| 释义 |
‖ peshwa|ˈpeːʃwaː|
Forms: 7 peshua, 8 paish-, 9 peish-, peesh-, peshwa(h.
[Pers. pēshwā chief.]
The appellation of the chief minister of the Mahratta princes (from c 1660), who made himself in 1749 the hereditary sovereign of the Mahratta state.
The princes descended from Sevajī became rois fainéants, the administration being in the hands of the peshwa; in 1749 the holder of the office, Balajī Bishenāth, seized the sovereignty and, without changing his official title, made it hereditary in his family. In 1818 his descendant Bajerow surrendered his power to the British, and the government of the Peshwa came to an end.
1698Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 79 The English have audience of Sevaji. He referred our Business to Moro Pundit his Peshua, or Chancellour, to examine our Articles. 1782Ann. Reg. 5 Assuming no other title or character than that of Paishwa, or prime minister. 1804Castlereagh in Owen Wellesley's Desp. 254 It appears hopeless to attempt to govern the Mahratta empire through a feeble and perhaps disaffected Peishwa. 1841Macaulay Ess., W. Hastings (1887) 653 The Mahratta states..acknowledged, by words and ceremonies, the supremacy of the heir of Sevajee, a roi fainéant,..and of his Peshwa, or mayor of the palace, a great hereditary magistrate. 1862Beveridge Hist. India II. v. v. 399 The object of contest was the office of peishwa—in other words, the sovereign power.
Hence ˈpeshwaship, the office or rule of a peshwa.
1782Ann. Reg. 5 From this change, the empire of the Ram-Rajah has been distinguished only by the appellation of the Paishwaship, or otherwise the government of Poonah. 1883Encycl. Brit. XV. 291 The first collision with the English..arose from a disputed succession to the pèshwaship. |