Page:The Imperial Durbar Album of the Indian princes, chiefs and zamindars.djvu/217

Rh Narayan Rao was a good soldier. He was of great service to the Peshwa in the battle of Kharda in 1795 A.D.; and, in the campaign of Ramchandra Rao Patwardhan in 1800 A.D. he not only withstood the attacks of Kolhapur, but in 1827 A.D. he got Rs. 48,000 as compensation from that State through the British Government. Narayan Rao died in 1827 A.D.. leaving behind him two sons and five daughters, of whom the eldest, Venkat Rao Dadasaheb, succeeded to the gadi but died intestate in 1838 A.D. and was followed by his younger brother, Keshav Rao Tatyasaheb.

During Tatyasaheb's regime the status of Ichalkaranji was finally determined. The main bulk of the territory belonging to Ichalkaranji was received from the Maharaja of Satara. and some villages from the Peshwa. Moreover, they are free from the incidence of military service, which determines the tenure of the other Jahagirdars of the Southern Mahratta Country. In the year 1847 A.D., the British Government decided that the Chief of Ichalkaranji was to accept the sovereignty of Kolhapur. It was accepted on condition that Kolhapur was not to interfere in the internal administration and that all correspondence between the two states was to pass through the political officers of the British Government.

Keshav Rao Tatyasaheb died in 1852 A.D. without any male issue. Permission of adoption was granted by the Paramount Power, and Venkat Rao Raosaheb came to the gadi as adopted son. He died only within two years. A second adoption was allowed, and Govind Rao Abasaheb from the Huprikar Joshi family was adopted in 1864 A.D. He too died in 1876 A.D., only 18 months after he had assumed the reins of government. His widow adopted the present Chief, Narayan Rao Babasaheb, then a boy of only five years of age. He joined the Rajaram High School in 1879 A.D. and passed the Matriculation examination of the Bombay University in 1889 A.D. Later on, he utilised his time in study and took advantage of every opportunity of acquiring knowledge. He studied all the subjects up to the B.A. course excepting classics, and went through the course of law up to the LL.B. degree. He was invested with full powers in the year 1892 A.D.

Narayan Rao is all in all a man of light and learning, and advocates steady reform. He is possessed of broad views and superior ideas. He is very simple in his private life and very economical in his habits. At the commencement of his rule, the State of Ichalkaranji had a debt of Rs. 45,000, and, in spite of famines and other adverse circumstances, he has not only liquidated all the debt, but has now a good balance on hand. For the last twelve years Narayan Rao Babasaheb has been a Member of the Bombay Legislative^ Council, where his opinions and views are entertained with no small esteem.

The area of Ichalkaranji State is 240 square miles, containing 60,000 inhabitants and yielding a revenue of Rs. 3,15,000 per annum.