PLACES

Satara.

Description.

Satara, (Satara T; 17° 40' N, 73° 50' E; RS Satara Road 10 m. p. 4,103) so called from the seventeen or Satara walls, towers and gates which the Satara fort was supposed to possess, is the headquarters of the Satara district. With a height of 2,320 feet above sea level Satara is about sixty miles from the coast, sixty-nine miles south of Poona and seventy-six miles north of Kolhapur. Satara town is bounded on the north by the Poona-Satara road, on the west by the Yavteshvar hill, on the south by the fort, and on the east by an offshoot of the fort hill. Its greatest length from east to west is about two miles and from north to south about one and a half miles. Seen from a distance of nearly three miles on the new Poona-Satara road, the town is situated at the base of the fort, and in a semicircular recess on the south-western border of the valley formed by the fort and the Yavteshver hill. It is built on the slope below a range of hills which form the end of a spur running down from the Sahyadris near the hill station of Mahabalesvar which is twenty-nine miles to the north-west. This high situation has given a great advantage in health since all drainage goes to the Yenna on the north by means of many small brooks rising from the hills on its three sides. The tableland, which stretches along the summit of the Sahyadri hills as far as Mahabalesvar, varies very much in width; at Satara it ends in a rock the highest peak of which is about 1,500 feet above the town. Close under the peak is the small but sacred temple of Yavteshvar. From the peak the range slopes rapidly down to the south-west corner of the town where it has been tunnelled to form a roadway.

In the vicinity of the tunnel, hydro-electric generation is made from the flow of water coming from the Kas Tank of the Satara City Municipality. The generation is made by a private company. Continuing its course to the south-east it rises again 900 feet above the plain and forms the steep flat-topped hill known as Manglai Devi or the Satara fort. This dominates the south of the town. A bold spur jutting northward from Yavteshvar and a small shoulder projecting similarly from the fort form partial enclosures on the east, west and south. The best view of the town and neighbourhood is from the fort. Immediately below, the town is seen well wooded and partly sheltered on the north-west by a spur of the Yavteshwar range and completely so on the west and south by the connecting saddle-backed ridge and the fort which stands in a dilapidated condition. The different spurs running from the Sahyadris in a south-easterly direction stand out like giant buttresses enclosing between them rich valleys along the centre of which rivers, fed by the springs along the high land and by the rain falling on the neighbouring hills, run a rapid course and are discharged into the Krshna. On the north-east, at a distance of about twelve or fifteen miles, is a spur of the Mahadev range of hills among which the hill forts of Chandan Vandan (3841) and Nandgiri (3537) stand out conspicuously; whilst the huge hill of Jaranda, sacred to God Hanuman, is seen raising its vast crest, about seven miles to the east of the town.

A visitor from Poona will probably enter the municipal limits by the village of Karanja. He may note just west of that village, north of the road, the small pillar which marks the site of Aurangzeb's encampment and victory in 1700. Passing the race course on the right, and leaving the main road a mile further on, he will continue his course to the travellers' bungalow. Thence meeting the old Poona road he will start due south up the hill, till he again joins the main road at the post office, passing the treasury and head-quarter offices on his right. From the post office he will have choice of two roads for entering the town. Taking the lower which runs due west he will pass between the jail on the left and the Police headquarters on the right. A quarter of a mile further are the livestock and grain markets in an open space on the left and the vegetable and meat markets on the right. The street here turns southwest and meets the main thoroughfare of the city in the Bhavani Peth. Turning again west, of the sixty yards passing between the Central office of the Rayat Shikshan Sanstha and the chief constable's office, he will find himself in a square. The western side is lined with the old and new palaces of the Rajas Pratapsinh and Appa Saheb, now the Pratapsinh High School and District Judge's Court. In front of the High School the statue of Pratapsinh Maharaj has been erected at a cost of Rs. 12,000 on the occasion of the 1857 centenary celebrations to commemorate the part played by him in the upsurge. Its south-west corner contained the stables of the Raja, and the north-west, the road leading to the Jalmandir or water pavilion. The water pavilion was built by Pratapsinh in 1824-25. It then passed on to the British and was given by them to the Municipal committee for its office in 1876. Having seen these he will return to the square, and taking the road past the south wall of the High School, will pass Shupakar's Tank, and continuing west out of the city to the storage reservoirs. Returning again to the square and driving east he will go by the main thoroughfare past the Civil Hospital, and the principal mosque of Amina Naikin, the Rotary Garden and the new Datta Mandir and meet the upper road which started from the post office junction. Turning up this to the right he will pass successively the Rangmahal or private palace of the Rajas, the old Adalat vada or public offices on the left and the Sachiv's and Daphle's mansions on the right. Passing this road, and keeping to the left, he will reach the tunnel by driving through which a fine view is obtained of Parali and the Urmodi valley. In this manner most of the objects of interest will have been passed. The southern part of the town is most of it on a slope, some of it rather steep being the lower declivities of the fort hill. The centre of the town is fairly level and remarkably well wooded, but a good deal cut up by the streamlets which run through it. The chief stream is the Krshneshvar which runs from Yavteshvar. The main street is a broad thoroughfare while the lower road is also wide. But the buildings in both are of small pretensions and there is little either picturesque or attractive in the streets, apart from the people and shops which impart plenty of life and variety. The square containing the old and new palaces is fairly large and the effect of the large buildings on its west is not unimposing though it is disfigured by the mean buildings on the eastern side. Altogether, the town, though pleasing when viewed from the fort and beautifully situated, hardly gains on acquaintance with the interior.

Climate.

The climate of Satara is one of the best in Western India. The hot season generally sets in about the beginning of March. Its beginning is sometime sudden and well marked, but more frequently gradual; and the heat of the weather increases pretty steadily during the month. The indoor thermometer reaches considerable elevation at an early period of the day not beginning to decline until eight in the evening. In ordinary years the heat reaches its maximum in April. In the early part of May the temperature somewhat declines; and after the middle of the month, westerly winds become more prevalent, and the air is cooled by the clouds which then begin to form on the neighbouring mountains. Throughout the hot season the early mornings are calm and serene and the air is cool and pleasant until about seven. After eight in the morning the heat rapidly increases. The early part of the day is generally still, or there is a light air veering from east to north. The exceptions to this generally occur in March, particularly about the period of the equinox (21st March), at which time a high hot land wind occasionally blows throughout the day. Soon after midday a strong westerly breeze sets in with a sudden gust, and continues to blow during the remainder of the day. This constitutes the hot wind of this part of the Deccan. It begins during March, between twelve and two at noon, and generally by midday in April and the first half of May, after which it is usually the prevailing wind throughout the twenty-four hours. It blows with considerable strength and is hot, dry, and disagreeable until sunset, when it becomes milder and less gusty, and towards dusk it gradually gets soft, cool and refreshing. When it does not set in, till after two, it generally, continues warm and unpleasant until late in the evening. In the early part of May it rarely retains its warmth beyond five in the evening, after which hour it is comparatively pleasant, and in the latter half of the month it gains a pleasant degree of wetness and an invigorating freshness, in its passages through the mists, fogs and clouds which at that time gather on the summits of the Sahyadris. In the early part of the season the westerly wind usually blows till eight or nine in the evening when it shifts to the northward, and is occasionally followed by a closed night; but during April and May the sea breeze generally blows with greater or less strength until morning and thereby ensures cool nights. April is both thermometrically and to the feelings the hottest month, March is thermometrically the coolest, but the climate of May is more pleasant to the feelings than either of the other two months. Two or three heavy thunder-showers from the eastward generally fall towards the end of May and occasionally one or two showers in April. Though always preceded by a close atmosphere these showers are generally followed by a considerable abatement of the hot winds. The heat of Satara then is neither immoderate nor protracted. It is rarely very oppressive to the feelings, nor does the climate in the hot season prove so relaxing or exhausting to the system as might be expected from its abstract temperature. This arises partly from the dryness of the atmosphere, but chiefly from its rarefaction and from the regularity and strength of the sea breezes. In a substantially thatched house, with the doors shut and the windows closed and screened between the hours of from seven to nine in the morning and five in the evening, the temperature in the hottest month of season usually ranges between 24° C and 29° C. Tattis are neither absolutely necessary nor do they do much good. A single tatti put up in the afternoon is useful as a means of renewing the inner air, rather than of cooling the apartment, its effect being to elevate rather than to depress the thermometer, in consequence probably of the wind blowing at that time from the seaward. In the outer air the wind is felt to be unpleasantly hot, but the reflected heat is by no means so great as might be expected, or as it is found to be in less elevated and more inland parts of the State. The parched and brown appearance of the surrounding country is agreeably relieved by the fresh foliage of the surrounding trees.

