Southern Maratha Jagirs
This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. |
Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
Southern Maratha Jagirs
A group of States in Bombay, under the Political Agent of Kolhapur and the Southern Maratha Country, comprising the following jagirs : Jamkhandi, Kurandvad, Miraj, Mudhol, Ramdurg, and Sangli. Kurandvad and Miraj have each two branches, known as the Senior and Junior States. Except Mudhol, the jagirs belong to Konkanasth Brahmans of the Patvardhan and Bhave families. The ancestors of the Patvardhans received the territories jointly as a grant from the Peshwa in 1763; and although the family remained undivided for some years, its three representatives resided separately at Miraj, Tasgaon, and Kurandvad. By 1812 the power of the Patvardhan family had excited the jealousy of the Peshwa, who attempted to strip them of their rights ; and in that year, there- fore, they placed themselves under the protection of the British Govern- ment. The Jagirs are divided into a large number of isolated patches, scattered over the country between the Bhima and the southern frontier of the Presidency. In physical aspects they do not differ materially from the adjacent British Districts. Geologically, the northern States belong to the Deccan trap series, while those in the south are situated within the region of Archaean gneiss. The total area is 2,985 square miles, and the total population in igoi was 626,084, compared with 639,270 in 1891. The States contain 30 towns and 583 villages. Hindus number 545,294, Musalmans 52,502, Jains 27,714, and Chris- tians 542. The jagirs have no ethnical unity, the population being in parts Maratha and in parts Kanarese.
