Hari Vansh Patwardhans

Ancestors

The founders of the family, the Saranjamdars of Miraj under the Peshwas, the rulers of the Miraj (Senior) State and the Ranisahebs of Miraj.

The Founders

Priest and Warriors

✦

Brahmibhoot Haribhat Baba Patwardhan

c.1655 – c.1750 · Mul-Purush of the Hari Vansh Patwardhans

Born: Kotawade, near Ganpatipule (Ratnagiri)
Sons: Krishnabhat, Balambhat, Trimbak Hari, Govind Hari, Mahadeobhat, Ramchandra Hari, Bhaskar Hari
Samadhi: Near Omkareshwar, Pune

A devotee of Lord Ganesh who performed long penance at Ganpatipule, Haribhat Baba left the Konkan for the Deccan around the age of forty. At Kapshi he became family priest to the Joshis, close associates of the general Santaji Ghorpade and later Chiefs of Ichalkaranji, and received Kurundwad as an inam. There, on the Krishna, he built the Ganesh temple at Ganeshwadi.

When the Peshwas made his sons Govind Hari and Ramchandra Hari Sardars, the family turned from priests to soldiers. The Peshwas invited Haribhat Baba to live with them; he declined, but settled in Pune in his last years and died there aged about ninety-three. His seven sons founded the Patwardhan houses of Miraj, Sangli, Kurundwad, Jamkhandi, Tasgaon, Chinchni, Amba, Mangalvedha and Shelsat.

Samadhi of Haribhat Baba, Pune, from the Miraj State Album — Samadhi of Haribhat Baba, Pune

Samadhi of Haribhat Baba, interior, from the Miraj State Album — Samadhi of Haribhat Baba, interior

✦

Shrimant Gopalrao Govind alias Raosaheb Patwardhan

c.1721 – 17 January 1771 · Eldest son of Govind Hari

Commands: Led a battalion from 1749; chief commander of the Patwardhan forces under Peshwa Madhavrao I
Married: Shrimant Sou. Saraswatibai (second wife)
Children: One daughter, Kusha Akka

Trained under Senapati Ghorpade at Bahirewadi, Gopalrao rode with his father from the age of fifteen. He is remembered as one of the Sadetin Raos, the “three and a half” great captains of the Peshwai, alongside Bhavanrao Pratinidhi, Murarrao Ghorpade and, as the half, Peshwa Madhavrao himself.

Key campaigns

1751: arrested Damaji Gaikwad during the campaign against the Gaikwads.
1757: Srirangapatna campaign against Mysore.
1760: took the strong fort of Daulatabad from the Nizam by blockade after the Battle of Udgir; praised by Nanasaheb Peshwa as a “stern soldier”.
1762–63: kept the family’s army in the field while Raghunathrao besieged Miraj.
1764–1770: chief commander in the campaigns against Hyder Ali.

Such was his name that when a moneylender calling himself “Gopalrao” arrived in Pune, Peshwa Madhavrao had him fined, declaring there was only one Gopalrao, the Patwardhan of Miraj. Gopalrao fell ill on campaign and died at Mhaisal on his way home, before he could see the Darbar Hall he had commissioned at Miraj.

Darbar Hall (Diwankhana), from the Miraj State Album — Darbar Hall (Diwankhana)

✦

Portrait of Shrimant Parshuram Bhau Patwardhan

Shrimant Parshuram Bhau Ramchandra Patwardhan

Son of Ramchandra Hari · Tasgaon · Fell at Pattankudi, 1799

Jagir: Tasgaon, granted in 1774
Sons: Ramchandra Appa (Jamkhandi), Ganpatrao (Tasgaon), Madhavrao

Nephew of Govind Hari and the most celebrated general of the family. His father died when he was a boy, and Govind Hari’s son Gopalrao led his troops until he came of age. He first led an army at Srirangapatna in 1757 and became the family’s commander after 1777.

Key campaigns

1773–74: during the Barbhai, helped protect the seat of the Peshwas from Raghunathrao.
1781: cut off British supplies at Borghat, frustrating their march on Pune.
1790–92: commanded the Maratha army with the British and the Nizam against Tipu Sultan, reaching Srirangapatna.
1795: led the combined Maratha chiefs (Shinde, Holkar, Bhonsle, Gaikwad and the Patwardhans) to victory over the Nizam at Kharda.

