PLACES OF INTEREST

KHAREPATAN

Kharepatan (Kankavli Peta; 16° 30' N, 73° 35' E; p. 3400), is situated 25 miles up the Vijaydurg river. Owing to the silting of the river for some miles below it, Kharepatan has lost much of its value as a port. It has little trade and its site is hot and confined. Being an old Musalman town, it has many Muslim tombs and ruins of mosques. A fine level space lying above a long reach of the river is evidence of the existence once of a large town. The nearest railway station is Kolhapur, 80 miles to the north-east.

Trade.

The trade of Kharepatan is chiefly in fish and salt. It has direct communication with the Deccan by the Phonda. Ghat and is on the main line of road from Ratnagiri to Vengurle. A weekly bazar is held on every Tuesday and is attended during the fair season by about 1,000 persons and during the rainy months by from 200 to 300 persons.

Management.

From the beginning of British rule until 1868, the town was the head-quarters of a petty division under a mahalkari. In 1868, it became the head-quarters of the Devgad sub-division. In 1875, Kharepatan was abandoned, and the mamlatdar's and sub-ordinate judge's offices were moved to Devgad. Now, it is only a village in Kankavli peta.

History.

At the beginning of the sixteenth century (1514), Barbosa mentions Kharepatan, Arapatni, as a small place where Malabar vessels took on board, cheap rice and vegetables. [Stanley's Barbosa, 73, 74.] In the course of the same century, it is mentioned as place of trade and a resort of pirates. [De Coutto, VIII. 569, IX. 109.] In 1571, it was burnt by the Portuguese. [Briggs' Ferishta, IV. 540.] In the seventeenth century Kharepatan is more than once mentioned as the best port on the Konkan coast. But these references belong to Vijaydurg rather than to Kharepatan. In 1713, it was made over to Kanhoji Angre, held by him till his defeat by the Peshva, in 1756, and finally ceded to the British in 1818.

In 1819, it was described as one of the most suitable places for trade in the district. The largest boat could work up. to it, and it was only about fifteen miles from the Bavda Ghat. Still its trade was small. The exports were valued at Rs. 90,700 and the imports, chiefly of salt, at Rs. 1,61,000. [Gov. Res., 13th May 1819, in Bom. Rev. Diaries, 141 of 1819, 2310.]

Fort.

On a small hill overlooking the Kharepatan village is a fort about an acre in area. The walls and bastions were taken down in 1850, and used to make the, Vaghotan landing place. [Gov. List of Civil Forts, 1862.] The sites of twelve or thirteen mosques are shown, and the remains of one, the Jama mosque, prove it to have been a building of large size. Outside of the present village is a very large brick reservoir, ruinous and nearly dry, with an inscription stating that it was built by a Brahman in 1659. Near the middle of the present village is a half-buried stone believed to have been the boundary between the Hindu and the Musalman quarters. Among many tombs on the hill side, a few not otherwise distinguishable, lying east and west, are said to cover the graves of Jews. And in the middle of the present village there is a colony of Karnatak Jains and a Jain temple said to be the only one in south Konkan. In the temple is a small black marble idol that was found in the bed of the river. [Nairne in Ind. Ant. II. 321. In Burgess' List, it is stated that copperplates were found here. Ind. Ant. II, 321.]

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