Shirke

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title: "Shirke" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["maratha-clans", "surnames"] description: "Clan in Maharashtra and Goa, India" topic_path: "general/maratha-clans" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirke" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Clan in Maharashtra and Goa, India ::

The Shirke is a clan of Kulin Marathas found largely in Maharashtra and bordering states of India.

History

The Shirke clan held Deshmukhi rights in the areas of coastal Konkan in present day state of Maharashtra 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 of Adilshahi and Nizamshahi. During the Bahamani era, the seat of Shirke fief was at Khelna (Vishalgad). The Shirkes intermarried with the Surves 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 Bhosale rulers such as Shahaji, Shivaji, Sambhaji, Rajaram and Shahu. 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.

References

Bibliography

References

1. (1992). "Deccan (Maharashtra) Under the Muslim Rulers From Khaljis to Shivaji: A Study in Interaction, Profesor S.M. Katre Felicitation". Bulletin of the Deccan College Research Institute.
2. Shanti Sadiq Ali. (1996). "The African Dispersal in the Deccan: From Medieval to Modern Times". Orient Blackswan.
3. Sumitra Kulkarni. (1995). "The Satara Raj, 1818-1848: A Study in History, Administration, and Culture". Mittal Publications.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::