1837.] 



An Account of the Tribe of Mhadeo Kolies. 



259 



But to return to the subject of the hill forts. The Paishwah now 

 expressed a wish to obtain possession of the forts of Kullur^ur, Ruttun- 

 gur, Allung and Koorung, which belonged to the Koly Rajah of Jowair. 

 The same Naiks that captured Trimbuck commenced operations against 

 Ruttungur. The Jowair Rajah and his family were at the time on this 

 hill, but the Kolies being acquainted with one of the Mussulman jema- 

 dars of the fort, whose family was residing in one of their villages, 

 they got him to fix the rope ladders* for them on the hill, and two 

 hundred of them ascended to the top, but they had to fight a tough 

 battle with the men composing the garrison, before the latter surren- 

 dered ; including the loss on both sides, there were two hundred men 

 killed and wounded. The Kolies got possession of the other forts 

 also, and the Paishwah sent them thirty thousand rupees to pay their 

 expenses, and Yeemajee Naik Bhauggrah, of Sakurwary was presented 

 with a palankeen, and the village of Sakurwary was conferred in enam 

 on him, — his descendants possess it now. 



The circumstance of so many of the Koly inhabitants being either 

 employed on the hill forts or to guard the approaches leading to them, 

 gave the relatives of these people many opportunities of negotiating 

 for the surrender of the forts to an enemy ; for the Kolies acted frequent- 

 ly a very treacherous part on such emergencies. At the time of the 

 struggle between the Mahrattas and the Mahomedans for supremacy 

 in the Dukhun, and especially during the decline of power of the 

 latter, and the factious nnd unsettled times of Raghoba Dada, it was 

 not unusual tj> hear of the Kolies tendering possession of a hill fort for 

 a bribe to a different party to that which had advanced them money to 

 capture it, while the place continued in the hands of the Kolies ; and, 

 previous to their handing it over to the highest bidder, they carried off 

 all the grain that was stored in the granaries. 



In the year 1760, upon the occasion of the death of Heerojee Naik 

 Baumlay of Bhoregur, one of the Koly Naiks, who retained the rank 

 of munsubdar, which had been conferred upon one of his ancestors 

 by the Mahomedan kings of Bedur, Jowjee Naik his son, then doing 

 duty at Joonere, applied to the soobahdar of the province to get him 

 nominated by the Paishwah to the situation vacated by his father, and 

 to allow him to assume charge of the freehold lands and different 

 emoluments that he had enjoyed. Jowjee Baumlay was of slight 

 figure and about the middle size, with a fair complexion. Her was very 

 active and intelligent, and possessed a bold, restless and enterprising 

 spirit ; very ambitious ; of irregular habits, and conniving frequently 



* The ladders are made of the roots of the creepers marr yelluh and yeotah yelluh ; these 

 are twisted together, and at every cubit or so a piece of wood is fastened to be used as a 

 step. 



