History of Forts in Maharashtra

HARISHCHANDRAGAD Fort History

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Harishchandragad Fort: 4,691 feet above sea-level, with ruined fortifications and Brahmanical caves Harishchandragad lies on the Sahyadris, eighteen miles south-west of Akola. The hill is the apex of the water-shed of the Bhima and the Godavari drainage systems.

About six paths lead up to the hill two of which from Pachnai and Lobali Kotul can be used by loaded cattle. The hill-top, which is about three miles in diameter, is an irregular table-land with deep gorges and at the south-east edge rising rather suddenly to the highest point 4,691 feet above the sea. The caves lie north of and about 600 feet below the summit. On the steep slope between the hill-top and the caves and stretching east and west is a beautiful belt of ever-green forest almost impenetrable from its thick undergrowth and huge boulders. Other wooded patches freshen sheltered nooks, but most of the rest of the plateau is either bare rock or coarse thatching grass with here and there patches of bracken. The descent from the plateau is unusually steep on all sides. To the north the first drop is a cliff of 200 feet which runs for a great distance along the hill side. The grandest cliff, about 2,000 feet, faces west overlooking the Konkan. Ascent by this cliff was not uncommon. The sockets in which the standards for working the rope and pulley or some similar climbing apparatus were fixed are still seen at the top of the cliff. As they were destroyed by Captain Mackintosh about 1820, little but ruined traces are left of the fortifications of Harishchandragad. The ruins of the gate appear at the top of the Lobali Kotul pathway and a few places where an escalade was possible still show remains of fortifications. On a peak, half a mile east of the summit, is the citadel or bale killa with decaying walls and blown-up cisterns. At the foot of the citadel, at the gate, and at one or two other places are remains of houses but the commandant and part of his establishment are believed to have lived in the caves.

Rainbow: Especially in May the edge of the Konkan cliff often gives an excellent view of the curious phenomenon called the Circular Rainbow. In 1835 Colonel Sykes during periods of fogs and mists several times observed the circular rainbow which from its rareness is spoken of only as a possibility. Sometimes the Konkan fog stratum rose somewhat above the level of the top of the Harishchandragad cliff, without coming over the table-land. Colonel Sykes stood at the edge of the precipice just outside of the limits of the fog, with a low cloudless sun on his back. The circular rainbow appeared perfect and most vividly coloured, one-half above Colonel Sykes' level and the other half below. Distinct outline shadows of Colonel Sykes, his horse and his men appeared in the centre of the circle as a picture to which the bow served as a resplendent frame. [ Colonel Syk s' men could not believe that the figures they saw were their own shadows and assured themselves by tossing about their arms and legs and putting their bodies in various postures] From their nearness to the fog the diameter of the rainbow circle never exceeded fifty or sixty feet. Accompanying the brilliant rainbow circle was the usual outer bow in fainter colours. The Fokiang or Glory of Buddha as seen from mount O in West China tallies more exactly with the phenomenon than Colonel Sykes' description would seem to show. Round the head of the shadow always appears a bright disc or glory, and concentric with this disc, but separated by an interval, is the circular rainbow. The size and brilliancy of the rainbow varies much with the distance of the mist; when the mist is close the diameter may not be more than six feet. Whether the observer sees only his own shadow or the shadow of others with him depends on the size of the rainbow. Each observer always sees the head of his own shadow in the centre of the glory.

Caves: The caves, which are about 500 feet below the level of the fort, are chiefly in a low scarp of rock to the north of the summit. The caves face north-west and consist of eight or nine excavations none of them large or rich in sculpture. The pillars are mostly plain square blocks; the architraves of the doors are carved in plain fronts; and a few images of the Shaiv symbol Ganapati also appear on some of the door lintels. The style of the low door-ways and of the pillars in Cave II, some detached sculptures lying about, the use of Ganapati on the lintels, and some fragments of inscriptions seem to point to about the tenth or the eleventh century as the date of the. caves. Cave I at the east end of the group is about 17' 6" square and has a low bench round three sides. The door is four feet high with a high threshold and a plain moulding round the top. To the west of the cave is a cistern. Cave II, about nine yards west of cave I, is one of the largest in the group. The veranda is 23' 6" long and about 7' 6" wide with an entrance into a large cell from the left end. The whole veranda is not open in front. The space between the left pillar and pilaster is closed and the central and right hand spaces are left open. The two square pillars, only one of which stands free, are 6' 4½" high with a simple base and a number of small mouldings on the neck and capital occupying the upper 2' 7". A door with plain mouldings and a small Ganesh on the lintel, with two square windows one on each side leads to the hall, which measures about twenty-five feet by twenty and varies in height from 8' 1½" to 8' 11". The hall has one cell on the right and two in the back with platforms six inches to a foot high. Outside on the right, another cell leads into a larger cell at the right end of the veranda. Cave III is unfinished though somewhat on the same plan as cave II. Half of the front wall has been cut away and a large image of Ganesh is carved on the remaining half. In a cell to the right is an altar for a linga. Cave IV is an oblong cell and cave V in the bed of the torrent is apparently unfinished with a structural front. Round three sides runs a high stone bench. The sixth, seventh and eighth caves are similar to cave IV. But a bed of soft clay has destroyed the walls of the sixth and seventh. The shrine of the sixth has a long altar for three images. Near the eighth cave is a deep stone cistern ten feet square.

A little below the row of caves is a large Hemadpanti reservoir with steps, along whose southern side is a row of little niches or shrines, some of them still occupied by images. Round the reservoir are small temples and cenotaphs or thadgis. Below the reservoir is a small temple in a pit, half rock-cut half built, consisting of a cell with a shrine at each side. One of the cells contains the socket or salunka of a removed linga. Below this temple a deep hollow or pit formed by cutting away the rock at the head of a ravine, leaves a small level space from the middle of which rises a somewhat lofty temple, built on a remarkable plan. The temple has no hall or mandap but consists only of a shrine with a very tall spire in the northern Hindu style of architecture as at Buddha Gaya near Banaras. The linga within is worshipped from any one of four doors with porches. In the southeast corner of the pit is another shrine half built half hewn with an image of a goddess. To the west of the pit two or three irregular caves were probably used as dwellings by yogis attached to the temple. Fifty yards further down the ravine is a cave about fifty-five feet square. In front are four columns each about three feet square with plain bracket capitals nine inches deep and 6' 10" long. In the middle of the hall is a large round socket or salunka containing a linga and surrounded by four slender columns of the same type as in the Elephanta caves. All round the pillars to the walls and front of the cave the floor is cut down four feet and is always full of water, and the linga can be approached only by wading or swimming. On the left end is a relief carved with a linga and worshippers on each side. Above the level of the water is a small chamber. The caves were formerly used as health resorts in the hot season by the district officers. Mr. Harrison, a former Collector (1836-1843), built near the caves a bungalow which was burnt down.

In the last Maratha War, Harishchandragad was taken in the beginning of May 1818 by a detachment under Captain Sykes.

Nagpur Trade Routes

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Nagpur is the entrepot of trade for the outlying fertile area. The Grand Trunk Express running north-south between Delhi and Madras runs through Nagpur. The Bombay-Nagpur-Howrah Express ; the Nagpur-Itarsi ; the Nagpur-Nagbhir-Gondia; the Nagpur-Itwari-Kamptee-Ramtek; the Nagpur-Khapa-Chhindwada-Seoni-Nainpur; the Nagpur-Umrer-Bhiwa-pur-Chanda railway routes join Nagpur with the nearby agricultural areas and with the distant market towns. Nagpur, Khapa, Katol, Saoner, Ramtek, Kamptee and Bhiwapur are the railway stations in the district. Besides, National Highways and State Highways add to the rail communications. The Nagpur-Jubbulpore; the Bombay-Jalgaon-Bhusawal-Nagpur; the Nagpur-Chhinctwada, the Nagpur-Chanda; the Nagpur-Bhandara and the Nagpur-Wardha Roads provide easy communications.

Oranges

Nagpur oranges have acquired a special name for their flavour and taste. The oranges are in great demand at the important markets in the country as also outside. The oranges have to be transported speedily. These are, therefore, transported by the express trains to Bombay, Calcutta, Delhi, Madras, etc. The annual transactions of the Nagpur Santra Market amount to about one crore of rupees.

Minerals

Locations of coal mines are numerous in Vidarbha, especially in Wardha district and Kamptee-Saoner tract of the Nagpur district. The State mining operations in Kamptee-Saoner tract visualise possibilities of crores of tons of coal. Rich manganese ore is found in considerable amounts in the north-eastern part of the district and especially near Ramtek tahsil. Manganese is aptly termed as "black-diamond" when its potentialities for industrial uses are taken into consideration. The Nagpur-Ramtek railway is chiefly instrumental for the exploitation and transport of minerals and their ores. Prospects of finding iron ore and lime in Chanda and Yeotmal are not remote. The district also has good quality clay, building stone etc.

Timber

About 3561236.800 hectares (88 lakh acres) of the Vidarbha land is under forests. Of these, most of the forests are in Chanda, Nagpur, Bhandara, Amravati and Yeotmal districts. The Chanda teak is famous all over the country for its fine quality. Timber of all sorts is gathered at Nagpur where there are a number of saw-mills and furniture marts. The timber from Chanda forests comes to Nagpur by the Nagpur-Chanda railway line.

Grains

The rice from Bhandara is carried to Nagpur by the Nagpur-Bhandara Road. The Nagpur-Bhiwapur line has heavy traffic
in chillis.

Cotton

Vidarbha is famous for cotton cultivation. Lakhs of people are engaged in growing cotton, ginning and pressing, weaving and dyeing mills. In Nagpur district, Saoner and Nagpur tahsils are important cotton-growing areas. Cotton is assembled at Nagpur, where there are two famous cloth mills, e.g., the Empress Mills and the Model Mills. Handloom weaving is also undertaken at Nagpur with remarkable skill.

Thus, a number of factors make Nagpur an industrial and a trading centre. Nearness to rich agricultural areas, ample mineral wealth, easy communication facilities all point to its further development provided its power potentialities and mineral wealth are harnessed increasingly. The City of Nagpur has adequate banking facilities with a branch office of the Reserve Bank and branch offices of 25 other commercial banks.

Nagpur City enjoyed the status of being the capital of Madhya Pradesh. It is now the monsoon headquarters of the Maharashtra Government.

Besides the City of Nagpur, there are other main centres of trade, which are located at railway junctions, viz., Umrer, Bhiwapur, Ramtek, Khapa, Katol, Saoner, and Kamptee.

KOLHAPUR TRADE ROUTES

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THE MIRAJ-KOLHAPUR BRANCH OF THE SOUTHERN RAILWAY is the only railway line which connects Kolhapur district with Poona and Bombay. The main items of export from Kolhapur are gul and sugar.

"Till 1845 when the British took over the superintendence, the State had no metalled roads. Of the path-ways, those that led west down the Sahyadris to the coast were hardly fit for even lightly laden cattle, and those that went inland were beaten cattle tracks". Even today the district, detached by a long range of the Sahyadri whose western scrap is precipitious has no road communication to sea ports except the State Highway which passes through Amba Ghat. Starting at Amba and ending at Udgaon, it covers 61 miles and passes through Shahuwadi, Panhala, Karwir, Hatkanangale and Shirol talukas of Kolhapur district.

