In last one or two years of his brother's reign, he was placed in the care of the Maratha minister Sakharam Bapu in order to train him in his administrative work.

[4] Before his death, Madhavrao conducted a court session in which the issue of ascension was discussed at length and at the end of which, in the presence of the family deity, he nominated his younger brother Narayanrao as the next Peshwa.

Before he could leave, his uncle Raghunathrao demanded to accompany him to Satara unless he was granted an independent fief of 25 lakhs annually for him and his family.

According to French military leader and administrator Marquis de Bussy-Castelnau, the Gardis saw their role in purely commercial terms and had no personal attachment to their employer.

A dispute over their caste status had occurred in the late 17th century but it was virtually resolved after the founder of the Maratha empire Shivaji and his confidential secretary Balaji Avji Chitnis, a Prabhus by caste, performed the sacred thread ceremony of their sons at the same time by using Vedic chants under the direction of the celebrated Brahmin scholar Gaga Bhatt.

But then Narayanrao decided to take up the cause of the orthodoxy and, likely under the impression from Nana Phadnavis, reduced their caste status from that of Kshatriya ("warrior") to that of Shudra ("servant").

Prominent leaders of the Prabhu community were called together and under severe torture, including starvation, forced to give up their caste status.

Sakharam Bapu held him in high regard because he had faithfully served him in several awkward situations that required mutual support.

The Patwardhan Sardars had gained enormous power through their loyal service to the late Peshwa which irked Sakharam Bapu and Raghunathrao who took certain steps to lower their prestige, much to the displeasure of Narayanrao.

Since the differences between Narayanrao and Sakharam Bapu were growing they decide to consult the opinions of Gopikabai, the widow of Balaji Rao and the eldest member of the family.

[11] The courtiers at Pune had very negative opinions of the new Peshwa whom they described as impatient, irritable, facetious, gullible and immature person who refused to follow the guidance of Sakharam Bapu.

Naro Appaji, the Maratha officer incharge for law and order in Pune, heightened the security around Raghunathrao by placing guards to watch all the exits of the palace and the city.

When Narayan found out about his uncle's plan to escape by enlisting the support Haidar Ali, he confined him in his palace and allowed neither his friends to visit him nor his servants to attend to him.

Mahadji Shinde and other Marathas chiefs were later occupied in looking after the affairs of Delhi and collecting revenues from other North Indian districts.

In recognition of the services he had rendered onto the Marathas so far, and likely because of a promise made to him by Narayanrao, Nana Padnavis gave Ghazi-uddin a small provision in Bundelkhand.

The previous Nawab of Bengal Mir Qasim was another important friend of the Marathas and expected a similar compensation for his services but it was beyond the power of the Peshwa to satisfy him.

He arrived in Pune on 13 October 1772 and spent the next two years keenly watching the events unfold and advising the Bombay Council to take the necessary steps for the acquisition of those place.

But Narayanrao took immediate action by appointing Trimbak Vinayak as the Sar-Subah of Vasai and the Konkan, and dispatched him with necessary funds to counter the British efforts.

[26] The death of the ruler of Nagpur Janoji Bhonsle in May 1772 set off a succession dispute within his family and led to a civil war between his sons Mudhoji and Sabaji.

The arrangement had to be approved by the Peshwa, and so two agents, Vyankatrao Kashi Gupte and his brother Lakshman, were sent to Pune in order to acquire the robes for Raghuji.

Prominent leaders of the Prabhu community were called together and under severe torture, including starvation, forced to give up their caste status.

[28] The period between 16 and 30 August witnessed an unprecedented number of secret talks and concealed discussions taking place among the various partisans of Raghunathrao, but as this had been a regular occurrence at the palace, no responsible official paid any serious attention to them.

[29] Tujali additionally felt he had been wronged by Narayanrao and possibly Madhavrao, and regardless of whether this supposed offense was real or not, it motivated him to play an integral part in the plot.

[30] Ram Shastri, the Nyayadhish ("Chief Justice") of the Maratha empire, likely began looking into the killing of Narayanrao immediately after the incident despite Raghunathrao's opposition.

Shastri found Raghunathrao as the main culprit and in addition about fifty persons more or less responsible for the murder (forty nine males and one female servant).

Vyankatrao Kashi, his brother Laxman and Sakharam Hari Gupte were the three Prabhus who were declared to have played a prominent role in the plot.

[32] While Shastri was conducting his investigation, Sakharam Bapu ensured that pregnant Gangabai, the widow of Narayanrao, was secure and safe from harm's way.

But if she were to give birth to a female child, Sakharam Bapu contemplated the idea of making Ali Bahadur, the grandson of Baji Rao, the Peshwa of the Maratha empire.

[35] Hence Raghunathrao now had no strong supporters except second rate men such as the Gardi chiefs, and Sakharam Hari, Sadashiv Ramchandra, Vyankatrao Kashi, Abaji Mahadev, Tulaji Pawar, Moroba Phadnavis, Maloji Ghorpade, Govindrao Gaikwad, Manaji Phadke and Mudhoji Bhonsle.

[35] But at least his monetary troubles were relieved after Visaji Krishna arrived in Pune and brought with him, under orders from the previous Peshwa, a treasure of 22 lakh rupees and which Raghunathrao greedily sized.