Towards the end of the 17th century, two families crossed the Sahyadris, leaving behind their homes in the Konkan belt, in search of better opportunities on the Desh plateau. They were the Bhats & the Bhanus, two families that would go down in history as the Peshwas & Phadanvis's. Not well known is the fact that a third family, the Mehendales, accompanied them on this journey. The Mehendales had familial ties to both the Peshwa & the Phadanvis families that spanned many generations. Bhairavbhat Mehendale was Balaji Vishwanath's Pratinidhi (viceroy), appointed for looking after his the deshmukhi of Dandarajpuri. Balaji Vishwanath’s sister was married to Bhairav Raghunath Mehendale I and Bhairav Raghunath Mehendale I's sister Godavaribai was married to Balaji Vishwanath's brother, Krushnaji Vishwanath Bhat, probably according to the erstwhile 'saata-lota' practice. The place where Godavaribai Peshwa lived in Shaniwar Wada is still known as 'Godubaicha Chowk'. Balwantrao Mehendale’s sister, Umabai was married to Sadashivraobhau while his second sister, Rakhmabai was married to Janardan Phadanvis. Their son Balaji Janardan Phadanvis would go down in history as Nana Phadanvis, the regent of Sawai Madhavrao.
The exact meaning of the surname Mehendale cannot be confirmed for sure. However it has been linked to the town of Hindale in Konkan, which is said to be the village of their origin.
Ganapatrao Mehendale I
The Mehendales enlisted themselves in the services of the Peshwas, and contributed to the cause of the expansion of the Maratheshahi. Ganapatrao Mehendale I, Bhairav Raghunath Mehendale I's son accompanied Bajirao Peshwa & Chimajiappa Peshwa on a campaign to Malwa in 1728.
Balwantrao Mehendale
Balwantrao Mehendale, Ganapatrao I's son, was perhaps the most fabled warrior from this family. He was the commander of the Huzurat and one of the many Maratha generals who were delegated with leading the campaigns in the south. He led the campaign against the Nawab of Kadappah in 1757 & also participated in the Battle of Sindhakhed in the same year. During one of his campaigns into Gujarat an ancient Trivikram sculpture was discovered and brought back to Maharashtra. He later built a temple dedicated to Trivikram at Kalyan. He also built a Shiva temple in Kalyan along with a wada.
Balwantrao Mehendale's role in the Battle of Udgir in 1760 & his support of the Peshwas during the revolt of Tarabai & Damaji Gaekwad earned him a position as an aide to Sadashivraobhau along with a reward of 400 horses and an additional force of 5000 soldiers. He was one of the many generals who embarked upon the fatal campaign in the north that would conclude with the defeat at Panipat. In one of the numerous skirmishes prior to the battle of Panipat, in December 1760, after inflicting heavy losses on the enemy & driving them away, a chance bullet struck Balwantrao which ended up being fatal. His part-mutilated body was recovered by Sardar Khanderao Nimbalkar. Balwantrao’s death was a blow to the morale of the Maratha troops. His wife, Lakshmibai, greatly struck by this tragedy, chose to commit Sati. Before ascending her husband's pyre, she placed her 12 year old son Krushnarao under the care of Sadashivraobhau, who promised to make him a better warrior than Balwantrao.
Nana Phadanvis, in a letter he wrote before the battle at Panipat remarked,
"The battle went well for us, but for Balwantrao's death, which caused them to emerge victorious."
Appa Balwant Mehendale
After the debacle at Panipat, Krushnarao, also known as Appa, managed to escape the violence ensued by the Afghans & return to Pune. The Battle of Panipat had orphaned him. In his time of need, it was the Peshwa family who looked after him. The Peshwas also built the Omkareshwar temple in Malgund in memory of Balwantrao, close to the Musala Devi Temple, their Kuladaivat (family deity).
In 1771, he was given the charge to lead a campaign along with Trimbakmama Pethe against Hyder Ali by Madhavrao Peshwa. It was during this campaign that at the Battle of Moti Talav, Haider & Tipu had to flee the battlefield under the guise of beggars. Appa Balwant Mehendale was one of the generals leading the Marathas in this battle.
After Madhavrao's death, his brother Narayanrao became the Peshwa. His reign was destined to be short-lived. His own uncle, Raghunathrao plotted against him and orchestrated his assassination. A council of 12 ministers deposed him and chased him and his supporters, including Bajaba Purandare and Appa Balwant Mehendale beyond the Vindhyas. Due to the efforts of Nana Phadanvis and Haripant Phadke, Appa Balwant Mehendale along with several others left Raghunathrao's faction and joined the Barbhai's.
He rose into prominence during the reign of Sawai Madhavrao. His name features quite frequently in the records of that time.
Bhairav Raghunath Mehendale II
Bhairav Raghunath Mehendale II was the nephew of Balwantrao Mehendale. He along with Sardar Shinde & Sardar Holkar was instrumental in negotiating the alliance between the Marathas and the British against Tipu Sultan in 1790. Charles Malet, then an officer of the East India Company presented this treaty at the court of Sawai Madhavrao and got it ratified. He later commissioned a painting of the ratification of this treaty & paintings of the generals, including Bhairav Raghunath Mehendale II, who had negotiated the treaty on behalf of the Marathas. Incidentally, these paintings by James Wales are the only available paintings of both Bhairav Raghunath Mehendale II's & Shaniwar Wada.
Later, in 1792, Bhairav Raghunath Mehendale II's brother, Bachhaji Mehendale and Appa Balwant Mehendale along with other Maratha sardars like Haripant Phadke and Govindrao Kale, were a part of another series of peace talks between the British, the Marathas and Tipu. Appa Balwant Mehendale's cousin, Ganapatrao Mehendale II, was a part of the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War in 1798, in which Tipu was killed.
