PLACES

ALIBAG

Alibag (Alibag taluka; 18°39'N; 72°57'E; p. 8,181; RS. Bombay, 26 m.) the headquarters of the Kolaba district and the chief town of the Alibag taluka has an area of 0.7 square miles.

The town lies on the coast, nineteen miles south of Bombay, at the mouth of a tidal creek, locally known as the Sakhar creek, from the village of Sakhar on its southern bank. On the east side of the town is a salt marsh, covered with water at high tides, which is gradually being reclaimed, and, on the west between the town and the sea, though reduced considerably to-day is a belt of cocoa palms which formerly extended along the coast both to the north and south for many miles. The view of Alibag, as it is approached from the sea, is exceedingly picturesque. In the foreground is the sea-fort of Kolaba, with its temples, ruinco palaces, and trees: beyond is the long line of palms broken only by groups of still higher casuarinas. The town itself is almost hidden save some huts in the Kolis' quarter which border on the creek. In the distance are the hills which run like a bat kbone down the Alibag taluka. Prominent among those immediately behind the town are Ramadharan with its conical peak, and the fort of Sagargad with its curious outlying pinnacle of rok. Facing the temple from Revas-Alibag Road to the right of Ramdharan is the wooded hill of Kankesvar, with a long spur stretching far to the north, and to the right of Sagargad arc the lotest clad hills of Belosi and Mahan reaching as far as the eye can reach to the south. To the southeast over the Naganv and Revdanda palms, rise the low bare Ceul hill. with a row of Buddhist caves on the south face, and a shrine of Dattatraya crowning their south-east peak. At the end of the long row of palms, on the coast may be distinguished the mouth of the Roha creek on Kundlika river, the ruins of Revdanda on one side of the Habsan and Roha hills. About two miles out at sea. to the south-west of the Kolaba Fort, a round tower about sixty feet high, marks the Ceul Khadya a dangerous reef covered at high water, on which among other vessels, have been wrecked the Peninsular and Oriental Company's steam-ship 'Jeddo' and the English Ship 'Di Vernon'.

There are number of newly built two-storeved houses with tiled roofs in Alibag. The roads are well kept and clean and the main thoroughfares are lighted. The town is partially supplied with drinking water from a lake named Vesvl, at a distance of about a mile and a half to the north-east on the road to Dharamtar. On the north-west side of the town, at the end of the shady road which leads to the jail and Government offices, is an open grass plot where the official residence for the Collector was built in 1833. In front is the sea and behind is an oval pond formed by the quarrying of stone for the buildings in the neighbourhood. On the east side of the pond is the Hirakot, now used as a jail and a treasury, a row of buildings for Government offices, and the police lines. The Hirakot, or Diamond Fort, is built of massive undres-sed blocks of trap, some of them about four feet by three. It is entered on the south side by a steep flight of steps replaced afterwards by masonry. At the top of the steps, on the right hand side of the doorway, is an image of Maruti with a spirit or demon under his foot. Immediately inside, in the gateway, are the guard rooms and over there is a building of a later date. The walls, which are about thirty feet high, the curtain wall being six feet high and four feet broad, enclose a space of about fifty yards square. The cells for the prisoners are built along the north and east walls. In the south-west corner is an old well with a flight of steep steps.

Climate.

The Alibag coast is open to the strong sea breeze, which blows during most of the year and makes the climate more pleasant than in the inland parts of the district. In the town the passage of the breeze is checked by the palms and underwood. But the sea face, where are the jail, the police lines, Inspection bungalow,, is much open and more healthy.

Harbour.

The mouth of the Sakhar creek is much blocked by shifting sand banks, and, during the past years, the old channel, close under the south-east wall of the Kolaba fort, has gradually silted. The river is always difficult for navigation, and during strong north-west or south-west winds becomes exceedingly dangerous, even for small craft. The creek is nearly dry at low tide, and even at high tide is navigable only by vessels of about six tons (25 khandis). Small craft of five to seven tons (20.28 khandis) at high tide pass about four miles further to Aksi,

Trade.

Large quantities of rice, vegetables, fishes, etc., are sent to Pen, Revdanda and Panvel, from where they are transported to Bombay.

