Pune

Pune was once the de facto capital of India. When Baji Rao I moved the Peshwa seat from Saswad in 1728, he transformed a riverside kasbah into the administrative and financial center of the Maratha Confederacy—an empire that at its peak controlled most of the subcontinent. Shaniwar Wada palace, completed in 1730, became the power center from which Peshwas directed resistance against both Mughals and, eventually, the British. The city traces its origins further back: Punnaka appears in records from 758 AD, and the 8th-century Pataleshwar Cave Temple was carved from solid basalt.

Shivaji himself was raised here. When his father Shahaji joined campaigns in the south, he installed his wife Jijabai and younger son Shivaji in Pune. From this base, Shivaji captured Fort Torna in 1645 and built the Maratha Empire that would contest Mughal supremacy. His coronation as Chhatrapati in 1674 established the first Hindu sovereignty over the Deccan in centuries. The Third Anglo-Maratha War (1817-18) ended Peshwa rule; the British absorbed Pune into their territory and the last Peshwa was exiled to Bithoor.

Modern Pune leverages different capabilities. Called the 'Oxford of the East' for its universities and research institutes, the city became India's automotive hub—Tata Motors, Bajaj Auto, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen all manufacture here. The IT sector followed: Infosys, Wipro, and dozens of multinationals have major operations. The city hosts defense research (DRDO), film production, and a startup ecosystem drawing from its engineering colleges.

Relatively cheaper than Mumbai (180 km distant), Pune functions as Maharashtra's second city and India's eighth most populous. The Ganesh Chaturthi festival—industrialized by Bal Gangadhar Tilak as a nationalist mobilization tool in 1893—remains the city's defining cultural event. From Maratha power center to knowledge economy node: Pune demonstrates how imperial capitals can reinvent themselves when empires fall.