During the first half of June a gradual change is felt from dry and unpleasant heat of the hot season to the soft and refreshing temperature of the monsoon. On some days there is a genial softness of the air with westerly breezes; on others, and these perhaps the most numerous, the atmosphere is close and hot in the early part of the day; soon after noon clouds begin to form on the eastern horizon, and the day closes in with a heavy thunder-shower from the same quarters. These thunder-showers vary much both in frequency and severity in different years. The date at which the south-west monsoon sets in, varies in different years but it generally begins between the tenth and twentieth of June. For one or two days the characteristic initiatory monsoon clouds are observed to cap the summits of the surrounding hills accompanied by a delicious freshness of the air, and at length the monsoon begins usually during the day, either with dense drizzling showers or with steady heavy rain continued for an entire day. The climate now gains the coolness characteristic of the Deccan monsoon; vegetation, which had partially sprung up under the influence of the preceding thunder-showers, now increases with astonishing rapidity, and in a few days the fields and surrounding hills assume the freshness and verdure of a northern spring. The weather throughout the remainder of June, and during the month of July and greater part of August, presents the same general character, modified to a certain extent by the relative quantity of rain. For about a fortnight in July the rain falls heavily. But during the rest of the monsoon there are two or three heavy falls of a week or ten days each. The weather during these falls gets chilly and damp. The temperature is cool, equable, and very agreeable to the feelings, being alike removed from sultriness on the one hand and from unpleasant chilliness on the other; there is a pleasant alternation of dense dark gray sky with partial sunshine; a fresh breeze blows with scarcely any interruption from west-south-west and the rain chiefly falls in short though frequent showers, in the intervals of which exercise in the open air is very agreeable. The station is protected by the adjoining hills from the full violence of the rains and of the boisterous winds which prevail on the summits of these hills, and in a less degree on the narrow tract of country from their base to the sea-coast, while it is exempted from the scanty and uncertain falls and the frequent droughts of the inland country, only a few miles to the eastward. Although the occurrence of short and drizzling showers in the afternoon, which are generally most frequent in the scantiest monsoons, interferes with the evening exercise, no excessive dampness of the air is ever experienced indoors. Towards the end of August or beginning of September the showers become lighter, more partial, and of shorter duration; the air is sensibly drier and warmer but still pleasant, and the wind begins to shift at times to the northward of west, while clouds are again observed to rest on the tops of the higher hills, and occasionally in the morning to trail along their sides; and during the day elevated white fleecy clouds with large intervening patches of blue sky take the place of the darker and denser rain clouds of the previous months. During the latter half of the month (September) the air is at times close and sultry, but in general it is pleasantly moist and agreeable to the feelings. The winds are now light and variable, veering from north-west round by north to east. From the latter quarter proceed the thunder-showers that mark the close, as they usher in the beginning of the monsoon. Hailstorms too are occasionally experienced at this time.

The climate of the four monsoon months, which, but for the opportune fall of the periodical rains would prove the hottest part of the year, is in this part of the Deccan more agreeable than that of the cold season. The temperature in a house during three months of this period ranges generally from 22° C to 24 °C; the atmospheric moisture is moderate, and exercise in the open air during the day may be indulged in with pleasure and greater impunity than during the months of the cold season. The rainfall at the civil hospital situated in the town usually exceeds that in the station situated a mile north-east by 15.24 to 20.32 cms. The month of October connects the rainy and cold seasons. During the first part of the month the sky is usually chequered with clouds; there are occasional short heavy showers, with or without thunder, from the eastward; the winds are light and changing, and the air is soft and occasionally close, though by no means unpleasantly warm. The atmosphere is without the bracing freshness so characteristic of the mountain air at this time; but, on the other hand, it does not partake of the oppressiveness which is felt on the coast. But when there is a deficiency of the late rains, a hot dry easterly wind sometimes prevails, succeeded by close nights. In the latter part of the month the sky is clear, and the air becomes dry and warm at midday. In the evening there is generally a light westerly wind and a heavy dew at night. The cold season, usually begins in the first week of November, after which, and during the two following months, the climate maintains a tolerably uniform and steady character. The mornings are still and cool, and frequently cold; and during November, but rarely afterwards, a smoky fog generally rests over the beds of the Yenna and the Krshna rivers until seven or eight. In the early part of the day, an easterly or north-easterly wind springs up, and blows with varying degrees of strength, but in general very moderately, until three or four in the afternoon, when it either subsides into a light easterly air, or draws to the southward, and is succeeded by a still night. In clear weather, during the early part of the season, there is a pretty copious deposit of dew. Towards the end of January the wind begins to draw westward in the evening, and in February the sea breeze generally sets in with great regularity between eleven and one and blows through the rest of the day, rendering the climate more agreeable than in the colder and drier months that precede it. Such is the prevailing character of the weather of the cold season. But there are frequent intervals of cloudy weather, which last for a week or ten days. The coldest weather is always experienced when the sky is perfectly clear, and the wind is either due east, or one or two points to the northward of east. A few showers of rain generally fall in the course of the cold months, but they are less frequent and less heavy at this station than in the district to the east. They occur most frequently in November, though occasionally at other times. A plentiful fall of the late autumnal rain is not less beneficial to the climate than it is to the crops of the cold season, and tends more particularly to temper the dryness and freshness of the east winds. The mean temperature in the four winter months, excluding October, usually averages from 20°c to 24°c, but though this is the coolest period of the year, the weather is not so pleasant as the monsoon climate. The air is often unpleasantly dry, particularly when the wind blows uninterruptedly from the east for several days in succession, without drawing round to the southward or westward. In the cold season the temperature sometimes varies as much as 22°c in twenty-four hours.

Soil.

The hills in the neighbourhood are composed of trap, capped in some places, as at Yavteshvar, with laterite. At Satara the soil varies in depth from two or three feet to perhaps fifteen or twenty and consists of soft, spongy, easily friable murum overlying the hard trap-rock.

Drainage.

Its situation on a hill-slope gives Satara excellent natural facilities for drainage. The slope is generally from south-west to north-east and the storm water is carried off from the west by the large Krshneshvar streamlet which rises in the hills beyond the Mahardara springs in the curve formed by the Yavteshvar range, whilst that from the steep precipitous sides on the north of the fort is conveyed by six streamlets which flow through the town and, like the Krshneshvar, eventually discharge themselves into the Yenna. All these streams dry up after the rainy season is over.

Divisions.

Satara was first formally divided into seven divisions which are supposed to date from the reign of Shahu I (1682-1749), who is reputed to have done much for the improvement of the town. The names were Ravivar or Aditvar, Somvar, Mangalvar, Budhvar, Guruvar, Sukravar, and Sanivar, after the days of the week. There was also an independent division known as the Maci close under the fort [Machi is the common name for hamlets attached to forts.]. The village of Karanja on the north and the suburb of Raghunathpura at its south-west corner; the quarter called Basappa's Peth between Karanja and the town, the village of Godoli three quarters of a mile east and the Sadar Bazar within the station from the Satara suburban municipality. The western and southern divisions, that is the Maci and the Mangalvar and Sukravar peths, are the oldest parts of the town proper, and probably all that existed up to the time when (1660) Shivaji, the Great, took up his residence in Satara and made it the seat of government. Each of the above divisions, though of unequal size, was compact and had tolerably regular boundaries. But they contained blocks or sub-divisions with distinct names. These blocks have since become separate divisions, and when such is the case the old names cling only to the remainder of the original divisions from which these blocks were formed. Hence the irregular shape and size of the present divisions of the town, which number twenty-three and together measure 725 acres.

Various sub-divisions of the Peths which have now become separate divisions to form 23 divisions or Peths are as follows:-

(1) Ravivar Peth: Pantaca Got, Malhar Peth, Durga Peth, Kesarkar Peth, Rajaspura Peth.

(2) Budhvar Peth: Pratapganj Peth, Sadasiv Peth.

(3) Somvar Peth: Yadogopal Peth.

(4) Sukravar Peth: Bhavani (Gosavipura) Peth.

(5) Mangalvar Peth: Vyankatpura, Cimanapura (Dhavalpura), Ramaca Got.

(6) Guruvar Peth: Basappa Peth (Nakaspura).

(7) Sanivar Peth.

(8) Karanje Peth

(9) Raghunathpura Peth.

(10) Maci Peth.

Of the eight original divisions or Peths, Ravivar Peth was the most easterly and was almost square running through the whole length of the town. Next on its western side come a narrow strip, the Guruvar, then another narrow strip divided into two parts, that is the Budhvar or northern and the Sanivar or southern. West of the Budhvar division lay the Sukravar division of irregular shape and west of the Sanivar the Somvar division, another strip, and beyond it again, the Mangalvar division of irregular shape. To the south of the Mangalvar, Somvar, and Sanivar divisions was the Maci.

The old Ravivar division contains the following blocks: In the north centre Pantaca Got or Pant's shed, so called because it contained the residence of the Pant Pratinidhi. It has an area of ten acres. In the north-west the Malhar Peth has an area of ten acres. It was named after a faithful servant of Tarabai named Malhar who looked after Ramraja. In the centre are Rajaspura and Durga Peth. Rajaspura has an area of sixteen acres. Durga Peth has an area of two acres. The south-west corner is named Kesarkar Peth and includes parts of the fort slopes. It has an area of twenty-seven acres. The area was named after Shahu's teacher Jotyaji Kesarkar. There remains the present Ravivar division with an area of sixty-one acres. It has a large rest-house adjoining the Poona-Kolhapur road. The Rayat Shikshan Samstha's buildings are located at the foot of the hill.

The Guruvar Peth has an area of twenty-seven acres.

The Sanivar Peth contains no separate blocks. It is the largest of all the divisions. The American Mission's Friendship Hall is located in the area.

The Budhvar Peth contains two blocks. The Pratapganj on the north-west, called after Raja Pratapsinh (1818-1839) has an area of twelve acres. Sadasiv Peth on the south has an area of ten acres. It contains the meat and vegetable markets. There remains the Budhvar Peth with an area of thirty-four acres. It has rest-house built by the municipality in 1874 at a cost of Rs. 1,220 and a Government Agricultural School.

The Somvar Peth contains the Yado Gopal block, a narrow strip cut off from its south-west corner. It has an area of forty-seven acres and has a municipal primary school. The remainder or present Somvar Peth has an area of twenty-six acres. It has a big water tank divided in five parts and thus called as Panchpala tank. Also located are the New English High-School of the Deccan Education Society, the municipal maternity home and one municipal rest-house built in 1858.

