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{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2019}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| office = [[File:Flag of the Maratha Empire.svg|border|33x30px]] [[Maratha Empire]]
| honorific-prefix =
| honorific-suffix =Pant Nyayadish
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =Marathi
| image =
| alt =
| monarch =
| predecessor =
| successor =
| birth_date =
| birth_place =Mahuli
| death_date =
| death_place =
|residence =
|known_for =Strictures Against Peshwa [[Raghunathrao]]
| spouse =
| relations =
| children = Some descendants are living in Satara, Pune.
| father =
| mother =
| term_start = 1720{{Sfn|Jasraj|2015|p=contents}}
| term_end = 1789{{Sfn|Jasraj|2015|p=contents}}
}}

'''Ram Shastri Prabhune''' was the Chief Justice (''Mukhya Nyayadhish'' or "Pantnyayadhish"
) in the apex court of the [[Maratha Empire]] in the latter half of the 18th century, during the heyday of that empire. He is best remembered for having passed strictures against the sitting [[Peshwa]] of the time for instigating murder.{{Sfn|Bhatia|2001|p=125}} Ram Shastri's integrity in public affairs is regarded as a model for all times.

==Biography==
Ramshastri Prabhune was born in [[Deshastha Brahmin|Deshastha Rigvedi Brahmin]] family in the small town of Kshetra [[Mahuli]], near [[Satara (city)|Satara]]. Little is known of his early life, with references to him being available only after he entered the service of the Peshwas.<ref>{{cite book|title=A History of the Maratha People: From the death of Shahu to the end of the Chitpavan epic|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=srE5AQAAIAAJ|author1=Charles Augustus Kincaid|author2=Dattātraya Baḷavanta Pārasanīsa|year=1925|publisher=S Chand Publications|page=241}}</ref>

Ram Shastri held office under the Peshwas during the latter part of the 18th century. Known for his honesty and integrity, he even declined a royal gift made to his wife. He turned down the offer of an official mansion and continued to live in his humble ancestral home in the Brahmin quarter of Poona city on his modest income. It is said that his wife sold milk from their two cows and a buffalo in order to supplement his monthly income. This [[Brahmin]]ical frugality complemented his wide and eclectic scholarship: he was renowned for his knowledge of law (including British law), philosophy, and the theories of statecraft and political science. He was proficient in the [[Sanskrit]], [[Marathi language|Marathi]], [[Hindi]], [[Urdu]] and [[English language|English]] languages. As a young Brahmin student of [[Advaita vedanta]], he had studied the [[Veda]]s, [[Upanishad]]s and [[Purana]]s and was so well-versed in the [[Hindu scriptures]], that he was considered as an authority in Pune in those times. He once debated for five days with Shri Varadendra Teertha, pontiff of the [[Madhwas|Madhva]] sect.<ref>{{Cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010222191707/http://www.madhva.net/dhIrEndra/default.asp|archive-date=22 February 2001|url=http://www.madhva.net/dhIrEndra/default.asp|publisher=madhva.net|title=dhIrEndra tIrtha|date=22 February 2001|access-date=7 June 2019}}</ref> After the debate, as a mark of respect and tribute to the scholarship of the pontiff he gave up his house and the structure is surviving to this day as the Shri Varadendra Swamy Mutt on Laxmi Road in [[Pune]].{{Sfn|Sharma|2000|p=510-511}}

==Strictures against the Peshwa==
Ram Shastri's most famous act was passing the death sentence on the ruling Peshwa of the time, [[Peshwa Raghunath Rao|Raghunath Rao]], for the murder of his own nephew, [[Narayanrao Peshwa|Peshwa Narayan Rao]]. In 1772, Peshwa [[Madhavrao I]] died, leaving his brother Narayan Rao, a minor, as heir. Madhavrao's paternal uncle, Peshwa Raghunath Rao, was appointed regent in the minority of his nephew. The following year, an act infamous in the history of the [[Maratha Empire]] was perpetrated when the young boy was murdered, at the behest either of the Regent or of his wife [[Anandibai]], by Raghunath Rao's guardsmen. On the quiet winter night of 17 December 1772, the assassins entered his private quarters at [[Shaniwarwada]] in [[Pune]]; the boy-Peshwa ran for safety to the apartments of his uncle and aunt, knowing little about the true origin of the plot.<ref name=raov>{{cite book|title=power and criminality|pages=111–121|author=S. Venugopala Rao|year=1977|publisher=Allied Publishers Pvt Limited}}</ref> These guardsmen then committed the murder in the very presence of Raghunath Rao and Anandibai. While passing the statement, Ram Shashtri said that for this heinous act there is no other punishment than a death sentence.{{Sfn|Bhatia|2001|p=125}}

Narayan Rao's wife delivered a son shortly after the death of her husband.<ref>[http://www.mumbainet.com/cityinfo/histmaha.htm#Narayan Brief history of the Peshwas]</ref>

== In popular culture ==
In 1944, the movie ''[[Ramshastri (film)|Ramshastri]],'' with screenplay by K.B. Dhawle, was produced by [[Prabhat Film Company]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Creative Pasts: Historical Memory and Identity in Western India, 1700-1960|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7SjLgMrLX7UC|author=Prachi Deshpande|date = 8 May 2007|publisher=Columbia University Press|page=258|access-date=8 May 2007|isbn=9780231511438}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
*{{cite book|title=Mahrattas, Sikhs and Southern Sultans of India: Their Fight Against Foreign Power|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TXxjo0OY2oQC|year=2001|first=Harbans Singh|last=Bhatia|publisher=Deep and Deep Publications|isbn = 9788171003693}}
*{{cite book|title=V. Shantaram: The Man Who Changed Indian Cinema|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M4eCCwAAQBAJ|first=Madhura Pandit|last=Jasraj|publisher=Hay House, Inc|year=2015|isbn = 9789384544416}}
* {{cite book|title = A History of the Dvaita School of Vedānta and Its Literature, 3rd Edition|first = B. N. Krishnamurti| last = Sharma| publisher=Motilal Banarsidass (2008 Reprint) |isbn = 978-8120815759| year= 2000 }}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060911094826/http://www.mssu.edu/projectsouthasia/history/primarydocs/Marathas/Territories--1821.htm Elphinstone on the Maratha administration; detailed description of the judicial process under Ram Shastri]
*[http://www.amarchitrakatha.com/store/mainpage.asp?page=view&catid=1&idproduct=324 Amar Chitra Katha synopsis]
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=-picChycTb0C&pg=PA511&dq=varadendra+pune&ei=1PwVTNHKIIiIkgSb3fjsAw&cd=1#v=onepage&q=varadendra%20pune&f=false Varadendra Tirtha and his debate with Rama Shastri; as recorded in the book 'History of Dvaita Vedanta']

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shastri, Ram}}
[[Category:18th-century Indian judges]]
[[Category:People of the Maratha Empire]]
[[Category:Marathi people]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing]]
[[Category:Year of death missing]]
[[Category:People from Satara district]]

Ramshastri Prabhune - Revision history

imported>Citation bot: Alter: author1. Add: isbn, date. Removed parameters. Some additions/deletions were parameter name changes. | Use this bot. Report bugs. | Suggested by Abductive | via #UCB_webform 1118/1179