At Tasgaon he built a wada and a Ganesh Panchayatan temple in the southern style, and renovated the Hatkeshwar temple. He fell at the Battle of Pattankudi in 1799; his remains were cremated at Hamidwadi, where a monument stands.

Under the Peshwas

Saranjamdars of Miraj, 1761–1801

From the grant of Miraj in 1761 until the division of 1801, the Saranjam passed through Govind Hari and his sons and grandsons, most of whom gave their lives in the service of the Maratha Empire.

Shrimant Govind Hari Patwardhan

c.1698 – 21 November 1771 · Founder of the Miraj line

Saranjam: Miraj Fort and territory, granted by Peshwa Madhavrao I in 1761
Married: Shrimant Sou. Satyabhamabai Patankar
Sons: Gopalrao, Wamanrao, Pandurangrao, Gangadharrao
Samadhi: Near the Krishna ghat, Miraj

Fourth son of Haribhat Baba. He became a Sardar under Bajirao I around 1730 and received the phadnisi of the Kadambande paga in 1736. With the Shindes, Holkars and Gaikwads, the Patwardhans were counted among the principal Sardars of the Peshwai. In 1764 he commanded 4,600 horse of the family’s 8,000.

Key campaigns

1728–29: Malwa, with Bajirao I.
1731: Dabhoi, against Trimbakrao Dabhade.
1737: the march on Delhi.
1741–49: Bundelkhand and northern India.
1760: Udgir, against the Nizam.
Dec 1762 – Feb 1763: defended Miraj, aged sixty-five, against Raghunathrao’s army of some 50,000 with about 1,500 men.

A devotee of Pandurang, he built a wada at Govindpura and, at his father’s wish, founded Haripur near Sangli with Vedic and Sanskrit schools. After the deaths of Gopalrao and Neelkanthrao in 1771 he withdrew from war, and died at Miraj that November.

Portrait not available

Shrimant Wamanrao Govind alias Balasaheb Patwardhan

1725 – 2 October 1775 · Saranjamdar 1772–1775

Second son of Govind Hari. As Gopalrao had died in their father’s lifetime, the Saranjam passed to Wamanrao, who was invested with the dress of honour by Peshwa Madhavrao I in 1772. He had inherited his father’s military gifts: at the Battle of Moti Talav on 8 March 1771 he helped inflict a crushing defeat on Hyder Ali near Srirangapatna, capturing some forty guns and twenty-five elephants.

He suffered from a chest ailment and died young, without an heir, at Warangaon on the Tapi in Khandesh.

III

Portrait not available

Shrimant Pandurangrao Govind alias Tatyasaheb Patwardhan

1736 – 4 November 1777 · Saranjamdar 1776–1777

Sons: Hariharrao, Chintamanrao Appasaheb, Vithalrao Bapusaheb

Third son of Govind Hari, more a man of administration than of the battlefield. In 1776 Sawai Madhavrao Peshwa, on the advice of Nana Phadnis, gave him the vastra of Miraj with 8,000 horse and restored to him the Kadambande paga his father had held.

Sent south against Hyder Ali, he fought at Swashi on the Kundgol plain. Wounded on the head, nose and back, he was captured on 2 January 1777 and taken to Srirangapatna, where he died in prison of fever that November. Before his death he wrote out his wishes for his younger brother Gangadharrao. The historian Khare Shastri called Swashi “the beginning of the bad days for the Patwardhan family”.

Portrait not available

Shrimant Hariharrao Pandurang Patwardhan

Died 1782 · Saranjamdar 1778–1782

Eldest son of Pandurangrao, he was invested with the Saranjam of Miraj by Sawai Madhavrao Peshwa at Purandar on 1 October 1778, with the support of Parshuram Bhau. Well versed in the art of war, he fought beside Parshuram Bhau against the British at Borghat in January 1781. His promising career was cut short by his death in 1782, without an heir.

