Chapekar  ( 1940) 

This is a study of the pedigree of  Chapekar. In the book, the topics such as family name, native place, deities and  religious  practices of  Chapekar  families discussed. 
The first two chapters (viz. Velneshwar and Village  Administration ) should be useful to those researchers who would like to study a village and its institutions. In these chapters, monetary system  of Peshwa regime has been discussed. From the files of the year 1816  it appears that in the Konkan region, there were several different currencies in use in monetary transactions. e.g. Malharshai, Surti Rupee, Chinchwad Ankushai, Farkabahi. 

Velneshwar is generally considered as place of origin of Chapekars, the Chitpawan brahmans. They had the profession either Mukadami (supervising labour) or Kulakaran  (keeping accounts of government revenue). Mukadami is abolished. Kulkaran remained. Velneshwar village was endowed to Saradar Raste.

The taxes generally included house tax, van (tax on animal sacrifice ) and mohatarfa ( tax from  village shopkeepers and skilled workers)  besides land revenue. 
The author is not certain  about the origin of the family name Chapekar. Chapekar name appears in the files of the year 1599. This shows that this name has been existent for last 350 years. In official documents  dated 1715 there is a list of Chapekars.

Chapekars have different family deities- Harihareshwar, Velneshwar, Jogeshwari, Bhawani. According to author’s  observations, Jogeshwari cannot be a family deity of any Chapekar family. Harihareshwar should be the family deity of all Chapekars. Religious practices are Navaratra, Bodan,  . Under the headings ‘Traditions’ and ‘Historical Documents’ the author has provided very interesting information with the help of old documents. For example, Naro Anant Chapekar, the great grandson of Anant Viso Ballal was real cousin of Bajirao the second.

Pedigrees of a family are an interesting subject for research. The pedigree of Kulkarni Chapekars can be traced up to Ballal. The author has provided family trees of different Chapekar  families. These are male members. However, the author has also provided information on women of family trees. This is a distinct feature of this book. 

Navaratra : (Literally nine nights) Nine day period in autumn during which time pooja of devi is performed. Besides this, there are other Navaratras (e.g. Ram navaratra, khandoba navaratra)

Bodan : A family ritual in Brahman community in reverence to Mahalakshmi or a devi

Gondhal : Singing and dancing by Gondhali people in reverence to devi (Godess)

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