It is stated that the Kunbis entered Khandesh from Gujarat in the
eleventh century, being forced to leave Gujarat by the encroachments
of Rajput tribes, driven south before the early Muhammadan invaders
of northern India. [15] From Khandesh they probably spread into Berar
and the adjoining Nagpur and Wardha Districts. It seems probable that
their first settlement in Nagpur and Wardha took place not later than
the fourteenth century, because during the subsequent period of Gond
rule we find the offices of Deshmukh and Deshpandia in existence in
this area. The Deshmukh was the manager or headman of a circle of
villages and was responsible for apportioning and collecting the land
revenue, while the Deshpandia was a head _patwari_ or accountant. The
Deshmukhs were usually the leading Kunbis, and the titles are still
borne by many families in Wardha and Nagpur. These offices [16] belong
to the Maratha country, and it seems necessary to suppose that their
introduction into Wardha and Berar dates from a period at least as
early as the fourteenth century, when these territories were included
in the dominions of the Bahmani kings of Bijapur. A subsequent large
influx of Kunbis into Wardha and Nagpur took place in the eighteenth
century with the conquest of Raghuji Bhonsla and the establishment of
the Maratha kingdom of Nagpur. Traces of these separate immigrations
survive in the subdivisions of the caste, which will now be mentioned.