Miraj

At the end of the 9th century, the Shilaharas of Kolhapur gained control of Miraj. In 1024, the city was ruled by Narasimha of the Shilahar dynasty. Jatiga II ({{circa|1000–1020}}), the fourth Shilahar ruler, appears in the records of his son, Narasimha (c. 1050–1075). Jatiga II was succeeded by his son Gonka, who has been described in inscriptions as the conqueror of Karahata (Karad), Miraj, and Konkan. The Shilaharas were able to retain control of Miraj despite nearby military action by Chavan-raja, a general of Western Chalukya King Jayasimha II.

In 1216, Miraj, along with other Shilahara territory, was conquered by the Yadavas of Devagiri. In 1318, the Bahmanis gained control.{{Cite book |last=Husaini |first=S. A. Q. |url=https://ignca.gov.in/Asi_data/74093.pdf |title=Bahman Shah: The Founder of the Bahmani Kingdom |publisher=Firma K. L. Mukhopadhyay |year=1960 |edition=1st |location=Calcutta}}{{Page needed|date=March 2024}} The historian Tazkirat-ul-Mulk reported that Hasan Gangu, the founder of the Bahmani dynasty, was in the employ of the Shaikh Muhammad Junaidi at Gangi near Miraj. Hasan found a treasure with which he raised an army, and marched on Miraj. He defeated and imprisoned Rani Durgavati, the subedar of Miraj, and captured the town's fort. At the behest of Shaikh Muhammad, the name of the town was changed to Mubarakabad in 1347 (748 AH). In 1395, the Bahmanis conquered Miraj.{{Page needed|date=March 2024}} Between 1391 and 1403, Miraj was affected by the Durga Devi famine. From 1423, Malik Imad Ul Mulk ruled Miraj. 1494 was the year of Bahadur Khan Gilani's rebellion. For two months in 1660, Shivaji and Adilshah battled for control of Miraj.

The builder of Miraj fort is unknown. It probably predates the Bahmani sultans, although they may have repaired it and increased its fortifications. They used the fort as a base for military expeditions against South Konkan and Goa. Firishta mentions the fort in an account of Gilani's rebellion in 1494, which was quelled by Sultan Muhammad II (1452–1515). Muhammad II took the fort from its governor, Buna Naik, who acquiesced to the new ruler. Gilani's troops were offered the option of joining Muhammad's army and being treated with leniency or leaving. About 2000 soldiers left the fort to join Gilani's rebel forces.

The fortress's main entrance was a massive gate towering at {{convert|9|m|abbr=on}}, but it has been destroyed.

The power of the Bahmani rulers waned under the influence of powerful provincial governors. In 1490, the rule of Miraj passed to the Sultanate of Bijapur. During the later years of his reign, Ibrahim Adil Shah I (1534–1558) kept his son, Ali Adil Shah I (1558–1580), under house arrest in Miraj. On Ibrahim's death in 1580, Miraj became an assembly point for Ali's troops in his assuming the throne. Subsequently, the troops of Miraj fought with Ismail against Ibrahim Adil Shah II.

On 28 November 1659, within 18 days of Bijapur General Afzal Khan's death at Pratapgad, the western Adil Sahi district was surrendered to Annaji Datto (Shivaji's finance minister). Unlike other towns, the Miraj fort resisted. Shivaji, who was encamped at Kolhapur, sent Netaji Palkar to besiege Miraj. In January 1660, Shivaji arrived to personally command the three-month-long ongoing siege. However, news of attacks by Siddi Johar and Fazal Khan caused him to return to Panhala. The siege of Miraj was abandoned and negotiations began. Under the rule of Sambhaji, the Maratha Empire generals Santaji Ghorpade and Dhanaji Jadhav chose Miraj as a safe place for their families while they conducted guerrilla actions against the invading forces of Aurangzeb of the Mughal Empire.

In 1687, Bijapur was conquered by the Mughals. Santaji Ghorpade became Deshmukh of Miraj in 1680 and Aurangzeb captured the town six years later. In 1730, Maratha Chhatrapati Shahu of Satara ordered Pant Pratinidhi{{which|date=March 2024}} to attack the town. Miraj remained under Mughal rule until 3 October 1739, when it was captured by Shahu after a military campaign of two years, reflecting the fall of the last defences of the Mughals. In 1761, Harbhat Patwardhan's son, Gopalrao, took the Miraj jagir from Peshwa Madhavrao.

