Nana Fadnavis
Nana Fadnavis (Pronunciation: [naːna pʰəɖɳəʋiːs, fəɖ-]; also Phadnavis and Furnuwees and abbreviated as Phadnis) (12 February 1742 – 13 March 1800), born Balaji Janardan Bhanu, was a Maratha minister and statesman during the Peshwa administration in Pune, India. James Grant Duff states that he was called "the Maratha Machiavelli" by the Europeans.[1]
Not to be confused with Nana Sahib.Nana Fadnavis
Balaji Janardan Bhanu
12 February 1742
Satara, Maratha Empire
(Modern-day Maharashtra, India)
13 March 1800 (aged 58)
Pune, Maratha Empire
(Modern day Maharashtra, India)
Prominent minister and statesman of the Maratha Empire during the Peshwa administration
Early life[edit]
Balaji Janardan Bhanu was born in a Chitpavan Brahmin family in Satara in 1742 and was nicknamed 'Nana'. His grandfather Balaji Mahadaji Bhanu had migrated from a village called Velas near Shrivardhan during the days of the First Peshwa Balaji Vishwanath Bhat. The Bhats and the Bhanus had family relations and a very good friendship existed between them. The two families had respectively inherited the 'Mahajan' or village-head positions of the towns of Velas and Shrivardhan. Balaji Mahadji had once saved the Peshwa from a murderous plot by the Mughals. The Peshwa therefore recommended Chattrapati Shahu to award the title of Phadnavis (one of the Ashtapradhan) on Bhanu. Later, when the Peshwa became the de facto head of state, Phadnavis became the main minister who held key portfolios of Administration and Finance for the Maratha Empire during the Peshwa regime.
Nana was the grandson of Balaji Mahadji Bhanu and had inherited his grandfather's name, keeping up with the tradition. The Peshwa treated him like family and extended to him the same facilities of education and diplomatic training as his sons, Vishwasrao, Madhavrao, and Narayanrao. He continued to be the Phadnavis, or the finance minister, for the Peshwa.