Tarabai, regent of the Maratha Empire, imprisons Rajaram II of Satara for refusing to remove Balaji Baji Rao from the post of peshwa.

Maharani Tarabai Bhonsle was the regent of the Maratha Empire from 1700 until 1708. She was the queen of Rajaram I, and daughter-in-law of the kingdom's founder Shivaji I. She is acclaimed for her role in keeping alive the resistance against Mughal rule in Konkan, and acting as the regent of the Maratha Kingdom during the minority of her son, Shivaji II. She defeated Mughal forces of Aurangzeb in several battles and expanded the Maratha Kingdom.

The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern polity in the Indian subcontinent. It comprised the realms of the Peshwa and four major independent Maratha states under the nominal leadership of the former.

Rajaram II, also known as Ramaraja, was the sixth Chhatrapati of the Maratha Confederacy. He was an adopted son of Chhatrapati Shahu I. Tarabai had presented him to Shahu as her own grandson and used him to grab power after Shahu's death. However, after being sidelined, she stated that Rajaram II was only an impostor. Nevertheless, Balaji Baji Rao retained him as the Chhatrapati. In reality, Peshwa and other chiefs had all the executive power, while Rajaram II was only a nominal head of the Marathas.

Balaji Baji Rao, often referred to as Nana Saheb I, was the 8th Peshwa of the Maratha Empire. He was appointed as Peshwa in 1740 upon the death of his father, Peshwa Bajirao I.

The Peshwa was the second highest office in the Maratha Empire, next in rank and prestige only to that of the Chhatrapati. Initially serving as the appointed prime minister in the Maratha Kingdom, the office became hereditary when Shahu gave the seat of Peshwa to Bajirao Ballal. During the reign of Shahu, the office of Peshwas were handed more responsibilities to keep the Jagirdars and Vatandars of the Maratha Confederacy from rebelling. After the passing of Maharaj Shahu I the empire had no male heir apparent; hence the duty of maintaining peace lay with the Peshwas till the heir apparent was of age. The Peshwas decline was initiated when Raghunath Rao along with his wife Anandibai blinded by greed, had his 18 year-old nephew Narayanrao assassinated. The Peshwas were so powerful in the maratha empire that post shahu all the big decisions were taken by Peshwas. Post Shahu the chhatrapati position just remained a position.