The Patwardhan dynasty ruled Miraj as the capital of a principality, overseen by British rule. Miraj was part of the southern division of the Bombay Presidency which in turn was part of the southern Maratha jagirs, and later the Deccan States Agency. In 1820, the state of Miraj was divided into Miraj Senior and Miraj Junior. The territory of both regions was distributed among other native states and British districts. The area of Miraj Senior was {{convert|339|sqmi|km2}}. In 1901, its population was 81,467. Its revenue was £23,000 and the tax paid to the British was £800. The population of the town of Miraj in 1901 was 18,425. It lay on a junction of the Southern Mahratta Railway.

On 8 March 1948, Miraj Senior acceded to the Dominion of India, and the city became part of the Republic of India. Since 1960, it has been part of the state of Maharashtra.

{{Weather box

| location = Miraj (1981–2010, extremes 1968–2010)

| metric first = Yes

| single line = Yes

| Jan record high C = 36.1

| Feb record high C = 40.0

| Mar record high C = 42.3

| Apr record high C = 43.0

| May record high C = 42.9

| Jun record high C = 41.6

| Jul record high C = 35.8

| Aug record high C = 34.8

| Sep record high C = 36.5

| Oct record high C = 39.2

| Nov record high C = 35.1

| Dec record high C = 34.4

| year record high C = 43.0

| Jan high C = 31.8

| Feb high C = 34.1

| Mar high C = 36.8

| Apr high C = 38.5

| May high C = 37.3

| Jun high C = 31.5

| Jul high C = 28.9

| Aug high C = 28.4

| Sep high C = 30.5

| Oct high C = 32.1

| Nov high C = 31.7

| Dec high C = 31.0

| year high C = 32.7

| Jan low C = 14.4

| Feb low C = 15.7

| Mar low C = 18.8

| Apr low C = 21.5

| May low C = 22.4

| Jun low C = 22.2

| Jul low C = 21.6

| Aug low C = 21.2

| Sep low C = 20.9

| Oct low C = 20.3

| Nov low C = 17.4

| Dec low C = 14.7

| year low C = 19.2

| Jan record low C = 7.0

| Feb record low C = 8.6

| Mar record low C = 11.1

| Apr record low C = 14.2

| May record low C = 15.5

| Jun record low C = 18.5

| Jul record low C = 9.7

| Aug record low C = 17.4

| Sep record low C = 14.1

| Oct record low C = 13.3

| Nov record low C = 8.7

| Dec record low C = 6.5

| year record low C = 6.5

| rain colour = green

| Jan rain mm = 0.3

| Feb rain mm = 0.2

| Mar rain mm = 6.5

| Apr rain mm = 21.6

| May rain mm = 51.9

| Jun rain mm = 137.9

| Jul rain mm = 108.1

| Aug rain mm = 89.2

| Sep rain mm = 124.0

| Oct rain mm = 115.6

| Nov rain mm = 22.2

| Dec rain mm = 4.5

| year rain mm = 681.8

| Jan rain days = 0.0

| Feb rain days = 0.0

| Mar rain days = 0.5

| Apr rain days = 1.5

| May rain days = 2.8

| Jun rain days = 7.6

| Jul rain days = 9.7

| Aug rain days = 9.2

| Sep rain days = 7.0

| Oct rain days = 5.5

| Nov rain days = 1.5

| Dec rain days = 0.4

| year rain days = 45.6

| time day = 17:30 IST

| Jan humidity = 39

| Feb humidity = 31

| Mar humidity = 30

| Apr humidity = 31

| May humidity = 45

| Jun humidity = 68

| Jul humidity = 75

| Aug humidity = 76

| Sep humidity = 69

| Oct humidity = 56

| Nov humidity = 49

| Dec humidity = 45

| year humidity = 51

| source 1 = India Meteorological Department

{{cite web

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200205040301/http://imdpune.gov.in/library/public/1981-2010%20CLIM%20NORMALS%20%28STATWISE%29.pdf

| archive-date = 5 February 2020

| url = https://imdpune.gov.in/library/public/1981-2010%20CLIM%20NORMALS%20%28STATWISE%29.pdf

| title = Station: Miraj (Sangali) Climatological Table 1981–2010

| work = Climatological Normals 1981–2010

| publisher = India Meteorological Department

| date = January 2015

| pages = 497–498

| access-date = 10 April 2020}}

|source 2 = Government of Maharashtra

{{cite web

| url = http://cultural.maharashtra.gov.in/english/gazetteer/SANGLI/gen_climate.html | title = Climate

| publisher = Government of Maharashtra

| access-date = 10 April 2020}}

|date = June 2012

}}

Marathi is the official language, while Kannada is also a widely spoken language of the city. A form of Hindustani, Hyderabadi Deccani is also spoken.

