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PLACES

SAKAR PATHAR.

SASVAD.

Sa'svad, on the left bank of the Karha about sixteen miles south-east of Poona, is a municipal town, the head-quarters of the Purandhar sub-division, with in 1881 a population of 5684. Sasvad stands on the old Poona-Satara road by the Babdev and Diva passes. The 1872 census showed 6416 people of whom 6147 were Hindus and 269 Musalmans; and the 1881 census showed a decrease of 463 or 5684, of whom 5435 were Hindus and 249 Musalmans. A weekly market is held on Monday when the chief article of trade is grain from the villages round. Besides the sub-divisional revenue and police offices Sasvad has a municipality, dispensary, post-office, two old palaces, a mosque built entirely of Hemadpanti pillars and stones, and a temple. The municipality, which was established in 1879, had in 1882-83 an income of £271 (Rs.2710) and an expenditure of £253 (Rs. 2530). In 1883 the dispensary treated twenty in-patients and 5517 out-patients at a cost of £70 12s. (Rs. 706). Sasvad was the original Deccan home of the Peshwa family. [Grant Duff's Marathas, 144. In 1713 Balaji, the first Peshwa, fled to Sasvad and here also he died in 1720. Ditto, 189, 209.] Outside of the town and across the river is the old Peshwas' palace which is now used as a Collector's bungalow and office. The palace bears marks of English shot. A large temple of Sangameshvar with steps leading to the river, stands on a small delta of land at the meeting of the Karha and one of its feeders. Round the chief temple are small shrines, tombs, and sati stones. Near the temple is the fortified palace of the Purandhare Brahman family, who were closely allied to the Peshwas for nearly a century. [Grant Duff's Marathas, 186.] In a revenue statement of about 1790 Saswer appears as the head of a subdivision in the Junnar sarkar with a revenue of £1765 (Rs. 17,650).[ Waring's Marathas, 240.] In 1818 the palace for ten days withstood the attack of General Pritzler's division.

About 1840 the Amirs of Sind were confined in Sasvad. Though prisoners they were allowed to shoot and the neighbourhood of Sasvad was thoroughly cleared of wolves. [Murray's Bombay Handbook (New Edition), 193.] In 1837 Sasvad had a nursery garden.

SHAMBHUDEV HILL.

SHIVNE.

SINDE.

Sinde hamlet, close to Bhamboli in Khed, seven miles west of Chakan, has within its limits the hill of Bhamchandra with some old Buddhist caves. The hill rises steep from the plain on the south and west and has the caves in the southern scarp. A difficult cliamb leads to a cistern on the right which the villagers call Sita's Bath. A little further, after rounding a jutting neck, comes the chief cave of the group dedicated to Bhamchandra Mahadev. The cave is small and faces south-west, and has a cistern to its left. The entrance, which is eight feet high by thirteen wide with a small arched doorway in the centre, is closed. The cave is nearly square (15' x 14') and seven feet high with a flat roof. Four pillars, two on either side, divide the cave into three parts. Each of the two compartments is adorned with a pilaster much like the pillars, and each has a niche with pillared jambs and canopy. In the middle are traces of a daghoba or a round base five feet in diameter within a square mark where it once stood. The umbrella is cut out of the roof. The pillars are massive and square but twice chamfered of halfway up so as to be octagonal. The capitals have massive projection on all four sides. In an inner shrine of the temple are a ling and a figure of Buddha or a Tirthankar. The figure is carved on a detached stone and may once have ornamented the daghoba. An elaborately sculptured doorway separates the inner from the outer cave. The doorway is two feet wide by four feet high with carvings chiefly of human figures. The cave has no horse-shoe arch or Buddhist rail ornaments. The soft rock of the hill has weathered away in places, and the screen or doorway dividing the two shrines has been cemented by the villagers to keep it in its place. Further on is a cell or cavern, and at some little distance in the middle of a difficult escarpment is a cave, at the end of which is a winding cavernous road, low and narrow, said to pass several miles into the hill. Higher up are one or two inaccessible caves, and beyond on the west is another small cave. The ministrant of Bhamchandra Mahadev enjoys land in Bhamboli village. [The late Mr. G. H. Johns, C. S.]

SINHGAD FORT.

Description.

