Kohlapur

Kolhapur कोल्हापुर Dakshin Kashi
City
New Palace at Kolhapur
Nickname(s): Karveer
Kolhapur Location in Maharashtra, India
Coordinates: 16°41′30″N 74°14′00″E / 16.69167°N 74.23333°E / 16.69167; 74.23333Coordinates: 16°41′30″N 74°14′00″E / 16.69167°N 74.23333°E / 16.69167; 74.23333
Country	India
State	Maharashtra
District	Kolhapur
Founded by	Shilahara
Government
• Type	Municipal Corporation
• Body	KMC
• Mayor	Haseena Faras
Area
• City	66.82 km2 (25.80 sq mi)
Elevation	545.6 m (1,790.0 ft)
Population (2011)
• City	889,879
• Rank	India : 54th Maharashtra : 8th
• Density	13,000/km2 (34,000/sq mi)
• Metro	1,889,376
Demonym(s)	Kolhapurkar
Language
• Official	Marathi
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN	416001,416002, 416003, 416004, 416005, 416006, 416007, 416008
Telephone code	0231
Vehicle registration	MH-09
Website	Official Site

Kolhapur, ( Kolhapur.ogg ) is a Historic City in India. It is also known as Historical capital of Maharashtra. It is the district headquarters of Kolhapur district. Prior to Indian Independence, Kolhapur was a nineteen gun salute, princely state ruled by the Bhosale Chhatrapati (Bhosale royal clan) of the Maratha Empire.

Kolhapur is mentioned in the Devi Gita, the final and key chapter of the Devi-Bhagavata Purana, a special text of Shaktism. Kolhapur is noted as a place of Kollamma worship. In the text, Devi says,

The Shilahara family at Kolhapur was the latest of the three and was founded about the time of the downfall of the Rashtrakuta Empire. They ruled over southern Maharashtra; the modern districts of Satara, Kolhapur and Belgaon. Their family deity was the goddess Ambabai, whose blessing they claimed to have secured in their copperplate grants (Mahalakshmi-labdha-vara-prasada). Like their relatives of the northern branch of Konkan, the Shilaharas of Kolhapur claimed to be of the lineage of the Vidyadhara Jimutavahana. They carried the banner of golden Garuda. One of the many titles used by the Shilaharas was Tagarapuravaradhisvara, supreme sovereign ruler of Tagara.[3]

The first capital of the Shilaharas was probably at Karad during the reign of Jatiga-II as known from their copper plate grant of Miraj and 'Vikramankadevacharita' of Bilhana.[4] Hence sometimes they are referred as 'Shilaharas of Karad'. Later on although the capital was shifted to Kolhapur, some of their grants mention Valavada, and the hill fort of Pranalaka or Padmanala, (Panhala) as the places of royal residence. Even though the capital was shifted to Kolhapur, Karhad retained its significance during the Shilahara period. This branch rose to power the latter part of the Rashtrakuta rule and so, unlike the kings of the other two branches, those of this branch do not mention the genealogy of the Rashtrakutas even in their early grants. Later on they acknowledged the suzerainty of the later Chalukya for some time. They had used Kannada as the official language as can seen from their inscriptions. This branch continued to hold the Southern Maharashtra from circa 940 to 1220.