The Sukravar Peth contained a block at its south-east corner, the present Bhavani Peth which contains the old and new palaces and principal square of the city. It has an area of thirty-four acres. It has two reservoirs, two public gardens, a public hall, a veterinary dispensary, a library and the Union Club and the Western India Insurance Building. This is the busiest of all the Peths and contains the District and Subordinate Judges' courts, head-quarter offices of the Assistant and Deputy Collectors and Magistrates, the principal shops and banks of the town. The present Sukravar Peth has an area of 132 acres. This division contains the Jalmandir or water-pavilion, the Aryangla Mahavidyalaya, the Arkshala and Koteshvar temple.

The western and large half of the old Mangalvar Peth contained the following blocks, now separate divisions, Vyankatpura, including a small block called Dhavalpura has an area of twenty-six acres. South of Vyankatpura lies Cimanpura with an area of sixty-five acres. East of Cimanpura lies Ramacha Got with an area of forty-two acres. It has two water tanks in front of the Lakshminarayan temple. There remains the present Mangalvar Division with an area of eighty-six acres. It has two large ponds, a primary school of the Rayat Shikshan Samstha, a municipal rest house, two temples and a municipal open air theatre viz. Shri Shahu Kala Mandir.

The Maci Peth contains no separate blocks. It has an area of twenty-seven acres, and has the Rangmahal, adalat, the tunnel, a temple, a mosque and a math.

Bassappa's Peth is a detached sub-division about two hundred yards north of the Guruvar Peth. It has an area of two acres and was named after Shahu's faithful store-keeper.

Raghunathpura the south-west corner of Karanja has an area of eleven acres.

Karanja Village, has an area of about half a square mile. It is the site of Aurangzeb's camp when he besieged Satara fort in 1700.

The Sadar Bazar, which belongs to' the station but is under the municipality, has an area of twenty-eight acres. There are four private rest-houses and four schools three of them private and one Mission.

Roads.

A large portion of the town was originally laid out by the late Major-General Briggs a former Resident at the court of the late Raja, and broad roads running from south to north and east to west were constructed as the principal thoroughfares. Twenty-eight miles and two furlongs of made roads are kept out of municipal funds.

The principal outlets from the town are, one at the post office where a large rest-house is situated on the Poona Bangalore road, and whence branch roads, to Pandharpur by Mahuli and Koreganv, to Tasganv by Rahimatpur the old Poona. road, another by the tunnel at the southwest angle of the town which communicates with Parali fort and by a cross road with the Bangalore road further south; and a third by the road running north from the Bhavani Peth which joins the new Poona and Mahabalesvar roads about a mile from the town. From the post office a large street runs west to the Bhavani Peth and another along the south of the town to the tunnel has not much traffic. From this another street branches west to tike Bhavani Peth. This is the broadest street in the town and contains the principal shops. There are two principal streets running from south to north, the one from the Adalat Vada to Moti Cauk and so on through the length of the town, the other from the tunnel turning to the Bhavani Peth. From the Bhavani Peth also branch two main streets, the one northwards to the Poona road and the other west-wards through the Mangalvar and Vyankatpura divisions.

Tunnel.

The tunnel is cut through the base of an offshoot of the hill to the south of the town for securing communication with the roads leading to Karad in the south-east and to the fort of Parali in the south-west, the burial place of Ramdas Svami. It was dug in 1855, soon after the death of the last Raja of Satara, under the direction of Captain P. L. Hart. A tablet built at the entrance shows that the tunnel was completed in 1855 at a cost of Rs. 29,000.

Houses.

The better class of houses are, as a general rule, built upon a plinth of well chiselled cut-stones with a superstructure of burnt bricks and roofed with good seasoned wood sometimes with an upper storey. The outer walls of the principal houses of this class are strongly built with a gateway leading into an open court-yard with a verandah running all round the main building. The rooms and upper storeys have generally windows facing the courtyard. The roofs of the houses are invariably covered with the flat brick tiles made in the town. The front storeys have in some cases balconies facing the roads which add to the appearance of the building.

The houses of the poorer sort have generally a coarse rubble plinth and are built with sun-dried bricks, the walls being in many cases plastered with mud. They have only groundfloor, and when they have an upper storey or loft it is generally set apart as a lumber room. They have the doors generally opening into the streets, and in some instances a row of small windows. The ventilation of these houses is very defective as it is only from the low doorway opening into the street by which air finds admittance into the house in the daytime, while during the night the door being closed, ventilation is obstructed. All these buildings are also covered with tiles. The internal arrangement of these houses is generally regulated according to the social position, means, and the religious prejudices of the owners. Houses of the better sort, belonging to well-to-do contain generally a separate god-room, cook-room, sleeping room, store-room, and a hall, the hall being generally more spacious and open to light than the other apartments. The rooms for the female members of the family and bathing rooms are also provided for in the rear of the building. Privies, cattle-sheds and stables are detached from the main building. Poor houses cannot afford such conveniences, but when the owner of such a house happens to be a Brahman these objects are attained by the use of reed or bamboo partition walls plastered with mud. If, however, the house is sufficiently large, mud-walls are built to form the requisite number of rooms for accommodation. Some of the newly built houses have been provided with means of ventilation and the old practice of carving the figures of animals of any mythological characters on the wood work of the building has died out. Except the figures of such mythological characters as are considered both devotional and virtuous, coloured paintings on the walls are replaced by yellow, blue and pink paints.

The houses of Muhammedans have the halls and the female apartments more spacious and well ventilated, the rest of the internal arrangements of the buildings being the same as observed in Hindu houses. The Parsees, who form but a very small portion of the community have their houses built entirely after European fashion.

Management.

Satara is throughout the year the seat of the Judge and Civil Surgeon, and of the Collector, the Assistant and Deputy Collectors, the Police Superintendent, District Forest Officer and District Engineers for irrigation and public works. It is also the headquarters of the District Agricultural Officer, Assistant Registrar Co-operative Department, Marketing Inspector, Sales Tax and Income Tax Officers, Excise Superintendent, District Statistical Officer, Chief Revenue and Police Offices of the Satara taluka. There are also located in the city municipality, a church, a jail, a court-house, a civil hospital, a high school, a civil jail, post, telegraph and telephone offices, the offices of the staff officer, a travellers' bungalow, and fort.

Population.

The population of the town according to 1951 Census was 38,521. Of this the agricultural classes numbered 2,672 and the non-agricultural classes 25,849. Of the latter, 6,768 persons derived their principal means of livelihood from production other than cultivation; 8,348 persons from commerce; 1,340 persons from transport; and 19,393 persons from other services and miscellaneous sources.

City Municipality.

Constitution.

At Satara a municipality was established on August 1, 1853 which was declared as town municipality in 1875 and which subsequently became city municipality in March, 1884. Satara City Borough Municipality covers an area of 1.3 sq. miles. It is now governed under the Bombay Municipal Boroughs Act, 1925. There were in 1957-58, 33 members in the municipal council. Three seats are reserved for women and three for scheduled castes, and the principle of rotation is followed. There are in all seven executive committees viz. (1) Standing Committee; (2) Public Works Committee; (3) Sanitary and Drainage Committee; (4) Water Works Committee; (5) Maternity Hospital Committee; (6) Finance Committee and (7) Law and General Reference Committee, each dealing with matters in the respective fields.

The income of the municipality for the year 1957-58 amounted to Rs. 6,32,987, from municipal rates and taxes Rs. 3,99,556; from municipal property and powers apart from taxes Rs. 68,103; from grants and contributions for general and special purposes Rs. 1,52,770 and from miscellaneous and other receipts Rs. 12,558. The total expenditure incurred for the same year excluding extraordinary and debt expenditure amounted to Rs. 8,84,286 comprising general administration and collection charges, Rs. 83,216; public safety, Rs. 23,394; public health, Rs. 4,51,490; public instruction, Rs. 23,394 and miscellaneous and other expenditure, Rs. 1,51,912.

The administrative organisation of the municipality is as follows:-

Administrative Organisation.

These departments carry out the following functions viz., to look after general administration; to recover all the taxes and fees under municipal rules and bye-laws; to recover octroi on the imported goods within the municipal limits as per rules; to keep the sanitation of the city in order and to take necessary measures in epidemics for general health of the citizens; to maintain municipal building's parks and roads in good order; to arrange for adequate water supply to the city and to provide for maternity patients respectively.

Medical Facilities.

There is no dispensary maintained by this municipality, except the Pujya Kasturba Maternity Hospital, Satara. The Civil Hospital Satara, located in Guruvar Peth is a Government Hospital. There is one veterinary dispensary named N. M. Wadia Veterinary Dispensary run by the District Local Board. The municipality pays an annual contribution on the basis of average animal patients treated in the area coming under the municipal limits. On an average the contribution comes to about Rs. 500 a year.

Drainage System.

The city surface water and all waste water is mostly carried our through the open drains on either side of the roads into ten nallas. The essentially sloping situation of the city is favourably suited to such surface drainage.

Nightsoil is removed from the town by motors. The filth is taken to the Genda Mal, an open space to the north, where it is stored in pits dug in the ground. Here are also removed and buried all dead animals.

Water Supply.

For the water supply of the city the Kas Tank was constructed by the municipality in 1886.

The water of about thirty springs issuing forth on the Yavteshvar hill was brought to the town by masonry channel built in Chhatrapati Shahu's times (1682-1749). The same scheme was improved upon by his successors. However, due to the uncertainty of rains the supply was not sufficient. The Kas Tank scheme was thus undertaken in 1881 and by 1886 the Kas Tank and the canal were built by the municipality at a cost of Rs. 3,69,164. The water from the Yavteshvar springs is also tapped along with the Kas water. Kas Tank lies on a hill at a distance of 13 miles to the west of the town. It is 3,670 feet above sea level and has a catchment area of 2.75 sq. miles. The dam is 714 feet long and 5½ high. The tank at its full capacity holds 7,37,37,000 sq. feet of water. Water is allowed to pass at 80 sq. feet per second through the sluice-gate. Then it is taken through the canal 15.25 miles long to the Yavteshvar Filter. Here the water of the Yavteshvar springs is collected and taken through pipes to the settling tank at Sambarvadi. After treating with alum the water is taken in pipes to the Power House at the foot of the hill. The tail water from the power house is chlorinated and taken through pipes to the town.

