He also led successful campaigns against the Durrani Empire at Sirhind and Attock and brought Northwestern India and modern day parts of Pakistan mainly Punjab till Peshawar under Maratha rule (1758-59) for a brief period.

Raghoba asked for a large financial assistance in order to check Abdali's advance which was refused by Peshwa Nana Saheb.

Nana Saheb's decision of not sending Raghoba as the main commander of Maratha armies against Ahmad Shah Abdali along with other factors ultimately culminated in the defeat at Panipat.

However his reign proved to be short lived as Narayan Rao's infant son Sawai Madhavrao was recognized as the legitimate Peshwa by the Maratha nobles in 1774.

Raghunathrao helped Imad ul mulk imprisoning Mughal Emperor Ahmad Shah Bahadur and made Alamgir II puppet monarch.

[6] 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.

[7] 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.

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.

Nanasaheb Peshwa, Ragunathrao, Sidhojiraje Gharge-Desai-Dehmukh, Malharrao Holkar and Dattaji Shinde prepared an army and it was decided that Marathas being the protectors of the Mughal Emperor would make another expedition to North India to stop another Afghan invasion.

The purpose of Raghunathrao's northern expedition was twofold: first was to defend the Mughal Emperor from Afghan invasion and second to collect taxes and tributes to meet with Peshwa's growing debts.

Due to the fortified lands and the martial nature of the people, Raghunathrao was unable to even gather funds for the subsistence of his army and constantly sent letters to Poona asking the Peshwa for funds.I am feeding myself only by looting villages.

Reaching Jaipur in April 1757, Ragunathrao demanded pending payments from Madho Singh and laid siege to Barwada, then belonging to the Shekhawats.

Madho Singh, king of Jaipur refused all of Raghunathrao's terms and asked all his feudatories to fortify their posts and stay vigilant.

The Maratha army in Rajputana at the time did not have the numbers necessary to storm forts of Barwada and Jaipur and so on 12 July 1757 Raghunathrao agreed to peace talks with Madho Singh.

Having thus concluded the business in Rajputana, Raghunathrao and Malharrao Holkar with the remaining Maratha forces started making for Delhi to liberate it from the Afghan agents at the end of July 1757, by which point of time Ahmad Shah Abdali was well away to his country.

Alamgir II, Imad-ul-Mulk all wanted to be free from Najib Khan's dominance and asked the Marathas for aid in liberating Delhi from Afghan influence.

Sakharam Bapu who was present in the Doab region at the time, occupied Patparganj, and Shamsher Bahadur with the artillery division reached Rewari on 27 July 1757.

The second division attacked from the south-east side of the city, where Qutb Shah commanding 2,500 troops fired bombardments on the Maratha soldiers from the Blue Bastion.

Malharrao Holkar with Vithal Shivdev led the Maratha soldiers to attack Delhi fort from the Northern side of Kashmir Gate.

Raghunathrao set forth terms that Najib Khan should resign his post of Mir Bakhshi (Paymaster-General), vacate the fort with all his troops and withdraw to his Rohilla jagirs and pay an indemnity of 50 to 60 lakhs.

Raghunathrao marched to Garh Mukteshwar to bathe in those holy waters and Malharrao Holkar started plundering Saharanpur district, which was Najib Khan's jagir.

Then, Raghunathrao and Malharrao decided to withdraw from the Doab, and gave its lands to the Wazir, Imad-ul-Mulk and started focusing on Punjab expedition to liberate that province from the Durrani empire.

Hearing of this, Abdus Samad Khan Mohmand of Sirhind, a close ally of Abdali, marched to Thaneshwar in October 1757, where he was joined by Najib-ud-daulah's son.

The Marathas pursued Timur Shah and the Afghans, first crossing Ravi river, then defeating the rear guard of Mir Hazar Khan.

Timur Shah alarmed by the possible scenario of being captured crossed Chenab river with his Durrani clansmen, leaving all his other soldiers and supplies behind.

Since Raghunathrao declined to march north, Sadashivrao Bhau was made commander in chief of the Maratha Army, under whom the Third Battle of Panipat was fought.

In 1773, the Maratha Empire, under the command of Raghunathrao, launched a military campaign to gain control of Bidar, an important fortress located in the territory of the Nizam.

And therefore when the assassins attacked the young Peshwa, he ran over outside of the house of Raghoba crying "Kaakaa, malaa waachwaa" (Uncle, save me).