Bounded on the north, by Varna river, the Poona-Bangalore Road is the only National Highway passing through Kolhapur district. It covers in all about 29 miles in this district, passing through the talukas of Hatkanangale, Kolhapur and Kagal. The same road connects Kolhapur with Belgaum in the south. On the east, Kolhapur is well linked with Satara and Belgaum districts. Most of the taluka headquarters are connected now by roads with Kolhapur city which is the main trade centre.

The Kaladgi-Devagad Road (State Highway) passes through the talukas of Bhudargad, Kagal and Radhanagari. The length of the road in the district is about 46 miles and 5 furlongs. The other State Highway is the Mirya-Ratnagiri-Kolhapur-Miraj-Bijapur-Hyderabad Road entering the district of Kolhapur near village Amba (Shahuwadi taluka) and passes through the talukas of Hatkanangale, Shahuwadi and Shirol and Panhala mahal. The total length in the district is 66 miles and 7 furlongs.

The Major District Roads are:-

(1) Kolhapur-Bavada Road (34.4 miles) passing through the Karvir taluka and Panhala and Bavada mahals.

(2) Kolhapur-Wasi-Parite-Ghotwade-Gaibi Road (24 miles and 5½ furlongs) running parallel to the river Bhogawati, passes through Karvir and Radhanagari talukas.

(3), Waghabil-Panhala Road (4 miles) starts from "Mirya-Ratnagiri-Kolhapur-Miraj-Bijapur-Hyderabad Road" and runs west throughout its length.

(4) Gadhinglaj-Ajra-Savantwadi Road (27 miles) runs south-west till the village Amba on the south-western border and enters Ratnagiri district. It passes through Gadhinglaj taluka and Ajra mahal.

(5) Kolhapur-Bavada Road (34 miles, 4 furlongs) passes through the Karvir taluka and Panhala and Bavada mahals.

(6) Ichalkaranji-Hatkanangale Road '(5 miles, 5 furlongs) emanates from the Ratnagiri-Kolhapur-Bijapur State Highway and passes through the Hatkanangale taluka only.

(7) Jaisingpur-Shirol-Kurundwad Road emanates from the "Ratnagiri-Kolhapur-Bijapur State Highway. The total length in the district is 12 miles and 6 furlongs.

(8) Bambavade-Shirale Road (8 miles) emanating from the Kolhapur-Bijapur-Ratnagiri State Highway, enters the district at Bambavade in Shahuwadi taluka and runs north upto Shirale in the same taluka and then runs north-west upto Kapashi also in Shahuwadi taluka.

(9) Bhadgaon-Channekupi-Nool-Basarge-Halkarni-Khanapur Road (14 miles and 2 furlongs) starts from Bhadgaon, a village on the Gadhinglaj-Bhadgaon-Mahagaon-Nesari-Adkur Road and goes south-east upto Halkarni and then goes east upto Khanapur (Bijapur district).

The old Gazetteer narrates- "Of the imports and exports, at Kolhapur, grain, cloth, earthenware, baskets and cattle largely come from neighbouring places; most of these articles find their way to Nipani in Belgaum and Chiplun and Rajapur in Ratnagiri. From Sangrul, rice is largely sent to Nipani and other places. At Kadoli grain is largely sold; from Kadoli, cotton, molasses and chillies, and from Panhala rice are largely sent. At Sarud, grain is brought in large quantities and cloth is exported. At Vadgaon, which is a large trade centre, dates, cocoanut, kernel, sugar and English yarn are brought from the seaports and a number of cattle from neighbouring places for sale; and besides chillies, tobacco and wheat and other grains, molasses is largely exported. At Gadhinglaj the chief trade is in grain, coarse cloth and cattle. At Kapasi the local dealers take grain, chillies and other articles for sale to Islampur, Miraj, Sangli and Tasgaon; at Malkapur grain and cattle come from neighbouring villages and cocoanuts, dates and other articles from Ratnagiri ports. The chief exports are rice, jvari, wheat, grain and chillies. At Murgud grain comes in large quantities from neighbouring villages and rice is exported. At Ichalkaranji grain and cattle are brought for sale. Besides, at the large trade centres, forty-seven small weekly markets are held.

"The chief imports are salt, metal, cocoanuts, dates, groceries, oil, hardware, twist and piecegoods. Salt was formerly brought entirely by pack bullocks from the Konkan. Under metal come gold, silver, copper, brass and iron. During the American War (1862-65) gold and silver were largely imported; during the scarcity of 1876-77 a large amount of gold and silver in ornaments left the State; and since the return of prosperity in 1881 and 1882, gold and silver have again been imported. Sheets of copper and brass are brought in small quantities, and ready-made vessels and drinking mugs in large quantities chiefly from Poona. Formerly iron was locally smelted and it is now largely brought from Bombay by Vanis and Bohoras. It is much used for cart tiers and axles and in making iron pots. Dates, groceries, kerosene and cocoanut oil, iron buckets and water-pots are brought from Bombay. Steam-spun twist, both English and Bombay-made, is brought and sold to hand-loom weavers. Piece-goods are hand-made and steam-made. Of hand-made goods, the chief are turbans and women's robes from Poona, Shahapur, Sholapur and Yeola, waist-cloths or dhotars from Nagpur and Shahapur and silk waist-cloth or pitambars and robes or paithanis and turbans from Burhanpur and Poona. Of the steam-made cloth the coarse strong-cloth is Bombay-made and the finer-cloth is from England. The chief exports are of grains, rice, jvari, bajri, nachni, wheat and gram; of groceries and spices coriander, turmeric and chillies; of oilseeds sesamum, linseed and earthnut; and of other exports cotton, cotton tape, hemp, tobacco, molasses and sugar." [Page Nos. 204, 206-207.]

YAVATMAL TRADE ROUTES

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Yeotmal district does not enjoy all the benefits of good railway communications. It is served by a metre gauge railway route from Yeotmal to Murtazapur on the Bombay-Nagpur-Howrah line. Being a metre gauge line it is not very convenient for through goods traffic over long distance.

Yeotmal town is, however, advantageously situated as regards road transport facilities. It is connected by good roads to almost all the important markets in Vidarbha region. The principal arteries of trade which, besides touching the district headquarters, serve the needs of commercial traffic in the district are: (i) Nagpur-Yeotmal road, (ii) Yeotmal-Amravati road, (iii) Yeotmal-Dhamangaon road, (iv) Yeotmal-Karanja-Akola road, (v) Yeotmal-Nanded road, and (vi) Yeotmal-Aurangabad road. The Nagpur-Yeotmal and the Yeotmal-Dhamangaon roads facilitate substantial traffic to Wardha and Dhamangaon railway stations, respectively. The former road is the principal route of trade to Nagpur and centers in Eastern India. The trade ties with Akola and Amravati are facilitated by the good road communications to these two important towns.

The Nagpur-Hyderabad national highway which traverses through the Kelapur tahsil serves the transit trade from that region to Nagpur on the one hand and Hyderabad on the other. With the construction of a bridge on the Penganga river, through traffic to Marathwada region has immensely benefited. This bridge serves direct traffic to Nanded, Parbhani and Aurangabad districts in Marathwada.

BHANDARA TRADE ROUTES

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The Bombay-Nagpur-Calcutta broad gauge railway line passes through the district in the west-east direction with a length of 82 miles. It is the main artery of commercial transport in the district. This route makes direct commercial traffic possible to the most important markets in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and West Bengal. It connects Nagpur, Akola, Jalgaon, Nasik and Bombay on the one hand and Raipur, Bilaspur, Bhilai, Drug, Tatanagar and Calcutta on the other hand. Bhandara Road, Tumsar Road, Tirora, Gondia, Amgaon and Salekasa are the important commercial centres on this line in the district. The majority of the villages and towns in Bhandara and Gondia tahsils in the district, through which this route passes, are within easy reach from the railway line.

The other route, next in importance to the Bombay-Nagpur-Calcutta railway line, is the Chandrapur-Gondia-Balaghat metre gauge railway line of the South-Eastern railway which further extends to Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh. This railway route serves mainly as an outlet to the economic products in the district. It also meets the needs of local commercial traffic in the district as well. It is important in so far as it helps in bringing the commercial cargo from the interior places to Gondia which is the biggest commercial centre in the district. This railway route serves the Sakoli and Gondia tahsils. Saundad, Gond Umri, Navegaon, Devalgaon, Arjuni and Wadegaon are the other commercial centres on this route. It is important as it facilitates the transport of the entire forest produce of the district, viz., bamboos, firewood, teak, timber and coal to the distant markets in the country. The entire bamboo production in the district and especially from Sakoli forests is transported to the paper mills at Ballarpur in Chandrapur district. The railway route also serves as a commercial link between Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh as it connects the district with Jabalpur.

The other branch line of the Bombay-Nagpur-Calcutta route traversing through the district is from Tumsar to Tirodi (Madhya Pradesh) and has a run of 18 miles in the district. This line traverses through the manganese producing areas of the district and facilitates the transportation of the ore to Tumsar.

The Bombay-Nagpur-Calcutta national highway is next in importance to the Bombay-Nagpur-Calcutta railway route as an artery of trade. The highway traverses through Bhandara and Sakoli tahsils covering a distance of 60.5 miles. It connects the markets in this district with Nagpur, Amravati, Akola, Jalgaon, Dhulia, Nasik, Thane and Bombay on the one hand and Raipur, Bilaspur, Bhilai, Drug, Tatanagar and Calcutta on the other hand. Most of the commercial traffic is carried on through this route only. The low freight commodities and goods of more fragile nature are mainly transported by motor trucks on this road. The stationery and other miscellaneous articles are brought from Bombay on the one hand and from Calcutta and Bhilai on the other. The importance of transport in this district is not confined to internal traffic only because the railway-road system in the district facilitates the transport of goods from Bombay and Nagpur regions to Calcutta via Bhandara and Sakoli and vice versa.

The Sawangi-Gondia-Balaghat (in Madhya Pradesh) road is next in importance from the commercial point of view as it is motorable in all the seasons and as it emanates from the Bombay-Nagpur-Calcutta national highway at Sawangi, thus bringing the district closer to Madhya Pradesh and serving as a commercial link with other States also. On this road the main commercial centre in the district, viz., Gondia is located. The forest produce and the cash crops are transported, via Gondia through this road to Balaghat in Madhya Pradesh. Besides, the road also serves Sakoli and Gondia tahsils in the district.

The Bhandara-Bhivapur road joins the Nagpur-Chandrapur State highway and also meets the Nagpur-Chandrapur railway route. This road facilitates the transport of agricultural produce to Chandrapur and Nagpur districts. The agricultural produce from Adyal and Pauni centres is transported by trucks on this road. The road is motorable throughout the year. Bhandara-Seoni (in Madhya Pradesh) road is another trade route which serves as a commercial link between Bhandara and Madhya Pradesh. The road passes through the manganese producing areas of the district. Tumsar-Waraseoni (in Madhya Pradesh) road is also important as a trade link between Bhandara and Madhya Pradesh.

In the eastern part of the district the Chichgad-Deori-Amgaon road is important. The entire agricultural produce in Palandur, Chichgad, Deori and Sategaon is brought to Amgaon for marketing by this road.