The Mahadare Tank was built by Chhatrapati Pratapsinh. It is 260 feet long, 257 broad and 29 and a half deep. The water of the tank is taken in pipes to Bhavani, Mangalvar, Chimanpura, Vyankatpura, Sadashiv, Pratapganj, Budhavar and Karanja divisions.

Besides these major water-supply schemes there are 57 public tanks, five tanks for animals and some wells in the town.

Education.

The primary education is managed by the City Municipality through its School Board. As regards primary education the municipality has been declared as an authorised municipality since 1925. It maintains 17 primary schools within its limits. The net expenditure incurred by the municipality during 1957-58 was Rs. 1,56,936 including Government grants on primary education. Total grants received during the same year amounted to Rs. 92,161. In the same year the total number of teachers was 125 and that of pupils 6,570.

Roads.

The total length of roads within the municipal area is 28.25 miles of which 2.37 miles are asphalted, 13.63 miles are metalled and 12.25 miles are unmetalled.

Names and the length of the main roads are as follows: -

The municipality maintains no special fire-fighting equipment except one fire-fighter-cum-water-sprinkler motor truck.

Other Amenities.

Both the cremation and burial places are outside the municipal limits. The cremation place is on the bank of the river Krshna at a distance of three miles from the city. There are two burial places at a distance of about one mile to the north of the city, one is reserved for Muhammedans and the other for non-Muhammedans. The municipality maintains a vegetable and fruit market where bazar is held twice a week.

Markets.

The municipal market in Sadasiv Peth has three distinct buildings for fruits and vegetables, meat and fish. In the vegetable market there are 72 built stalls, 20 tin sheds, six plinths where 114 sellers can sit and also some open space which is also rented by the municipality. The mutton market is a separate building with 25 stalls. The fish market has five stalls.

The fruit market in Bhavani Peth has 12 built stalls, nine tin sheds and a plinth to accommodate 15 sellers.

Besides, there are two open market places in the town. On every Sunday traders in grains gather in the open space in front of the Palace and on Thursdays grains and animals are brought for sale near 'Paraj' or jail.

The municipality has constructed one open air theatre ' Shri Shahu Kala Mandir' at a cost of about Rs. 3,200. It accommodates about 3,000 persons at a time. The theatre is well equipped with a green room and a make up room and all the stage equipment and furniture, curtains etc. It has been provided with electric lighting arrangements. It is made available to all at very moderate charges.

There are four municipal gardens in the city viz., the Pratapsinh Udyan and the Javahar Garden in Bhavani Peth, the Shahu Udyan in Guruvar peth and the Rotary Garden in the Durga Peth. The Pratapsinh Udyan is reserved for women and children while the other three are open to all. All of them are provided with benches and playing instruments for children.

The municipality also maintains a swimming pool.

The municipality does not maintain any library but it pays an annual grant of Rs. 100 to the local general library known as " Nagar Vachanalaya ".

There are two co-operative societies of the municipal employees, one is known as Udar Co-operative Credit Society and the other as Ekvichar Co-operative Society, limited.

Satara Suburban Municipality.

Satara Suburban Municipality with an area of four square miles was established in 1890 and is now governed under the Bombay District Municipal Act, 1901. The Municipal council is composed of 12 members. One seat is reserved for women and three seats for the Scheduled Castes. There are three committees viz., the Managing Committee, the Garden Committee and the Works Committee.

Constitution.

 The administrative organisation is composed of the Municipal Secretary as the head, and the Vasuli department and other departments for octroi, sanitation and dispensary.

Income and Expenditure.

The income of the municipality for the year 1958-59 excluding extraordinary and debt heads amounted to Rs. 69,748.20nPs, municipal rates and taxes being Rs. 55,254.77 nPs; realisations under special acts, Rs. 714.93 nPs; revenue derived from municipal property and powers apart from taxation, Rs. 3,500.27 nPs; grants and contributions, Rs. 4,441.74 nPs. and miscellaneous, Rs. 5,836.49 nPs. Expenditure incurred for the same year excluding extraordinary and debt heads amounted to Rs. 60,806.43 nPs; general administration and collection charges being Rs. 16,792.40 nPs; public safety, Rs. 84.00 nPs.; public health and convenience, Rs. 21,801.64 nPs.; public works Rs. 4,589.33 nPs; and miscellaneous Rs. 17,539.06 nPs.

Water Supply.

The Satara City Borough Municipality supplies tap-water to the suburban municipal area through the Government.

Drainage System.

At present there is no special drainage system for the town. Water flows through stone lined and kachha gutters. The municipality has formulated a scheme for the construction of new pucca gutters at a cost of Rs. 20,000.

Education.

Primary education is compulsory in the town and is managed by the District School Board. The municipality pays its contribution at the rate of 5 per cent on the rental value of the property.

Medical Facilities.

The municipality runs two dispensaries, one in Godoli and the other in Sadar Bazar. The municipality has a scheme for constructing a maternity ward which will cost Rs. 20,000.

Other Amenities

There is a mutton market, a beef market and two slaughter houses managed by the municipality.

For fire emergency, the municipality has one hand pump loaded on a water tank.

Within the municipal limits there are five miles of asphalted roads, three miles of metalled and two miles of unmetalled roads. A scheme costing Rs. 20,000 is chalked out by the municipality for the construction of new roads.

Cremation and burial places are managed by the respective communities. Muhammedans have their burial ground within camp area.

The municipality maintains two gardens. At present work is going on for setting up a children's park. For street lighting the municipality has mercury vapour lights at nine prominent places and 75 electric lamp posts.

Gardens.

Most of the vegetable and fruit gardens are to the north of the Budhvar Peth between Satara and Karanja and are worked by the Malis of Raghunathpura.

The station has a fair collection of roses and other plants at the recreation ground, while there is also a Government recreation ground supported partly by voluntary subscriptions.

Objects.

As explained above, most of the ancient town was under the fort walls. According to tradition Shivaji used to reside principally in the fort. He and his successors used the old Adalat Vada as a court for the transaction of business. The Peshvas afterwards kept it entirely to their own use. The Rang Mahal was used as a pleasure house and on the shoulder of the fort was the Ranis' pleasure house, principally used by them for witnessing the Dasara processions. Neither these nor any other of the old buildings seem to have been remarkable for elaborate carving or for architectural decorations. The rooms were low and the court-yards the reverse of spacious. Nothing of an imposing nature seems to have been attempted till Raja Pratapsinh built the old palace in 1824. Out of these, the Adalat Vada is still in sound condition being under regular maintenance and is used as residence by the Raja of Satara. Rang Mahal is in dilapidated condition and is not inhabited and of the Ranis pleasure house only the four walls now remain called Carbhinti. On the occasion of the centenary of the freedom movement of 1857 a cemented post measuring 27' high was erected at the centre of the Char bhinti in memory of the martyrs. The cost of construction was Rs. 3,500. At the base on one side is an image of the late Rani of Jhansi with a sword and a shield. On the other side is an image of Rango Bapuji the last statesman of the Marathas. Rango Bapuji Gupte fought for Chhatrapati Pratapsinh for thirteen years and actively participated in the 1857 freedom movement.

Adalat Vada.

The Adalat Vada is situated at the base of the fort walls not far from the post office junction on the road to the tunnel. Its plinth is about ten feet high on the outside and was so built in order to obtain a level basement as the slope of the hill is considerable. The gateway is plain; a flight of a dozen steps leads to the court which is as usual rectangular about 50 feet square surrounded by buildings, mostly inhabited only in the upper storeys, the lower being long verandahs opening on to the courts. Behind this is a solid block of buildings. The whole covers about 225 feet by 160. The civil courts were held in this building till the new palace was appropriated by Government in 1876. The Adalat Vada is the abode of the descendants of the Satara Rajas at present.

Rang Mahal.

The Rang Mahal, about 220 yards east of the Adalat Vada, was originally a rectangular building facing north about 100 feet long and 50 feet wide on an enclosure 150 feet wide. It was burnt in 1874, when the high school which had been held in it since 1849, was transferred to the old palace. Shahu I died at the Rang Mahal which therefore must date from at least as early as his reign. Directly in front of it is a large enclosure known as the mansion of the Senapati or Commander-in-chief. The walls have all been pulled down since its confiscation at the banishment of the Senapati with the Raja Pratapsinh. The enclosure was nearly 350 feet square.

North of this is a rectangular building with two wings which used to be the elephant stable in the days when a number of them were required for State purposes, north of this again was the Mamlatdar's Kacheri or office. It consisted of the eastern half of a mansion which originally belonged to the Shirkes, one of the most ancient Maratha families, and was confiscated by Government after the upsurge in 1857, on proof of the association of the elder Shirke.

Daphle's Mansion.

About a hundred and twenty yards beyond the turn to the Sachiv's mansion is that of the Daphle, another of the principal feudatories and Chief of Jath. It is of about the same size as the Sachiv's mansion and has a plantain and palm garden to the north. The descendants of late have been residing pretty constantly in this mansion. About eighty yards north of the Sachiv's mansion along the same street is Natu's mansion, belonging to the descendants of Balvantrav Natu, one of the principal adherents of Raja Shahaji. This mansion is noteworthy as being much used in former days by the Peshvas as their private residence.

