three sons, Vishwasrao who died in the battle of Panipat in 1761, Madhavrao who succeeded Nanasaheb as Peshwa and Narayanrao who succeeded Madhavrao in his late teens. Nanasaheb had an able brother called Raghunathrao whose ambitions to be the Peshwa became disastrous for the Maratha empire. Rivalry with Raghoji Bhonsle In early years of Balaji Rao's tenure, Raghoji I Bhonsle helped extend Maratha influence in South and East India. However, he was not on good terms with the Peshwa. Shortly before Balaji's appointment as the Peshwa, Raghoji had led a Maratha force to South India. His mission was to help Pratap Singh of Thanjavur, a royal of the Bhonsle clan, against Dost Ali Khan. Raghoji killed Dost Ali in May 1740, and installed Dost Ali's son Safdar Ali Khan as the Nawab of Arcot. He returned to Satara, and unsuccessfully lodged a protest against Balaji Rao's appointment as the Peshwa. He then returned to South India, where he defeated Chanda Sahib in March 1741, before being forced to retreat by Chanda Sahib's French allies from Pondicherry. After returning to Satara, Raghoji continued to oppose Balaji Rao. In 1743, Raghoji Bhonsle attacked Alivardi Khan's forces in Orissa. Khan paid 2,000,000 to Balaji Rao, who helped him expel Raghoji from Orissa in 1744. Raghoji then complained to Chhatrapati Shahu, and got himself appointed the in-charge of Marathas in Orissa, Bengal and Bihar. By 1752, Raghoji had taken over administration of Orissa, and also frequently raided Bengal and Bihar to collect chauth. The instability brought by him to Bengal later paved way for the rise of the East India Company there. Rebellion by Tarabai and Umabai Tarabai, the senior widow of Rajaram Chhatrapati after being released by her stepson Sambhaji II of Kolhapur was given asylum by Chhatrapati Shahu, her nephew. In the 1740s, during the last years of Shahu's life, Tarabai brought a child to him: Rajaram II. She presented the child as her grandson, and thus, a direct descendant of Shivaji. Shahu adopted the child, and after his death in 1749, Rajaram II succeeded him as the Chhatrapati. The next year, Peshwa Balaji Rao left to fight against the Nizam of Hyderabad. In his absence, Tarabai urged Rajaram II to remove him from the post of Peshwa. When Rajaram refused, she imprisoned him in a dungeon at Satara, on 24 November 1750. She claimed that he was an impostor, and that