Water-Supply.

Alibag is supplied with well-water. It is salty and hard, There are a number of wells in the town. The large number of wells is due to the fact that water is found in the sandy soil within a few feet of the surface. Though well suited for palm-trees this water is not good to drink. There is an old sweetwater well near the present civil hospital. Formerly, the well-to-do brought water from wells about two miles east of Alibag, in the village of Vadganv under the range. But the poor suffered from the badness of the water and guinea-worm was very common.

At about a mile and a half from Alibag, the tank of Vesvi built by putting a masonry dam across the bed of the stream supplies water to Alibag. However, the bulk of the population still depends on the well-water.

The dam across the river Khandala is nearly 100 feet long, and at its highest 3½ feet. It is built in the rocky bed of the river of rubble in Portland cement, thus forming a step in the river over which the stream flows easily. At the south end, protected from the stream by a curtain wall, is a two-feet iron sluice lifted by a screw winch; from this sluice the water escapes into a hollow channel, which continuing for a third of a mile, empties into the northern end or head of the lake. It has been found easy to fill the lake in forty-eight hours. The earthen walls of the two reservoirs are respectively six and ten feet high, with the usual three-and-half to one on the water side, and two to four on the. outer side. They are built of a very sticky earth which is found on the spot; a puddle wall runs through their centre, which has been carried down into solid ground throughout the whole length. Banks and puddle wall rise together in layers of six inches. Both the inside and outside slopes and the crowns of the banks are cased with a layer of 1½ feet of the best murum on broken trap, carefully beaten and consolidated. The old banks to the south and east have been raised in the same way, and they have also had a trench cut through their entire lengths deep into solid ground, which has been filled with puddle carefully worked in as above. All the inner slopes of the dams are pitched with rough stone laid, edgeways and driven into the face of the banks with heavy rammers, the interstices being filled with chips driven well home that the banks may be protected from waste or wear. The crowns of all the dams are covered with a well consolidated layer of road metal. The building of a mason waste weir was found unnecessary, as at a favourable height there is a natural overflow which can carry off all surplus water. The outlet is through a heavy dam of rubble in cement, built at the east end of the lake, carried on each side into the banks. A deep channel has been dug from the bed of the lake to this dam, and for several feet before the channel reaches the dam, the sides are built in wind walls with rubble smoothly coated with cement. Two iron pipes, one of twelve-inch and the other of nine-inch, are bedded at the foot of the masonry dam. From the twelve-inch pipe on the outer side of the dam a twelve-inch stoneware pipe, joined in cement, is carried twelve feet underground to a hollow a hundred and fifty feet distant. This is the waste or sludge pipe through which, if necessary, the lake can be run dry. The inner mouth of the pipe is fitted with a plug which can be lifted at pleasure, and during heavy rain scour the bottom of the lake. The nine-inch iron pipe is the feed or outlet pipe, ft has one mouth at the lowest point from which delivery in Alibag is possible, and another mouth five feet above, so that water can be drawn off either seven or twelve feet below the highest level of the lake or ten feet below. Through this pipe the water passes into a filter-chamber with eight compartments, filled with fresh sand and charcoal, the water passing over one dividing wall under another, and so on, till it reaches the last or outlet compartment, when it escapes through a nine-inch masonry pipe whose mouth is guarded by a strainer of metal gauze.

The supply of water is regulated by a simple beam fixed over the outlet pipe with two wheels or blocks. Over the blocks a light chain supports, on the inside of the lake a weighted plug, and on the outside, that is in the filter-chamber, a large copper float which rests on the surface of the water. As the level in the filter-chamber rises the float rises and the weighted plug drops into the outlet; as the level in the filter-chamber falls the float falls and lifts the plug. At the head of the filter-chamber a white marble tablet has been let into the masonry with an inscription in English and in Marathi.