Pant Pratinidhi's Mansion.

The Pant Pratinidhi's mansion is situated in the Pant's Got and is not in any way remarkable. Adjoining it in the south is a large set of stables. The treasury and account offices with those of the permanent head-quarters of Magistrate and Deputy Collector are situated in a block of buildings known as the Hajiri bungalow. They are north of the Poona road close to the post office junction. The treasury is in a two-storeyed block in the centre. The other, Central Excise and Soil Conservation offices are in buildings lining the sides of the enclosure. A broad causeway leads on to the large open space forming the present race course. The name of this set of buildings is taken from the fact that it was the head-quarters and muster or hajiri ground of the army in Maratha times. The buildings occupy a space of about 200 feet square. The present buildings were erected by Daulat Khan, the commandant of the cavalry or risala under the last two Rajas, out of savings accumulated from the sale of stable manure.

The police head-quarters are directly opposite the jail and about equal in size to the Hajiri bungalow. They were originally the headquarters of the cavalry belonging to the last two Rajas.

Dasara Sports.

On a shoulder of the fort-hill are the vestiges which speak little about the small palace once used by the Ranis as a pleasure-house, and principally for viewing the Dasara sports. These sports were one of the principal institutions under Maratha rule. They were held in honour of the slaughter of a demon named Mahishasur, by the devi who was created by Shiv at the intercession of the minor deities on account of the devastations caused by the demon. This demon had the form of a buffalo centaur. The ceremonies, therefore, commenced with the slaughter of a buffalo before the shrine of Bhavani, the patron goddess of the Marathas, the fatal blow being given by the Raja himself. But first the buffalo was taken in procession round the city very much in the character of the Jewish scapegoat as a victim to carry away the sins and evils, bodily or spiritual of the city. This slaughter was an act of merit, though no Hindu will eat his flesh which was given to the outcastes. On the same day an unlimited number of sheep and goats were also sacrificed in honour of Bhavani. Great veneration was paid to horses who were decorated in fantastic fashion and also formed a principal part of the procession. The forehead of every horse was anointed with the blood of the sheep or goat, and after that the flesh was eaten by the grooms or horse-keepers. The next ceremony after the slaughter of the buffalo, which took place generally towards evening, used to be the great procession headed by the Raja and followed by all his nobles. In this procession it was a point of honour that the nobles should bear all their insignia and come in the highest state for which they were entitled. For instance, a noble entitled to sit in a palkhi would be bound so to appear, and his appearance on horseback would be disrespectful. About the neighbourhood of the Hajiri Bungalow were planted numerous apta trees typical again of the demon who was slain on the day. The procession over, the Raja struck the first tree and his followers the rest. The leaves of the tree were then gathered by the populace as the spoil of the demon. They were considered typical of gold pieces, and were afterwards given to friends as complimentary presents and wishes of good luck. The day terminated with the chief darbar or State assemblage of the year on which offerings were made to the reigning prince who in his turn bestowed dresses of honour, titles and rewards [For details see Old Satara Gazetteer, Appendix D.]. The only other buildings of Maratha times worth mentioning are the Faras Khana. or store-house of camp equipage and the paga or Raja's stables both adjoining the large square.

Water Pavilions.

In the Bhavani Peth are two water pavilions or jalmandirs, the old and the new. The old pavilion, which was laid out by Raja Pratapsinh in 1824-25, is a plain one-storeyed building and had one room of which the walls and ceilings were covered with looking-glass. It is occupied by the local municipality by whom the building and a small garden attached to it have been repaired recently. A pretty little pond between the municipal office and the garden adds to the attraction of the place. The new water pavilion owned by Aba Saheb Bhonsle was laid out by Raja Pratapsinh's brother much about the same time as the old building. It has a large and beautiful garden divided into two parts, the upper or western and the lower or eastern. The upper part contains the water pavilion, which is two-storeyed and built on a pavement in the centre of a small tank. It had also a mirror-room of two apartments, one containing pictures of Indian and Anglo-Indian celebrities. The walls and ceiling of the other were completely covered with mirrors. The garden contains a large number of cocoa and betel palms and other fruit trees besides a good number of flower plants. It is intersected with parallel paths paved with well chiselled stones. The lower or eastern portion of the garden contains a pleasure-house. The buildings, and gardens are up to the present time well taken care of and are frequented by people.

The palace in the Bhavani Peth, which is a good specimen of Indian architecture, is a four-cornered block of buildings, occupying several acres of ground and the large open space in front admits of its being seen to advantage. There is nothing very imposing about the facade, the white plastered surface of which is only broken by numerous large windows and their wooden framework. A low verandah on wooden pillars runs along the ground floor. There is some carving about the wood-work, but it is too minute to produce any general effect on the building. The palace is in two blocks, one block called the old and another called the new. The old palace built in 1824, by Raja Pratapsinh can be seen to advantage from a distance of more than a mile in the east, while its terrace at the top fifty feet from the ground commands a full and extensive view of the whole town up to the base of the surrounding hills. Its right wing contains a large cistern for the use of the inmates of the palace. The front hall has two balconies on either side of the gateway from which the chiefs and the royal family used to look at the sports in the large open space below. This palace is occupied by the local high school and was used as a relief house during the 1876-77 famine. The old palace is now used for housing the Government High School viz., Pratapsinh High School. The balconies are used for Primary School, Municipal School Board Office and some Government departments. The other block of the building, that is, the new palace which had the paintings of Jay and Vijay (symbols on the Hindu temple doors) is an improvement upon the old one and was built by Raja Shahaji in 1838, to supersede the Rang Mahal, a building of less pretensions immediately under the fort. A large portion of the building containing fifty-two rooms consisted of women's quarters. The most distinguishing feature of the building is its solid structure. A gateway leads into a court-yard surrounded by a broad colonnade. The paintings of mythological subjects and hunting scenes once spread over the wall have almost faded away. The audience hall at the upper end on the western side of the courtyard dedicated to Bhavani, the patron goddess of the Marathas, was built by Raja Shahaji in 1844. The hall is eighty-three feet long, forty-five broad and twenty-five high. The roof is supported on two parallel longitudinal rows of teak beams, sixteen in each row with scollopped horse-shoe arches between the pillars. The pillars during the Raja's time were covered with tapestry consisting of rich brocade with profuse gold embroidery and spangles, while the sides of the hall were hung with costly materials of brilliant coloured Ghazni silk. The hall is surrounded on three sides by rows of fountains, which when in play threw up jets of water nearly twenty-five feet high. In a small but richly carved room opening from the colonnade was the royal throne. Near the throne-room is another in which Bhavani, the far-famed sword of Shivaji, was kept. In the times of the late Raja, during the Navratra holidays in Asvin (September-October), the shrine of Bhavani in the palace was much thronged with visitors from the town and the district, especially by the relatives, dependents, and retainers of the Maratha nobles. In 1876, the palace was taken possession of by the British Government and the audience hall, together with a part of the colonnade on either side, was occupied by the courts of the district and subordinate judges and of the higher district officers. The hall was used as an audience and reception hall on occasions of grand state ceremonies. At present in addition to the District and Junior Courts it is used to accommodate the Mamlatdar's Office, Treasury, State Bank, Satara City Survey Office, Divisional Forest Office etc.

Frere Almshouse.

The charitable institution called the Frere Annachhatra or . Almshouse was founded on the 17th of September, 1854 under Government authority to commemorate the services rendered by the late Sir Henry Bartle Edward Frere when Commissioner of Satara between 1848 and 1850. A fund was raised by voluntary contributions and was distributed every Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday morning among the blind, the lame, and the helpless. At a place to the east of the town and north of the Povai naka is a tree near which the charity distribution of grains took place twice a week. The tree has a stone-work or par round it bearing a Marathi and an English inscription. The English inscription runs:

"This Testimonial in conjunction with a charitable institution has been erected in the year 1865 by subscription of Jagirdars and others as a respectful tribute of gratitude and memory of His late Highness Shahaji Raja of Satara and of H.B.E. Frere Esquire, the British Commissioner, Satara."

Jail.

A large building in Sanivar Peth, built originally for a jail by the Raja Shahaji, was used for that purpose till 1864. Owing to its defective arrangements a new jail covering six acres of land was built in 1864 in Malhar Peth on the site occupied by the Raja's arsenals, opposite the police head-quarters. The jail buildings were built by a gang of nearly 150 Chinese convicts. It is a sub-jail, accommodating about 160 persons. There are eight barracks and 21 cells. There is a small detached building in the jail used as a hospital. Within the jail is one cistern supplied with cooking and drinking water from the Mahardara reservoir. There is also a pond which serves as a reservoir for rain and spring water, ordinarily used for watering the jail garden, and in the hot season when the supply at the cistern is generally scanty, for cooking and washing. The pond is the result of quarrying for the outer jail walls. Within the walls is a small garden where country and European vegetables are grown. The other buildings are the office of the jail superintendent who is the civil surgeon and the manufactory. Among the articles turned out by convict labour are tapes, ropes, trouser cloth, towels, napkins, table-cloth, blankets, and cane work.

Civil Hospital

The Civil Hospital established in 1940 is situated in the Durga Peth on the south of the large thoroughfare connecting Bhavani Peth with the tunnel road. The enclosure covers some 3.05 acres. Since the Civil Hospital has taken possession of these buildings formerly occupied by the Maharaja of Satara as stables for his horses and elephants and for housing his army men, a number of ancillary buildings have been erected to accommodate medical and surgical wards, operation theatre, record and store room, lunatic cells etc. These spacious though plain structures are built in brick masonry and provided with Mangalore tiled roofing.

Municipal Office.

