The Pachkalshi or (panchkalshi) are an ethnic community of Maharashtra and Goa. They are also known by name of Somvanshi Kshatriya Pathare.
They are one of the original tribes, who migrated to Bombay in 13th century AD with Yaduvanshi king, Raja Bhimdev. Somvanshi Kshatriya Pathare (SKP) (belonging to the lunar race) are known to be related to Prithviraj Chauhan of Delhi and Bhoj Raja of Madhya Pradesh. According to tradition, the Panchkalshis derive their name from the fact that their former headman used to sit on a canopied throne surmounted by five kalashas. The primary language spoken by these people is Marathi mixed with Vadval. They are mainly involved in agriculture and carpentry but engineers and doctors and other service professions are also more common these days. SKPs are a prosperous community now and have migrated all over the world.
These people are mainly based in Mumbai and nearby places like Alibag,Nagaon, Uran, Cheul, Revdanda, Murud, Maap gaon, Kihim and others. Common surnames in this community are Goregaonkar, Chogle, Bhatte, Navalkar, Patkeshwar, Cheulkar, Mhatre, Bhagat,Paralkar, Worlikar,Dadarkar,Dandekar,Date, Raote, Chemburkar, Ovalekar,Mahimkar, Pathare, Raut,Pradhan,Vaidya, Naik, Surnaik, Tekalkar, Thakur, Patil, Rath, Gharat, Mantri, Ule, Pansare, Devare, Rane and others. It may be noted that several of these names derive from actual places in Mumbai, e.g. Goregaonkar from Goregaon, Dadarkar from Dadar, Chemburkar from Chembur and so forth.Pachkalshi as well Chaukalshi tribe are found living along the coastal belt of Mumbai & Goa.
They mostly worship Tuljapur's Bhavani mata, Kolhapur's Ambabai, Karla's Ekviraa aai, and Jejuri's Khandoba. They also worship several goddesses (unique to each clan) who have ancient temples around Mumbai like the Hardai and Harbai at Malad, and Jogeshwari Devi (from where Jogeshwari suburb takes it name), Shilai Devi (Beje Nasik), Satmadevi (Mulgaon, Vasai) and Mahalaxmi near Peddar Road (Mumbai)
It has been noted in the history of the Marathas in relation to the annexation of the Vasai Fort that the Naiks were a prominent key to get this coveted fort. The Naiks who posed as petty workers or carpenters entered the Fort and mapped it. This crucial information was used by the Marathas to create a base in the important Vasai and Sopara area, which was a major trading port in the times.The Chogles were credited to be the navy builders of the Maratha Navy. They were rewarded by the ruling Marathas with land near Mumbai, which now constitutes Borivali (Dattapada & Babhai) and the surrounding suburbs. Chintaman Chogle was involved in the building of Gateway of India under the supervision of architect George Wittet. He supplied the wooden industrial patterns (molds) to the British which formed the framework for the imposing structure.