Sinhgad or Kondhana fort, about twelve miles south-west of Poona, stands on one of the highest points of the Sinhgad-Bhuleshvar range 4322 feet above sea level and about 2300 feet above the Poona plain. Not far to the east of Sinhgad the range divides the main range running east to Bhuleshvar and a branch joined to Sinhgad by a high narrow ridge running south-east to Purandhar. On the north and south Sinhgad is a huge rugged mountain with a very steep ascent of nearly half a mile. From the slopes rises a great wall of black rock more than forty feet high, crowned by the nearly ruined fortifications of Sinhgad.

The fort is approached irregularly by pathways and regularly by two gates. The pathways, which are almost impassable except to the hillmen or Mavlis, are bounded by high and steep ridges on the east and south. The gates are on the north-east and south-east; the north-east or Poona gate is at the end of a winding ascent up the profile of a steep rocky spur; the easier Kalyan or Konkan gate stands at the end of a less difficult ascent guarded by three gateways all strongly fortified and each commanding the other. The ordinary mode of ascent to the fort is by sitting on a board hung by ropes to two bamboo poles and with a smaller board for a foot rest.

The fortifications, which consist of a strong stone wall flanked with towers, enclose a nearly triangular space about two miles round. Though generally triangular the summit is very irregular rising in many places within the walls into low rugged eminences.' [The greatest extent of the summit from east to west is about 3000 feet and about 2500 feet from north to south. Its irregular shape, which conforms to the direction of the scarped sides of the rock on which the walls stand, deprives it of a diagonal proportional to these dimensions. Blacker's Maratha War, 240.] The north face of the fort is naturally very strong; the south face, which was easily taken by the English in 1818, is the weakest. The triangular plateau within the walls is used as a health-resort by the European residents of Poona in April and May, and has several bungalows. The plateau commands a splendid view on all sides.

History.

