The Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts of the Bombay Presidency from the Earliest Historical Times to the Musalman Conquest c10.169

c10.169

The Mánes of Mhasvad were from an early period deshmukhs of part of the Mán desh, and were powerful chiefs. They sided with the Bijápur government against Shiváji; and one of them, Nágoji Máne, made himself notorious by the murder of the gallant Santáji Ghorpade, an action for which he was rewarded by a place in the imperial service. The family never attained to any distinction under the Peshwás. The Ghátges of Khatáv were deshmukhs of Málavdi in the Mán desh, and held a mansab under the Bahamani kings. They also received a sanad as sardeshmukhs from Ibráhím Ádil Sháh in A.D. 1626. Another house of the same name, with the title of Shirzi Ráo, came from Kágal near Kolhápur. One of this family is infamous as the evil-adviser of Daulut Ráo Sindia; and the instigator and executor of the sack of Poona in 1797. The Ghorpades of Kápsi near the Várna and of Mudhol near the Ghatprabha furnish several well-known names. The original surname of the family was Bhonslé, and the tradition is that the present name was won by an ancestor who scaled a steep Konkan fort by the help of a string tied to the tail of an iguana or ghorpad. The most celebrated of this family was Santáji, who was Senápati from A.D. 1691 to 1698, and during that time was the terror of Mughal detachments. He fell a victim to the jealousy of his colleagues, and his sons left the Marátha service and established themselves at Sondur and Guti in the Karnátak. Murár Ráo (the Morary Row of Orme) was a member of this family, and was a conspicuous character in the war between the English and French on the Coromandel coast. He was reconciled to the Maráthás under Mádhav Ráo, but never kept up a close connection with them. His fate was a sad one. Guti, his capital, was taken by Haidar Ali, and he was thrown into prison, where he died. Of this family too was Báji Ghorpade, the chief who seized Shiváji's father Sháhji, and who was afterwards surprised and killed by Shiváji.