 The Bhat Deshmukhs of Shrivardhan - later popularly known as Peshwas - witnessed the rise and the fall of Marathas after the Shivaji period.Though the capital of Peshwas was Pune, the actual institution of Peshwa (prime-ministership under a symbolic king) was born in Shrivardhan in 1713.Balaji Vishwanath (the first Peshwa) took control of the position and gained "de facto" rule in the Maratha empire under the now-symbolic rule of the Chatrapati king.