Were there other saints living in Shirdi before Sai Baba returned with the wedding party?

Yes, the Shri Sai Satcharitra clarifies that Shirdi was already a spiritually significant place before Sai Baba's famous return. In the prologue to the main narrative, Chapter 5 explicitly states that other holy men had made Shirdi their home. The text mentions that a saint named Devidas was already established in Shirdi. Furthermore, it notes that another saint, Janakidas Gosavi, also came to live in Shirdi at a later time. This context establishes that Baba's arrival was into a village that already had a presence of saints.