of Omkareshwar and Maheshwar. His remains might get submerged in the waters of the Dam.
The Government is building a retaining wall around the memorial but it is uncertain whether it will be of any help.

This day today all of us here in Pune had gathered around Baji Rao's statue to garland him and remember and also to imbibe and try to relive the time when he was the unconquered hero and we came to a conclusion that he still is...