Where the road crosses the salt swamp at the entrance to the; town, arrangements are made to shut off the water from the town with a sluice, and by opening a valve above it to scour the main from end to end. At the junction of the three streets the nine inch main ceases, and four-inch pipes branch from it down the three leading streets; these pipes change to three-inch and finally to two-inch pipes. At points chosen by the towns people are eighteen stone reservoirs, each holding one thousand gallons fitted with self-acting ballcocks to keep the water in the reservoirs above level and prevent overflow. The reservoirs are from two and a half to four feet deep, built of dressed blocks of trail brought from the Kolaba fort, and lined inside with cement. The level of the bottom of each reservoir is above the level of the nearest roadside drains, and an opening is left filled with a plug, so that each reservoir can at any time be thoroughly cleaned. Round each reservoir [The cost of the works was Rs. 34,000 of which Rs. 20.000 were contributed by one Bhau Saheb Dhundiraj Vinayak Bivalkar of Alibag.] is a stone pavement three feet wide.

History.

Alibag, that is Ali's Garden, is said to be called after Ali, a rich Musalman who lived about 300 years ago and dug many wells and gardens in and near Alibag. Ten or eleven of Ali's wells remain. The two best known are the Pimpal well near the large banyan tree close to the mamlatdar's office where also is Ali's tomb and the Ganapati well in front of Ganapati's temple. The site of the present town is said to have formerly been covered by the sea. According to local tradition the old settlement was at Ramnath, quarter of a mile to the north of Hirakot. At Ramnath was the palace of Kanhoji Angre the foundations of which could be seen even now. There is also the temple of Kalambika, the family goddess of the Angres. Ali's garden was converted into the present town towards the close of the seventeenth century, when Angres made it their headquarters. In 1771 Raghuji Angre was living on the island fort of Kolaba while his palace, treasury, stables, and gardens were on the mainland, in Alibag. It became the headquarters of the Kolaba agency in 1840. Between 1840 and 1850 the town was improved and its appearance completely changed by the new roads.

The gardens of Alibag, which yield coconuts and some fine varieties of graft mangoes, are among the best in the district, and the value of the produce is increased by the ease with which it can be transported to Bombay.

Besides the district and sub-divisional establishments, the chief Government institutions are the District Judge's Court, the Customs House, the Civil Hospital, the Post Office, the Government primary school, and the jail. There are also a girls' school established by the municipality, a library, and two private vernacular schools.

Proximity to the big industrial centres like Bombay and Poona has acted adversely on the progress of the press and development Of local newspapers. A number of newspapers from these two cities inform people over-night regarding developments in the country and abroad.

However, two weeklies named 'Rastratej' from Alibag and 'Navakrsival' from Poyanad specialise in giving the news of the district for the past quarter of the century. Recently, one more weekly named ' Nirdhara ' has been started, ' Adarsa ' the Only Magazine of Kolaba district is published from here once a month.

Objects.

Temples.

There are five chief Hindu temples, dedicated to Mahadev, Vithoba, Visnu, Maruti, and Ram. Temples' in this historical town generally are very old and date back to the times of the pesavas or even earlier.

There are two mosques nearly two hundred years old and a synagogue more than 100 years old. On the sea shore adjoining the maternity hospital is an inspection bungalow which provides accommodation to Government officers and travellers. There are Muslim and Mandvi Mohallas. There is also a rest-house which was formerly known as traveller's bungalow. The Musalman and Christian burial grounds and the Hindu burning ground are removed from the town to the north-west.

Observatory.

Quite close to the sea, to the north-west corner of the town, and divided into two adjacent buildings, is the observatory.

The most important data in Geophysics maintained here pertaining to past 115 years elevates its position to the few of its kind in the world. The system of its observation and experiments is closely connected with the field of magnetism. Hence the building is so designed as not to get affected by the external disturbances both radiographic and electrical. The basic data in Geophysics collected here, is being extensively used by the scientists all over the world. Furnished with the most modern equipment and apparatus, it transmits intimation of the magnetic storms to come, which obstruct Radio and telecommunication waves. From time to time the observatory publishes data incorporating its findings. It has a large demand from scientists all over the world.

Hirakot.

