Bramibhoot harbhatboa patwardhan –mulpurush of hari vavansh patwardhans.
Haribhat baba was born some time in the year 1655 in a small hamlet known as kotawade near ratnagiri and close to ganpati pule. His grandfather was the priest of the family of sahasrabudhe who were residing in kotwade.
He practiced penance and worshipped lord ganesh by taking “durva juce” and achieved spritual powers with the blessings of lord ganapti.
Later on he married a daughter of shendey shastri. The name of his wife was gauri bai. He had seven children and govind hari was the fourth son who started working with peshwa sarkar and he was the person who was the founder of the miraj dynasty in miraj. Later on he requested peshwas and gave jobs to his brothers in peshwa army. All the patwardhans became warriors and they left their jobs as priests in konkan.
A) the eldest son was krishan bhat.- his family got the jahagir of amba, and manglevedha. Therefore the family is known as “ambekar patwardhans, and mangalvedekar patwardhan. Both these towns are close to pandharpur, in maharashtra.
B) the second son was balambhat, - and this family settled down in miraj fort, and therefore this family is known as “patwardhans from miraj killa”
C).the third son was trimbakhari - wasthe third son, and the family settled down in kurundwad, and therefore this family is known as kurundwadkar patwardhans. Nilkanth hari joined the services of akkalkot jahagir, but later on joined peshwas.
D) the fourth son was govind hari - was the fourth son of haribhat baba and he joined the peshwa army during bajiro i and got the jahagir of miraj. He was instrumental in giving jobs to all his brothers.
E) the fifth son was mahadeo bhat - died without any issue.
F) the sixth son was ramchandra hari - was the fifth son of haribhatbaba who created jamkhandi, tasgaon and chinchni dynasty. The most capable patwarhan was parshrum bhau, who was the general during the battle of shringpattam and famous war of kharda against nizam.
G) the seventh son was bhaskar hari - was the seventh son and their family is known as shelsatkar patwardhans.
Haribhat baba decided to leave his village kotwade and decided to go to desh. First he came near kolhapur and came to a place called “ kapshi“which belonged to a great general known as santaji ghorpade, during the time of chatrapati rajaram, second son of great shivaji maharaj. He came in contact with a person known as mahadeo joshi who was very close to santaji ghorpode.he appointed haribhatji baba as his family priest or “upadhyabua”.he was given kurundwad village as inam or gift . He started staying in kurundwad with his elder son.peshwas learnt about haribhat baba and peshwas invited him to stay with him, to which he refused.
Peshwas therefore made govindhari and ramchandrahari as sardars in their army and were made sardars in the maratha army.this is how patwardhans became soldieurs in the maratha army.
Haribhat baba when he was staying in kurundwad, constructed a ganesh temple on the land known as “pandhardevanhali “which is on the banks of krishna river, and this place was known as “ganeshwadi.” even to day this place is famous for milk and milk products.
After some days he came and settled in pune and died some time in the year 1750. During this time nanasaheb peshwa was the “pantpradhan “who selected a place near omkareshwar on the bank of mula river in pune. Harbhat baba was 93 years of age when he died.
The patwardhans joined the peshwa army and the patwardhans rose to fame and power because of haribhat baba and therefore the patwardhans call haribhat baba as their “mul purush” and are proud to call themselves as hari vaysha patwardhans.
The history of the Miraj Dynasty
The history of the Patwardhan dynasty is the success story of a brahamin priest. His name was Haribhat Baba. He performed an “upasana” for Lord Ganesh, at Ganpati Pule, (now in the district of Ratnagiri) and migrated to Ichalkaranji, near Miraj in Maharashtra.
He came from a very small hamlet called “Kotawade” now in the district of Ratnagiri. He married a young lady called Gauri, who was the daughter of shastri Shendy from Ganpati Pule.
When Haribhat Baba went to Ichalkaranji, the jahagirdar of the town was Shrimant Narayanrao Joshi Ghorpade. He was married to Anusayabaisaheb, who was Balaji Vishvanath Peshwa’s daughter, and sister to Bajirao the I was the son in law of shrimant balaji vishwanath peshwa and became his family priest.
Over the course of time, the couple were blessed with six sons. One of the sons, known as Govindrao joined the services of Shrimant Bajirao Peshwa in the paga of Kadambande. As time passed he rose to power and became a sardar in the peshwa army.
Under his leadership, many great battles were fought with Hyderali of Mysore and the Nizam of Hydrabad.
When Shrimant Madhavrao became the Peshwa he gave Govindrao Miraj fort and the surrounding area of Miraj as his jahagir. Sardars Patwardhans of Miraj were to protect the area from the Krishna river to the Tungabhadra river, as most of the enimies were in the south, like the Nizam of Hydrabad, Hyderali and Tipusultan of Mysore.
The Patwardhans’ are the only family in Maharashtra who can boast of having courageous members who died in the war, were injured or died in the prisons’ of the enemy.
According to the record books twenty-seven people fought, died or were injured in the wars.
The history of the Marathas would not be complete without the Patwardhans of Miraj who fought courageously for the Peshwas’ and for the freedom of Hindustan.
Govind Hari, Gopalrao, Nilkanth Trimbak and Parshuram bhau were some of the most prominent warriors. There were off course many many more.
After Bajirao ll, the Britishers became the rulers of Hindustan.
The deccan Sardars entered into a treaty of Pandharpur. It enabled them to become rulers of their lands with soverign powers.
The sardars were then addressed as Rajesaheb.
