There is a small village called Hardi in Chiplun Taluk of Ratnagiri Distiict in Maharashtra in the north Konkan area. Hardiker’s forefathers were originally living in this village. Possible one of them migrated south as camp follower of Maratha army, or of some Maharashtra chieftain, in the days when the Maharashtra empire, after Shivaji, was extending its domination on all sides.