The first historical mention of Mahabaleshwar dates back to year 1215 when the King Singhan of Deogiri visited Old Mahabaleshwar.[citation needed] He built a small temple and water tank at the source of the river Krishna. Around 1350, a Brahmin dynasty ruled this area.[citation needed] In the middle of the 16th century the Maratha family of Chandarao More defeated the Brahmin dynasty and became rulers of Javli and Mahabaleshwar, during which period Old Mahabaleshwar temple was rebuilt.[citation needed]

In 1656, the founder of Maratha empire, Shivaji on account of political circumstances, killed Chandrarao More, a fellow Maratha feudatory of Bijapur, and seized the valley of Javali, near Mahabaleshwar,from him.[11][12] Around that time Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj also built a fort near Mahabaleshwar called Pratapgad.The fort remains in the hands of Shivaji's descendants to this day.[British colonial era

Map of the region (1881)
In 1819, after the demise of the Maratha empire, the victorious British ceded the hills around Mahabaleshwar to the vassal state of Satara. Colonel Lodwick (Later General Sir Lodwick) after climbing the mountains near Mahabaleshwar, recommended the place as a sanatorium for the British forces to governor Sir John Malcolm of Bombay presidency. The Raja of Satara was granted other villages in exchange for the British getting Mahabaleshwar in 1828.[13] In old records Mahabaleshwar was even called as Malcolm Peth after the governor.[14] Mahabaleshwar started gaining prominence when British officials of Bombay presidency such as in 1828, and later Sir Mountstuart Elphinstone, Arthur Malet (for whom the seat at "Point Arthur" is named), Carnac, and many others became regular visitors. A lake called Venna lake was constructed in 1842 to collect water from perennial springs.The Venna river flows from this lake.[15] Bartley Frere, the commissioner of Satara in 1850s built the road from Satara to Mahabaleshwar.[16] In mid 1800s, Mahabaleshwar was made into summer capital of Bombay presidency.[17] Government spending led to rapid development of the area.Colonial officials spent part of their year in the area.Their wives spent longer period to be with their children in local boarding schools in Mahabaleshwar and nearby Panchgani.[18][19] The British rulers wanted to recreate the English landscape in the hill stations and to that end, European flora such as strawberries[20] were introduced in Mahabaleshwar, and amenities such as libraries,theatres, boating lakes, and sports grounds constructed. [21]

Added to the scores of magnificent scenic "points", the perennial springs, streams, and waterfalls of Mahabaleshwar plateau, with its year round superb climate, drew the English and others to Mahabaleshwar. By the end of the 19th century it had become an attractive popular hill station of world renown. Raj Bhavan, the Summer residence of the Governor of Maharashtra, is also located here. An older building named "The Terraces" was purchased in 1884 and rechristened as Giri Darshan in 1886.[22]

"Babington House", is a colonial-style bungalow built in the shape of a cross with a deep veranda, elaborate metal work railing and extensive outhouses. It was formerly one of the country seats of the Dubash family, a Parsi ship chandler dynasty from Bombay who sold it to the Rahejas in the early 1970s. It contains a central dining room with a 24-seater table and a library pavilion with 1st edition books collected by the Dubash family, notably Jamsetjee "Jimmy" Kavasjee Dubash, a bibliophile and art collector.[citation needed]