Shrivardhan was also an important port in the 16th and 17th century, well known to traders of Ahmednagar and Bijapur. It also appears in the accounts of leading European travellers such as Ziffardan. In 1538 A.D. Dom Joao de Castro described it as having little water under the pier at low tide, but that the interior of the city was large and roomy.
Shrivardhan is popular as the birthplace of Balaji Vishwanath, the first Maratha Peshwa (1713–1720) appointed by Chhatrapati Shahu, grandson of Chhatrapati Shivaji. In 1713, Shriwardhan was one of the sixteen fortified places in the Konkan ceded by Balaji Vishwanath Peshwa to Kanhoji Angre of Kolaba.