One of the large buildings in Alibag is the Hirakot or Diamond Fort built of massive blocks of black trap, to the north-west of the town within a hundred yards of the beach. It is said to have been built by Kanhoji Angre in 1720. In 1740 the great Pesava Balaji Bajirav, then a youth of about twenty, who had come to help Manaji Angre against his half-brother Sambhaji, distinguished himself by an attack on a party of people stationed under the Hirakot. He drove them into Sambhaji's camp, killed twenty-five to thirty men, and took prisoner Sambhaji's half-brother[ Grant Duff's Marathas, Vol. I, 411]. In 1793, after Raghuji's death, Jayasing who was imprisoned by Anandibai, the infant Angre's mother, escaped, and collecting some followers besieged Hirakot. Anandibai led an army against the besiegers, and in a bloody and hard-fought battle defeated Jayasing with heavy loss. After Anandibai's death Jayasing marched to Alibag and took Hirakot. Hearing that the Pesava had promised to help Manajl, Jayasing applied for help to Baburav, Sinde's commander-in-chief, who was his relation. Baburav agreed to help hut, when he reached Alibag, he picked a quarrel with Jayasing and took Hirakot by treachery. Jayasing's eldest son escaped to Bombay, and, in 1807, collecting a force of 2,000 men under command of one Bacaji Set, a Revdanda goldsmith, captured Hirakot. Hirakot remained in the Angre's hands till in 1840 with the rest of the Kolaba Srate, it passed to the British Government.

Kolaba Fort.

To the south-west of Alibag, about a furlong from the shore, is the low fortified fort of Kolaba. It is mentioned as one of Sivaji's forts [Hamilton's New Account, I, 243.]. But it did not rise to consequence till early in the eighteenth century, it became the stronghold of the great Maratha admiral Kanhoji Angre. It is a low rocky island, 850 to 900 feet from north to south, and, at the broadest, about 350 feet from east to west. The fortifications broken at places consist of an isolated outwork to the north and the main fort en-closed by a wall from twenty to twenty-five feet high and about 700 paces in circuit, with two gates, a main gate in the north-east and a small gate in the south, and out of seventeen only three towers have remained. Above the line of the walls appear the spire of Ganapati and Maruti temples and few scattered coco palms. Beginning from the north, the outwork, which is known as Sarjakot is in a state of ruin, which was built after the main fort to protect the inner fort from the artillery of Hirakot. Like the rest of the fortifications it is built of big blocks of trap, about three feet by two, put together without mortar. The outer height of the walls is about twenty-five feet. Inside, a flight of thirteen steps, about thirteen and a half feet high, leads to a parapet twenty paces broad surrounded by a curtain wall four feet high and four feet three inches thick. The enclosed space is about twenty-six yards by twenty-eight. About sixty-five yards to the north-west, are the ruins of a raised platform, which was said to be about 110 paces long, eleven feet high and fourteen paces broad used for stabling horses and storing grass. To the south a line of big rough stones, forming a causeway, about five feet high, thirteen and a half feet broad and ninety paces long leads to the Manik Gavda, a tower about thirty-one feet in diameter and seven and a half feet high. Beyond the Manik tower is another causeway, about forty-three paces long, twenty-four feet broad and seven high at the north end. Then comes the outer defence of the main fort well built with the same great black stones. The outer height of the wall is about seventeen feet. Inside, the parapet is about six feet high and curtain wall about four feet six inches more. It is strengthened by a central and corner towers. This north outwork encloses a space about ninety paces east and west by about sixty north and south.

At northeast corner of the main fort the chief gateway known as the Great Gate or Maha Darvaja with a pointed arch and two flanking towers is completely dilapidated. The north wall of the main fort has a central tower entered from the north by a sloping pavement. As in other parts, except repairs, the masonry is of big black stones put together without cement. The outer height of the wall is about twenty-eight feet, of which four are curtained, and the breadth is about seventeen feet. From the top of the slope is a view of the inside of the fort, which is about 800 feet long by 300 broad, full of temples, ruins, and trees. In the north-west corner of the wall, on the parapet, are a sentry-box and two old guns, which, during the stormy months (June-September), used tp be fired as signals if a vessel was seen dangerously near shore. The west of sea face is about twenty feet high with a curtain wall of four feet more. In the west face at the corners were five towers.

