253 



An Account of ike 1'ribe of Mhadeo Kolies. 



[April 



Koary and his present of gold mohurs were lodged in this underground 

 vault, and (hat it remains there to the present time. 



Shortly afttfr the death of Rajah Shahoo, when the Mharratta power 

 was in its plentitude, under the Paishwah Ballajee Bajeerow, the Poona 

 government was anxious to obtain possession of all the hill forts in the 

 Syhadry range. The Kolies of the Kotool and Rajoor Dangs were 

 urged to capture the fort of Trimbuck ; the clans of Kharay and Bhaug- 

 grah took the lead in this expedition, with the able assistance of the five 

 brothers of the Puttykur family, who were all distinguished soldiers, 

 noted for their great activity and gallantry, as well as their singular 

 dexterity in climbing up rocky hills that were inaccessible to most men. 

 They secured the friendship of the hereditary Kolies, the guardians of 

 the approaches to the Trimbuck hill, and they bribed a servant belong- 

 ing to the killadar; then, having sacrificed a sheep to secure the favour 

 of the tutelary spirit of the hill, by means of their rope-ladders, five hun- 

 dred of them ascended to the top of the rock, forming the scarp on 

 the western side, and without being discovered they obtained possession 

 of the summit of the fort; upon which they winded their horns for the 

 information of the Moghull garrison. These were completely surprized; 

 a few only attempted resistance ; others ran about with grass in their 

 mouths, entreating quarter ; w 7 hile others more frightened tried to lower 

 themselves over the precipices, and such as were not killed were sadly 

 mangled. Previous to approaching the fort, some of the Kolies, doubt- 

 ing the possibility of escalading the place, two of the Puttykurs 

 volunteered to prove with what facility it could be done. They 

 started and returned in a few hours w 7 ith the killadar's silver hooka 

 to convince the Kolies of the ease with which it might be seized. 

 The Paishwah sent the Kolies forty-thousand rupees to defray their ex- 

 penses. The eldest of the Puttykurs was presented with a palankeen, 

 and Kheroojee Naik was presented with a palankeen, and the village of 

 Barrah was conferred on him in enam (freehold) to support his dignity. 

 Kheroojee's descendants continue to hold this village in enam under 

 the British government ; as the family are involved in debt and the 

 Naik was a boy at the time, I suggested some years ago, that the village 

 should be taken charge of by the collector, for the purpose of establish- 

 ing the best measures to get rid of the claims against the young Naik, 

 as he was surrounded by usurers and persons who plundered him. 



whose name was Loomajee. After his father's death, and when he was ahout twelve years 

 of age, it occurred to several of the friends of the family that it must have been intended 

 that this boy Loomajee should succeed to his ancestor and namesake's treasures, and that, 

 if he would exert himself to obtain the property by descending into the cellar, he would 

 undoubtedly secure it. The poor boy was persuaded to try his luck by entering the vault, 

 but he never returned to relate what he had encountered. There can be little doubt but 

 the mephitic air destroyed him. 