The earliest mention of the fort, which was known as Kondhana until in 1647 Shivaji changed its name to Sinhgad or the Lion's Fort, is in 1340 when the Delhi emperor Muhammad Tughlik (1325-1351) marched against it. Nag Naik, its Koli chieftain, opposed Muhammad with great bravery, but was forced to take refuge within the walls of the fort. As the only way to the hill top was by a narrow rock-cut passage, Muhammad, after fruitless attempts on the works, blockaded the fort. At the end of eight months, as their stores failed them, the garrison left the fort and Muhammad returned to Daulatabad. [Mackintosh in Transactions Bombay Geographical Society, 1.192 Briggs' Ferishta, 1.420.] In 1486 Kondhana appears among the Poona forts which fell to Malik Ahmad, the founder of the Ahmadnagar dynasty (1490-1608), on his capture of Shivner. [Briggs' Ferishta, III. 191.] In 1633 Jijibai the mother of Shivaji was taken prisoner by the Musalman governor of Trimbak, but released and conveyed to Kondhana. [Grant Duff's Marathas,49.] As regent for the Ahmadnagar king Shahaji held Kondhana among other Poona forts. [Shahaji held Kondhana and Purandhar, being at the head of the government, as under the Muhammadan governments, these two forts were reserved by the king and never entrusted to jagirdars. Grant Duff's Marathas, 53 note 1.] When, in 1637, Shahaji, pursued by the Bijapur forces from Lohogad to Kondhana and from Kondhana to the Konkan, agreed to enter Bijapur service, he gave up five Poona forts of which Kondhana seems to have passed to Bijapur and the other four to the Moghals. [Elliot and Dowson, VII. 59 - 60; Grant Duff's Marathas, 53.] In 1647 Shivaji gained Kondhana by a large bribe to its Musalman commandant and changed its name to Sinhgad or the Lion's Den. [Grant Duff's Marathas, 60. Elliot and Dowson, VII. 270 - 271; Grant Duff's Marathas, 88,] In 1662 on the approach of a Moghal army under Shaiste Khan, Shivaji fled from Supa to Sinhgad, and from Sinhgad he made his celebrated surprise on Shaiste Khan's residence in Poona. He sent two Brahmans in advance to make preparations. One evening in April a little before sunset Shivaji set out from Sinhgad with a considerable body of foot soldiers. These he posted in small parties along the road, and took with him to Poona only Yesaji Khan, Tanaji Malusre, and twenty-five Mavlis. The Brahmans had won over some of the Marathas in Shaiste Khan' employ. They arranged that two parties of Marathas should enter the town, one as if a wedding party, the other as if bringing prisoners, and that Shivaji and his twenty-five Mavlis should pass in with them. Shivaji's party passed in safety, put on their armour, and at the dead of night, by secret ways, reached the Khan's house. The house was well known to Shivaji as it was the residence of his father's manager Dadaji Kondadev. They entered through the cook-house, killed the cooks, and as they were cutting through a built-up window the alarm was raised. Three of the Mavlis entered Shaiste Khan's room, but two fell into a cistern of water, and the third, though he cut off Shaiste Khan's thumb, was killed by his spear. Two slave girls dragged Shaiste Khan to a place of safety. The Maratha's killed many of his followers, cut to pieces some of the women, and chopped off the head of an old man whom they took for Shaiste Khan. The kettledrums beat an alarm, and the Marathas retired, lighting torches and burning bonfires as they went up Singhad hill in derision of the Moghals. Next morning a body of Moghal horse gallopped towards the fort. An unexpected fire of musketry threw them into confusion and they retired in disorder. A party of Shivaji's horse fell on them and they took to flight, the first time that Moghal cavalry were chased, by Marathas. A second attempt was made to invest Sinhgad, but the siege was not pressed. For some time after this Sinhgad continued to be Shivaji's head-quarters. In 1664, hearing of his father's death, Shivaji came to Sinhgad after the sack of Surat, and spent some days in performing his father's funeral rites. To Sinhgad he returned in November 1664, after plundering the town of Ahmadnagar, defeating the Bijapur troops with great slaughter, and sacking and burning Vengurla. [Grant Duff's Marathas, 88,89 -90.] In April 1665 a fresh Moghal force invested Purandhar and blockaded Sinhgad, [Grant Duff's Marathas, 92 : Elliot and Dowson, VII. 272-273.] where were Shivaji's wife and his mother's relations. Finding their rescue impossible, as all the roads were blockaded, Shivaji sued for forgiveness from the Moghal general Raja Jaysing. Raja Jaysing accepted his offer of submission, the siege was stopped, 7000 persons men women and children came out of Sinhgad fort, and the Moghals took possession. [Elliot and Dowson, VII, 273.] In the treaty which followed Shivaji gave to Jaysing twenty of his thirty-two forts, among them Purandhar and Sinhgad with all their dependent districts. In 1666 Jaysing placed strong garrisons in Sinhgad, Lohogad, and Purandhar, but in December of the same year, after his escape from Delhi, Shivaji regained all these forts. In 1667 Shivaji obtained from Aurangzeb the title of Raja and his father's districts of Poona, Chakan, and Supa, but Sinhgad and Purandhar were kept by the Moghals. Shivaji resolved to take them, and his capture of Sinhgad in 1670 forms one of the most daring exploits in Maratha history.