Portrait of Shrimant Chintamanrao Appasaheb Patwardhan

Shrimant Chintamanrao Pandurang alias Appasaheb Patwardhan

Saranjamdar of Miraj from 1782 · Founder of Sangli State, 1801

Second son of Pandurangrao, he succeeded his brother at the age of about eight, with his uncle Gangadharrao managing Miraj and Parshuram Bhau leading its troops. During the Barbhai he guarded Gangabai, widow of Peshwa Narayanrao, at Purandar, and he campaigned with Parshuram Bhau in Karnataka in 1798.

Relations with his uncle grew strained, and in 1801 the Jagir was divided. Chintamanrao left Miraj and established his capital at Sangli, seven miles away, building the Ganesh Durg, a Ganesh temple and a Darbar Hall. He became the first Chief of Sangli; his descendants ruled Sangli State, while Gangadharrao’s line continued at Miraj.

The Gadi of Miraj

Rulers of Miraj (Senior)

Portrait of Shrimant Gangadharrao Govind alias Balasaheb Patwardhan (I)

Shrimant Gangadharrao Govind alias Balasaheb (I)

Born 1741 · Head of Miraj after 1801

Father: Govind Hari (fourth son)
Sons: Keshavrao, Narayanrao, Madhavrao, Govindrao, Gopalrao
Succeeded by: Narayanrao Gangadharrao

He managed Miraj for many years during the minority of his nephews and, after the division of 1801, became head of the Miraj house. He fought the Bhonsles of Nagpur, Hyder Naik and Dhondoji Wagh, and kept close relations with Nana Phadnis and Parshuram Bhau. In 1808 the Peshwa recognised his rights over Miraj, and the Treaty of Pandharpur of 1812 settled the Patwardhan domains.

Works at Miraj

Had copper blocks made of the complete Bhagavad Gita and gave printed copies to Brahmins in Shake 1727 (1805).
Set up a mint whose coins were known as the Miraj Agyyari.
Built a ghat on the Krishna and the Madhavji Mandir in the fort.
Built the Ganesh Mandir in 1799 at a cost of Rs 40,000, with the tank at Ganesh Peth.

The Gita printed at Miraj, 1805, from the Miraj State Album — The Gita printed at Miraj, 1805

Shree Madhavji Mandir, from the Miraj State Album — Shree Madhavji Mandir

Ganapati Temple and Talav, from the Miraj State Album — Ganapati Temple and Talav

Shree Ganapati, from the Miraj State Album — Shree Ganapati

Portrait of Shrimant Narayanrao Gangadharrao alias Tatyasaheb Patwardhan (I)

Shrimant Narayanrao Gangadharrao alias Tatyasaheb (I)

Died 1815

Father: Gangadharrao I (second son)
Sons: Ganpatrao, Moreshwar
Succeeded by: Ganpatrao Narayanrao

He fought in the Battle of Kharda in 1795 alongside Parshuram Bhau, and succeeded his father on the Gadi of Miraj. He died in 1815, leaving a young son.

III

Portrait not available

Shrimant Ganpatrao Narayanrao alias Tatyasaheb

Ruled 1815 – 1833

Sons: Gangadharrao Balasaheb, Narayanrao Dadasaheb
Succeeded by: Gangadharrao Ganpatrao

He became Jahagirdar of Miraj in the last years of Bajirao II while still a minor, his uncle managing the administration. In 1820, at his uncle’s request and with the approval of the British Government, the Jagir was divided into parts: Miraj remained with Ganpatrao, while Soni, Miraj Mala and Supari went to other branches. Soni and Supari later lapsed to the British for want of heirs.

Portrait of Shrimant Gangadharrao Ganpatrao alias Balasaheb Patwardhan (II)

Shrimant Gangadharrao Ganpatrao alias Balasaheb (II)

Ruled 1833 – 22 December 1861

Married: Shrimant Sou. Ramabaisaheb
Regent: His uncle Moreshwar Narayan, until 1 February 1849
Succeeded by: Ganpatrao Tatyasaheb (II), by adoption

He succeeded as a minor and took charge of the State on 1 February 1849. A man of deep faith, he invited Swami Niranjan Raghunath to Miraj in 1845 and became his disciple; in 1855 the Swami installed the Ek Mukhi Datta at the Madhavji temple, and took samadhi in the Krishna that Bhadrapad.

