Balaji Vishwanath
The taluka of Shriwardhan is an ancient place of historical importance and is mentioned as being visited by Arjuna Pandav in his pilgrimage. It was an important port in the past, well known to traders of Ahmednagar and Bijapur in the 16th and 17th centuries. It appears in the accounts of leading European travellers, for example, Ziffardan. In 1538, Dom Joao de Castro described it as having little water under the pier at low tide, but that the interior of the city was large and roomy. It is notable as the birthplace of Balaji Vishwanath, the first Peshwa (1713–1720) who was the Deshmukh of the town, where there is now a monument to him. In 1713, Shriwardhan was one of the sixteen fortified places in the Konkan ceded by Balaji Vishwanath Peshwa to Kanhoji Angre of Kolaba. Balaji was the first Peshwa of Maratha Empire appointed by Chhatrapati Shahu, grandson of Chhatrapati Shivaji