As Sinhgad was commanded by a celebrated soldier Ude Ban with a choice Rajput garrison, it was deemed impregnable. Security had made the garrison somewhat negligent, and Shivaji formed a plan for surprising the fort. The enterprise was entrusted to Tanaji Malusre who offered to surprise Sinhgad if he was allowed to take his younger brother Suryaji and 1000 picked Mavlis. Accordingly, in February 1670, a thousand Mavlis under Tanaji and Suryaji set out from Raygad in Kolaba, and, taking different paths, met near Sinhgad on the night of the dark ninth of Magh. Tanaji divided his men into two parties. One party under his brother Suryaji he left at a little distance with orders to advance if necessary; the other party under-his own command lodged themselves undiscovered at the foot of Sinhgad rock. When it grew dark, choosing the sheer southwest gorge as the part least likely to be guarded, one of the Mavlis climbed the rock and made fast a rope ladder up which the rest crept one by one. Each, as he gained the top, lay down. [The old people of Sinhgad fort say that the rope was taken by a large lizard or ghorpad, who also dragged up tanaji who made fast the rope and enabled the Mavlis to climb up. Mr. J. McL. Campbell, C. S.] In spite of their care, before 300 of them had reached the top, some movement alarmed the garrison. One of them drew near, but was silently slain by an arrow. Still the alarm spread, and the noise of voices and of a running to arms showed Tanaji that a rush forward was his only chance of surprise. The Mavlis plied their arrows in the direction of the voices, till a blaze of blue lights and torches showed the Rajputs armed or arming and discovered their assailants. In the desperate fight that followed Tanaji fell. The Mavlis lost heart and were beating a retreat to the ladder when Suryaji, Tanaji's brother, met them with the reserve. He rallied them, asked them if they would leave their leader's body to be tossed into a pit by Mhars, told them the ropes were broken, and there was no retreat; now was the time to prove themselves Shivaji's Mavlis. They turned with spirit and, shouting their war-cry, ' Har Har, Mahadev,' dashed on the garrison, and, after a desperate fight in which 300 Mavlis and 500 Rajputs were slain or disabled, gained the fort. Besides those who were slain or wounded in the fort, many Rajputs who ventured over the crest of the rock were dashed to pieces. [The tombs of Tanaji and Ude Ban the Rajput commandant lie 150 yards apart near the north-west corner of the fort. Ude Ban is revered as a saint or pir.] A thatched house turned into a bonfire flashed the news to Shivaji in Raygad fort in Kolaba about thirty miles west of Singhad. Contrary to his custom, Shivaji gave each of the assailants a silver bracelet and honoured their leaders with rich rewards. He grieved over Tanaji and said, playing on the name of the fort, Singhad, the lion's fort, is taken but the lion is slain; I have gained a fort and lost Tanaji. Suryaji was made commandant of Sinhgad, [Grant Duffs Marathas, 108-109.] and a high masonry wall was built across the top of the gorge which the Mavlis had scaled. In 1685 Aurangzeb ordered posts or thanas to be placed in the country between Junnar and Sinhgad. In February 1700 Rajarani, the second son of Shivaji, took shelter in Sinhgad and died a month later. Between 1701 and 1703 Aurangzeb besieged Sinhgad. After a three and a half months' siege the fort was bought from the commandant and its name changed to Bakshindabaksh or God's Gift. In 1706, as soon as the Moghal troops marched from Poona to Bijapur, Shankraji Narayan Sachiv chief manager of the country round, retook Sinhgad and other places. The loss of Sinhgad was a great grief to Aurangzeb and aggravated the illness of which in the next year he died. He sent Zulfikar Khan to take Sinhgad. The garrison yielded from want of supplies but as soon as Zulfikar retired, from the same cause the hill was speedily retaken by Shankraji Narayan. [Grant Duffs Marathas, 180-181.] In 1750 Tarabai, the grand mother and keeper of the prisoner chief of Satara, on pretence of paying her devotions at her husband Rajaram's tomb in Sinhgad, endeavoured to persuade the Pant Sachiv to declare for her as head of the Maratha empire. [Grant Duff's Marthas, 270.] In 1750 Balaji Peshwa arranged that the Pant Sachiv should give him Sinhgad in exchange for the forts of Tung and Tikona in the Bhor state. [Grant Duff's Marthas, 272.] On his defeat by Yashvantrav Holkar at the battle of Poona on the 25th of October 1802, Bajirav Peshwa fled to Sinhgad. From Sinhgad, where he remained three days, Bajirav sent an engagement to Colonel, afterwards Sir Barry, Close the British Resident, binding himself to subsidise six battalions 0f sepoys and to cede £250,000 (Rs. 25 lakhs) of yearly revenue for their support. In May 1817 when Mr. Elphinstone found Bajirav levying troops he warned him of his danger and told him that unless Trimbakji Denglia, the murderer of Gangadhar Shastri, was given up or driven out of the Peshwa's territory, war with the English must follow. Some days passed without any answer from Bajirav and then Mr. Elphinstone formally demanded the surrender