Having no son, he adopted Trimbakrao from the family of Balambhat, the Patwardhans of Miraj Killa, who became Ganpatrao Tatyasaheb.

State Devghar, from the Miraj State Album — State Devghar

State Devghar, another view, from the Miraj State Album — State Devghar, another view

Portrait of Shrimant Ganpatrao alias Tatyasaheb Patwardhan (II)

Shrimant Ganesh Gangadharrao alias Ganpatrao Tatyasaheb (II)

Ruled 1861 – 6 November 1874

Born: Trimbakrao, of the Miraj Killa Patwardhans
Married: Shrimant Sou. Gangabaisaheb
Succeeded by: His Highness Shrimant Sir Gangadharrao Ganesh, by adoption

During his minority the British Government administered the State through Ganesh Narayan Kale. He kept a diary in English of his life at Miraj and his journeys to Bombay and Sangli, and sat on the Privy Council at Bombay.

He opened the State’s Government Hospital in 1864, and was the first Patwardhan to be photographed, encouraging the Chatre Photo Studio at Miraj.

State Hospital, from the Miraj State Album — State Hospital

Portrait of His Highness Shrimant Sir Gangadharrao Ganesh alias Balasaheb Patwardhan, K.C.I.E.

His Highness Shrimant Sir Gangadharrao Ganesh alias Balasaheb (III), K.C.I.E.

6 February 1866 – 21 December 1939 · Ruled 1874–1939

Born: Gopalrao, at Baramati, of the junior Sangli branch
Educated: Rajaram College, Kolhapur
Married: Her Highness Shrimant Sou. Umabai Saheb (née Durgabai Joag), 1881
Heir: His Highness Narayanrao Tatyasaheb Maharaj

Adopted into the Miraj family, he took charge of the State at a great Darbar on 7 February 1887 and ruled for fifty-three years. His subjects called him “Edje Man Saheb”; he kept harmony between Hindus and Muslims and was a trustee of the Mirasaheb Dargah.

His legacy

Music: patron of Pt. Balkrishnabuva Ichalkaranjikar and Pt. Vishnu Digambar Paluskar; built the Hansa Prabha Theatre in 1898, where Bal Gandharva first performed in Miraj.
Wrestling and fitness: founded the Ambabai and Bhanu Talims, wrote two volumes on Malla Vidya and created the Surya Namaskar Jubilee Trust.
Learning: founded Jubilee Kanya Shala, Miraj High School and the Jubilee Library; Vice-President of the Deccan Education Society; presided over the Akhil Bharatiya Sahitya Sammelan in 1915; commissioned Khare Shastri’s fifteen volumes of Patwardhan history.
Public works: the Town Hall (built as famine relief), Tandul Market, Hindu Dharmashala, Namdeo Mandir and land for the Mission Hospital.
Industry: the Power House that brought electricity to Miraj, the Crystal Ice Factory and the Ganesh Kalagraha workshops.
Beyond Miraj: founded Uma Vidyalaya at Modnimb (1919) in memory of his wife, bought Sindola Park at Mahabaleshwar (1885) and Miraj House in Pune (1907).

Shrimant Chief Saheb and the Officers of State, from the Miraj State Album — Shrimant Chief Saheb and the Officers of State

Town Hall, from the Miraj State Album — Town Hall

Miraj High School, from the Miraj State Album — Miraj High School

Electric Power House, from the Miraj State Album — Electric Power House

Bhanu Talim, from the Miraj State Album — Bhanu Talim

Crystal Ice Company, from the Miraj State Album — Crystal Ice Company

VII

His Highness Shrimant Narayanrao Tatyasaheb Maharaj

6 September 1898 – 31 October 1984 · Ruled 1939–1948 · Last Ruler of Miraj State

Married: Her Highness Shrimant Sou. Laxmibaisaheb Maharaj, Ranisaheb of Miraj (née Durgatai Apte), 1918
Heir: His Highness Yuvraj Madhavrao Raosaheb Maharaj (b. 1922)

Before succeeding he served with the Maratha Light Infantry at Belgaum and held the King’s Commission. As Yuvaraj he began the Laxmi Market, opened in 1932. As Rajesaheb he sat in the Chamber of Princes from 1941, supported the Miraj State Bank, encouraged new industry, built the Gangadharrao Balasaheb Water Works in 1946, and reformed the State’s schools and police. He led the State until its merger with the Indian Union on 8 March 1948.