In Retrospect.—Bhandara district since long has a tradition of prosperous trade with distant parts of India as well as with foreign countries. Being an active commercial district in the former Central Provinces and Berar it has today trade links with the neighbouring districts of the present State of Madhya Pradesh and other States in the Indian Union. The old Bhandara District Gazetteer gives a vivid account of the conditions of trade prevailing in the district in the past which is reproduced below.

"Mr. Lawrence stated that the principal trading towns in the District at the time of the 30 years' settlement (1867) were Bhandara, Tumsar and Pauni. The trade of the District was described as follows: Commerce has received a great impetus since the annexation of Bhandara with the rest of the Province of Nagpur by the British Government. The vastly improved condition now of the Great Eastern Road and of the District communications, an enlightened administration, and a well-ordered police have greatly facilitated traffic. The extinction of the Bhonsla rule has, however, diminished the demand, for the superior description of the Pauni cloth; and the rise in the price of grain, together with the simultaneous rise in the price of cotton, has reduced the sale also of the inferior kinds of cloth, but the export of the cloth from this town is still great, having last year amounted to Rs. 50,372. The chief articles imported are cotton, salt, wheat, rice, oilseeds, metal and hardware, English piece-goods, tobacco, silk, dyes and cattle; and the articles most extensively exported are country cloth, tobacco and hardware. The direction of the trade is chiefly to and from Nagpur and Raipur by the Great Eastern Road, and by another route through Palandur, also to and from Kamptee by the Tumsar route, and towards Mandla by Hatta and Kamtha. Of the articles imported, salt is brought from Berar and the Eastern Coast; sugar, metals and spices from Mirzapur; hard-ware from Mirzapur and Mandla; European cloth and silks from Mirzapur and Bombay; country silks from Burhanpur, red country cloth from Mhow and Ranipur in the Jhansi District; wheat and rice from Raipur; and cattle from.the Seoni and Mandla Districts. Of the articles exported, country cloth is sent from Pauni, Andhargaon, Mohari, Bhandara and Bhagri to Nagpur, Poona and Bombay; and hardware from Bhandara and Pauni to Nagpur, Raipur and Jubbulpore. Articles of traffic are generally conveyed in small country carts and on pack-bullocks [Central Provinces and Berar District Gazettees Bhandara District 1908 PP 119—120. ]."

CHANDRAPUR TRADE ROUTES

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Poverty of communications had greatly retarded the development of trade of Chandrapur district. At the time the old Gazetteer of Chanda district was published, Warora was the focus of the external trade of the district and all the produce of its interior used to find its way via Chandrapur to Warora. The position of Warora as a rail-head and the concentration of the export trade of the interior and the south of the district at Chandrapur, had naturally made the Chandrapur-Warora road the most important trade route in the district. In fact, till the opening of the Warora-Ballarpur extension in 1910, it formed the main artery of the district. The other important road was the Mul-Umrer road which gave an outlet to a good deal of commercial traffic from the north of Brahmapuri and the north-east of Warora towards the Nagpur market and was the only other made road connecting the district with the outer world.

At present the Delhi-Madras broad gauge line of the Central Railway passes through this district and has Majari, Warora, Bhadravati, Tadali, Chandrapur, Ballarpur and Manikgad stations in its stretch in the district. Of this Majari is a junction from which a line branches off to Wani. It has consider-ably helped the movement of goods to and fro in the district.

Besides, there is a narrow gauge line of 243 km. running from Chanda Fort to Gondia. A narrow gauge route to Nagpur emanates from this route at Nagbhir. Its distance is 111 km.

The condition of roads was very bad. It was very difficult to build roads as the entire tract was full of forests. By 1947, the total road mileage in Chandrapur district, was 432. Chandra- pur town, the district headquarters is connected by roads with the adjoining districts of Nagpur, Wardha, Yeotmal and Bhandara. But within the district there are no good roads connecting the district headquarters with the tahsil headquarters and the approaches from one tahsil to another are completely cut off during the rainy season. The eastern part of the district is a thick forest area, and the roads are, therefore, very few in Sironcha, Gadhchiroli and Brahmapuri tahsils.

WARDHA TRADE ROUTES

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Extent of Employment.

The Bombay-Nagpur-Howrah railway line is the principal trade route in the district. This artery of trade has always been instrumental in expanding trade transactions with distant markets in Maharashtra as well as those in Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and Gujarat. It runs through the centre of the district with a length of about 40 miles and has the following stations, viz., Pulgaon, Kaotha, Dahegaon, Wardha, Sewagram, Paunar, Tuljapur and Sindi. The line was opened for traffic in 1867.

Wardha town occupies a unique importance because of its being a junction of the Bombay-Nagpur-Howrah and the Delhi-Madras trunk railway routes. The latter, viz., grand trunk route provides commercial traffic to North India as well as South India. This line touches the railway stations of Bhugaon, Sonegaon and Hinganghat in the district. This line was opened for traffic in 1877.

As regards the routes at the beginning of this century and before, the Wardha District Gazetteer, published in 1906, gives the following information. The route from " Pulgaon to Arvi and Ashti in the north is now the most important road in the district carrying the produce of much of the Arvi tahsil to the railway. It is metalled from Pulgaon to Ashti, a distance of 36 miles. North of the railway two old trunk roads connecting Nagpur with Berar and Bombay passed through the District. The southern of these goes through Selu, Elikeli, and Waiphal, leaving the District at the Apti ferry on the Wardha. It is now only maintained as a village road. The northern road running from Nagpur to Amraoti passes through Karanja and Thanegaon in the north of the Arvi tahsil and leaves the District at Bisnur. This road also is now only a village track. " [Central Provinces District Gazetteers, Wardha District, Vol. A, 1906, pp. 161 to 163.]

" The District cannot be considered to be well provided with roads in view of its great commercial importance, but as a new railway is shortly to be constructed through the Arvi tahsil, it would be useless to consider the improvement of the existing trade routes of this part of the District without reference to its influence. It is clear that feeder roads are required in the Arvi tahsil which is totally unprovided with them, but with the opening of a new railway the course of trade will probably be much altered. The great artery of the Arvi tahsil at present is the Pulgaon-Arvi road. Dhamangaon station across the Berar border is only 16 miles from Arvi as against the distance of 22 miles to Pulgaon and some small amount of trade exists between Arvi and Dhamangaon......... In the south of the Arvi tahsil the principal tracks are those from Kharangna to Anji and on to Wardha and from Hingni through Selu and Paunar to Wardha. From the Wardha tahsil south of the railway, cotton is taken either to Pulgaon or Wardha from the tracts surrounding Deoli, while some grain goes from Deoli to Degaon station.......... In the south of District the main trade routes are from Hinganghat through Jam to Samudrapur and Girar, and from Hinganghat through Wanera to Pohna........... These two roads are among the most important trade routes in the District. " [Central Provinces District Gazetteers, Wardha District, Vol. A, 1906, pp. 161 to 163.]

Road Routes at present.—Besides the two trunk railway routes, there are very good roads serving the transport needs of the mercantile community. The Bombay-Nagpur-Calcutta national highway serves the commercial traffic, especially from the Arvi tahsil, to important markets, such as, Amravati, Akola, Jalgaon, Bombay on the one hand and Nagpur, Calcutta and market centres in Madhya Pradesh, on the other. In the nature of things, this is the most important trade route in the context of the transit trade through the district. The southern region of the district gets the benefit of the Nagpur-Hyderabad national highway which facilitates goods traffic with Nagpur as well as with many principal markets in Andhra Pradesh and Tamilnad. This is an important artery of cotton trade from the most affluent cotton market at Hinganghat. The Nagpur-Wardha-Yeotmal state highway is another important line of traffic which is highly beneficial to the trade traffic from Wardha town to Yeotmal, Nagpur and markets in Madhya Pradesh. The Wardha-Arvi-Ashti road serves as an outlet to the traffic from Wardha and Arvi to centres of trade on the Bombay-Nagpur-Calcutta road. The Pulgaon-Arvi-Talegaon road serves as a feeder road to the Bombay-Nagpur-Calcutta road, and is highly beneficial to the transport of agricultural produce in the area. The Wardha-Hinganghat road serves the needs of local trade.

BULDHANA TRADE ROUTES

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Trade Routes.—Old Trade Routes: The district was almost totally devoid of any means of communication except the rough country track prior to the cession of Vidarbha in 1853. The opening of the Nagpur branch of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway in 1863-64 was the first important change. This railway line was of immense benefit to trade and commerce in the district as it established a trade link with Bombay, Nasik, Jalgaon, Akola, Amravati, Nagpur and a number of other market places. In addition, a branch line from Jalamb on the main line to Khamgaon, 8 miles in length was opened in 1870. In connection with the construction of the Khamgaon branch the remarks of the Settlement Officer in 1865 are interesting. 'Most of the cotton is still carried across the line of rail south to Khamgaon, the great cotton emporium of West Berar, which contains the dwellings of the principal native merchants of the country. These wealthy natives, rather than inconvenience themselves by shifting their quarters, have made a proposal to bring a branch rail down to Khamgaon, which scheme has, I believe, been sanctioned by Government.'

The old District Gazetteer of Buldhana (1910) gives an account of the railway line and its importance from the point of view of trade which is reproduced below: —

" The Nagpur Branch of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway runs a distance of about 47 miles through the District from west to east, and is connected with Khamgaon by a branch from Jalamb 8 miles in length. The railway stations in the District are Khamkhed, Malkapur, Biswa, Nandura, Jalamb, Khamgaon, Shegaon and Nagjhari. Of these the leading stations for exports and imports are Khamgaon, Shegaon and Malkapur. The first two stations despatch to Bombay mainly cotton and grain produced in the Khamgaon and Mehkar talukas and the greater portion of that produced in the Chikhli taluk; Malkapur sends away grain, linseed, cotton, gur and other articles which it receives from the Malkapur taluk and from the north-west portion of the Chikhli taluk. Nandura is the principal outlet of the Jalgaon taluk although it also exports certain produce from the Malkapur taluk. The average quantity of the articles exported from Malkapur during the six years 1902—1907 was 503,000 maunds or 25 per cent of the average exports of the District and this proportion has been nearly maintained throughout except in 1904 when the exports fell off by 16 per cent. The imports of this station amounted to an average of 423,000 maunds during the same period, or 29 per cent of the total import trade. The three stations of Malkapur, Shegaon and Khamgaon do not differ much in the extent of their import trade, but Khamgaon is easily ahead in its export trade which amounts annually on an average to 765,000 maunds or 37 per cent of the total export trade of the District. This average contrasts ridiculously with the average exports of 1879—84. The proportion in which the latter stands with the former is 7.5 to 1. A similar fall is also, marked in the import trade the imports of 1879—84 being as high as five times the average imports of 1902—07. The results cannot be considered unsatisfactory in the face of the present improved communications. Formerly Khamgaon was the chief centre either for export or import trade; but circumstances have since changed, and the District produce finds its way to the nearest railway station available and thus the trade which was centred in one place has been divided. The average annual exports of Shegaon are less than Khamgaon by 6 per cent. The average annual imports of Nandura are nearly double the average annual exports and this faet may be attributed to the large weekly market held at that place. Jalamb has no trade of its own, but only passes goods in transit intended for or received from Khamgaon." [Buldhana District Gazetteer, Vol. A, 1910, pp. 274—76.]