of Trimbakji within a month and the immediate delivery of Sinhgad, Purandhar, and Raygad as a pledge that Trimbakji would be surrendered. On the 7th of May Mr. Elphinstone threatened to surround Poona if Sinhgad and the other two forts were not given up in pledge of Trimbakji's surrender, and, at the last moment, at daybreak on the 9th of May, when troops were already moving round the city, Bajirav issued an order for the surrender of the forts. The forts remained in British charge till August, when, as the Peshwa agreed to the treaty of Poona (13th June 1817), they were restored to him. [Grant Duff's Marathas, 558, 634, 646.] After the battle of Kirkee (5th November), the Marathas placed some guns under the protection of Sinhgad, but, on the 18th of November, a detachment sent by General Smith brought away fifteen of them without loss. [Pendhari and Maratha War Papers, 129.] Singhad remained with the Marathas till the 2nd of March 1818 when it surrendered to General Pritzler. On the 14th of February General Pritzler marched from Satara and came by the Nira bridge to Sinhgad. The march was accomplished without any molestation though the line of march with the train stores and provisions stretched four miles and the latter part of the road lay among hills with numerous ravines. The siege of Sinhgad was begun on the 24th of February. The head-quarters of the force were established near a stream about two and a half miles south-east of the fort, probably near the village of Kalyan. As one of the avenues from the Poona gate on the east communicated with the northern valley, six companies of the second battalion of the 7th Bombay Native Infantry and a body of auxiliary horse, invested it on that side near Donje village. On the crest of the ridge, opposite that extremity, at the distance of 800 yards, a post and battery of one eight-inch mortar, one five and a half inch howitzer, and two six-pounders were established. The battery opened on the 21st. On the 22nd four companies of the 2nd battalion of the 15th Madras Native Infantry marched for Poona and were replaced by the remaining four companies of the 2nd battalion of the 7th Bombay Native Infantry. The mortar battery, which opened on the evening of the 22nd and consisted of one ten and three eight-inch mortars and three five and a half inch howitzers, was placed under cover of a hill southeast of the fort. On the 24th, Captain Davies with 1800 Nizam's reformed horse joined Major Shouldham's post in the northern valley from which two six-pounders were ordered to Poona. Opposite the south-west angle, about 1000 yards off a battery of two twelve-pounders and two six-pounders was established and opened on the 25th of February. To the right of this battery, 700 and 1000 yards from the gate, two breaching batteries, each of two eighteen-pounders, opened on the 28th against that point. By the 1st of March, after 1417 shells and 2281 eight-pounder shots had been fired, the garrison of 1200 men, 700 of them Gosavis and 400 Arabs, hung out a white flag. The garrison were allowed to march out on the 2nd of March with their personal arms and private property. The garrison engaged to proceed to Elichpur in Berar accompanied by a guard from the British Government, and to bind themselves by giving hostages not to enter into the service of any native state[ Blacker's Maratha War, 239-241; Pendhari and Maratha War Papers, 240,] Forty-two guns twenty-five wall pieces, and a quantity of powder and shot, were found in the fort. Prize property to a vast amount, consisting of pearls and diamonds said to have been removed there for safety by Poona merchants, was found in Sinhgad. Many of the soldiers carried about for several days hats full of pearls jewels and gold ornaments for sale without knowing their value being anxious to exchange them for money or exchange bills on Bombay ere the prize agents should discuss the plunder. [Fifteen Years in India, 490.] Along with other treasure a golden image of Ganesh was found hidden in a masonry pillar in Sinhgag fort. It was said to be worth £50,000 (Rs. 5 lakhs) and a ransom of £15,000 (Rs. 1,50,000) was offered for it. [Bombay Courier, 21st March 1818. This image is probably referred to in Pandurang Hari (p. 45 note) where it is said to have had diamonds for eyes and been studded with jewels and valued at £5000 (Rs. 50,000). So in July 1818, with jevels and other property of Bajirav Peshwa, a gold image of Vishnu was found at Nasik. It was made in 1707 and weighed 370 rupees weight. It was taken by Bajira with him in all his wanderings in a state palanquin. It came to Nasik in the Maratha war here it was discovered by the British and sent to Poona. Higginbotham's Asiatic Journal Selections, 364-365.] In 1818 Babaji Pant Gokhle, one of the murderers of the brothers Vaughan at Talegaon; was confined by Mr. Elphinstone in Sinhgad where he died in 1835[Grant Duff's Marathas, 654 note 2; Deccan Scenes, 46.] In 1862 the fort was described as ruinous with crumbling walls and gates in disrepair. The fort was able to hold about 1000 men and had ample water with supplies from the neighbouring villages of Donje and Peth Shivapur. [Government Lists of Civil Forts (1862),]

