Under Maratha Empire The Vinchurkar family rose to importance in the middle of the eighteenth century when Vitthal Shivdev Vinchurkar was at its head, he distinguished himself at the siege of Ahmadabad in 1755, and accompanied the Maratha army in the fatal expedition which ended in the defeat of Panipat. The Vinchurkars hail from Vinchur village of
Maratha Empire (now part of
Maharashtra). However
Nasik district was the home of the well-known Sardar Vinchurkar family. The Vinchurkars held forty five villages in Nasik as well as elsewhere in Maratha Empire of which
Yeola was one. The Vinchurkar family also played a crucial role in the
Third Battle of Panipat which took place on 14 January 1761, Where the army of Marathas fought Afghan invader
Ahmad Shah Durrani. Vitthal Narsingh Vinchurkar was the Sardar of
Peshwa and one of the grandees in the
Maratha Empire who continued to be loyal to Peshwa almost to the bitter end. The Vinchurkars have their land of
Inams and
Vatans in
Khandesh.
Under East India Company After the defeat of Peshwa
Bajirao II by
Maharaj Yashwantrao Holkar at the
Battle of Poona,
Bajirao II fled the battle and sought British protection (who were the enemies of
Maratha Empire), and in December 1802, concluded the
Treaty of Bassein with the
British East India Company, ceding territory for the maintenance of a subsidiary force and agreeing to treaty with no other power. This provoked the
Second Anglo-Maratha War that began the breakup of the
Maratha confederacy. Holkar appointed
Amrutrao as the
Peshwa and went to Indore on 13 March 1803. When Bajirao II surrendered to
John Malcolm, Vitthal Narsing Vinchurkar was present. He tendered his submission to Sir John Malcolm when his master the Peshwa accepted the Malcolm's terms. Sir
John Malcolm believed that ''Narsing Vinchurkar was to a large extent responsible for influencing Bajirao II for accepting the Malcolm's terms
. According to these terms jagir'' of Vinchurkars was restored to them by the
British. The British reinstated Bajirao II as the Peshwa at Pune on 13 May 1803. During his second reign of Bajirao II began the
Third Anglo-Maratha War. After the defeat at the
Battle of Koregaon in January 1818, The British took over his dominion and made the Maratha King
Pratap Singh of Satara declare in favour of the British. This ended the Peshwa's legal position as head of the Maratha confederacy.
Under British Raj The Vinchurkars are classified as first class Sardars under
British Raj. One of the member of Vinchurkar family, Sardar Madhavrao Vitthal Vinchurkar along with
Jagannath Shankarsheth, and Rushtomji Jamshedji were appointed to the Council of the Governor of Bombay. Sardar Raghunathrao Vitthal Vinchurkar was the
Jagirdar of
Vinchur. He was awarded the title
Umdut-ul-Mulk by the British Raj. Raghunathrao Vinchurkar was also awarded the medal
Order of the Star of India (
C.S.I) by the British for his excellence in the service. Sardar Krishnarao Vitthal Vinchurkar was appointed as Sub-Judge as 1st Class under 2nd Grade for
Satara by the
British Raj. Note: The names mentioned above Sardar Bahadur Raghunathrao Vitthal Vinchurkar, Sardar Krishnarao Vitthal Vinchurkar and Sardar Madhavrao Vitthal Vinchurkar are the sons of Sardar Bahadur Vitthal Shivdev Vinchurkar. Original Family name being Daani. ==Family tree==