Miraj is a popular place for artists to perform during urus. The administrative office of the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya is at Miraj. The city is known for its players and manufacturers of sitars.

• Vishnu Digambar Paluskar
• Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande
• Hirabai Badodekar
• Vinayakrao Patwardhan
• Bal Gandharva made his debut performance at the city's Hans Prabha Theatre. In the same location, the Balgandharva Natyagruha was named for him.
• Abdul Karim Khan, a performer of Kirana gharana, lies interred within the Hadrat Khwaja Shamna Mira RH and Hadrat Mira Saheb RH Dargah. An annual music festival at the dargah takes place in his memory.
• Ram Kadam, a Marathi film composer and musician

Miraj supplies Indian string instruments such as the sitar, sarod, and tanpura. These are made of wood and specially treated gourds. The art of instrument making was developed by Faridsaheb Shikalgar in the 18th century, and his descendants, who now use 'Sitarmaker' as their surname,{{Cite web |last=Bhattacharya |first=Sarbajaya |date=Feb 29, 2024 |title=Sitarmakers of Miraj: fading notes |url=https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/articles/sitarmakers-of-miraj-fading-notes/ |url-status=live |website=People's Archive of Rural India}} follow this tradition. The area of Miraj is known for creating sitars. The traditional craft of making these instruments is passed down from generation to generation.

Miraj is also known for Khwaja Shamna Mira, a dargah over the tomb of Khwaja Muhammad Mira Hussaini Chishti, a Sufi originally from Kashgar who migrated to Miraj. The story behind him is that at the time of his arrival in Miraj, the city was ruled by a black magician Gangna Dhobi who made human sacrifices. It is said that due to Mira's spiritual power he convinced Dhobi to become a Muslim. Another story tells that Mira was walking barefoot, and a shoemaker decided to make shoes for him with skin torn from his own thigh. As a reward, he asked for the right to cover the first chadar of Mira during his urus.{{clarify|date=March 2024}} This has continued since, and during his urus a shoemaker first puts a chadar on the tomb.

Miraj Junction railway station is an important junction on the Central Railway. It was the only junction to have all three rail gauges: broad gauge, narrow gauge, and metre gauge. The last narrow gauge train departed on 1 November 2008. Miraj now has only broad gauge railway tracks.{{when|date=March 2024}} Miraj is connected by railway to Pune in the north, Kurduvadi via Pandharpur in the northeast, and Belgaum and Goa in the south. In February 2011, passenger trains from Kolhapur to Solapur began running on the converted Miraj-Pandharpur-Kurduvadi broad gauge track.

Trains of the South Western Railway, like the Rani Chennamma Express bound for Bengaluru, originate from Miraj Junction station.

Miraj lies off the Mumbai-Pune-Bengaluru highway, NH 48. Sangli and Miraj form a triangle with two exits of NH 48, each about 50 km away. Though the time taken to travel from Miraj varies depending on speed and other factors, Mumbai is about 7 hours away, and Bengaluru about 11 hours away by car.

Suresh Khade, the MLA from Miraj constituency, represents the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2024 elections.

{{Portal|India}}

• William James Wanless{{snd}}Founder of Wanless Hospital
• Dargah of Meerasaheb Avalia

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.smkc.gov.in The Municipal Corporation home page - Marathi language only as of 2006/10/09]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20100818065812/http://uqconnect.net/~zzhsoszy/ips/m/mirajsnr.html List of rulers of Miraj Senior]
• [http://www.maharashtra.gov.in/english/gazetteer/SANGLI/places_Miraj.html Original article in the district Gazetteer]

{{Sangli district topics}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Cities and towns in Sangli district

Category:Talukas in Maharashtra