British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery described him as the ‘‘general who never faced defeat’’. Two centuries after he rewrote the history of Deccan, Peshwa Bajirao I seems to be losing a battle — to the Indian Government’s Department of Posts (DoP). The DoP thinks the 17th century Maratha General is not worthy of a postal stamp. A stamp on the Peshwa does not satisfy the Philatelic Advisory Committee guidelines, DoP Deputy Director-General (Philately) Devika Kumar says in a recent letter to the Pune-based Marathi Rajya Smriti Prathisthan. ‘‘The guidelines stipulate that the personalities on whom commemorative stamps may be issued should be of national or international importance. The present proposal on examination is found not to be in conformity with the guidelines,’’ the letter reads. ‘‘It’s disheartening,’’ says K.V. Peshwa, the seventh direct descendent of the warrior Peshwa and treasurer of the Prathisthan. ‘‘Do they think all those on postal stamps are of national or international repute? Many are not even known outside their gallis,’’ says Shivshahir Babasaheb Purandare. The Prathishthan was formed in the last decade to celebrate the birth tercentenary of Peshwa Bajirao I. It has been pressing for a postal stamp and a coin dedicated to the Maratha warrior, who expanded the northern boundaries of the kingdom to the banks of the Yamuna, on his 303rd birth anniversary that falls on Sunday. Many European and British historians have written about Bajirao. Montgomery has dedicated an entire chapter on him in his Concise History of Warfare. He has described the Maratha general’s Palkhed campaign of 1727-28 against Nizam-ul-Mulk as a ‘‘masterpiece of strategic mobility’’. ‘‘We wrote to everybody, right from Pramod Mahajan who was then in charge of the Communications Ministry to the likes of Sumitra Mahajan, but hardly anything has been done,’’ says Pratisthan member V.V. Peshwa. The Prathisthan is now pinning its hopes on Lok Sabha Speaker Manohar Joshi. ‘‘He told me to handover a note in English explaining who the Peshwa was,’’ says V.V. Peshwa.