A short distance south of the life-boat sentry-box fifteen steps lead to the interior of the fort. At the north-east corner is the double door-way of the Main Gate or Maha Darvaja. The outer door-way has a peaked arch and a teak door armed with iron spikes. Inside of the outer door is a three-cornered space, fifteen yards broad, with a wall across the inside in which is a flat gate way, in the north wall, is a square room or talghar with four domes supported by round stone pillars. The way-in is so choked up with earth and sand at present that one can hardly go ten feet. According to one account in front of this room were two store-houses one for rice, the other for butter, oil, molasses, sugar, and wheat. On the right, close to the inner gate, is Padmavati's shrine, a ruined tiled shed with a small figure of a woman (1'4" x 1'10''). To the south in a roofless enclosure, is a rough figure of Gulbai or Mahisasuri (3'8" x 2'2"), the buffalo-slayer, a buffalo lying in front. Gulbai is represented with one head and four hands. Her upper left hand holds a discus and her lower left grasps the buffalo's tongue; her lower right smites the buffalo with a trident and her upper right twists its tail. The small tiled house on the left is the shrine of Bhavani and the house of an Agri one of the ministrants who is in charge of the fort temples. In Bhavani's shrine are a bust of Bhavani and images of Vetal and Ganapati. The ruined line of buildings on the right, beyond Gulbal shrine, are stables in part of which fighting rams or edkas, antelopes and birds were kept. A bare and uneven plinth on the left denotes existence of some structures there in the past. The first or more northerly is known as the Nam Saheb's. It is said to be called after Laksmibai, or Nani Saheb, the widow of the great Kanhoji Angre (1690-1729 [Sardesai.-New History of the Marathas, Vol. II.]). Next comes the chief palace of the Angle's, roofless and ruined. Many of the stones were taken to build the Alibag waterworks in 1875. It was known as the Big Palace, Thorla Vada and is said to have had five storeys, and to have been built by the younger Raghuji Angle in 1816. To the east of the palace were store-houses and other buildings. In the palace enclosure is a small step well. To the south of the palace entered by a brick gate-way, is a cement lined stone reservoir about 115 feet by 105. In Angre's time only one potful a day of this water is said to have been allowed to each person. In a niche in the reservoir are images of heavenly damsels or apsards. Over-looking the reservoir there was said to be a small dwelling and near it five houses belonging to Angre's officers, the minister' or divan, the head revenue officer or daftardar, the secretary or chitnis, the registrar or phadnis, and the treasurer or potnis. On the fight, nearly opposite the reservoir, in a walled enclosure, is the chief temple. It is known as the Ganapati Pancayatan, because it contains the five images of Ganapati, Samb or Mahadev Visnu, Surya, and Devi. It was built by the elder Raghuji (1759-1793). It is in Musalman style with open tracery windows and measures sixty-four feet by twenty and forty-five high. The image of Ganapati, which is finely carved in alabaster, is eighteen inches high and has two stone foot marks or padukas, in front. Next to Ganapati's temple is a temple of Mahadev and to the north a shrine of Maruti. To the south of the enclosure of Ganapati's temple, on the right are the ruins of a temple of Kanhoba. Further south on either side, are ruined guard-rooms, and, beyond the guard-rooms, is the Yasavant Gate with a peaked arch and side recesses. Outside is the shrine of Yasavandari, the guardian of the gate, a white stone marked with red. South of the fort wall, the open raised space, about eighty paces by thirty eight, is said to have been a ship dock. In addition to the buildings mentioned above, there was the sadar or court where the chief held his office, a small palace built by Yesaji Angre, and a building known as the karkunmandalivada for the use of court officers and clerks when they went on duty to the fort.

Except two temple ministrants or guravs and their families, no one lives on the island. A yearly fair, attended by few people, is held on the full moon of Caitra (April-May).

History: The first mention that has been traced of Kolaba Fort, is as one of the forts which were chosen by Sivaji for defence about the middle of the seventeenth century, when the whole of the Konkan, south of Kalyan came into his hands. In 1662 Sivaji rebuilt and strengthened Kolaba and made the harbour one of his chief naval stations. He gave the command of his fleet to Darya Sagar and Maynak Bhandari under whom Kolaba soon became a naval centre. To put a stop to the ravages of the Maratha fleet, the Portuguese sent an Ambassador to Sivaji who promised to refrain molesting their coasts and shipping, if he was supplied with guns and war stores. To this the Portuguese agreed, and, as might be expected, the demand for stores was frequently renewed [Grant Duff's Marathas, Vol. I, 158. In 1673 Khafi Khan mentions Kolaba and Gandiri newly built forts of Shivaji. Elliot and Dowson, VII, 290, 355.].