Afterwards he withdrew from public life. A follower of Gurudev Ranade of Nimbal and a friend of Das Ganu Maharaj, he wrote a book on the Turks, translated the Gaudapada Karika, kept falcons and birds, trekked to Kailas–Mansarovar and practised Ayurvedic medicine. He was cremated with state honours at the family’s Krishna Ghat. Her Highness Shrimant Sou. Laxmibaisaheb Maharaj wrote short stories, a book on knitting and a kirtan broadcast on All India Radio, and founded the Vanita Samaj club in Miraj Killa.

Laxmi Market, from the Miraj State Album — Laxmi Market

New Water Works, from the Miraj State Album — New Water Works

VIII

His Highness Shrimant Madhavrao alias Raosaheb Patwardhan Maharaj

Born 1922 · Yuvarajsaheb of Miraj

Married: Her Highness Shrimant Sou. Indumatiraje

Son of His Highness Narayanrao Tatyasaheb Maharaj and Her Highness Shrimant Sou. Laxmibaisaheb Maharaj, heir to the Gadi, and father of the present head of the family, His Highness Balasaheb Maharaj.

Continue to the Royal Family today →

The Women of the House

Ranisahebs of Miraj

While the Sardars and Rulers of Miraj were away for months on the campaigns of the Maratha Empire, it was the ladies of the house who kept the household, the family’s worship and its charities. The records remember fewer of them than they should. These are the Ranisahebs whose names and works have come down to us.

✦

Portrait not available

Shrimant Sou. Satyabhamabai Govind Patwardhan

Née Patankar · Wife of Shrimant Govind Hari Patwardhan

Shrimant Sou. Satyabhamabai came from the Patankar family and was the wife of Govind Hari, who received the Saranjam of Miraj in 1761. She was the mother of the founding generation of the Miraj house: Gopalrao, Wamanrao, Pandurangrao and Gangadharrao, from whom every later Saranjamdar and Ruler of Miraj descends.

Few records of her own life survive. Her years were those of the family’s greatest wars, from the march on Delhi and Udgir to the siege of Miraj in 1762–63 and the campaigns against Hyder Ali, in which her husband, her sons and her grandsons served.

✦

Portrait not available

Shrimant Sou. Ramabaisaheb Patwardhan

Wife of Shrimant Gangadharrao Balasaheb (II) · Ruled 1833–1861

✦

Shrimant Sou. Gangabaisaheb Patwardhan

Wife of Shrimant Ganpatrao Tatyasaheb (II) · Ruled 1861–1874

Shrimant Sou. Gangabaisaheb was the wife of Shrimant Ganpatrao Tatyasaheb II, the ruler who opened the State Hospital at Miraj in 1864, kept a diary in English and was the first Patwardhan to be photographed. Theirs was the household at the start of Miraj’s modern age. The Gadi passed after them, by adoption, to His Highness Shrimant Sir Gangadharrao.

✦

Her Highness Shrimant Sou. Umabai Saheb, Ranisaheb of Miraj

Born 20 August 1873 · Née Durgatai Joag · Married 1881

Father: Shri Haripant Joag, of the Public Works Department, Sholapur
Married: His Highness Shrimant Sir Gangadharrao, 1881
Son: His Highness Narayanrao Tatyasaheb Maharaj
Memorial: Uma Vidyalaya, Modnimb (1919), and Uma Vidyalaya, Laxmeshwar

Durgatai was the daughter of Haripant Joag, a supervisor in the Public Works Department at Sholapur. Of the eight proposals of marriage that came to the young ruler of Miraj, he accepted the Joags’. She had been to school and could read and write, which was uncommon for girls of her time. On her marriage in 1881 she took the name Umabai Saheb and became Ranisaheb of Miraj.