The want of easy and perennial communications did much to offset the other physical advantages of the district. During the rainy season the fertile oil used to turn into a black big impassable for goods vehicles.

After 1870, some progress was made towards improvement of roads. A few roads were metalled with hard indurated basalt obtained from the local trap. At the beginning of this century the principal road routes in the district were: (1) Malkapur-Mehkar road, (2) Chikhli-Jalna road, (3) Khamgaon-Chikhli road, (4) Lavhala-Amdapur-Khamgaon road, (5) Nandura-Jalgaon road, and (6) Khamgaon-Patur road. The old Nagpur road though of inferior surface was of much use in the fair season.

Present Trade Routes.—The Bombay-Nagpur-Calcutta railway line, referred to earlier, is the most important trade route in the district. The line which touches important commercial centres, such as, Malkapur, Shegaon and Jalamb affords quick commercial transport to Bombay, Nagpur and a number of markets in Western Maharashtra as well as Eastern India. The majority of the villages and towns in the three tahsils in the district through which this route passes are within an easy reach from the railway line. The Khamgaon-Jalamb route linking Khamgaon with the Bombay-Nagpur line is very much useful for a huge bulk of commercial traffic.

Of late road transport has become extremely popular because of the quickness and convenience that it affords. Though the freight charges by road are slightly higher than the railway rates the traders prefer to carry their goods by road. Hence road routes have assumed considerable importance.

Of the road routes the Bombay-Nagpur national highway which passes from west to east in this district facilitates transport to big commercial centres, such as, Bombay, Nasik, Dhulia, Jalgaon, Akola, Amravati and Nagpur. It is by far the most important artery of trade second in importance only to the Bombay-Nagpur railway route. The Malkapur-Buldhana-Jalna road serves the needs of goods transport from the rich fertile tracts in this district to Jalna in Marathwada. It serves an important link between Jalna on the Manmad-Kacheguda railway line and Malkapur on the Bombay-Nagpur rail route. The Akola-Aurangabad road which passes through Khamgaon and Chikhli is a vital trade link between the fertile tracts in Berar and Marathwada. It also serves traffic to Poona and Ahmadnagar.

Besides the main routes, there are three other roads which connect big wholesale trade centres and which help goods transport from villages to the main centres and railway stations. They are: (1) Khamgaon-Shegaon-Akot road, (2) Chikhli-Mehkar road, and (3) Mehkar-Akola road.

It may. however, be noted that the road system in the district has certain drawbacks in the sense that the roads are not laid out vertically and horizontally across the district. Besides, the areas lying between Khamgaon, Lonar and Mehkar do not get the advantages of through and direct road routes.

Ahmadnagar TRADE ROUTES

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Old routes: At the beginning of the British rule there were no made roads and no lines of traffic fit for wheels. The chief lines of communications were from Ahmadnagar and Kopargaon. Trade was mainly by carts and pack bullocks. The Ahmadnagar-Nasik route served the trade link through Rahuri, Sangamner and Sinnar. The Ahmadnagar-Malegaon route was 119 miles in length passing through Rahuri, Puntamba, Vaijapur and Kesari pass, and from Malegaon it was 32 miles further to Dhulia. There was also a direct trade link to Aurangabad via the Ahmadnagar-Aurangabad route with a length of 75 miles, either through the Nimbedehera or the Jeur pass, and then through Pravara Sangam and Velunja, a branch of it passing to Jalna. To the south-east most of the goods were transported by the Ahmadnagar-Sholapur route, 129 miles in length passing through Mandva, Mirajgaon, Pategaon, Chapadgaon, Karmala and Madha. The other trade route of less importance was the Ahmadnagar-Satara route with a length of 120 miles and passing through Valki, the Sakli pass, Kothul, Kolgaon, Patas, Supa and Guluneha. Most of the goods traffic to Pune was by the Ahmadnagar-Pune route having a length of 77 miles and passing through Akolner, Ranjangaon and Vaghote. The route further extended by 71 miles to Bombay through Panvel.

By about 1850, a large traffic from Berar went to Bombay by the Imampur or Jeur pass in Ahmadnagar district and the post line from Bombay to Calcutta also passed through Ahmadnagar district and went by the Jeur pass to Aurangabad. At this time the three prominent leading trade routes were: from east to west from Barshi and Karmala in Sholapur by Alsunde and Pedgaon towards Pune, from the Balaghat and Kharda in Jamkhed by Nimbodi and Chambhargonde towards the north-west and south-east and from Ahmadnagar to Karmala and Sholapur along the right bank of the Sina river. [Gazetteer of Bombay Presidency, Ahmadnagar District, 1884, pp. 326.28.]

The major portion of the goods traffic was carried on through Daund-Manmad railway line which was opened for traffic on 17th April 1878. [Ibid.]

Present trade routes: The Daund-Manmad railway line referred to earlier is the most important trade route in the district. This line connects the district with two trunk routes, viz., the Bombay-Nagpur-Calcutta railway line of the Central Railway and the Bombay-Pune-Madras line of the South-Central railway at Manmad and Daund, respectively. This is a broad-gauge line which connects the district with northern as well as southern India. The produce exported to northern India, especially to Calcutta, Delhi, Bihar State etc., is sent via Manmad and the southern-bound produce is sent through Daund. The important commercial centres in the district such as Shrigonda, Ahmadnagar, Rahuri, Shrirampur and Kopargaon are served by this railway route, and thus, these commercial centres are linked with the distant market centres in India. The sugar and gur from Rahuri, Shrirampur and Kopargaon talukas are sent by this railway line to distant places.

The Pune-Nasik national highway via Sangamner is one of the most important arteries of trade which connects the district with Nasik on the Bombay-Agra national highway. The next important artery of trade is Ahmadnagar-Pune state highway. All the Bombay-bound goods traffic from the district is carried on this route. This is the only route which brings the district in the direct trade link with Pune and Bombay. Most of the light goods are brought from Bombay by this route. The agricultural produce especially gur and sugar from the northern part of the district is mainly transported by motor trucks by Ahmadnagar-Kopargaon-Manmad-Malegaon road which connects the Bombay-Agra national highway at Malegaon. Thus, the northern-bound export trade is mainly transported by this important trade route. This route serves the important centres in Ahmadnagar and Nasik districts. The other important artery of trade is the Ahmadnagar-Aurangabad state highway which further extends to Jalgaon. Much of the goods traffic to Aurangabad and Jalgaon districts is carried on through this road. There is a heavy exchange of merchandise between these two districts through this route. The Ahmadnagar-Sholapur trade route also serves the trade from the southern talukas of the district. The Ahmadnagar-Daund road also serves as an artery of trade parallel to the railway line.

Besides the main routes, there are other major roads which connect big wholesale trade centres and which help goods transport from villages to the main centres and railway stations.

SANGLI TRADE ROUTES

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By the middle of the last century there were very few routes of trade. Traffic was mainly by carts and pack bullocks. The Poona-Belgaum road which then ran through Satara and Tasgaon, and the road from Satara to Kolhapur which then ran by Masur, Karad, and Kasegaon to the Varna were partly passable to carts. [Gazetteer of Bombay Presidency, Vol. XIX, Satara District, 1885.] During the eighties of the last century, the Poona-Belgaum mail road was the chief line of traffic. The Peth-Sangli road served as an artery to the main road and was crossed by almost all the important roads of the district. The Karad-Tasgaon and Satara-Tasgaon roads served the needs of cart traffic. The former allowed heavy cart traffic [ Ibid.].

Present Routes of trade.

The Poona-Bangalore railway line which passes through the heart of the district is one of the most important routes of trade. It has made transit facilities available from this district to Poona, Belgaum, Harihar, Hubli, Dharwar, Bangalore, Kolhapur and Goa. After the conversion of this metre gauge line into a broad gauge one, which is in progress, its importance as an artery of trade will be heightened. It will facilitate direct transit trade with Bombay and distant markets in Maharashtra and Gujarat.

The Poona-Bangalore national highway which passes through the district is a very important route which serves goods traffic from Sangli via Sangli-Peth road. This route, which can be approached from Sangli by the Sangli-Peth as well as by the Sangli-Kolhapur roads, facilitates goods transport to Karad, Poona and Bombay on the one hand and Belgaum, Hubli and Bangalore on the other. Besides, the district is fairly served by the (1) Sangli-Miraj road, (2) Sangli-Tasgaon-Vita-Mayani road, (3) Miraj-Pandharpur road, and (4) Karad-Tasgaon road.

Thus, the road routes in the district have facilitated trade links with Bombay, Poona, Satara, Bangalore, Sholapur, Kolhapur, Beleaum and Bijapur districts.

DHULIA TRADE ROUTES

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Routes in Hindu Period:

It seems quite probable from the early rock-cut remains at Ajanta, Patan (near Chalisgaon), Chandor and Nasik that the trade routes between north and south India passed through Khandesh as far back as the second and first centuries before Christ. The author of the. Periplus (247 A.D.) mentions that trade crossed Khandesh from Broach to Paithan. on the Godavari and to Tagara. [McCrindle's Periplus. 125-26. ] If the statement of the author of the Periplus that Tagara lay ten days to the east of Paithan is correct, the trade route from Broach probably passed eastwards through Khandesh, leaving the district, either near Patau or near Ajanta. The route was passable for goods traffic.

Routes during Muslim Period (1300-1760) :

The rich cave and temple remains at Ajanta, Patan, and Chandor seem to show that till the Musalman conquest (1300), the passes in the Satmala hills continued to be the highways of an important traffic. Under the early Musalmans, the route by the Barvan or Sukaldevi pass from Malwa to Khandesh rose to importance. In 1306 Malik Kafur, at the south entrance of this pass, established the city of Sultanpur, and during the rest of the fourteenth century, this route by Sultanpur, Nandurbar, Visarvadi and Songir, would seem to have been one of the regular lines of communication with Upper India and Gujarat. [Lee's Ibn Batuta (1341).] Probably there was also during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the time of the greatest splendour of the Musalman dynasty of Ahmedabad, a line of traffic to north Gujarat and the coast along the north bank of the Tapi, and from Malwa through Kukarmunda over the Buvaka or Chandseli passes to Rajpipla. [Captian Clunes' Itinerary, 89.] Two other lines must have been of special importance when Asirgad was the capital of Khandesh. [Besides its legendary importance, Asirgad was the chief place in Khandesh before the Musalman conquest, and afterwards under the Faruki kings before Burhanpur was established (1400).] Of these one runs north and south, from north and central India through the Simrol pass by Asirgad to Ajanta and the south; the other runs west to the coast, the route known as the Asirgad road, through Burhanpur. Savda, Jalgaon, Paldhi, and Borkhand, to Nasik and the Thal pass.

During the seventeenth and the first half of the eighteenth centuries, when Burhanpur was at the height of its power and Surat was the chief port of Western India, the bulk of the great traffic between the inland countries and the coast passed through Khandesh. The European travellers of the seventeenth century describe the main route as passing from east of Surat through Navapur, Nandurbar, Dondaicha, Sindkheda, Thalner, Chopda, Sangvi, and Nhavi, to Burhanpur [Sir T. Roe (1615) in Kerr's Voyages, IX, 256; Tavernier (1660) in Harris' Voyages, II 352.]. A second very important route lay from Surat to Navapur, and then struck south through Pimpalner, Nimpur, and the Patan pass, to Golkonda. [Tavernier in Harris' Voyages, II. 359.]

