In 1734, Bajirao captured the Malwa territory in the north, and in 1739, his brother Chimnaji drove out the Portuguese from almost all their possessions in the northern Western Ghats. Bajirao died in 1740 and left three sons behind him; Balaji Bajirao, who succeeded him as peshwa, Raghunathrao, who later betrayed the Marathas and joined hands with the British, and Janardan, who died in his early youth.Balaji Bajirao was ambitious and a multifaceted person. In 1741, when his uncle Chimnaji died, he returned from the northern districts and spent nearly a year improving the civil administration of Pune. The period between 1741 and 1745 was of comparative calm in the Deccan. Balaji Bajirao encouraged agriculture, protected the villagers and brought about a marked improvement in the state of the territory.
