(Reference: History Book: Tawareekh-E-ShindeShahi) Mahadaji Pant Karkare (Ballal) was born in a Karhade Brahmin family in a village in Ratnagiri district in the Western Maharashtra.
Sakharam Moreshwar Karkare Ballal was appointed as chief of the troop of the personal bodyguards of Peshwa Vishwas Rao Balaji during the battle of Panipat - 1761.
Records of the Peshwa Office states, that Sakharam Moreshwar Karkare was killed in action while fighting with the troops of Shah Wali Khan of Afghanistan in the south of Ugrakhedi and north of Risalu villages near Panipat.
(Tawareekh-E-ShindeShahi) In the Peshwa's court in Pune, Mahadaji Pant joined as a clerk and gradually reached at the post of ‘Auditor General'.
In 1778, before starting his Kolhapur campaign, the warrior "Shreenath" Mahadji Shinde got his demands fulfilled from the Peshwa's Court through Mahadjipant Karkare Ballal Guruji's arbitration.