13th century AD history of kingdom that ruled Shirdi and nearby areas, related to name Hemadpant used by Shirdi Sai Baba to refer to Govind Raghunath Dabholkar

Last updated on 4th Jan. 2023

This post follows up on my previous post: Shirdi area history of rulers in 2nd millennium (1000 to 2000) AD may be similar to Nashik, Ahmednagar and Aurangabad history, https://ravisiyer.blogspot.com/2022/12/shirdi-area-history-of-rulers-in-2nd.html .

The origin of the name Hemadpant used by Shirdi Sai Baba to refer to his chronicler Govind Raghunath Dabholkar is in 13th century history of the Seuna Yadava dynasty that ruled Shirdi and other areas from their capital of Devagiri (later named Daulatabad), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daulatabad_Fort , with Devagiri being only around 97 kms from Shirdi by road today. Dabholkar wrote the Shri Sai Satcharitra, https://www.shirdibaba.org/publication/ShriSaiSatCharitra.pdf , which is the famous book on Shirdi Sai Baba's life, miracles and message, and is revered as a holy book by millions of Shirdi Sai devotees (including me).

Now I knew that Hemadpant was a famous intellectual and writer of the past and that Shirdi Sai Baba used that name for Dabholkar as a way to chastise him for being very argumentative about need for a Guru. Dabholkar had argued that a Guru is not needed in a place some distance from Dwarkamayi masjid but when he and others visited the masjid later on, Dabholkar was stunned to know that Baba knew about the arguments they had had at quite some distance from the masjid.

But beyond knowing that Hemadpant was a famous intellectual and writer of the past, I did not really know much about that figure.

This post, Naming of Dabholkar as Hemadpant by Shri Sai Baba, https://virtipatel.com/naming-of-dabholkar-as-hemadpant-by-shri-sai-baba/ , explains quite well how Dabholkar got chastised as Baba used that name for him, and used that chastisement to improve himself: [Dabholkar felt that] "This name must (have) be(en) given to him so that he may shed off the pride (about) his argumentative power and that he may remember to his dying day that he should be humble." It also gives some background on the 13th century Hemadpant.

Before I share info. on Hemadpant, I need to cover the Seuna Yadava dynasty and the area that they ruled. The dynasty's wiki page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seuna_(Yadava)_dynasty , has a map showing their territory circa 1200 to 1300 CE. I have included that map below in this post. The next pic is a Google Map of India with Shirdi marked with a red balloon and a label. By seeing these two pics, it is clear that Shirdi was very much a part of the Seuna Yadava kingdom and that the Seuna kingdom covered a large part of Western and SouthWestern India, including large parts, if not whole, of Maharashtra state area today.

[On PC desktop/laptop, to open pic in larger resolution (if available), right-click on pic followed by open link (NOT image) in new tab/window. In new tab/window you may have to click on pic to zoom in.]

An extract from the Seuna Yadava dynasty wiki page is given below:

The Seuna, Sevuna, or Yadavas of Devagiri (IAST: Seuṇa, c. 1187–1317)[3] was a Medieval Indian dynasty, which at its peak ruled a kingdom stretching from the Narmada river in the north to the Tungabhadra river in the south, in the western part of the Deccan region. Its territory included present-day Maharashtra, North Karnataka and parts of Madhya Pradesh, from its capital at Devagiri (present-day Daulatabad in modern Aurangabad district, Maharashtra).

The Yadavas initially ruled as feudatories of the Western Chalukyas. Around the middle of the 12th century, as the Chalukya power waned, the Yadava king Bhillama V declared independence. The Yadava kingdom reached its peak under Simhana II, and flourished until the early 14th century, when it was annexed by the Khalji dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate in 1308 CE.

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Now about Hemadpant from his wiki page, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemadpant : "Hemādri Paṇḍit, popularly known as Hemāḍapanta, was a polymath and a prime minister from 1259 to 1274 C.E. in the regimes of King Mahādev (1259–1271) and King Ramachandra (1271–1309) of Seuna Yādav Dynasty of Devagiri, which ruled in the western and southern part of India. Hemadpant is also the creator of the Hemadpanti architecture.[1][2]" ... "Hemadri was a diplomat, an administrator, an architect, a poet, and a theologian and scholar. During his prime ministership, the Yadav kingdom reached its zenith;[citation needed] soon after his tenure, the Turkic emperor at Delhi, Alāuddin Khalji, and his successors ended the Yadav rule in southwestern India."

Ravi: The 1308 conquest of Yadava kingdom by Delhi Sultanate was a major event in history of Shirdi and nearby areas including Nashik, Aurangabad and Ahmednagar city areas today, and also for Maharashtra state area as a whole. For the first time in their history, these areas came under rule of an Islamic sultanate. Such Islamic sultanate rule seems to have continued for four to five centuries in Shirdi, Nashik, Aurangabad and Ahmednagar area before the Marathas established their rule in this area in 17th or 18th century followed by the British around 1818 to India's independence in 1947.

So there seems to have been a tremendous mix of Hindu and Islamic culture in Shirdi and nearby areas for centuries from 1308. Note that Shirdi Sai Baba in his lifetime itself had Hindu and Muslim devotees, and Shirdi Baba would teach "Sabka Maalik Ek" (The Lord/owner of all is one), and would frequently say, "Allah Maalik" (Allah is the Lord/owner).

It is quite fascinating to know about this history of Yadava dynasty in Shirdi area and its great Prime Minister, poet and intellectual Hemadpant of the 13th century, and how Shirdi Sai Baba used that name to initially chastise Shri Dabholkar and how that name became an alias for him.

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Given below is my comment (slightly edited) from my associated Facebook post:  https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/pfbid02SCrWgF2BmEyd9b5a75EgXtjazSuCS8iALmEww4w8eTCGX7jBcqrxsjJp9u9EotfNl :

Great lady [Ahilyabai Holkar, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahilyabai_Holkar ] undoubtedly. Though she seems to have been born near Shirdi, her kingdom seems to have been further up north in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. My focus in these posts is on Shirdi area history rather than Maharashtra as a whole. ... Thanks for sharing her wiki page. Of course, I had known about her as she is a famous person but I don't think I had read her wiki page and so did not know much details about her life. Now I have better appreciation for the great work she did, and for her contribution to fostering Hindu religion. Thanks again.

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[I thank Wikipedia, virtipatel.com and Google Map, and have presumed that they will not have any objections to me sharing the above extract(s) and map pics from their website on this post which is freely viewable by all, and does not have any financial profit motive whatsoever.]