In 1690, Kanhoji Angre was appointed second in command of Rajaram's fleet, and in 1698 succeeded to the command on the death of the admiral, Sidoji Gujar. Kanhoji Angre soon showed himself a most daring and enterprising leader. Vessels of all nations were attacked, repeated descents were made along the coast, and few defenceless towns from Bombay to Travancore escaped visit. As was in the time of Sivaji, Kolaba continued the principal rendezvous of the Maratha fleet. In 1713, under the treaty with Pesava Balaji Visvanath, Kolaba with several other forts, was given to Angre. [Grant Duff's Marathas, Vol. I, 327.] In 1722 the English in Bombay incensed at Angre's piracies and effrontery, joined the Portuguese in an expedition against Kolaba. A Portuguese land force and three English ships of the line under Commodore Mathews co-operated; but this attempt failed owing to the cowardice of the Portuguese. [Grant Duff's Marathas, Vol. I, 385.] About this time Kolaba is described by Hamilton as a fort built on rock, a little away from the main land and at high water an island. [Hamilton's New Account, I, 243.] Kanhoji died on July 4, 1729.[Dhabu, Kolabkar Angre Sarkhel, 48.]

Of the two legitimate sons who succeeded, the elder Sekhoji remained at Kolaba. Sekhoji died in 1733 after his father, and his younger brother Sambhaji, keeping the eldest of his three half-brothers with him at Gheria in Ratnagiri, appointed the other two, Yesaji and Manaji to the charge of Kolaba. Yesaji the elder brother had civil control, while Manaji commanded the army and navy. Before long Manaji quarrelled with his family, and, with the help of the Portuguese to whom he promised land near Revdanda, escaladed Kolaba and carried it sword in hand.

He confined Yesaji first at Poyanad and then at Alibag. [From Alibag Yesaji escaped to the Peshwa, who decided that he had no claim to Kolaba, and on his engaging not again to break the peace, settled ten khandni of grain and Rs. 400 a month as allowance on him and sent him to Revdanda. Bom. Gov. Rec. Dep. 1840, 1107-21.] As soon as the Portuguese retired, Sambhaji attacked Kolaba, but with the help of the Pesava Bajirav, Manaji forced Sambhaji to raise the siege. [Grant Duff, Vol. I, 386.] In 1737, as Manaji had failed to give them districts he had promised, the Portuguese joined Sambhaji against him. Manaji turned to the Pesava, who agreed to help him on condition of his paying a yearly sum of Rs. 7,000, and presenting the Raja of Satara with European and Chinese articles, worth about Rs. 3,000.[Grant Duff, Vol. I, 395.]

With the Pesava's help Manaji succeeded in repelling the Portuguese attack. Three years later, in 1740, Sambhaji, taking advantage of the absence of a large body of the Pesava's troops near-about laid siege to Kolaba and cut off the garrison's supply of fresh water. Manaji applied to Balaji Bajirav, the Pesava's son then on his first active service, who sent 500 men to support the garrison and, under orders from Cimaji Appa, repaired to Kolaba in person and applied for help to the Governor of Bombay.

Balaji, or Nana Saheb, as he was called, reached Kolaba on the fifth day's march, and distinguished himself by attacking party stationed under the protection of Hirakot and driving them into Sambhaji's camp, killing twenty-five or thirty men and taking prisoner Tulaji, the half-brother of Sambhaji. Meanwhile the English, who reached Kolaba before Nana Saheb, forced Sambhaji's fleet to run to Suvarnadurg and compelled him to move his camp from the sea side, to throw up an entrenchment to protect his people, and finally to retire to Suvarnadurg.

