Mudhol State, Plate Badge with coat of arms of the State, Silver, 66.42g, Crest - hand holding a sword, Arms - chevron divider with Devanagari legend “Shri Ram”, in centre a monitor lizard, stars left and right, crescent above and sun face below, resting on lambraquins, Motto - Marathi legend ‘Kirti Māge Urāvi’ (“Let the fame stay behind”), Supporters - two blackbuck Deer, The royal family of Mudhol belonged to the same ancestral stock as Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj but took the surname ‘Ghorpade’ from a rare feat of climbing fort walls using a monitor lizard (Ghorpad in Marathi). The same animal appears on the arms. Extremely fine, extremely rare.
Mudhol was one of the 9-gun salute states of British India, under the summit of Niranjan. Mudhol State's last king, HH Shrimant Raja Bhairavsinhrao Malojirao Ghorpade II, born 15 October 1929 and succeeded to the throne on 9 November 1937, was the 23rd Raja of Mudhol. He signed the accession to join the Indian Union on 8 March 1948.