A Peshwa (Marathi: पेशवे) was the equivalent of a modern Prime Minister in the Maratha Empire. Originally, the Peshwas served as a subordinate to the Chatrapati (the Maratha king), but later, they became they de facto leaders of the Marathas, and the Chatrapati was reduced a nominal ruler. During the last years of the Maratha Empire, the Peshwas themselves were reduced to titular leaders, and remained under the authority of the Maratha nobles and the British East India Company.
The first Peshwa was Moropant Pingle, who was appointed as the head of the Ashta Pradhan (council of eight ministers) by Chatrapati Shivaji, the founder of the Maratha Empire. The initial Peshwas were all ministers who served as the chief executives to the king. The later Peshwas held the highest administrative office and also controlled the Maratha confederacy. Under the Chitpavan Brahmin Bhat family, the Peshwas became the de facto hereditary administrators of the Confederacy. The Peshwa's office was most powerful under Baji Rao I (r. 1720-1740). Under Peshwa administration and with the support of several key generals and diplomats, the Maratha Empire reached its zenith, ruling most of the Indian subcontinent. However, after the Peshwa Raghunathrao allied with the British, the Peshwa's power declined substantially. The subsequent Peshwas were titular leaders controlled either by the Maratha nobles such as Daulat Rao Scindia, or by the East India Company. During this period, the Maratha confederacy came to its end through its formal annexation into the British Empire in 1818.
Watch your back as life comes over you
Choose your weapon before you have to
You disappear in a sea of danger
If you're going, baby go faster
I've seen you dance
I've seen you dance through the radio
For gold again
You're going for gold again
All my life
I have waited for this moment
All my life, tonight
Tonight
Touch the sky because now we are weightless
Floating out into empty spaces
We are faceless, we are soldiers
We believe what you told us
I've seen you dance
I've seen you dance through the radio
All my life
I have waited for this moment
All my life, tonight
(Feelings don't die)
All my life
I have waited for this moment
All my life, tonight
(Ocean-sized)
And I lose myself in you
And I lose myself in you
All my life
I have waited for this moment
All my life, tonight
(Feelings won't die)
We're running out of time
We've got to get this right
Here we are, here we are, tonight
(Ocean-sized)
All my life, tonight
(Ocean-sized)
All my life, tonight
(Ocean-sized)