SIRUR.

Sirur or Ghodnadi, [Ghodnadi is the local name. It is called Sirur as it lies within the limits of Sirur village two miles, to the north-west.] on the right bank of the Ghod about forty miles north-east of Poona, is a municipal town, the head-quarters of the Sirur sub-division, with in 1881 a population of 6325. Sirur is in the extreme west of the sub-division and displaced Pabal in 1867 on its transfer from the Ahmadnagar district. Sirur has about 285 money lenders traders and shopkeepers, some of whom are rich. They trade in cloth and grain. At the weekly market on Saturday large numbers of cattle and horses are sold. Besides the revenue and police offices of the Sirur sub-division the town has a municipality, a travellers' bungalow, and a post-office. The municipality was established in 1868 and in 1882-83 had an income of £678 (Rs. 6780) and an expenditure of £512 (Rs. 5120). As early as the beginning of the present century its healthy situation on the Ghod, midway on the main road between Poona and Ahmadnagar, marked out Sirur as a suitable site for a cantonment. The station is about 1750 feet above the sea, and the country round is hilly and uncultivated. Hills rise in a succession of ranges one above the other, stretching for a long distance along the north bank of the Ghod. Along the south bank, where the station stands, the country is more regular with occasional hills and little forest land. Sirur was occupied in 1803. The station has a good supply of forage and is barely more than one march (thirty-nine miles) from Poona. The garrison of Sirur consists of the Poona Auxiliary Horse[ The Poona Horse was raised in 1817, The article of the Bassein treaty of 1802 which obliged the Peshwa to maintain a cavalry force was annulled and this corps was substituted. Grant Duffs Marathas, 566, 645.] living in neat regimental lines.

Colonel Wallace's Tomb,(1809).

About a third of a mile from the town, a mile from the cantonment, and a little to the north-west of the parade ground, is the graveyard with several obelisks and monuments. The most notable monument is Colonel Wallace's tomb, a fluted column about fifteen feet high on a three-stepped masonry base. [The details are: A masonry base 14' 2" by 12' 1½ " with three steps, the first 11' 6" by 9'6", the second 10' by 8", and the third 6' by 6i" square. The column is 15' 4" high, 9' 6" round the middle, and 14' round the base. The American Mission Catechist, Sirur.] On the pedestal is a marble tablet with these words:

Sacred to the memory of Col. William Wallace of His Majesty's
74th Regiment of Foot and Commander of the Force subsidised by
His Highness the Peshwa. A man respected and beloved for his
Gallantry, Devoted Public Zeal, Ardent Honourable Rectitude, and
Noble Candour. He died at Sirur on the 11th of May 1809 aged
47 years.

This seems to be the Colonel Wallace of whom, as Brigadier of the trenches at the siege of Gavilgad (7th-15th December 1803) in the Second Maratha War, the following story is told. Some guns had to be taken by night to a high and difficult position on the hill. The officer in charge came to Colonel Wallace and reported that it was impossible to take the guns. Colonel Wallace called for a light and drawing his papers out of his pocket said: ' Impossible, it can't be impossible, here it is in the orders.' [Welsh's Military Reminiscences, 1.196; Colebrooke's Elphinstone, I. 86 -109.] It is interesting that a man of so admirable a spirit, and, as his epitaph seems to show, of so noble a life should still be remembered by the aged at Sirur as Sat Purush the Holy Man, and that his tomb, which he wisely endowed, should still be worshipped. Colonel Wallace is the guardian of Sirur. Thursday is his great day and Sunday also is lucky. Vows offered to get rid of barrenness and other spirit-sent ailments never fail and newly married pairs are brought to Colonel Wallace, as they are brought to Maruti, that his guardian power may drive evil, that is evil spirits, from them. Except Brahmans and Marwaris all Hindus of Sirur and the neighbouring villages, chiefly Kamathis, Kunbis, Malis, Mhars, and Mangs, worship at Wallace's tomb. People, whose wishes have been fulfilled or who have been freed from diseases, offer incense, lay flowers before the tomb, and distribute cocoanuts, sweetmeats, or coarse sugar. Sometimes Kamathis and other flesh-eaters perform a ceremony called kanduri, when a goat is killed outside of the graveyard and the body brought in, offered at the tomb, and eaten by the ministrant. The ministrant, Dulaba, who is the son of the original pensioner, Colonel Wallace's groom, gets the offerings. At harvest time the villagers bring him first fruits of grain as naivedya or food for the saintly spirit. The Colonel's ghost still sometimes walks on no-moon and on full-moon nights. [It is said that the ease with which he reduced some of the strongest forts in the Deccan caused Colonel Wallace to be regarded with great awe by the peopls as one. with supernatural powers. Whenever a public calamity is about to occur the ghost of Wallace Saheb is seen restless and wandering about the limits of the camp. Unless ceremonies are performed at the tomb to appease his spirit and avert impending danger, the most dreadful consequences are sure to follow. Life in Bombay' (1852), 282.] About ten years after Colonel Wallace died General Smith tried to stop the yearly endowment of 18s. (Rs. 9). Colonel Wallace's ghost came and troubled him, and General Smith gave back to Dulaba's father the 18s. (Rs. 9) a year and set him in charge of the whole graveyard. Between 1840 and 1850 the Rev. Mr. French tried to stop the worship. It still goes on. At least one kanduri or goat-offering took place in 1883 and on the 24th of June 1884 cocoanuts had lately been offered at the tomb. [Details supplied chiefly by Dulaba through the American Mission Catechist Sirur.]

