Understand
Srivardhan taluka is an ancient place of historical importance and is mentioned as being visited by Arjuna Pandav in his pilgrimage.It is well known place for traders in the past.In sixteenth and seventeenth centuries under Ahmadnagar and afterwards under Bijapur shrivardhan was a port of consequence. It appears in the accounts of leading European travellers as Ziffardan. In 1538 Dom Joao de Castro described it as with little water in the pier at low tide but inside large and roomy. [Primeiro Roteiro da Costa da India, 47.] It is notable as the birth-place of Balaji Visvanath , the first Pesva 1713-1720 who was the desmukh of the town. In 1713 Srivardhan was one of the sixteen fortified places in the Konkan ceded by Balaji Visvanath Pesva to Kanhoji Ahgre of Kolaba.Balaji was the first Peshwa of Maratha Empire appointed by Chhatrapati Shahu.