No further steps were taken, as Manaji, finding that the Pesava's officers were scheming to take Kolaba patched up a truce with Sambhaji, and the designs of the Pesava's officers were stopped by the news of Bajirav's death. Shortly after, in 1747, the Sidi of Janjira sent a strong force against Kolaba, but with the Pesava's,, help the Musalmans were completely defeated between Thal and Nagam a few miles north of Alibag. On Manaji's death in 1758 he was succeeded by Raghuji the first Angre of that name, the eldest of Manaji's ten illegitimate sons. Mr. Forbes, who visited Kolaba in 1771, found Raghuji living in the island fort of Kolaba though his palace, treasury, stables, and gardens were on the main-land in Alibag [Oriental Memoirs, I, 224.]. Raghuji paid the Pesava a yearly tribute of Rs. 2,00,000 and held his lands on military tenure. Alibag at the time was pleasant and well cultivated. In 1775 Alibag is mentioned as Cole Arbor. [Parson's Travels, 244.] In 1776 the pretender of Sadashivrav Bhau, after his defeat by Sinde's troops, instead of landing at Bombay as intended, repaired to Kolaba. On his arrival he was seized and confined by Raghuji Angre, to whom the then Bombay Government made unsuccessful application for his release. From Alibag Angre sent him to Poona, where he was trampled to death by an elephant. [Grant Duff's Marathas, Vol. II, 62.] Raghuji died in 1793. In the family quarrels which followed his death, Anandlbai the mother of the infant Angre gathered a band of troops, besieged the Kolaba fort, imprisoned Jayasing, and executed his chief advisers. After four months Jayasing escaped, and, collecting some followers, besieged Hirakot in Alibag. Anandlbai led an army against the besiegers, and in a bloody and hard-fought battle defeated Jayasing with much loss. After Anandibai's death Jayasing marched on Alibag and took Hirakot. Hearing that the Pesava had promised to help Manaji, Jayasing applied for aid to Baburav, Sinde's commander-in-chief who was his relation. Baburav agreed to help, but soon after reaching Alibag, he picked a quarrel with Jayasing and took Hirakot by treachery. Jayasing's eldest son escaped to Bombay, and, in 1807, collecting a force of 2,000 men, placed it under the command of one Bacaji Set, a goldsmith of Revdanda, who succeeded in taking Hirakot. But Baburav, with the help of the Pesava and the English and by bribing Bacaji's officers, captured him and his leading supporters. In 1817 order was established under the British. No further mention of Kolaba occurs till it lapsed to the British in 1840, on the death of Kanhoji II without legitimate heirs.

Population.

The population of the town according to the, census of 1951 was 8,181. Of this, the agricultural classes numbered 645 and the non-agricultural 7,536. Of the latter, 1,345 persons derived their principal means of livelihood from production other than cultivation; 918 persons from commerce; 648 persons from transport and 4,625 persons from other services and miscellaneous sources.

Municipality.

Alibag town has an area of 0.7 square mile where municipality was established in the year 1864. It is now governed under the Bombay District Municipal Act, III of 1901. The municipal council comprises 15 members. One seat each is reserved for women and the Scheduled Castes. The municipal affairs are looked after by various committees, viz., (1) Managing Committee, (2) Sanitary Committee, (3) Roads Committee, (4) Market Committee, (5) Schools Committee, and (6) Octroi Committee. The municipal organisation comprises the following departments: -

(1) General Administration Department,

(2) Sanitary Department,

(3) Public Works Department, and

(4) Lamp Lighters Department.

The following schedule shows the item-wise income of the Alibag municipality during the year 1958-59:-

The following schedule shows the item-wise expenditure of Alibag municipality during 1958-59: -

The Vesvi Tank, one and a half miles away from the town forms the source of water-supply for Alibag town.

There are Kuccha gutters through which waste water and sullage water is carried away.

Compulsory primary education in the town is managed by the Zilla Parishad. The municipality pays an annual contribution of Rs. 13,480 to the Board.

There is a Civil Hospital in the town managed by Government. The veterinary dispensary in the town is managed by the Animal Husbandry Department.

The municipality maintains a vegetable market.

The total length of roads in the municipal areas is six miles and six furlongs, all metalled.

The municipality gives a yearly contribution to the Sarvajanik Vachanalaya, Alibag.

The cremation and burial places are managed by the respective communities.

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