The municipal building is on the north-east corner of the new palace, and consists of the old Jalmandir. The frontage of the municipal building is an addition to the old Jalmandir. It is conveniently situated adjoining the most busy quarters of the town.

Nagar Vachanalaya.

The Nagar Vachanalaya is at the south-east corner of the Bhavani square. It has English, Marathi, Sanskrt and Hindi books and it subscribes to the daily, weekly and monthly papers, vernacular and English and is much used as a reading room by the people.

Mangalvar Tale.

Mangalvar Tale is situated in Mangalvar Peth and was formerly known as Shripatrav Tale after Shripatrav Pant Pratinidhi. In the temple on the western bank are the shrines of God Maruti and Bhavani Devi. The latter dates back to Shri Shahu Chhatrapati.

Schools and Colleges.

Besides the 17 municipal primary schools and the Government Pratapsinh High School and the Technical High School-cum-Industrial School there are a number of schools in the city. These are the New English High School, the Popular English School, Bhavani Vidyalaya, the Mahatma Phule Adhyapak Vidyalaya, the Aryangla Mahavidyalaya, the Sayajirav High School, the Kanya Shala the Rashtra Bhasha Vidyalaya, the Kranti Smrti Vidya Mandir and the Jijamata Adhyapika Vidyalaya. For college education there is the Chhatrapati Shivaji College with faculties in arts and science and a training college viz., the Azad Training College.

Temples.

None of the Satara temple buildings are of any beauty or antiquity [The Satara city temples are so poor because Mahuli, three miles to the east is the place of devotion for Satara and contains all the best temples. Details are given above under Mahuli.]. Some of these were built by the Satara chiefs and some by private persons. Only a few temples deserve a mention in the Gazetteer. The Garecha Ganapati in Chimanpura receives an annual Government grant of Rs. 80. The Bhavani, the Kalaram and the Vithoba temples are in the Mangalvar peth. Of these the Bhavani temple dates back to the reign of Chhatrapati Shahu (1682-1749) and receives an annual grant of Rs. 45. The Kalaram Mandir is called after the black stone image of the God and Kalambi village is allotted for its maintenance. The temple of Dholya Ganapati in Machi has a huge image as is suggested by the name and receives an annual grant of Rs. 48. The Matyancha Ram, the Kasardevi and the Maruti Mandir are in the Shanivar peth. The Goreram Mandir Pratapganj, the Krshneshvar temple in Sadasiv and the Koteshvar temple in Sukravar are worth mentioning.

Mosques.

Of the mosques, the important are the Khatiba mosque in Maci, the Sanivar mosque in Guruvar peth, the Daulatkhan mosque in Ravivar, the Amina mosque in Durga and the Mhatba mosque in Budhvar. The costliest of these mosques is in the Darga built at a cost of Rs. 1,00,000 by the late Raja Pratapsinh at the request of Amina, a dancing girl. It is a plain domed whitewashed building about fifty feet by forty and fifteen feet high. The building fronts east with four saracenic arches, another row running down the centre of the building. The arches are ornamented in floral patterns of tolerable workmanship.

Station.

The station, ten miles immediately east of the town, has an area of three and a half square miles. It is situated very pleasingly on high ground about a mile from the right bank of the Yenna at the point where the stream reaches the more open vale of the Krshna into which it falls two miles lower down at Mahuli. Owing to the less confined position of the station, the amphitheatre of hills rising from the borders of the two rivers are seen to much greater advantage than from the town. Some of the hills in question, among which Candan Vandan, Jaranda, Yavteshvar, and the hill fort of Satara stand prominent, show in their most striking forms the distinctive features of the secondary trap formation and give a character of peculiar beauty to the scenery of the Satara valley. These hills form most striking objects in the landscape from their boldness and variety in shape and colour. They environ the station on the north, south, and west in distances varying from two to eight or nine miles and reach heights approximately from 1000 to 1300 feet above the plain, the forms most general in them being table-shaped and hog-backed.

The surface of the station is well wooded and contains a large extent of grazing ground cut by several natural streamlets carrying the drainage into the Yenna. The soil immediately round is very shallow and consists chiefly of a light friable yellowish red murum formed from the decomposed trap with very little alluvial soil. But the black mould gradually deepens as it approaches the Yenna. From the rapidity with which the porous substratum of the soil soaks moisture and from the sloping nature of the ground the surface very soon dries after the heaviest monsoon rains. There is very little watered land around and the neighbourhood is free from malarious influences. The station is most excellently provided with roads which intersect in all directions and in many places are beautifully shaded. The old Poona road over the Nira bridge skirts the camp limits on the north west and the road to Kolhapur, which is part of the Poona-Bangalore road, skirts its southern boundary above which lies Godoli village which is included in the camp limits. The road to Rahimatpur, which is part of the Satara-Bangalore road, runs south-west through the station, while that to Mahuli which is part of the Satara-Pandharpur road, passes nearly due east through its upper part. In the hot weather the aspect of the station is bare and brown as is inevitable. But the abundant rainfall in the monsoon clothes the surrounding hills and large open spaces with brilliant green and gives a park-like appearance to the whole landscape. There are few who will not be struck with the unusual verdure of Satara during the rains as compared with most Indian stations. This lasts usually well over October and seldom entirely fades till late in November, when occasionally it is restored by a late fall of rain. The surrounding country is not good for riding and there is but little game. But the drives are excellent. Few views are more beautiful than those of the Krshna at Mahuli, and Vaduth, and of the Urmodi valley looking either south-west from the Khind, a small opening in the hills three miles south along the Poona road.

The magnificent avenues of trees on the old Poona road are a sight in themselves, and delightful views of the hills are to be had up the Yenna valley by driving either along the Mahabaleshvar road as far as the shoulder which runs out to the north-east of the town or along the new Poona road to the Yenna bridge. The race course, too, is a fine open space whence the country round is excellently viewed.

Proceeding down the Mahuli road from the post office junction, the first building on the right is the Executive Engineer's office. A little further to that on the same side are the Collector's office and the Collector's bungalow known as the Residency, in the premises of which are the District Sailors', Soldiers' and Airmen's Board, the District Panchayat Office and the Development office. Just behind the Collector's Bungalow is the Chhatrapati Shivaji College of the Rayat Shikshan Samstha of Karmavir Bhaurav Patil. To the north is the District Local Board Office. A few hundred yards to the north of the Residency is the Inspection Bungalow of the Buildings and Communications department. Inspection bungalow has now been occupied by the Sainik school and the travellers bungalow has temporarily been converted into an Inspection bungalow. A further on is a building belonging to the Central Government and known as the parole camp. It is occupied by the Police department for training Police recruits. The Satara Suburban Municipal Office comes next and then the Sadar bazar or the camp area. Opposite the Inspection Bungalow another road turns almost due west following which for 100 yards is reached the municipal garden on the right and further 150 yards on the same side is the Church. The parade ground lies between the polytechnic and the camp area.

The station has a church of St. Thomas besides two chapels situated in the camp area. None among these structures have a claim to architectural beauty.

Fort.

The chief places of interest within easy reach of Satara are Parali, Pateshvar, Yavteshvar, [Details are given above under Parali and Pateshvar and below under Yavteshvar.] and the fort. The steep-sided and flat-topped hill fort of Satara lies to the south of the town and at the end of one of the many Sahyadri spurs jutting south-east along the Yenna valley. It rises rather abruptly to the height of about 900 feet and commands the town and the view of a most extensive and superb panorama of hills among them Candan and Vandan and the lofty ridge of Jaranda on the east, Yavteshvar and other hills on the west, and Parali to the South-west. It stretches for about 1,100 yards from east to west and 600 yards from north to south. Its summit is shaped like a triangle, the eastern portion of the rampart with a strong tower in the north stretching from the north-eastern to the south-eastern angle forming its base. It is defended by a steep perpendicular precipice of black rock about forty feet high surmounted by a masonry stone work and breast-works with loopholes for defence. There are only two gates one in the north 150 yards from the north-west angle and the other a mere sallyport on the south side, the same distance from the south-east angle. The approach to the last is almost inaccessible from steepness. That to the other is by an excellent path from the station. This path is about eight feet wide. It is about two miles long and starting from Godoli village strikes the shoulder of the fort hill on which a pillar has been erected on the occasion of the centenary of the war of Independence of 1857. It crosses the shoulder about half a mile further on and at a gentle gradient follows the northern slope of the hill till within about 250 feet of the top and directly under the western angle. It then turns sharp round to the east and becoming steeper runs up to within fifty feet of the northern gate, where it again turns south. Outside the gate is a small hamlet. Bastions at the western angle and at an angle a hundred yards north-east of the gate command this path on two sides. The old paths connecting the fort with the town are very steep and zigzag to the gate where they join the present path, the one from the junction of the tunnel road. Very recently a path which joins the point of Kirti Stambha with the street which runs to Bhavani Peth and the other about a hundred yards east of the Adalat Vada has been widened. The path up to the gateway is within the range of gunshot from the rampart above, and the nearer it approaches the gateway the more vertical to the base of the rampart are the loopholes till within but a few yards of the entrance door where the way is exposed to fire from the bastion in the north-east. The walls are of various materials from the huge boulders of pre-Muhammedan times to the small masonry of the later Maratha. They are generally not less than ten feet thick with a parapet two or three feet thick and much the same in height.

There remain on the top a few barren ponds, a dilapidated palace built by the last Peshva Bajirav (1796-1817) and other small constructions. In the north-eastern angle just on the brow of the strong tower is a temple of Manglai Devi, the guardian deity of the fort. Out of these buildings only the temple of Mangaladevi is maintained and is in good condition. Other buildings have been demolished except a small one. After the 1857 uprising it was thought necessary to garrison the fort with a small number of European troops, but after a time this practice was discontinued. The nearest hill commanding it is that of Yavteshvar within 3500 yards. All the slopes within 2000 yards were cleared of forest and the slopes on the south and north-east, which belonged to Aba Saheb Bhonsle were purchased for that purpose.

