Vishwanath Kashinath Rajwade

Vishwanath Kashinath Rajwade (24 July 1863 – 31 December 1926), popularly known as Itihasacharya Rajwade, was a historian, scholar, writer, commentator and orator from Bombay Presidency, in British India. He is considered to be the first in real sense to undertake an immense research of Maratha history by visiting hundreds of villages and historical places all over India and gathering thousands of historical papers. He was also a commentator on various aspects of world history. He was the founder member of Itihas Sanshodhak Mandal, Pune. His students include historians like Datto Vaman Potdar, Vasudeo Sitaram Bendrey and G. H. Khare. The historian, Ram Sharan Sharma says: "With his unadulterated passion for research, V.K.Rajwade went from village to village in Maharashtra in search of Sanskrit manuscripts and sources of Maratha history; which were published in twenty-two volumes." Rajwade should not be confused with "Ahitagni" Shankar Ramchandra Rajwade, the Vedic scholar.