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Chronology of Mahabaleshwar

Mahabaleshwar was under the control of Raja Bhoj- II till A.D. 1209. First ever historical mention of the hill station can be dated back to the year 1215 when King Singhan Yadav from Deogiri visited the place for the first time.  Singhan defeated Raja Bhoj- II in a war and captured this region. A number of beautiful Hemadpanti temples were built in this region by the Vazir, Hemadripant” of Emperor Singhan.

Mahabaleshwar Temple
                                                         Old Mahabaleshwar Temple

During 1220 to 1230 A.D, the king Singhan Yadav built a small temple in the old Mahabaleshwar basically for the Mahadev Koli tribal’s. Also, a water tank was built at the source of the Krishna River.

A Brahmin Dynasty used to rule this area during the year 1350. The Brahmin Dynasty was defeated by the Maratha family of Chandra Rao More in the middle of the 16th Century who later on became the rulers of Javli and Mahabaleshwar. The temple of Old Mahabaleshwar was also re-built during this period.

Shivaji Maharaj
                                                          Chattarpati Shivaji Maharaj

In 1656, Chattarpati Shivaji Maharaj defeated Chandra Rao More to take over Javli and Mahabaleshwar and rule over the Pratapgad fort.

Mahabaleshwar was then integrated with the territory of the Raja of Satara by the British Empire during their reign in the year 1819. New Mahabaleshwar was actually set up by the Britishers and Charles Malet a representative of Britishers visited the place for the first time. British Emperors were searching a cool and pleasant place which could be used for training their soldiers. In April 1824, Col. Lodwick visited this place with a crowd of soldiers and Indian guides. All of them scaled up the mountain and reached a point which was then regularly visited by Sir John Malcolm. He started climbing in 1828 and was then followed by Arthur Malet, Frere, Sir Mountstuart Elphinstone, Carnac and many others.

Lodwick Point
                                                 Lodwick Point in Mahabaleshwar Town

Today, we know this place as Lodwick point and it is one of the popular tourist spots in the Mahabaleshwar hill station.

In 1826, General Briggs built a cottage in Mahabaleshwar and requested Shivaji Maharaj to construct a road from Satara to Mahabaleshwar. In 1827, Sir John Malcolm, Governor of Bombay, visited Mahabaleshwar and built a hospital for the European soldiers. Further, he appointed Dr. William responsible for reporting the weather and climatic conditions of this place. On finding, that the place is pleasant for patients he decided to set up a sanatorium and hill station at Mahabaleshwar. In this way, the first ever hill station of Maharashtra was discovered.

Sir John Malcolm
 Sir John Malcolm, Governor of Bombay during 1827

In 1830 A.D, Dr. Murray became the superintendent of Mahabaleshwar. A prison was built in the year 1834 to hold 120 Chinese prisoners who were further distributed with the duty of cultivating pure vegetables and fruits. This prison was shut down in 1864 and these prisoners released from the jail preferred to spend their life in Mahabaleshwar only. The prison was finally converted into Frayer hall in 1864 and has a large room for reading purpose and a library with a fine collection of books. Finally, in the year 1867 a corporation was set up for the city of Mahabaleshwar.

“Babington House” is a superlative bungalow built in colonial style taking the shape of a cross. There is a deep varanda, extensive outhouses and elaborated railing finely built using metal work present in the bungalow. This place is considered as the most charming and beautiful country house in Mahabaleshwar. It was once the principal country seats of the Dubash family which is a Parsi dynasty belonging to Bombay. The family sold the Babington House to the Rahejas during the early 1970s. There is a central dining room with a 24 seater table with a lovely library pavilion that contains 1st edition books which were collected as a courtesy of the Dubash family.

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