Panchkalshi is a Hindu community. They are one of the original native communities of Bombay (Mumbai) metropolitan area in the Konkan division of India. Since the 19th century the community has called itself Somvanshi Kshatriya Pathare (SKP).[1]
They are a people who migrated to Bombay (now Mumbai) in 13th century AD, along with the Seuna (Yadava) king, Raja Bhima of Mahikavati (or Bhimdev).[2] According to tradition, the Panchkalshis derive their name from the fact that their former headman used to sit on a canopied throne surmounted by five kalashas.[3][page needed] A 1780 census showed the SKP community to eight per cent of the Mahim population and four per cent of Bombay Fort's.[4] During the Portuguese colonisation of Bombay, Bassein and Taana, many Hindus including some Panchkalshi, adopted Christianity.[5] A number of them were converted back to Hinduism in Maharashtra after the Peshva Brahmins led the Mahratta invasion of Taana, Bassein and Colaaba.
In the British Bombay era, the community took to carpentry, contract work and architecture.[6]
Panchkalshis consider themselves one notch above the Chaukalshis.[7][failed verification] This community was one of first communities to advocate widow remarriage.
Pachkalshi have founded at least three Hindu temples in Mumbai. The Malkeshwar temple in Parel and the Shiva (Mahadev) temple named after the Parli Vaijnath temple is said to have been built by them. Another temple built by Pachkalshi is the Vajreshwari Temple, for their Kuldevi (clan deity).[8] The community celebrates a unique festival. On Pithori Amavasya (the last date in Lunar Shaka month of Shravan), the women in the family pray to sixty-four yoginis for the wellbeing of the children. The women make offerings to figurines of the 64 deities made of flour. The eldest woman in the family holds the figurines on her head and the children surround her. It signifies that the deities will keep a watch on the children.[6]
The community is often confused with the Pathare Prabhus because during the British era both communities were recorded as the same in the census. Although the culture of both communities may be similar, the two are in fact separate communities.[6]
Being natives of Mumbai, many families in the community use surnames derived by adding the suffix -kar to names of the old Mumbai villages (now suburbs) such as:
Gangaji Naik was a prominent Maratha warrior and sardar of the 18th century. He was the prime ally of Chimaji Appasaheb Peshwa during the battle of Vasai during 1737–1738.[9][page needed][10]
^D'Silva, R.D. "Early phase of Christianity in Bassein". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, vol. 33, 1971, pp. 342–349. JSTOR4145351. Accessed 16 July 2020.
^Millard, W. S. (June 1931). "The founders of the Bombay Natural History Society". Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. 35 (1): 196–197. The Society was formed on the 15th September 1883 by... eight residents of Bombay whose names were: [six names listed, followed by]... Dr. Sakharam Arjun
^ abReuben, Rachel (April–June 2005). "The Indian Founders"(PDF). Hornbill. Mumbai: Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS). pp. 13–15. Archived from the original(PDF) on 1 May 2024. On the plaque commemorating the eight gentlemen of Bombay who met on September 15, 1883 to form the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), there are two Indian names. These are Dr. Atmaram Pandurang and Dr. Sakharam Arjun.
"Dr. Sakharam Arjun Ravut (1839–1885):... After he lost his first wife he married a widow with a seven year old daughter called Rukhmabai.... he sent her to England to study medicine. Rukhmabai qualified as a doctor, one of the earliest Indian women to do so.