From these instances, it can be confirmed that several members of the Mehendale family played an influential role in the wars of the Marathas with Tipu in the latter half of the 18th century.
The Death of Appa Balwant Mehendale and the fall of the Peshwai
After the premature death of Sawai Madhavrao, Bajirao II, the son of Raghunathrao was installed on the throne by Nana Phadanvis and Daulatrao Shinde. It was their intention that Bajirao II be a puppet ruler while the real power lay in their hands. However, with time, the forces of Bajirao II and Daulatrao got united against Nana Phadanvis. He was treacherously captured along with several of his associates in 1797 and imprisoned. In the quest for revenge and Nana Phadanvis's considerable wealth, they imprisoned, interrogated and tortured Nana Phadanvis and his many associates and extracted huge sums of money from them. His wada in Sadashiv Peth was demolished and dug up while goats were slaughtered in the prayer room of his wada in Kasba Peth. They also harassed and looted the general populace of Pune, inflicting indescribable atrocities on them. Appa Balwant Mehendale, who was an ally of Nana, was also subjected to these interrogations and brutalities. When it was evident that they would not stop, he chose to commit suicide by consuming poison in April 1798.
It is said that towards the end of his reign, Bajirao II realized many of his follies and tried to make amends. He reorganized his military along with the help of his generals like the Gokhales, Rastes and Patwardhans to prepare for what would be the third and final Anglo-Maratha War of 1817-18. He brought back veteran diplomats like Bhairav Raghunath Mehendale II's son Anyaba Mehendale along with Govindrao Kale and Raghunath Sadashiv Gadre. Unfortunately, the amends he tried to make did not prove to be fruitful in the end. Pune was annexed by the British in 1818.
The Mehendale Wada
The Mehendale Wada in Pune was built in the 1750s by Balwantrao Mehendale. The Mehendales also had wadas in Saswad and Roha. Sadly, these do not exist today either. The Wada in Pune was a 3 storey structure with 4 chowks (courtyards) and 64 staircases. Unfortunately, today this wada exists only in its descriptions.
The wada had a beautiful façade of finely carved teak pillars & a hude Dindi Darwaza adorned with iron spikes on its ground floor. The first floor housed a Diwankhana which was used for official ceremonies. Adjoining the diwankhana was a room called Panchkhani which was occupied by the women of the house. The second floor had an Arse Mahal (Hall of Mirrors).
Out of the 4 chowks, 3 chowks were occupied by the Mehendales while the 4th one was used by the help. The chowks had Ukhals (large stone basins), Tulshi Vrindavans and what are said to be the entrances of secret tunnels leading to Parvati and Shaniwar Wada. Life in a wada revolved around a chowk and the rooms used daily, such as the Majghar, Osari (Verandah), Mudpakkhana(Kitchen), Devghar(Prayer Room), Lonchyachi Kholi (Cold Room) were constructed around it. Beyond these rooms, towards the back of the wada were the stables and the grounds of the wada.
The façade of wada, which was its most beautiful section, was demolished in the 60s for the widening of Bajirao Road. The aesthetically rich parts of the wada such as the Diwankhana, the Panchkhani & the Arse Mahal were lost forever. The rest of the wada was demolished recently, giving way to the building that stands there today.
A part of the grounds of the Wada was donated to the Nutan Marathi Vidyalay Primary School in the 20th century.
All that remains of this beautiful Wada today is the Ganeshpatti (wooden lintel with an image of Ganapati carved on it) of an inner door along with a couple of stone bases that once supported finely carved teak pillars.
Adjacent to the site of the Mehendale Wada is the bustling Appa Balwant Chowk. How the chowk got its name has a story behind it. It is said that Sawai Madhavrao was returning to the city after a visit to Parvati, accompanied by Appa Balwant Mehendale. Seated on the back of an elephant, the Peshwa was about to fall from the Ambari when Appa pulled him by his Angarkha just in time to save him from what might have been a fatal fall. Pleased with Appa, the Peshwa announced that the chowk where Appa had saved him would henceforth be known as Appa Balwant Chowk.
Bharat Itihas Sanshodhak Mandal
The renowned historian, Vishwanath Kashinath Rajwade conceived the idea of founding an institution that would collect and preserve historically significant objects & documents to preserve them for posterity & provide a space for the study of history. Rajwade took this idea to Khanderao Mehendale who decided to patronize this institution. This is how Bharat Itihas Sanshodhak Mandal started in 1910 in Mehendale Wada, with 10 wooden cupboards filled with books that were donated by Khanderao Mehendale from his private collection. It later moved to its present location in Sadashiv Peth.
The Present
A great part of the Mehendale relics & heirlooms were either lost or stolen during the 20th century. Some of them have survived, and are scattered across various museums in Pune. Balwantrao Mehendale’s angarkha along with some parts of the Mehendale Daftar (including important bakhars like Bhausahebanchi Bakhar and Ramdas Swaminchi Bakhar along with several takariras, jantris, shakavalis and books of accounts) are at Bharat Itihas Sanshodhak Mandal. Another part of the daftar is at the Deccan College Museum of Maratha History while some parts of the wada’s façade including its Dindi Darwaza along with some parts of the carved wooden ceilings are at Raja Kelkar Museum. Unfortunately, along with material possessions, a great deal of information about this family has also been lost since it was never recorded in the form of a formal 'Gharanyacha Itihas'. The Mehendales also had a wada at Saswad which was demolished a few years ago.
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