She was the mother of the heir, His Highness Narayanrao Tatyasaheb Maharaj, but did not live long. In her memory His Highness Sir Gangadharrao founded the Uma Vidyalaya at Modnimb in 1919, with a special branch for agriculture in that farming town, and a second Uma Vidyalaya at Laxmeshwar.

✦

Her Highness Shrimant Sou. Laxmibaisaheb Maharaj, Ranisaheb of Miraj

Born 31 January 1905, Ahmedabad · Née Durgatai Apte · Married 1918

Father: Shri Krishnarao alias Kakasaheb Apte, of Limb, near Satara
Married: His Highness Narayanrao Tatyasaheb Maharaj, 1918
Son: His Highness Yuvraj Madhavrao Raosaheb Maharaj (b. 1922)
Named for her: Laxmi Market, Miraj (1932)

Durgatai Apte was born in Ahmedabad, where her father, a landholder of Limb trained at the Victoria Jubilee Technical Institute, managed the Calico Mills. She married the Yuvaraj of Miraj in 1918, took the name Laxmibaisaheb, and became Ranisaheb when he came to the Gadi in 1939. The Laxmi Market, which her husband began as Yuvaraj and which opened in 1932, bears her name.

She was a woman of letters and of many talents. Her short stories were published in magazines, she wrote a book on knitting, and a kirtan she composed was broadcast on All India Radio. A keen player of chess and bridge, she founded the Vanita Samaj, a club for women, in Miraj Killa.

The family remembers her as its eldest matriarch. Her granddaughter-in-law, Her Highness Shrimant Sou. Umaraje, instituted the Rani Laxmibaisaheb Trophy for Debate in her memory.

✦

Portrait not available

Her Highness Shrimant Sou. Indumatiraje Madhavrao Patwardhan Maharaj

Wife of His Highness Yuvraj Madhavrao Raosaheb Maharaj

Married: His Highness Yuvraj Madhavrao Raosaheb Maharaj
Son: His Highness Shrimant Gangadharrao Madhavrao alias Balasaheb Patwardhan Maharaj, Rajasaheb of Miraj

Shrimant Sou. Indumatiraje was the wife of the Yuvaraj of Miraj and the mother of the present head of the family, His Highness Balasaheb Maharaj. A patron of the arts, she is remembered by the family as one of the two ladies, with Shrimant Sou. Laxmibaisaheb, whose love of music and painting inspired her daughter-in-law, Her Highness Shrimant Sou. Umaraje.

✦

Her Highness Shrimant Sou. Umaraje Gangadharrao Patwardhan Maharaj

1952 – 2024 · Ranisaheb of Miraj

Born in Pune and married into the family in 1969, she founded Blue Bells Nursery School in Pune that same year and led it for more than fifty years. A teacher of communication and leadership at colleges in Pune, a connoisseur of Hindustani classical music, a painter and a friend to animals, she carried forward the love of the arts she saw in the Ranisahebs before her.

Read her full story on The Family page →

Read the article: The Ranisahebs of Miraj and Their Social Work →

Daughter of the House

Rajkumari of Miraj

✦

Her Highness Rajkumari Shrimant Mangalaraje Taisaheb Patwardhan

Born 1923 · Rajkumari of Miraj

Father: His Highness Narayanrao Tatyasaheb Maharaj, Rajasaheb of Miraj
Mother: Her Highness Shrimant Sou. Laxmibaisaheb Maharaj, Ranisaheb of Miraj
Brother: His Highness Yuvraj Madhavrao Raosaheb Maharaj

Rajkumari Mangalaraje Taisaheb was born in 1923, a year after her brother, the Yuvaraj, to His Highness Narayanrao Tatyasaheb Maharaj and Her Highness Shrimant Sou. Laxmibaisaheb Maharaj. She grew up at Miraj in the last decades of the State, in the years when her father, as Yuvaraj and then as Rajasaheb, built the Laxmi Market and the new Water Works.

She did not marry, and remained a daughter of the house of Miraj all her life. For that reason the family remembers her here, alongside the Ranisahebs.