Sawantvadi - Royal House of Sawantvadi

Royal House of Sawantvadi

The Royal House of Sawantwadi is of very ancient lineage and belongs to the famous Bhonsle family, their ancestor being Mang Sawant. The family became hereditary Desais of Wari (or Wadi) near Goa, later becoming vassals of the Muslim Sultans of Bijapur. The head of the family was granted the hereditary title of Bahadur for his services against the Portuguese. Khem Sawant II threw off his allegiance to Bijapur in 1675, eleven years before it was absorbed into the Mughal Empire. The state was effectively independent until the advent of the Marathas forced it into a shaky alliance. For a considerable period, they ravaged the eastern seaboard as pirates, until defeated and compelled to cede their seaward territories to the HEIC in 1819. From then onwards, the rulers of Sawantwadi embraced peaceful development and progress, perhaps more so than any other ruling family in that age. Advances were made in almost every area of public life, in administration, justice and public works, which made Sawantwadi a model state by the dawn of the twentieth century. The state acceded to the Dominion of India 15 August 1947, and merged into the state of Bombay in 1948.