Routes during 1818-1880:

During the early years of this century the trade of Khandesh almost came to a standstill. At the beginning of British rule there were no made roads. The tracks were ill-appointed and deficient in everything but discomfort and danger. Few and far between were the miserable hamlets, and the mountain passes were as rugged and impracticable as their fierce possessors'. [Graham's Bhil Tribes, 1.] In 1826 the chief routes were from Dhulia as a centre, 155 miles north by Songir and Thalner, through the Sindva pass to Mandleshvar and Mhow; north-east by Amalner, Chopda, and the Dhaulibari pass, seventy-three miles to Dhulkot; east by Farola, Erandol, and Savda, 103 miles to Burhanpur; south-east by Bhadgaon and Pachora, eighty-four miles to Ajanta; south by Mehunbara and the Gavtala pass to Aurangabad; south-west by Malegaon, Chandor, Nasik, and the Thal pass, 179 miles to Bhiwandi, a route passable for every sort of laden cattle; and west by Pimpalner and Navapur to Surat. For many years the only one of these tracks on which money and labour were spent was the great Bombay-Agra trunk road by the Thai pass, Nasik, Malegaon, Dhulia, Songir, Nardana. Dabhasi, Dahivad, and the Palasner or Sindva passs. The road enters Khandesh near the Dhulia village of Jhodga, and running north passes through Virdel crossing the Tapti at Savalda where there is a ferry. It then runs due north through Shirpur until it reaches the Khandesh boundary in the centre of the Satpudas near the fort of Borghar. In 1853-54, some progress was made in. improving the cross roads of the district. About one hundred miles of fair weather roads were built at a cost of Rs. 9,880. [Bom. Rev. Rec. XXVI of 1858, part X, 3012-13. ] But until 1863 the main Agra highway used most of the funds set apart for road-making in Khandesh. Since the levy of a special cess for local works, road-building has made rapid progress. At Songir, on the Agra road about twelve miles north of Dhulia, a much used line, passes north-west through Dangurna, Chimthana and Methi, and Vikran, twenty-four miles to Dondaicha. South from Dhulia, a road, gravelled, drained, and bridged except over the Girna, runs thirty-four miles to Chalisgaon station, and from Chalisgaon is continued seven miles south, through the Outram or Ranjangaon pass, to the border of the ex-Hyderabad State. From Dhulia, west towards Pimpalner, a road has been finished thirty-two miles to Sakri. From Sakri a line is cleared, and the part over the Kondaibari pass bridged and metalled, thirty-eight miles north-west to Navapur on the way to Surat. Since the opening of the railway (Bombay-Bhusawal line) in 1865, the old Asirgad road, running east from Jhodga on the Bombay-Agra road to Burhanpur, has been deserted and left to fall into decay.

Present-day trade routes:

Dhulia is an entrepot centre of trade, and a junction of several highways and roads. An interesting sidelight on the prosperity of this town is the importance of the transit trade. The Bombay-Agra road is by far the most important artery of trade which affords quick transit facilities to Bombay on the one hand and cities in north India on the other. The Dhulia-Jalgaon-Nagpur-Calcutta road has facilitated heavy goods traffic to commercial centres like Jalgaon, Malkapur, Akola, Amravati and Nagpur. This is a very important trade route because it affords transport facilities to the trade centres in northern and eastern Maharashtra. The Dhulia-Surat road has helped establishing close trade contacts with Surat and other markets in Gujarat. The other routes of trade in the district are (1) Dhulia-Chalisgaon-Aurangabad road, (2) Dhulia-Dondaicha-Nandurbar road, (3) Taloda-Shirpur-Raver-Burhanpur road, and (4) Nandurbar-Sakri road.

The Bhusawal-Surat broad gauge railway line which emanates from the Bombay-Delhi trunk route at Jalgaon is a vital artery of trade. It facilitates trade link with Surat, Baroda, Ahmedabad, Bombay, Jalgaon, Nagpur and many other trade centres in Maharashtra and Gujarat. The Dhulia-Chalisgaon branch line which emanates from the Bombay-Delhi railway line at Chalisgaon affords direct rail transport facilities to Kalyan and Bombay.

In spite of the railway facilities available, a bulk of the commercial traffic to destinations, such as Bombay, Nasik. Poona, Jalgaon and Indore goes by road. This can be attributed to the availability of good roads from Dhulia.

Changes in Pattern and Organisation of trade.

Considerable changes have taken place in the socio-economic pattern since the beginning of this century. This had in consequence affected the patten and organisation of trade and commerce also. The pattern of trade existing then was, in conformity with the prevalent trends in the self-sufficient village economy. The means of transport and communications were meagre. This retarded the growth of trade with distant places. The needs of the people were comparatively few. The volume of trade with other districts was smaller as compared to the one that exists at present.

The pattern and organisation of trade has changed partly due to institutional changes and partly due to increase in the volume of trade. Regulation of markets through agricultural produce market committees established under the Bombay Agricultural Produce Markets Act of 1939 has led to changes in the institutional arrangements as regards trade. The legislation in this direction has regulated market practices,. transactions and helped bringing about orderly trade relations between agriculturists and traders. A number of co-operative marketing organisations have come into existence. The pace of growth of the co-operative marketing has gathered momentum since the fifties.

Nasik TRADE ROUTES

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arly Routes: The ThaI pass had been an important trade route between the Deccan and the coast from the earliest times. [This account is based on the description of routes published in the Gazetteer of Bombay Presidency, Nasik District, 1883, Chapter VI.] The Nasik caves and mention of the town by Ptolemy point to Nasik as a place of importance from the second century before, to the second century after, the Christian era. About a hundred years later, the author of Periplus (247) mentions that trade passed from Broach in Gujarat to Paithan on the Godavari and to Tagar ten days further east. A part of this trade probably went through the Kundai pass, crossed the Nasik district, and left it by the Kasari pass in the Satmalas. From the ninth to the thirteenth century, while Devgiri, or Daulatabad, was one of the greatest capitals in the Deccan, and Supara was one of the chief centres of trade on the coast, the Thal Pass must have been the main route of traffic. Afterwards, in the fifteenth and early part of the sixteenth centuries, the bulk, of the trade passed further south between Ahmednagar and Chaul and between Bijapur and Dabhul or Kudal. In the sixteenth century, the establishment of Portuguese power at Bassein brought a large trade back to its old route by Nasik. In the seventeenth century, when foreign trade centered in Surat, the bulk of the commerce of the Deccan passed along the north and south routes mentioned in the Periplus. When Bombay took the place of Surat, trade once more set along the earliest route through the ThaI Pass, and this, for the last fifty years, has been the chief line of traffic in Western India.

Routes during British Period: At the beginning of British rule there were no made roads. The chief routes of trade passed through Nasik and Malegaon. The Poona-Surat road with a length of 254 miles through Chakan, Narayan Gaon, the Viscera Pass, and Dothan, entered by the Sinnar pass, and touching Nasik and Dindori, left the district by the Rahud Pass and continued its course to Surat through Umbarthana the Nirpan Pass, the Vagh Pass and Gondevi. The Ahmednagar-Nasik road ninety-seven miles long passed through Rahuri, Sangamner and Sinnar. The Aurangabad-Nasik road and the road linking Malegaon with Baroda served the need of traffic.

The Bombay-Agra trunk road was the chief trade route traversing through Chandor, Nasik, Igatpuri, the ThaI pass, Shahapur and Bhiwandi. The Poona-Nasik road, the Nasik-Balsar road, the Malegaon-Kopargaon road, and the Nandgaon-Aurangabad road were the principal routes of trade. During the course of the present century the Bombay-Agra trunk road and Provincial roads were improved. A number of bridges were also constructed to facilitate easy transport.

Present Routes of Trade: The Bombay-Bhusawal-Delhi trunk railway is the most important artery of trade. This vital line which was opened for traffic in 1861 traverses through the entire length of the district. It touches a number of important centres of trade such as, Nasik, Lasalgaon, Niphad, Manmad and Nandgaon. Huge consignments are booked by this route to Bombay, Thana, Jalgaon, Nagpur, Calcutta, Delhi, Jabalpur and the other important markets in Maharashtra and upper India. The Manmad-Dhond railway line is another important trade link between the Bombay-Bhusawal-Delhi route and the Bombay-Madras route. Besides being an important link between the sea routes, it served the commercial traffic from Manmad, Yeola, Kopargaon, Rahuri and Ahmadnagar. The Manmad-Kacheguda meter gauge line serves trade traffic to Aurangabad, Jalna, Sailu, Parbhani, Nanded, Dharmabad, Secunderabad and Hyderabad. In fact, this is the only rail link between this part of Maharashtra and Hyderabad.

The Bombay-Agra National Highway is a very important trade route facilitating trade in agricultural produce in almost the entire district. Traversing through Nasik and Malegaon, it serves traffic to metropolitan Bombay on the one side and Dhulia, Jalgaon, Akola, Amaravati, Nagpur, Indore and other markets in upper India on the other side. The Nasik-Poona national highway which passes through Sinnar and Sangamner connects the commercial interests in the two important towns. Besides Poona the entrepot centre, this highway facilitates traffic to the important markets in South Maharashtra, viz., Kolhapur, Sangli, Karad, Satara, and Sholapur. The Malegaon- Aurangabad State highway passing through Nandgaon serves the export and import trade between the two big markets. The Manmad-Ahmadnagar State highway via Yeola, Kopargaon and Rahuri is an important artery of trade. It passes through the rich areas famous for sugar and gut manufacturing.

Besides, there are a number of state highways and major district roads which serve the needs of trade in the district. They also serve as connecting links between the arteries of trade.[ For details of railway and road routes refer to Chapter 7 Communications.] In the nature of things, Nasik district enjoys good facilities as regards transportation and transit trade.

JALGAON Trade Routes

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Routes in early Hindu Period. --The early nick-cut remains at Ajanta. at Patna near Chalisgaon. at Chandor, and at Nasik, make it probable that, as far back as the second and first centuries before Christ, trade routes between north and south India passed close to those places. In the third century A. D., the author of the Periplus (247 A. D.) mentions that trade crossed Khandesh from Broach to Paithan on the Godavari and to Tagara ten days fun her eas [Mc Crindle's Periplus, 125-26.]. If the statement that it lay ten days to the cast of Paithan is correct, the trade probably passed eastwards through Khandesh, leaving the district either near Patan or near Ajanta. The road, though very difficult, was passable for wagons [Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency, Vol. XII, 1880.].

Routes during Muslim Period.—During the 15th and 16th centuries one line of traffic ran north and south, from north and Central India through the Simrol pass by Asirgad to Ajanta and the south; the other ran west to the coast, the route known as the Asirgad road, through Burhanpur, Savda, Jalgaon. Paldhi, and Borkhand, to Nasik and the Thal pass [ Ibid.]. During the 17th and 18th centuries the bulk of the great traffic between the inland countries and the coast passed through Khandesh.

