The Shirke, or Shirkhe is a

clan A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clans may claim descent from founding member or apical ancestor. Clans, in indigenous societies, tend to be endogamous, meaning ...

(

Gotra In Hindu culture, the term gotra (Sanskrit: गोत्र) is considered to be equivalent to lineage. It broadly refers to people who are descendants in an unbroken male line from a common male ancestor or patriline. Generally, the gotra fo ...

) of Koli

caste Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultura ...

and Marathas (a group of several castes who served in Maratha Empire), found largely in

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

and bordering states of India.

History

The Shirke clan held Deshmukhi rights in the areas of coastal Konkan in present day state of

and some inland areas of Western Maharashtra during 15th century under the Bahamani Sultanate and in 16th and 17th century under the successor

Deccan sultanates The Deccan sultanates were five Islamic late-medieval Indian kingdoms—on the Deccan Plateau between the Krishna River and the Vindhya Range—that were ruled by Muslim dynasties: namely Ahmadnagar, Berar, Bidar, Bijapur, and Golconda. Th ...

of Adilshahi and Nizamshahi During the Bahamani era, the seat of Shirke fief was at Khelna (Vishalgad). The Shirkes intermarried with the

Surve Surve( सुर्वे) is a Maratha warrior clan from India. A family belonging to the Surve clan held the jagir of Shringarpur. According to their lore, their ancestor was Shyam Singh (also known as Ajit Singh), a Rajput from Udaipur. In 14th c ...

s and kept command over their regions. In the mid 17th century, Shivaji, the founder of Maratha empire got the Surve and Shirke to join him by force or by forming marital alliances. The Shirkes were relatives of 17th Bhosale rulers, Shahaji, Shivaji, Sambhaji, and

Rajaram Rajaram or Raja Ram is one of the Indian names: * Several Chhatrapatis, leaders of the Maratha Empire in India ** Rajaram I (1670–1700), younger son of Maratha ruler Chhatrapati Shivaji, ruled 1689–1700 ** Rajaram II of Satara, putative grand ...

.Although Sambhaji's wife came from the Shirke family, his positions were spied upon. Sambhaji and 25 of his advisors were captured by the Mughal forces of Muqarrab Khan in a skirmish at Sangameshwar in February 1689. The Shirke were relations and confidantes of the Raja Pratapsinha of the short lived Satara state. He also sent a member of the Shirke family to London to plead his case of restoring him to power in 1839.

History

See also

References

Further reading