The Shirke are a Maratha clan, found largely in Maharashtra

Maharashtra

Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...

 and bordering states of India.

History

King Shivaji's brides were from the Shirke Maratha clan and moreover several prominent Maratha royals of the 96 Clans used to marry with Shirke. Some knights such as Bhosale of Nagpur in their Princely era selected seven clans for intermarrying among themselves.

The Shirke were rulers of Shrungarpur and they were active Marathas in Maratha Empire expansion and also pre-Shivaji era. They showed their bravery in Maratha martial operations.

Gujrat

The Shirke were part of Maratha community present in Baroda and regions nearby. They established themselves there along with theMaratha 96k clans due to formation of Maratha Kingdom under the Gaikwad sardars.

Tamil Nadu

They were relatives of King Venkoji Bhosale and Their Faithful Sardars. Many of them were returned to Maharashtra along with 96k clans. They have their presence in Tamil Nadu when Vyankoji Bhosale ruled there, and at Satara, Nagpur, Baroda etc., places dominated by Maratha Clans.

Karnataka

There were some Maratha clans for the sake of Maratha Empire expansion dwelled in Karnataka along with Shirke and the majority of them now resides in Maharashtra Karnataka Border disputed area.

Madhya Pradesh

As there is Gwalior and Dewas

Dewas

Dewas is an ancient town situated on the Malwa plateau in the West-central part of Indian state called Madhya Pradesh, about 160 km south west from state capital, Bhopal. It is the administrative center of the Dewas District, and was formerly the seat of two princely states during the British...

states of Maratha, there is a population of Maratha 96k clans and Shirke is prominent part of it.

English

• A History of the Mahrattas

by James Grant Duff, Stephen Meredyth Edwardes
Edition: revised
Published by H. Milford, Oxford University Press, 1921
Item notes: v. 2
Original from Harvard University
Digitized 7 Jul 2005
573 pages

• The Gazetteer of Bombay Presidency : Satara District

Published by Printed at the Govt. Photozinco Press, 1985
Item notes: v. 19
Original from the University of Michigan
Digitized 29 Aug 2008

• Chhatrapati Sambhaji

By Kamal Shrikrishna Gokhale
Published by Navakamal Publications, 1978
Original from the University of California
Digitized 30 Jul 2008
438 pages

• A history of the Maratha people

By Charles Augustus Kincaid, Dattātraya Baḷavanta Pārasanīsa
Published by S. Chand, 1968
Item notes: v. 1
Original from the University of Michigan
Digitized 1 Aug 2007

• Konkan, from the Earliest to 1818 A.D.: A Study in Political and Socio-economic Aspects

By Viṭhṭhala Gopāḷa Khobarekara
Published by Snehavardhan Pub. House, 2002
Original from the University of Michigan
Digitized 4 Sep 2008
436 pages