Routes during British Period [ Ibid pp. 206-7.].—During the early years of the 19th century, Maratha misrule almost destroyed the trade of Khandesh. In 1826 the chief routes were: Dhulia-Amalner-Chop-da. Parola-Erandol-Savda-Burhanpur, Bhadgaon-Pachora-Ajanta and Mehunbare-Gavtala-Aurangabad. A more detailed description of the various roads is given in the chapter on Transport and Communications.

An interesting sidelight on the prosperity of this tract is the importance of the transit trade. Formerly the Tapi valley was the natural outlet for the rich products of Central India and Berar tract. For the major part, trade followed this route to Gujarat and Konkan coast during the Moghal and Maratha periods. But the route lost its economic advantage with the rise of the Bombay port and the construction of the Great Indian Peninsula railway route to Central India and the north.

Present-day routes of trade.—The district is served by a network of railway routes and roads. The Bombay-Itarsi and the Bombay-Nagpur lines of the Central Railway traverse the heart of the district. The Bhusawal-Jalgaon-Surat route, the Chalisgaon-Dhulia route, and the Pachora-Jamner route serve as trade arteries to the main railway line. The Jalgaon district is served by the undermentioned highways: Surat-Dhulia-Jalgaon-Nagpur road (National Highway). Bombay-Chalisgaon-Nagpur road, Jalgaon-Ajanta road. Shirpur-Rever-Burhanpur road, and Dhulia-Aurang-abad road, all of them being State Highways.

Bhusawal. Jalgaon and Chalisgaon function as entrepot for the district. Bhusawal lies on the main lines of the Bombay-Itarsi and the Botnbay-Nagpur routes of the Central Railway and the Bhusawal-Jalgaon-Surat route of the Western Railway. It is connected by roads and highways to various towns. Jalgaon also lies on the main line of the Bombay-Itarsi route and has become a very important wholesale and retail trade centre. Chalisgaon is the junction of the Bombay Itarsi and the Chalisgaon-Dhulia routes.

http://maharashtra.gov.in/english/gazetteer/JALGAON/trade_routes.html

Solapur Trade Routes

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TRADE ROUTES

Old trade routes: At the accession of British power in 1817 in the Indian territory and from that time till about 1850, Sholapur had no made roads and few carts and all traffic went over fair-weather tracks on pack bullocks. The situation was improved in 1883 when the district had ten lines of made roads together equal to 382 miles. Of these, three were provincial and seven local fund roads. The three provincial lines were Pune-Hyderabad road, Barshi road and Sholapur-Bijapur road. Of the seven local fund lines, Barshi-Pandharpur, Mohol-Pandharpur, Pandharpur-Junoni and Jeur-Karmala roads were important for goods traffic. The entire goods traffic was carried on over these roads on bullock-carts.

The railway traffic was also important as an artery of trade. The south-eastern branch of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway passed through the district with a length of 115 miles. The district had commercial links with Pune, Bombay, and with the northern parts of the country on the one hand and Akkalkot, Hyderabad and Madras on the other. The entire goods traffic was carried on through this line only. The Hotgi-Gadag section of the Southern Maratha and Bombay-Karnatak railways also served the goods traffic to a smaller extent.

Present trade routes: The Bombay-Sholapur-Madras railway line of the South-Central Railway is by far the most important trade route in the district, which connects important centres in the district to Pune, Bombay and upper India on the one hand and Hyderabad, Bangalore, and the entire south India on the other hand. Almost all the commercial and goods traffic is mainly carried through this line only. The Latur-Kurduwadi-Miraj narrow gauge line also serves as a feeder line to the principal trunk railway route. This railway route connects the district to the Marathwada region and Sangli and Kolhapur districts. However, this narrow gauge line is not a commercially important line. This line is proposed to be converted into broad gauge, and the work on the same has already been started from February 1,1973 as a famine relief work. After completion of the work this broad gauge line will serve traffic needs of the areas in Sholapur, Sangli and Osmanabad districts.

Roads: Of the road routes, the Pune-Sholapur-Hyderabad national highway is an important artery of trade which caters to the transport needs of the heavy commercial traffic in the district. It connects Sholapur with Bombay, Pune and the northern areas of Maharashtra State on one hand and Osmanabad district and Andhra Pradesh on the other hand. Some portion of goods traffic is also carried to Mysore State through Sholapur-Bijapur national highway. The rest of the road routes in the district serve mainly as approach roads or feeder lines to this main artery of trade. Sholapur-Osmanabad-Bhir-Aurangabad-Jalgaon state highway which is proposed to be upgraded into a national highway is an important trade route which connects this district with the important commercial centres, viz., Bhir, Aurangabad and Jalgaon. Some goods traffic also passes through Tembhurni-Ahmadnagar state highway.

Besides these major trade routes, there are a number of other trade routes which pass through the district. Among them the Sholapur-Nanded via Latur route is important. The Nanded and Latur markets are connected by this route with Sholapur. The Kolhapur-Miraj-Sholapur trade route serves as a feeder route which connects the district with Sangli, Kolhapur and Ratnagiri districts. The district has trade links with Konkan through Karad. The entire produce to and from the Konkan is transported through the Chiplun-Karad-Pandharpur route only. The Miraj-Pandharpur route also serves the transport needs of the district. The other trade route is Pandharpur-Phaltan-Pune route which brings into contact the important trade centres such as Lonand and Phaltan with the district. The Satara-Pandharpur-Sholapur trade route also serves the needs of trade traffic.

Sholapur district is famous for its trade since three centuries back when Sholapur and Barshi were prominent trade centres. The turnover of trade in the past mainly comprised export and import of a number of commodities from various trade centres in the district. The vivid description of trade in the district is given in the old Sholapur District Gazetteer, published in 1884, which is reproduced below:-

"Trade Centres: The chief agencies for spreading imports and gathering exports are trade centres, markets, fairs, village-shops, and travelling carriers. The largest centres of internal trade are Sholapur, Barsi, and Pandharpur, and next to these Vairag, Madha, Mohol, Karmala, Akluj, Natepute, and Sangola. Of these, Sholapur, Mohol and Madha are near the railway. But Sholapur and Barsi being on the edge of the district, their connection is chiefly with the country outside it while the trade of Pandharpur rests on its necessities as a place of pilgrimage; so that the lesser centres do not draw their supplies immediately from the larger centres but directly from the same places as they. The number of traders is about 6,000, the chief being Lingayats, Bhatias, Gujars, Vanis, Nagars, Shimpis, Niralis, Marwaris, Brahmans, Bohoras, and Khatris with capitals of £200 to £10,000 (Rs. 2,000 to Rs. 1,00,000). They are mostly independent. Some are agents to Bombay and other traders for whom they gather and export cotton, grain, and other local produce, and import rice, hardware, piecegoods, and salt......... The import trade is chiefly carried on both by wholesale traders of large trade centres and other petty local traders who often buy their stock from wholesale traders. The trade of Barsi requires special notice as it is almost entirely a transit trade. Barsi forms the western outlet for the produce of all the Nizam's territory east of it, here generally known as the Balaghat, comprising the towns and markets of Latur, Gangakhed, Mominabad, Nandiar, Pathri, Hingoli, and Bhir, which also receive their imports through it. Of the articles almost entirely produced within Nizam's limits which pass through and generally change hands in Barsi, the chief is cotton the yearly value of which is estimated at £3,60,000 (Rs. 36 lakhs). The next is linseed whose yearly value is estimated at £60,000 (Rs. 6 lakhs). Oil produced from a mixture of various seeds including karle or niger seed, til or sesame, havri til or white sesame, kardai or safflower, and bhuimug or groundnut, is estimated at a yearly value of £20,000 (Rs. 2 lakhs). The value of the export of turmeric, which is mainly produced in the Barsi sub-division, is estimated at £20,000 (Rs. 2 lakhs), to the same way the imports of which the chief are salt, piecegoods, yarn, sacking, and ironware, pass through Barsi on their way to the Balaghat. The exporters of cotton, oils, and Unseed are all Bombay men, and do not touch imports; otherwise the same firms often deal in both imports and exports. Consignments upto £100 (Rs. 1,000) in value are ordered from Bombay through agents.

The position of the adatyas, that is, brokers or agents, is a peculiar feature of the district trade. The following details belong to Barsi, but with few changes they apply to Sholapur and other places. The broker or adatya is a Komti or Lingayat Vani, a Brahman, or a Marwari, with little or no capital. He enjoys good credit with the brokers and money-lenders and can get financial accommodation in time of need with comparative ease. In all cases, husbandmen and dealers bring their raw produce to an adatya and are guided by him in disposing of it. The adatya charges a commission of 1s. (8 annas) on each bundle or boja of 250 pounds for cotton, and one per cent on the proceeds of other goods with interest on any advance made. The adatya has no direct or indirect interest in the rise and fall of prices, but simply earns his commission by selling the goods, the cultivator or dealer getting the profit and loss of the rise and fall of prices. It is frequently the case that all the cultivators of certain villages go to the same adatya year after year, unless they have grave cause of dissatisfaction. Most brokers deal uprightly with the cultivator who in most cases is perfectly innocent of arithmetic, and he in turn places great faith in his adatya, and agrees to whatever he does for him without questioning." [Gazetteer of Bombay Presidency, Volume XX, Sholapur, 1884, pp. 260-62.]

But this state of affairs has been undergoing gradual change with the passage of time. The pattern and organisation of trade which depend mainly upon the general economic conditions, agrarian structure, industrial progress, facilities of transport and communications and the institutional frame-work, underwent salient changes during the period that followed. However, much still remains to be done in the field of trade and commerce.

Memoir of the Operations of the British Army in India, During the Maratha War of 1817-1819 (1821) by Valentine Blacker

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Memoir of the Operations of the British Army in India, During the Maratha War of 1817-1819 (1821)
by Valentine Blacker (Click on link and ready the book online on google books)

Lieutenant-Colonel V. Blacker's The Maratha War
Memoir of the Operations of the British Army in India
by Valentine Blacker
Memoir of the Operations of the British Army in India, During the Maratha War of 1817-1819 (1821)
by Valentine Blacker
Valentine Blacker (1770-1823) only, historian of Mahratta War of 1817-1819, l
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentine_Blacker

TRINGALVADI FORT

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Tringalva'di Port, 2893 feet above the sea, stands six miles north-west of Igatpuri and four miles north of the Thal pass. It was visited by Captain Briggs in 1818. He found the path up the lower part of the hill long and easy. The scarp of the rock was low and a flight of good steps led up its face. There was a second approach on the other side of the hill but it was purposely stopped with stones and earth. [Captain Briggs' Report, 20th June 1818, in Ahmadnagar Collector's File, Inward Miscellaneous, VI. Captain Briggs thought the latter road the letter suited for defence as it requited fewer men.] In 1636 Tringalvadi fort is mentioned among the places which Shahaji, Shivaji's father after his defeat at Mahuli in Thana was forced to make over to the Moghals. [Elliot and Dowson, VII. 60.] Tringalvadi is one of the sixteen fortified places which surrendered to the British on the fall of Trimbak in April 1818. [Blacker's Maratha War, 322 note 2.] Tringalvadi has several caves and a ruined temple of Brahmadev with a Sanskrit inscription dated A.D. 1344 (Shak 1266). [Dr. Burgess' List of Antiquarian Remains.]

