The Cambridge History of India, Vol. IV: The Mughul Period v4.c21.120

v4.c21.120

The death of Bājī Rāo was followed by the usual scramble for office, but Bālājī Bājī Rāo, the late Peshwā's eldest son, had already insinuated himself into the old king's favour, and Shāhū had no hesitation about bestowing upon him the robes of office, although he was only nineteen at the time. The investiture took place in August, 1740. Bālājī's chief rival was Raghūjī Bhonsle of Berār, a kinsman of Shāhū and an inveterate enemy of the Peshwās, who was away at the time on an expedition to the Carnatic. This expedition had been sent at the request of the Hindu rajas of the south, and in particular of the Marāthā prince Pratāp Singh of Tanjore, the descendant of Vyankājī, the half-brother of the great Shivājī: they were threatened with extermination at the hands of Dost ‘Alī, the Nawāb of the Carnatic.