SUPE.

Supe, on the Ahmadnagar-Satara road thirty-six miles south-east of Poona, is the head-quarters of the Bhimthadi sub-division, with in 1872 a population of 4979 and in 1881 of 4507. Besides the sub-divisional revenue and police offices Supe has a post-office, a Wednesday market, a mosque and a Musalman tomb, and a temple.

Mosque.

The mosque, which is an old Hemadpanti temple of Mahadev, is said to have been built by Aurangzeb (1658-1707). It is on a Plinth three feet high, the pillars rising nine feet from the plinth. It has forty pillars sixteen of them embedded in the back and side walls and twenty-four open. Some of them are carved only in one face and seem to have been pilasters in the Hemadpanti temple. Long beam-like stones are laid on the pillar capitals and the squares thus formed are domed in the usual cut-corner Hemadpanti style. The Musalman tomb, which is outside of the town, belongs to Shah Mansur, an Arab who is said to have come to Supe about 1380 and to have buried himself alive. Beside the. tomb is a mosque and rest-house which is locally believed to have been built by the emperor Akbar (1556-1605). In a square enclosure raised on a plinth of squared stones opposite to the gate on the south is the tomb, on the west the mosque and another building said to be a place of assembly flanking the mosque on the east. The rest of the area is a paved court. The tomb and mosque are whitewashed and are daubed all over with the impression of an open hand smeared with reddish brown. [The hand is lucky or spirit-scaring both among Hindus and Musalmans. The Hindus have the sati's or widow sacrifice's hand on her tombstone, and in Gujarat painted in red on the town gates. Musalmans both Shias and Sunnia worship a hand or panja. The Sunnis say it represents the Prophet Muhammad and the four Kaliphas; the Shias say it is the Prophet Ali and his four grandsons. At Musalman weddings the parting guests are saluted by a red hand being slapped on their white coated shoulders. In Bombay (May 1884) a Bhatia's house during the house-warming had the whole front painted with hands. As in the Jewish patriarchal blessing and the Christian laying on of hands the basis of the holiness of the hand seems to be that it is the outlet through which the spirit of blessing passes.]

Inscriptions.

The mosque has four small inscriptions in Persian which may be translated: (1) In the name of the most Merciful God, Muhammad, Husain, Hasain, Ali; (2) There is no God but One, and Muhammad is His Prophet; (3) The foundation of the shrine of Mansur, Araf (the knower of God) laid in the year H. 1108 (A.D. 1695); (4) This is the shrine of Latif Sha'h.

A large fair is held at the dargha about October. [Grant Duffs Marathas, 41.] Supe has another tomb of a Brahman who was converted in Aurangzeb's time. The temple of Tukobadev was built by one Annajirav Marathe.

About 1604 the district of Supe with Poona and two forts were granted as an estate to Maloji Bhonsle the grandfather of Shivaji by Murtaza Nizam Shah II. (1599-1631) of Ahmadnagar. [Grant Duff's Marathas,41.]. Malojis son Shahaji appointed Baji Mohite, the brother of his second wife, as manager of Supe. During his father's absence in the Karnatak Shivaji tried to induce Baji Mohite to hand him over the revenues of Supe. Baji, who held 300 horse, sent civil answers to Shivaji, but refused to pay the revenue without the knowledge and consent of Shahaji. Shivaji baffled by peaceful means resorted to arms. He surrounded Supe at dead of night and took Baji prisoner. [Grant Duff's Marathas, 60-61.] In a revenue statement of about 1790 Supa appears as the head of a pargana in the Juner sarkar with a revenue of £7582 (Rs. 75,820). [Waring's Marathas, 240.]