Kurundvad Senior

Kurundvad Senior, also spelt as 'Kurundwad', was one of two Maratha princely states during the British Raj: 'Kurundvad Junior' and Kurundvad Senior. The two states separated in 1854 and less than a century later, on 8 March 1948, both states acceded to the Indian Union.

Kurundvad Senior State was administered as part of the Deccan States Agency of the Bombay Presidency. Its capital was at Kurundvad a small town by the Panchganga river in Kolhapur district. The surface of was 479 km2, larger than Kurundvad Junior; its population in 1881 was 35,187 and by 1901 it reached 42,474 inhabitants, of which 34,000 were Hindu, 4,500 Muslim and 3,500 Jain.

History
The predecessor of the two states, Kurundvad State, was founded in 1733 following a grant by the Maratha Peshwa to Trimbakrao Patwardhan. A first division occurred in 1811. In 1819, Kurundvad State became a British protectorate.

On 5 April 1854, Kurundvad State split into a Senior Branch and a Junior Branch. Although they held different territories, the capital, Kurundvad, was shared between the two states. The territory of both was widely scattered, forming enclaves within other native states and British districts. Kurundvad Senior retained 37 villages. The greater part of the state was formed by 25 villages located south of Belgaum. Another 10 villages were located in the valley of the Kistna river, mostly dispersed with swathes of British territory in between, but a few of these villages were also located within the Sangli, Kolhapur and Miraj States. The remaining two villages were particularly isolated from the rest of the princely state. These were the villages of Tikota (an enclave in Bijapur District, now in Karnataka) and Wategaon village (an enclave in Satara District, now in Maharashtra) both separated from the rest of the territory.

Rulers
The rulers of the state belonged to the Patwardhan dynasty and bore the title 'Rao'.

On 8 March 1948, the state acceded to India. Titular rulers of Kurundwad Senior in independent India have been: The heir to the throne is Raghunathrao Bhalchandrarao Patwardhan (b. 1988), only son of the incumbent
 * 1733 – 1771                   Trimbakrao I "Appa Sahib" Patwardhan (d. 1771)
 * 1771 – 3 March 1771             Nilkanthrao "Dada Sahib" Patwardhan (b. 1726 – d. 1771), son of Trimbakrao I
 * 1771 – 1801                   Raghunathrao I "Dada Sahib" Patwardhan (b. 1750 – d. 1801), son of Nilkanthrao
 * 1801 – 18..                   Trimbakrao II "Appa Sahib" Patwardhan, (years of rule unknown), son of Raghunathrao I
 * 18.. – 1827                   Keshavrao "Baba Sahib" Patwardhan (b. ... – d. 1827), son of Trimbakrao II
 * 1827 – 1876                   Raghunathrao II "Dada Sahib" Patwardhan (b. 1812 – d. 1876), son of Keshavrao
 * 25 Jan 1876 – 16 February 1908     Chintamanrao I "Bala Sahib" Patwardhan (b. 1849 – d. 1908), son of Raghunathrao II
 * 16 Feb 1908 – 10 September 1927     Bhalchandrarao "Anna Sahib" Patwardhan (b. 1873 – d. 1927), son of Chintamanrao I
 * 1927 – 1942 (regency)         Sitabai Bhalchandrarao Patwardhan "Mai Sahib" (b. 1901 – d. 1969), wife of Bhalchandrarao and mother of Chintamanrao II
 * 1942 – 8 March 1948          Chintamanrao II "Bala Sahib" Patwardhan (b. 1921 – d. 1980), son of Bhalchandrarao
 * 8 March 1948 – 15 January 1980   Chintamanrao II "Bala Sahib" Patwardhan (b. 1921 – d. 1980), son of Bhalchandrarao
 * 15 Jan 1980 – Present         Bhalchandrarao II Chintamanrao Patwardhan (b. 1953)