Trimbak Fort

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Trimbak with Nasik is said to have been governed by a brother of Ramchandra (1271-1308) the fifth of the Devgiri Yadavs. [Wilson's Mackenzie Collection (2nd Ed.) 63.] In the Musalman histories of the Deccan, Trimbak is always coupled with Nasik, and it is still the practice to speak of the two places as Nasik-Trimbak. The earliest known mention of Trimbak is in 1629, in the third year of Shah Jehan's reign, when a force of 8000 horse was sent to conquer Nasik, Trimbak, and Sangamner. [Elliot and Dowson, VII. 10, 11.] In 1683 mention is made that the Ahmadnagar or Nizamshahi commandant of Trimbak fort offered his services to the Moghals. [Grant Duffs Marathas, 49.] In 1635 a force of 8000 men was sent against the forts of Junnar, Sangamner, Nasik, and Trimbak. [Elliot and DOWSON, VII. 52.] In 1636, after his defeat at Mahuli. Shahji agreed to deliver Trimbak fort along with Tringalvadi, Hanshchandragad, and others, to Khan Zaman, the Moghal general. [Elliot and Dowson, 60; Grant Duff's Marathas, 52.] About 1680 Trimbak (Tirmek) is mentioned as a sub-division of Sangamner which was a district of Aurangabad. A manuscript quoted by Orme, apparently of Moghal times, describes the river Ganga as coming from the Konkan hills on which Tirmek is built, passing through the middle of the Sangamner district forty miles (20 kos) to Gulshanabad or Nasik. Numbers of Hindus from the most distant parts are said to come every year to Trimbak to bathe on the day the sun enters the sign of the Scorpion. Every twelfth year the multitude was much greater and some came on every day of the year. The pilgrim tax yielded a large sum and belonged to the commandant of Trimbak fort. The rock out of which the Ganga springs had been fashioned into a cow's mouth. [MSS. quoted in Orme's Historical Fragments, 285-286.] In 1682 Aurangzeb's generals advanced from Aurangabad to Nasik-Tirmek, near the source of the river Ganga, and their detachments reduced several posts on detached bills. [Orme's Historical Fragments, 113.] In 1684 one of Sambhaji's generals gained leave to go with the troops under his command to bathe in the Ganga at Nasik-Tirmek, as according to their belief every Maratha was bound to wash at least once a year in the Ganga, and in preference at Nasik-Tirmek. [Orme's Historical Fragments, 143.] In 1716 Shahu demanded that the Moghals should restore Trimbak fort to the Marathas. [Grant Duff's Marathas, 197.] The demand was refused and the fort seems to have remained with the Moghals till 1720 when the whole of Khandesh passed to the Nizam. [Grant Duff's Marathas, 200, 206.] In 1730 the fort was captured by Kolis, [Transactions Bombay Geographical Society, I, 243.] but the Nizam recovered it and held it till 1752 when it was taken by a Maratha officer. [Grant Duff's Marathas, 276.] In 1750 Tieffenthaler mentions Trimbak as a good fort on the bank of the Godavari. [Description Historique et Geographique de l'Inde, I. 482. The editor notices that Nasik-Tirmek is one place and it appears in Rennell's map (1783) as Nasick-Trimuck.] In 1767 Trimbak is mentioned as part of the territory which Madhavrav Peshwa agreed to give to his uncle Raghunath Rao. [Grant Duff's Marathas, 339.] In a revenue statement, prepared from Maratha records of about 1790, Trimbak is entered as a sub-division in the Sangamner district yielding £848 (Rs. 8482). [Waring's Marathas, 239.]

Siege, 1818.

During the Maratha war of 1818 Trimbak, Rajdhair, and Malegaon were the only Nasik forts which offered resistance to Colonel McDowell's force. Marching from Nasik on the 22nd of April Colonel McDowell's detachment halted half way to Trimbak, while the engineers went ahead to reconnoitre and summon the fort to surrender. As the party approached the village of Trimbak the enemy left it and opened fire from the guns on the north side of the fort which were numerous and well served. They afterwards made a sally on the party but were at once driven back. The same evening a reconnaisance was made of the south gateway which was on the other side of the fort and at a considerable distance from the village. The commanding engineer Lieutenant Davies recommended an attack on the north gate. [The "reasons for the engineer's choice were, that although the ascent to the north gate was more difficult than to the south gate, there was but one line of works to destroy, a point of great consequence, as the detachment had only six-pounders with which to effect a breach, as it was impossible to carry heavier guns up the hills on either side. A second reason was the advantage offered by the village of Trimbak and other ruined villages at the foot of the scarp in constructing batteries and giving cover to the troops. A third reason was that the road leading to the south side of the fort was impracticable for guns, and the wells on that side had been poisoned. Lake's Sieges, 99-106.] The plan of attack was to silence the fire of the enemy's guns, particularly these which boro on the ruined village, and for this purpose to erect a battery for the heavy ordnance at the northern side of the bottom of the hill, then to occupy and form a ledgment in the village at the foot of the north gate, to erect a battery in the village for four six-pounders to batter the gateway, and thence to carry the guns up to the gateway by hand as had been done at Rajdhair fort. At the short distance of about 100 yards it was hoped that the towers and curtains of the gateway might be demolished, and that the troops might advance to storm the breach under cover of the fire of the batteries and of musketry from the post in the village. At all events, it was hoped that a lodgment so immediately under the gateway would alarm the garrison and induce them to surrender.

To cut off from the enemy all hope of escape by the south side, and to distract their attention, two six-pounders and a howitzer were detached and established as high up the hill and as near to the south gate as the nature of the ground allowed.

The attack began on the 23rd. At eight in the morning the detachment took its ground before the fort, and the whole of the in trenching tools and materials collected for the siege were carried into the village to the place chosen for the engineer's store. At four in the evening a detachment of fifty Europeans, fifty irregulars, and 150 horse with two six-pounders, marched from camp to take a position opposite the south gateway. With them was a working party under an officer of engineers, consisting of a small detail of sappers and miners, thirty pioneers, and fifty litter-bearers, provided with forty wicker-cages or gabions and 2000 sand bags. A battery for the two six-pounders and a place of arms for the troops were prepared during the night, and one of the guns was carried up and placed in battery. For the operations on the north side a working party was got ready of half the corps of sappers and miners, fifty Europeans, 100 litter-bearers, and about 100 lascars. As soon as it was dusk, the battery and place of arms were laid out, and when it grew dark the working party advanced and began operations. [Unfortunately, the ground on which this work was formed proved to be a bed of rock a few inches below the surface, which gave rise to great additional labour. For instead of forming a sunken battery, as it was intended, an elevated one had to be constructed; but the greatest inconvenience arising from this circumstance was the impossibility of lowering the trails of the guns, which rendered it necessary to form an inclined plane for the wheels of the guns to rest on, in order to give them sufficient elevation to bear on the upper gateway. Lake's Sieges, 99-106.] At twelve at night the relief for the working party arrived in the trenches, consisting of the remaining half of the sappers and miners, fifty sepoys, 400 pioneers, and 200 litter-bearers. Owing to the rocky nature of the ground it was necessary to carry the earth for the battery from a distance. It was deemed therefore advisable not to relieve the old working party but to keep both at work, and thus, by great labour, the works were finished a little before daylight, and four heavy guns, two eight-inch mortars and two eight-inch howitzers, were got into battery. During the night the enemy fired occasionally on the working party from their different guns, but no casualties occurred.

On the 24th the battery opened at daylight and with great effect, so that in three hours all the enemy's guns were silenced, and it was found on reconnoitring that they had left the ruined village. This induced the commanding officer to attempt a lodgment there at midday instead of waiting till night as had originally been intended. The working [The working party consisted of the sappers and miners, eighty pioneers, and 100 litter-bearers, under two engineer officers. They were provided with 100 gabions and 2000 sand-bags.] and covering [The covering party consisted of Her Majesty's Royals and the 1st Battalion of the 13th Regiment of Madras Native Infantry.] parties for this service were ordered to parade at noon in rear of the work. From some misconception of orders the covering party advanced three quarters of an hour before the time ordered and before the working party were ready; and instead of remaining quiet under cover of the walls and houses, they attempted to force the gateway and the bluff rock 200 feet in perpendicular height.

The enemy opened a very heavy fire of jingals, rockets, and matchlocks, and rolled large stones on the assailants. When the working party arrived they tried in vain to establish themselves. At the same time the British battery discontinued firing as the artillerymen were worn out by twelve hours' incessant labour and the working party were forced to retire with loss behind the walls of the village where they remained till night when a battery for four six-pounders was completed. During the afternoon of the 23rd, the enemy, fancying from the desperate enterprise of that morning that an attempt had really been intended by the narrow passage, and believing that neither rocks, walls, nor artillery could stop their assailants, lowered one of their number by a rope, who, when within hail, called out that the commandant was willing to treat with Colonel McDowell. The usual demand of the payment of arrears was made and refused. About six in the morning of the 24th, a Jamadar of the garrison came down, and terms were arranged for the surrender of the place, the garrison being allowed to retire with their arms and private property. In the coarse of the day the garrison turned out. There were about 535 men, Rajputs and Marathas with a few Sides or Abyssinians. It was arranged that they should leave by the south gate, but so well had it been secured inside by heaps of stones that they were not able to clear a way for themselves before three o'clock in the afternoon. Within the fort were found twenty-five pieces of ordnance, from a thirty-three down to a one-pounder, with a sufficiency of ammunition. [On examining their guns the artillery of the enemy was not found so unscientific as their practice seemed to show. Several shells that had been brought from Daman in the time of the Moghal government were lying about. Some of these being filled with loose powder, without a fuze or any other stopper, were run down with the usual charge of powder, and fired on the British. The gun gave a double report, as the shell burst the moment it left the muzzle. The assailants could not imagine what was the cause of the double report as they were never able to see where the shot struck or what became of it. The mouth of the gun was torn to pieces. Summary Maratha and Pendhari Wars, 181.] The loss in taking this important fortress amounted to thirteen Europeans and nine natives, including two officers. This loss was small, but the state to which the heavy guns and their carriages was reduced was a serious inconvenience. There were no means of replacing them; The siege of hill-forts was particularly destructive to gun-carriages. To give the pieces sufficient elevation it was necessary to sink the trails into the ground. Where this, as at Trimbak, was impracticable from the rocky site of the battery, the wheels had to be raised on sand-bags.

The fall of Trimbak so alarmed the commandants of the other forts that sixteen strong places surrendered witheut resistance. [These sixteen places were, Achla, Ahivant or Ivatta, Bahula, Bhaskargad, Ghargad, Harish, Hatgad, Kantra, Koledhair, Kanhira, Kavnai, Markinda, Ramsej, Ravlya-Javlya, Tringalvadi, and Vaghera. All these forts were visited and reported on by Captain Briggs immediately after their surrender. Ammunition and stores were found in Bhaskargad, Kantra, Kamsej, and Vaghera. Ahmadnagar Collector's MSS. File VI. Inward Miscellaneous.] The occupation of so many forts caused serious embarrassment. No regular troops could be spared, and irregulars raised for the purpose were unworthy of trust. The temporary use of irregulars could not be avoided. At the same time application was made to Brigadier-General Doveton for more Native Infantry, who ordered two companies of the second battalion of the 13th Regiment to join from Jalna with all expedition. [Blacker's Maratha War, 321-323. The guns used in the reduction of Trimbak fort were, two iron eighteen-pounders and two iron twelve-pounders, eight six-pounders, two eight-inch and two live and a half inch mortars, two eight-inch and two five and a half inch howitzers. The ammunition expended was 251 eighteen-pound shot, sixty-six twelve-pound shot, 111 eight-inch shells, 40 five and a half inch shells, and 2200 pounds of gunpowder. The stores used were S000 sand-bags, 200 gabions, and 50 fascines. Lake's Sieges, 103-100.]