About 1190 A. D. the fort is said to have been built by the Kolhapur Silahara Chief Bhoj II. (1178-1193), better known as Bhoj Raja of Panhala in Kolhapur, and at the time of its building two Mahars, one a boy and the other a girl, are said to have been offered to the place-spirit and buried alive at the west gates. Satara fort was always kept in excellent order by the Bijapur Government and used as a State prison. Here were imprisoned Chandbibi, widow of Ali Adilshah I (1557-1580) in 1580 and Dilavar Khan, a Bijapur nobleman, in 1592. Shivaji captured it after a three months' siege in September, 1673. It was besieged by Aurangzeb and taken after five months' siege in April, 1700, but retaken in 1706 by a stratagem, Chandasaheb, son of the Nawab of Arkot, was confined here on his capture by the Maratha force which invaded the Madras Karnatak in 1747. Since 1749 it was used as a prison for the Rajas of Satara when under the domination of the Peshvas. Once only did the Raja rise in 1798 and used the fort as a stronghold, but finding it destitute of provisions he surrendered to Parashuram Bhau Patvardhan who took possession of it. The Peshvas occupied it till the 7th February, 1818 when it surrendered to General Smith.

History.

The earliest mention of Satara appears to be in the reign of the fourth Bahamani king Muhammad Shah (1358-1375) when with other forts Satara fort is said to have probably been built. [Briggs' Ferishta, II 325-326] In 1579 the Bijapur minister Kishvar Khan falsely accused Chandbibi, the dowager queen, of instigating her brother Murtaza Nizam Shah, king of Ahmadnagar, to invade Bijapur, and sent her a prisoner to Satara after subjecting her to many indignities. [Briggs' Ferishta, III 148.] But in the same year, on Kishvar Khan's fall, Chandbibi was released. [Briggs' Ferishta, III 150.] In 1592 Dilavar Khan, the Bijapur regent, was sent a prisoner to Satara where shortly after he died. [Briggs' Ferishta, III 172-73.] In 1673, after the capture of Parali Shivaji laid siege to Satara fort which had been kept in good order by the Bijapur Government, and took it after a siege of several months. [Grant Duff's Marathas, Vol. I, 202.] In 1686, Sharza Khan of Bijapur, who was sent by Aurangzeb to invade Sambhaji's districts marched towards Satara. [Grant Duff's Marathas, Vol. I, 262.] In 1692, Ramchandrapant Bavdekar, one of Rajaram's high officers, fixed his residence at Satara where by the aid of his head writer Shankraji Narayan he not only attended to every military disposition but regulated the revenue and established order. [Grant Duff's Marathas, Vol. I, 285.]

In 1699, at the recommendation of Ramchandrapant, Rajaram made Satara the seat of the Maratha Government [Grant Duff's Marathas, Vol. I, 294.]. In 1700, while the Marathas were directing all their preparations towards the defence of Panhala in Kolhapur, Aurangzeb appeared suddenly before the fort of Satara, and pitched his tents to the north on the site of Karanja. village. Azam Shah, Aurangzeb's son, was stationed at a village on the west side which has since borne the; name of Sahapur. Sharza Khan invested the south side and Tarbiyat Khan occupied the eastern quarter; and chains of posts between the different camps effectually secured the blockade. The fort, with provisions hardly enough to stand a two months' siege, was defended by Prayagji Prabhu Havaldar who had been reared in Shivajis service. He vigorously opposed the Moghals and disputed every foot of ground as they pushed forward their advanced posts. As soon as they began to gain any part of the hill he withdrew his troops into the fort and rolled huge stones from the rock above which did great execution and, until they threw up cover, were as destructive as artillery. In spite of Prayagjis efforts the blockade was completed, all communication with the country round was cut off, and as the small stock of grain was soon exhausted, the besieged must have been forced to surrender had not Parashuram Trimbak Pratinidhi, who had thrown himself into the fort of Parali, bought the connivance of Azam Shah and brought provisions to the besieged. The grand attack was directed against the north-east angle, one of the strongest points with a total height of sixty-seven feet of which forty-two were rock and twenty-five masonry. Tarbiyat Khan undertook to mine this angle and at the end of four months and a half completed two mines. The besieging party was so confident of success that Aurangzeb was invited to view the spectacles, who marched from that side in such a grand procession that when the match was ready, hundreds of Marathas and among them Prayagji, drawn by the splendid retinue, crowded to the rampart. The first mine was fired. It burst several fissures in the rock and caused so violent a shock that a great part of the masonry was thrown inwards and crushed many of the garrison in the ruin with Prayagji the commandant, who was afterwards dug out alive. The storming party in their eagerness advanced nearer when the match was applied to the train of the second and larger mine, but it was wrongly laid and burst out with a dreadful explosion destroying about 2,000 Moghals on the spot. Prayagji's escape was considered a lucky omen, and under other circumstances might have done much to inspirit the garrison to prolong the defence. But as Azam Shah could no longer be persuaded to allow grain to pass into the fort, proposals of surrender were made through him, and the honour of the capture, which he so ill deserved, was not only assigned to him but the place received his name and was called by the emperor Azam Tara. [Grant Duff's Marathas, Elliot and Dowson, VII 367-368] About this time the news of Rajaram's death, which happened a month before the fall of Satara, was received in the emperor's camp with great rejoicing. [Grant Duff's Marathas, Vol. I, 300.] In 1706, Satara was surprised and re-taken from the Moghals by Parashuram Trimbak Pratinidhi by the artifice of a Brahman named Annajipant. This man, who had escaped from prison at Jinji in Tanjore and assumed the character of a mendicant devotee, fell in with a party of Moghal infantry marching to relieve the Satara garrison. He amused them with stories and songs, obtained alms from them and so ingratiated himself with all that they brought him with them, admitted him into the fort, and, in reward for his wit, allowed him to live there. Annajipant who had been a writer attached to a body of Maratha infantry saw that, with the aid of a few of his old friends, the place might be surprised. He watched his chance, told Parashuram Trimbak of his design, and having introduced a body of Maratha soldiers into the fort, the enterprising and remorseless Brahman put every man of the garrison to the sword [Grant Duffs Marathas, Vol. I, 308.]. In the confusion which followed the release of Shahu in 1707, the Pratinidhi took possession of Satara fort. Shahu, joined by Dhanaji his general, sent an order to Parashuram Trimbak to surrender Satara. Parashuram disobeyed but Shaikh Mira, a subordinate Muhammedan officer, confined him and gave up the fort. [Grant Duff's Marathas, Vol. I 315] On gaining possession of Satara, Shahu formally seated himself on the throne in March, 1708. In the end of 1709, Shahu, who had been out to renew the war, returned to Satara and married two wives one from the Mohite and the other from the Shirke family [Grant Duffs Marathas, Vol. I, 319.]. In 1713, an expedition under the Peshva Bahiropant Pingle sent from Satara by Shahu against Angre failed. Bahiropant was defeated and taken prisoner by Angre who threatened to march on Satara. All the force that could be spared was gathered to oppose him and placed under Balaji Vishvanath whose former connection with Angre would, it was hoped, lead to some settlement. Balajis negotiations were successful and on. his return to Satara in reward for his services he was appointed Peshva [Grand Duff's Marathas, Vol I, 328.]. In 1716, Khanderav Dabhade defeated two large Moghal armies, went to Satara, paid his respects to Shahu, and was raised to the rank of Senapati or general of the Maratha empire. [Grant Duffs Marathas, Vol. I, 333. ] About 1730, Sambhaji Raja of Kolhapur encamped on the north side of the Varna with his baggage, women, and equipment and began to plunder the country. The Pratinidhi surprised Sambhajis camp and took many prisoners, among others Tarabai, Rajaram's widow, and her daughter-in-law Rajasbai, the widow of Shivaji of Kolhapur who were both placed in confinement in the fort of Satara [Grand Duffs Marathas, Vol. I. 375.]. In 1732, Bajirav, the second Peshva assumed the command of the army in Malva, and sent back his brother Chimaji and Pilaji Jadhav to Satara to maintain his influence at court and to concert measures for settling the Konkan which was in a very disturbed state [Grant Duff's Marathas, Vol. I, 380.].

