[7] German academic Alexander Henn, citing Stephan Hillyer Levitt and João Manuel Pacheco de Figueiredo, describes the Sahyadri-khanda as an "apparently recently organized and somewhat deficient edition of disaparate texts".
[2] According to Rosalind O'Hanlon, the core of the text was likely written "before or around the end of the first millennium": it contains stories about Brahmin village settlements that have fallen from virtue.
[7] The text characterizes the Shenvi Brahmins (whom it calls Sarasvatas) as heroes, while ascribing ignoble origins to their rivals such as the Chitpavans and the Karhades.
[8] Raghoba Mahadevrao, a famous Chitpavan performer, recited stories from the Sahyadri-khanda, as recorded by Arthur Crawford, who served as an assistant magistrate in Konkan during 1859-1862.
According to East India Company administrator Mark Wilks, the illiterate Maratha troops indiscriminately destroyed a large number of manuscripts as a result of this order.
It is not clear how successful Peshwa's censorship attempts were, but there is some evidence that by the end of the 18th century, it was difficult to find a copy of the text in the Bombay region.
For example, in 1787, when some people in Bombay decided to consult the Sahyadri-khanda to resolve a dispute over ritual entitlements, they had to request a copy from the Sringeri monastery in present-day Karnataka.
Ramchandra Bhikaji Gunjikar (1843-1901), who wrote on the history of Brahmin communities of Maharashtra, noted that the copies of the Sahyadri-khanda then available in Mumbai, did not mention the founding myth of the Chitpavans.
[7] The original core of the text, comprising 30 chapters, contains stories about Brahmin village settlements that have suffered because their residents engaged in sexual misconduct, degrading work, or neglect of rituals.
[13] Next, the text narrates the founding myths of various Brahmin communities, glorifying the Shenvis (identified as Sarasvatas) at the expense of their rivals such as the Chitpavans and the Karhades.