The Cambridge History of India, Vol. IV: The Mughul Period v4.c21.137

v4.c21.137

Shāhū died on 15 December, 1749, aged sixty-seven, after a reign of over forty-one years. The Peshwā at once occupied Sātārā with his troops, arrested the Pratinidhi and other rivals, and calling a meeting of the council produced the papers. These, he asserted, gave him the right to administer the kingdom on behalf of Rām Rājā and his heirs. Sakwar Bāī was offered the alternative of coming in on the Peshwā’s side or becoming *satī*. She chose the latter, and went to her doom with the traditional courage of a Marāthā lady: the place of her self-immolation is still regarded as holy ground. The young king was brought in triumph to Sātārā, and solemnly crowned by the Peshwā amid great public rejoicings (4 January, 1750). He was a feeble-minded youth, and an easy tool in the hands of his astute minister. Tārā Bāī, who had hoped to control him as she had done his father, retired to Sinhgarh, ostensibly to be near her husband’s ashes, but in reality in order to start intriguing with the Pant Sachiv, who was the commandant of the fort. Bālājī, who was attending some wedding ceremonies in Poona, thereupon summoned Tārā Bāī and the Pant Sachiv into his presence. Tārā Bāī was treated with respect, but the Pant Sachiv was thrown into prison. Rām Rājā was then invited to leave Sātārā, where he was in charge of Raghūjī Bhonsle, and come to Poona. This marks the culminating point in the Peshwā’s *coup d’état*. Never before had the Chhatrapati been brought from his capital by his minister. “From this point”, says Grant Duff, “Poona may be considered the capital of the Peshwās.” Under Bālājī’s directions, Rām Rājā drew up a document known as the “Sangola agreement”, by which all the chief offices in the state were handed over to the Peshwā’s adherents.²