During the Peshva's absence Kanhoji Bhonsle, the Send Saheb Subha, was accused of disobedience and confined at Satara. Shripatrav Pratinidhi, who was a friend of Kanhoji, endeavoured to obtain some mitigation of his sentence, but failed, and the brave Kanhoji died, after having lived there many years a prisoner at large [Grant Duffs Marathas, Vol. I, 385.]. In 1735, after Bajirav's successful return to Satara from his campaign against the Sidis of Janjira, ho was appointed Subhedar of the late acquisitions [Grant Duff's Marathas, Vol I, 389.]. On receiving the news of Bajirav's death in 1740, Chimaji Appa and his nephew, who were in the Konkan, returned to Satara after the usual mourning. Raguhji Bhonsle, the Maratha General, also came to Satara and prevented Balaji Bajirav's succession as Peshva, proposing for the vacant office Babuji Naik, a rich banker of Baramati in Poona and a connection, but an enemy, of the late Peshva. Raghuji offered large sums to Shahu on condition of Babuji's being raised to the vacant Peshvaship. The Pratinidhi, although averse from the supremacy of the Peshva, was still more hostile to the pretensions of Raghuji and, as he did not engage in the intrigue, Balaji Bajirav aided by his uncle Chimaji was at last invested in August, 1740. On 26th of March Trichinopoly was taken by Raghuji and Chanda Saheb the well known aspirant to the Madras Karnatak Navabship, was brought a prisoner to Satara where he remained in the custody of an agent of Raghuji Bhonsle till he was set free in 1748. [Grant Duff's Marathas, Vol. I, 422. Chanda Saheb was better known in the Deccan by his less familiar name of Husain Dost Khan. He does not appear to have been confined in the fort nor to have endured a close confinement. Ditto, footnote 3.]. On the death of his uncle Chimaji Appa, which happened in the end of January, 1741, Balaji Peshva returned from the northern districts and spent nearly a year in civil arrangements at Poona and Satara and obtained from Shahu a large grant of territory and revenues [Grant Duff's Marathas, Vol. I, 424.]. In 1743 after his Bengal campaign, Balaji returned to Satara, paid his respects to Shahu and went through the form of producing his accounts of the revenue which were made up by himself as a General in command of a body of the Raja's troops [Grant Duffs Marathas, Vol. I, 430.]. In 1749, Shahu died but not without a great trouble about his succession and the grant of a deed to Balaji empowering him to manage the whole government of the Maratha empire. Scarcely had Shahu ceased to breathe when a body of horse gallopped into the town of Satara, surrounded and seized the Pratinidhi and his deputy Yamaji Shivdev, placed them in irons, and sent them off strongly escorted to distant hill forts. Every avenue about the town was occupied by troops and a garrison of the' Peshva's was placed in the fort, while a party was selected to reinforce the escort of Ram Raja who had not arrived when Shahu died. After making arrangements at Satara, Balaji left (1750) for Poona and henceforward Satara ceased to be the capital of the Maratha empire. Ram Raja who had accompanied Bhau, the Peshva's cousin, to Sangola in Solapur, agreed to renounce the entire power and to lend his sanction to whatever measures the Peshva might pursue provided a small tract round Satara was assigned to his own management, conditions to which Balaji subscribed but which actually were never realised. The Raja under a. strong escort returned to Satara. The Peshva in order to conciliate Tarabai, Ram Raja's grandmother, whose great age did not render her less active and intriguing, in-cautiously removed his troops from the fort of Satara and having placed in it the gadkaris and old retainers, who had great respect for Tarabai, gave up the entire management to her. The Raja was kept with a separate establishment in the town of Satara, but perfectly at large and a splendid provision was assigned to him and his officers, the expense of which amounted to the yearly sum of 65 lakhs of rupees. [Grant Duff's Marathas, 272.]

About this time, the French missionary Tieffenthaler describes Satara as a great city, the capital of the Maratha Chief, a Rajput of the Sisodian family. On the back of a hill was a fine fortress with walls that looked like a hill as the rocks were used as a wall. On this wall of rock worked with the chisel was raised a wall of stone nine yards high. The fort had rich springs. It was taken by Aurangzeb but went back to the Marathas. [Description Historique et Geographique do l'Inde, I 487]

In 1751 after the Peshva left for Aurangabad Tarabai finding Ram Raja unfit for her purpose sent messengers to Damaji Gaikvad to march to Satara to rescue the Raja and the Maratha State from the Brahmans. Damaji at once acted on this request, and Tarabai, as soon as certain accounts were received of the Gaikvad's approach, invited the Raja into the fort of Satara and made him prisoner. Trimbakpant Purandhare, Govindrav Chitnis, and other of the Peshva's officers at Satara were at first disposed to ridicule this attempt of Tarabai as that of a mad old woman. But on hearing of Damaji's approach from Songad fort on the Gaikvad-Khandesh frontier they quitted the town and collected troops at the village of Arle seven miles north-east of Satara. The next day they were defeated by Damaji who went to Satara to pay his respects to Tarabai and several forts in the neighbourhood were given to her. Satara was well stored with provisions and the Pratinidhi promised to aid Tarabai's cause. News of these proceedings recalled Balaji. In the meantime Damaji was totally defeated and sent a messenger to treat with Balaji. Balaji solemnly agreed to abide by the terms proposed by Damaji and enticed him to encamp in the neighbourhood. As soon as Balaji got him into his power, he took him a prisoner and sent him to Poona [Grant Duff's Marathas, Vol. I, 413.]. The Peshva then tried to induce Tarabai to give up the fort and the Raja. Some of the Peshva's troops were impressed with the idea that Tarabai was a dev or good spirit and others that she was daitya or evil spirit, but the Marathas thought that she was a rightful regent. Under these circumstances Balaji thought it safe to leave her unmolested. Tarabai confined Ram Raja in the fort in a damp stone dungeon giving him food of the coarsest grain. During the absence of Balaji in Aurangabad Tarabai occupied the districts of Satara and Wai and large force was sent to Satara to starve her into submission. Anandrav Jadhav, the commandant of the fort, convinced of the folly of resistance formed the design of carrying the Raja out of her power. On learning this she ordered him to be beheaded and appointed one Baburav Jadhav, a person unconnected with the late commandant, to the command of the fort. In 1753 the Peshva on his march to the Karnatak sent to assure Tarabai that, if she would submit, the control of the Raja's person and establishment should remain at her disposal. To this Tarabai would not listen unless Balaji Bajirav would come to Satara, acknowledge her authority, and give such personal assurances as would satisfy her, but on assurances of safety and protection from the Peshva she left the garrison of Satara and the custody of Ram Raja's person to Baburav Jadhav and repaired to Poona. [Grant Duff's Marathas I, 472.] In 1772 after Madhavrav's death, his younger brother Narayanrav repaired to Satara where he was invested as Peshva by the Raja. But in the same year Narayanrav was murdered and Amrtrav, the adopted son of Raghunathrav, attended by Bajaba Purandhare was sent to Satara for the robes of office for Raghunathrav, which were accordingly given [Grant Duffs Marathas, Vol. II, 6-7.] In 1774, after the birth of a son and heir to Gangabai, widow of Narayanrav, the Satara Raja sent the robes of the Peshva's office for her son in charge of Madhavrav Nilkanth from whom they were received by Sakharam Bapu and Nana Phadnis who were deputed by Gangabai for that purpose. [Grant Duffs Marathas, Vol. II, 16.] At the close of 1777 Ram Raja died at Satara having previously adopted a son of Trimbakji Raja Bhonsle a Patil and a descendant of Vithoji, the brother of Maloji, the grandfather of the great Shivaji. In a revenue statement of about 1790 Satara appears as the head-quarters of a paragana in the Nahisdurg sarkar with a revenue of Rs. 60,000. [Warring's Marathas 240.] During the whole of 1792, owing to the dread that Mahadji Shinde intended to make the Raja an instrument for suppressing the Peshvas and Brahmanical ascendancy, Nana Phadnis almost entirely confined the Raja to the fort of Satara, where not even his relations were allowed to visit him. After Savai Madhavrav's [Grant Duffs Marathas Vol. II, 258.] suicide in 1795 disorder prevailed in Poona for a time and Daulatrav Shinde advanced with an army. [Grant Duff's Marathas Vol. II, 259.] Nana Phadnis repaired in alarm to Satara with some idea of resorting the Raja to supremacy. But owing to his recent treatment of him Shahu had no confidence in Nana and Nana retired to Wai. From Wai he returned to Satara to receive the robes of investiture for Chimaji Appa, the Peshva set up by Shinde's' general Baloba Tatya as a rival to Bajirav Rughunath, but suspecting designs against him on the part of Baloba he remained at Wai." In 1798 Shahu rose and used the fort as a stronghold, but finding it destitute of provisions he surrendered to Parashuram Bhau Patvardhan of Tasganv. In the last Maratha war on the 8th of March 1818 the united army of General Smith and General Pritzler went to Satara and the fort surrendered on the 10th. The British colours were hoisted but only to be replaced by the Bhagva Jhenda or orche-coloured standard of Shivaji. In accordance with Mr. Elphinstone's manifesto Raja Pratapsinh was established in Satara and Captain Grant Duff, the author of the History of the Marathas, was placed with him to aid his councils and direct his conduct. On the 29th March Mr. Elphinstone rode with the Raja through the Satara valley to Satara, which Pratapsinh entered with the pomp of a prince and the delight of a school-boy. [Colebrook's Elphinstone II, 30.] After taking Vasota, the British army returned to Satara, having on their way reduced the fort of Parali. Strong military forces were stationed at Satara and Karad. Shortly after a conspiracy was discovered for the release of Chitursinh, the murder of all Europeans at Satara and Poona, the surprise of some of the principal forts, and the possession of the Raja's person. The plot was suppressed and some of the conspirators executed. A treaty was made on the 25th of September 1819 under the terms of which Pratapsinh was formally installed ruler. He supplied the city with Yavteshvar water and built some large public offices and a fine palace and pleasure grounds. On the 5th September 1839 Raja Pratapsinh was deposed for treason against the ex-British Government. His younger brother Shahaji was appointed his successor. He built and supported a civil hospital and schools and was liberal in expenditure on roads, bridges and other public works, especially the city water-works. He also finished the magnificent court-room and building known as the New Palace. Shahaji died in April 1848 without issue and on financial, military and political grounds it was decided to annex the State.

During the 1857 upsurge no outbreak occurred at Satara but evidence was discovered of a widespread conspiracy only a week before the date fixed for the rising. Measures were taken against any attempt at rising and on the 6th of August 1857, by order of Government, Shahu the adopted son, the two Ranis of Pratapsinh, the adopted son of Balasaheb Senapati, and cousin of Shahu were removed for confinement to Butcher's Island in Bombay Harbour. Guns were taken to and pointed on the palace in the early morning and the family were removed in closed carriages. Shahu was afterwards allowed to return to Satara.

TOP