Timeline of Sai Baba of Shirdi (1838 — 1918)

Hemadpant's estimate, derived by counting back from Baba's continuous Shirdi residence and 1918 Mahasamadhi. Birthplace and parents are unknown; in Chapter 4 Hemadpant compares Baba's biography to the bhakti-tradition's "found infants" — Namdev and Kabir.
Ch. 4 · Ch. 10

A fair, smart, handsome young lad seen sitting in asana under a neem tree in Bhagat Mhalsapati's field, doing hard penance unmoved by heat or cold. Stayed about three years. The neem tree is regarded as the samadhi-sthana of Baba's own (unnamed) Guru.
Ch. 4

After about three years the young Baba left Shirdi.
Ch. 4

Met Chand Patil at Aurangabad (helped him recover his lost mare and the chillim-fire-and-water at the mango tree); accompanied his wedding party to Shirdi. Greeted by Mhalsapati: "Ya Sai" — "Welcome, Sai." The name remained. Remained in Shirdi for the next 60 years.
Ch. 5

On a Margashirsha full-moon day Baba suffered a severe asthma attack. He instructed Bhagat Mhalsapati: "Protect My body for three days. If I return, it will be alright; if I do not, bury My body in that open land and fix two flags there as a mark." Breathing stopped at 10 p.m. Mhalsapati alone resisted village demands for inquest; sat full three days with Baba's body on his lap. At 3 a.m. on the third day breathing resumed.
Ch. 43-44

Mr. Gopalrao Gund proposed an Urus (Muslim fair) after the birth of a son to him by Baba's blessing. Baba chose Rama-Navami day for the fair — fusing the Hindu and Muslim observances into a single festival that continues today.
Ch. 6

Bombay solicitor Hari Sitaram "Kakasaheb" Dixit, advised by Nanasaheb Chandorkar after a leg-injury sustained boarding a London train, came to Shirdi: "Cure the lameness of my mind rather than of my leg."
Ch. 4 · Ch. 50

Devotees began regular evening worship of Baba at the Chavadi, formalizing the alternate-night dormitory pattern into the ceremonial procession of Chapter 37. The same day Kakasaheb Dixit's Wada foundation was laid.
Ch. 37 · Ch. 4

Baba thrust his arm into the Dhuni; the arm was scorched. Madhavrao Deshpande (Shama) pulled him back. Baba: "The wife of a blacksmith at some distant place was working the bellows of a furnace… her child slipped into the furnace. I immediately thrust My hand into the furnace and saved the child." From then Bhagoji Shinde dressed the arm daily until Mahasamadhi.
Ch. 7

Baba's personal cooking practice — bazar shopping for grain in cash, grinding, lighting the hearth, testing food doneness by thrusting his bare arm into the boiling cauldron — ended this year. Das Ganu's Bombay-Presidency kirtans had brought such crowds of naivedya-bringing devotees that the Kala distribution from offerings replaced Baba's own Handi.
Ch. 38

Kakasaheb Dixit's Wada became inhabitable.
Ch. 4

The courtyard at the masjid was completed. By this point pilgrims came in such numbers that the original 5,000-7,000 grew toward the eventual 75,000 of later years.
Ch. 6

Plan by Dr. Ramarao Kothare; inscription added by Upasani Maharaj. Baba touched them: "These are the feet of the Lord." Megha died this year; Baba walked with the funeral procession, showered flowers, wept. Mrs. Khaparde's seven-month Shirdi stay; the "Rajarama" Shakti-pat to her.
Ch. 5 · Ch. 28 · Ch. 27

Long-frustrated reader B. V. Deo, Mamlatdar of Dahanu, received Baba's order at the masjid: "Go on daily reading the Pothi."
Ch. 41

Baba appeared in dream on the upper floor: "While reading you make haste, read it before Me, in My presence. Read Adhyatma."
Ch. 41

From this year Baba formally placed the kirtan duty at the Shirdi festival with Das Ganu Maharaj.
Ch. 6

Baba's wild rage during Seemollanghan: he tore off head-dress, kafni, langota, threw them into the Dhuni; stood naked with burning red eyes: "You fellows, decide finally whether I am Moslem or Hindu." Striking the ground: "This is my Seemollanghan." Understood only retrospectively as marking Dasara as the day he would cross the border of life.
Ch. 42

A year of late-stage devotee arrivals. Balabuva Sutar, called "modern Tukaram," first met Baba — and was told "I know this man since four years" (referring to a portrait-prostration four years earlier in Bombay). Mr. Cholkar's sugarless-tea vow was recognized. The Khapardes' diary preserves the detail of this period.
Ch. 33 · Ch. 15 · Ch. 27

Baba directed Mr. Vaze to read the Ramavijaya — once in a week, then day and night for three days, completing two readings in eleven days, then three days more.
Ch. 43-44

Baba's two- or three-day fever, after which he gave up food.
Ch. 42

Seven days before Mahasamadhi: three Derveshis brought a chained, diseased, fierce tiger to the masjid. As the tiger approached Baba on the steps, it hung its head, looked at Baba with affection, dashed its tail thrice against the ground, and fell dead.
Ch. 31

Tuesday, Vijayadashami. Documented through Professor G. G. Narke's letter of 5 November 1918 to Dadasaheb Khaparde, published in Sai Leela magazine first year, p. 78. Last words: "I do not feel well here; take Me to the Dagadi Wada of Booty, where I shall be alright." Baba leaned on Bayaji's body and breathed his last. Tatya Patil — whose death two years earlier had been predicted — survived. Baba had given Rs. 9 to Laxmibai Shinde just before. He had earlier ordered Dixit and Booty to leave for meals; news of his passing reached them mid-meal.
Ch. 42 · Ch. 43-44

Baba appeared in dream to the village astrologer Laxman Mama Joshi: "Bapusaheb thinks that I am dead and so he won't come; you do the worship and the Kakad arati." Same day, Das Ganu at Pandharpur received Baba in dream: "The Masjid collapsed… please go there quickly." The 36-hour debate over disposal of the body was resolved by Mamlatdar plebiscite, then unanimously by Baba's inspiration.
Ch. 42 · Ch. 43-44

Procession from masjid to Booty Wada. Baba's body installed in the central garbha designed for Murlidhar (Lord Krishna with flute). Baba himself became Murlidhar; the Wada became the Samadhi Mandir. Obsequies performed by Balasaheb Bhate and Upasani.
Ch. 39-40 · Ch. 43-44

Kakasaheb on a train with Hemadpant, talking about Sai Baba, suddenly threw his neck on Hemadpant's shoulder and breathed his last with no trace of pain — the literal fulfilment of Baba's earlier comfort that he would be taken "in air coach (Viman)."
Ch. 50

Govind Raghunath Dabholkar — "Hemadpant" — completed the Marathi original Shri Sai Satcharita, the canonical biography of Baba in 51 chapters plus a verse-index (later supplied by B. V. Deo, who also documented the Jamner Miracle).
Ch. 1 · Ch. Epilogue