PLACES OF INTEREST

KELSHI

Kelshi (Dapoli T.; 17° 55' N, 73° 00' E; p. 3212), a minor port, is at the mouth of the Kelshi river south-east of Bankot. [Taylor's Sailing Directory, 386.]

The volume of traffic that passed through the port in 1955-56 amounted to 457 tons of imports and 77 tons of exports.

The nearest railway station is Karad, 116 miles to the south-east.

Kelshi does not seem ever to have been a place of consequence. Dom Joao de Castro (1538), mentions it as a town with a mosque and Moors. [Primeiro Roterio da Costa da India, 152.] De La Valle (1624), anchored here, but for fear of the Malabars, did not go on shore. [De La Valle, III, 136. The Malabar pirates who, from their practice of lying in wait behind it, have given its name to Malabar Point in Bombay.] Ogilby (1670) mentions it as a town and river. [Atlas, V. 244; Dom Joao de Castro was probably Ogilby's authority as they both call the place Quelecim. See Prim. Rot. da Costa da India, 39.] In 1819, it was a place of little trade with a few Vanjaris and a small export of grain. [Collector to Gov., 15th July 1819, Bom. Rev. Diaries, 142 of 1819, 2573.] The village of well-built houses is thickly peopled and densely shaded by cocoa palms. The climate is considered unhealthy, the water supply from garden wells being scanty and sullied by sub-soil drainage. The river is for a few miles navigable for small boats, and the hills on the north bank are well-covered with trees. There are two temples one to the Goddess Durga, the other to the God Shri Ramji. A yearly fair held in Chaitra (April-May) is attended by about 25,000 people.

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