| Damaji, also known as Damaji Pant (Damajipant - Pant indicates ministership or high scholarship), Sant Damaji and Bhakta Damaji, was a 15th-century Marathi saint (sant) or bhakta ("devotee"), venerated by the Varkari sect of Hinduism. He was the Kamavisdar (main revenue official) of Mangalvedha under the Bahamani king of Bidar. He is described as a devotee of the god Vithoba - the patron deity of the Varkari sect. He distributed grain from the royal granaries to the people in famine. Vithoba is said to have come as an outcaste with a bag of gold to pay for the grain and rescue Damaji. The famine of 1460 is known as Damaji Pant's famine in the Deccan region in honour of Damaji's generosity in the famine. |