Two months after the surrender of Trimbak fort, Trimbakji Denglia tried to retake it by surprise. Only a few men of the 13th Madras Native Infantry, commanded by a Subhedar, had been left in the fortress. One morning the sentries at the north gate were asked to admit a band of pilgrims who wished to worship the source of the Godavari. They were admitted without suspicion. Before all of the party had entered one of them attacked the sentry, who, at the cost of his life, succeeded in closing the gates. The garrison, immediately alarmed, overpowered the few who had gained admittance, and the rest of the pilgrims, in the narrow t of steps leading to the north gate, suffered severely from stones dropped on them from above. [Lake's Sieges, 110.]

The Brahmans of Trimbak played a seditions part during the 1857 mutinies. At their instigation a party of Bhils and Thakurs attacked the Trimbak treasury on the night of the 5th of December 1857, and some of the men who took part in the rising hid themselves in the hills round Trimbak. The hills were searched and among the men who were made prisoners a Thakur named Panda acknowledged his share in the outbreak and stated that ho and his people had risen under the advice of a Trimbak Brahman whom, he said, he knew by sight and could point out. Another of the prisoners, confirmed this story and promised to identify the Brahman. Mr. Chapman, the civil officer in charge of the district, who knew that the rising and attack on Trimbak had been organized by Brahmans, had brought all the Brahmans of Trimbak into his camp and ranged them in rows, but no one had come forward to identify the leading conspirators. Pandu was called and told to examine the rows of Brahmans and find out whether the man who had advised his people to revolt was among them. Pandu walked down the line and stopping before a Brahman, whose face was muffled, asked that the cloth might be taken away, and on seeing his face said that he was one of the Brahmans who had persuaded the Thakurs to attack Trimbak. Then the other Thakur who had confessed, was called in, and walking down the line picked out the same Brahman. Next morning this Brahman was tried, found guilty, condemned to death, and hanged. [See above p. 201.]

RATANGAD Fort History

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Ratangad Fort, also called Nhavi Killa or the Barber's Fort, [This fort is said to have got the name of Barber's Fort from Dhanaji, one of its commandants, who was of the barber caste. Government last of Civil Forts, 1862.] stands about six miles east of Mulher. About half way up the hill is the chief entrance and inside the fort are the ruins of what must once have been a stately court-house. On the hill sides are about eight rock-cut reservoirs and on the plateau a temple of Mahadev and a Musalman tomb. In 1862 the fort was reported in disrepair, though naturally strong from the height and steepness of the bill.

RAMSEJ FORT

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Ra'msej or Ram's Bedstead, in Dindori, about seven miles south of Dindori, and about seven miles north of Nasik, is about 3273 feet above sea level. In 1819 Captain Briggs described Ramsej as neither so large nor so high as most of the Nasik hills, but not so small as Hatgad. The scarp was neither very steep nor very high and if undefended the ascent was not difficult. There were two gateways, one within the other, large but not so formidable as those of Hatgad. There was less uncovered ground on the way up to the gates than in any other Nasik fort. The works connected with the gates were able to give a good flanking fire at a short distance from them. There was a way down by a trap-door kept covered with dirt and rubbish, called the secret road or chor-rasta affording passage for one at a time. All round the fort ran a wall tolerable in some places but mostly indifferent. Within the fort were two or three bombproof and ammunition chambers built of stone. The water-supply was ample.

Captain Briggs left two companies of militia in the fort, one on the top of the hill, the other in the village below. This large party was left at Ramsej that the garrison might always spare ninety or a hundred men to march after Bhils and other marauders. In the fort besides about a ton of grain and a small quantity of salt there were eight guns, nine small cannon called jamburas, twenty-one jingals, thirty copper pots, forty-one brass pots, 256 pounds of gunpowder, forty pounds of brimstone, forty-five pounds of lead, and 240 of hemp. There were also elephant trappings, tents, carpets, and iron ware, which once had been Shivaji's. [Captain Briggs' Report, 20th June 1818, in Ahmadnagar Collector's Inward Miscellaneous File VI.]

The only reference to Ramsej which has been traced is the notice that, in 1664, Aurangzeb detached Shahab-ud-din Khan to reduce the Nasik and Khandesh forts. At Ramsej Shahab-ud-din raised a platform of wood able to hold 500 men, and so high that the men at the top completely commanded the inside of the fort. During the siege Sambhaji's army arrived to relieve the garrison and on their arrival Khan Jahan advanced from' Nasik to help Shahab-ud-din. After two unsuccessful assaults the siege was raised, and the great wooden platform was filled with combustibles, set on fire, and destroyed. [Elliot and Dowson, VII. 312; Scott's Deccan, II. 59-60; Grant Duff's Marathas, 144; Archdeacon Gell in Bombay Miscellany, I. 14. Ramsej maybe Masij fort near Nasik captured by the Moghal general Ghayista Khan in 1635. Elliot and Dowson, VII. 62.] During the Maratha war of 1818 Ramsej was one of. the seventeen strongholds which surrendered to the English on the fall of Trimbak. [Slacker's Maratha War, 322 note 2.]

About two miles north-west of Ramsej is Dhair or Bhorgad fort, 8579 feet above sea level. It has an excellent quarry from which, the stone of Kala Ram's temple, the Kapurthala fountain, and the highly polished Hack band round the Peshwa's new palace in Nasik are said to have been brought.

Captain Briggs, who visited the fort in 1818, did not find it steep until at the foot of the rock where it became so difficult that it could be climbed only on all fours like a ladder. There was one fairly good gate with ruined bastions. The walls were ruined, and the hill-top was remarkably steep with no place for grain or ammunition. The water supply was ample.

Pisol Fort

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Pisol Fort, [Mr. H.R. Cooke, C. S.] in Satana, is situated about four miles north of Jaykheda and two miles west of the Pisol pass which leads into Khandesh, and can, but with difficulty, be used by carts. The fort is on a moderately high range of hills running east and west. It is of easy ascent and of large area, and on the south-east is separated from the range by a deep rock-cut chasm. At the foot of the hill, and spreading some way up its lower slopes, defended by a wall of rough atones, is the small village of Vadi Pisol, whose ruins show that; at one time it was a place of some size. The main ascent to the fort lies through the village. A sleep path leads to an angle in the natural scarp. It then passes through a succession of ordinary gateways constructed in the crevice as the angle reaches the plateau on the top. The hill is well supplied with water and there are numerous reservoirs at all points of the ascent. Within the first gateway a path leads through a small opening to the right, now blocked with earth and stones, along the base of the natural scarp to pasture lands on the hills beyond, where the cattle of the fort used to graze. At the mouths of two of the reservoirs, are figures of Mahadev's bull, and, inside the reservoirs, are lings which are hidden except when the water is low. The water of the two reservoirs, which are separated by a partition not more than a foot and a half thick, stands at noticeably different levels. The natural scarp is imperfect, and nearly all round the top has been strengthened by a masonry wall. Here and there at weak points there were special defences and provision for military posts. This wall and the defences are now much ruined. To the east, the ridge on which the fort stands stretches for a considerable distance with only a small drop. As this is the weak point of the hill the drop ' outside the wall has been deepened by an artificial cut about thirty feet deep and twenty feet across. At the back of the hill is an outlying spur with tremendous precipices on all sides and especially on the north-west. Criminals used to be tied hand and foot and thrown from where the scarp is sheerest, at a point known as the Robber's Leap or Chor Kada.

There are only two buildings of note in the fort, one an old mosque on the south edge of the precipice which is visible from a distance below, and the other the ruins of a large pleasure-palace or Rang-mahal. The old gateways are still standing, but all else has been recently destroyed by fire. The Lokhandi gate now at Gains is said to have belonged to this building and to have been removed when the fort fell into disrepair.

Kulang and Alang

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Kulang and Alang on the Ahmadnagar frontier of Igatpuri, about ten miles south-east of Igatpuri station, are two blocks of precipitous flat-topped rocks. Like Aundha and Patta, Kulang and Alang are about two miles distant from each other, Alang being almost entirely in the Ahmadnagar district. Their tops are inaccessible, the old way of approach having been destroyed. The two blocks are separated by the smaller mass of Madangad, which, like its neighbours, was rendered inaccessible by the destruction, probably in 1818, of the rough staircase leading to it through a cleft in the almost perpendicular rock. Along can be climbed from Kulangvadi village in Nasik about two miles to the north, but with great difficulty and some danger. The crags in this range are the steepest of any in the collectorate and hardly afford foothold for any but the smallest brushwood. Under strict conservancy the ledges between the chief scarps show a better growth. To the east of Alang is the steep pass known as the Husband and Wife, navra-navri, from two curious pillars of rock that jut up from the ridge dividing the Nasik and Ahmadnagar collectorates. The pass is passable en foot though difficult. ['Mr. J. A.Baines, C.S.] No record of the builders of these forts has been traced. They were probably ceded to the Peshwa by tho Moghals in 1760 along with Kavnai and other Nosik forts. [According to one account Alang was handed to the Peshwa by the Kolis of Jawhar in Thana. Trans. Bom. Geog. Soc., 1.244. ] From the Peshwa they passed to the British in 1818.

Koledhair Fort

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Koledhair Fort on the Chandor range, about four miles west of Rajdhair fort and seven miles north-west of Ghandor, was described by Captain Briggs, who visited it in 1818, as a poor stronghold, hardly deserving the name of a fort. It was large and easy of ascent, an ill built wall about ten feet long and six feet high with a miserable door being the only fortification. There were good rock-cut granaries and store-houses, but a deficient and bad water supply in the hot season. There were seven of the Peshwa's militia in the fort. [A bad pass, but practicable for horses, runs into Khandesh over the lower part of the hill. Captain Briggs' Report, 20th June 1818.] Koledhair was one of the seventeen strong places that surrendered to the British after the fall of Trimbak in 1818. [Blacker's Maratha War, 322 note 2.]

KAVNAI FORT

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KAVNAI FORT stands ten miles north of Igatpuri, two miles west of the railway line, midway between the Ghoti and Bailgaon stations of the Peninsula Railway. The fort, which is said to have been built by the Moghals, was ceded to the Peshwa by the Nizam in virtue of a treaty concluded after the battle of Udgir (1760) When the Marathas were defeated at Trimbak in 1818, Kavnai, like Tringalvadi and fifteen other neighbouring forts, fell without a struggle to the British. [Blacker's Maratha War, 322 note 2.] Captain Briggs who visited it after its surrender found two houses at the foot of the hill where the garrison lived. The ascent was easy till the scarp was reached. The scarp, though not very high, was nearly perpendicular and was climbed by bad rock-cut steps. There was only one tolerable gate. The top of the fort was small with an ample water supply and good houses for the garrison.

The fort is now (1880) uninhabited. Below the hill is a village inhabited by Marathas, Kolis, and Thakurs with a sprinkling of Gujarat Osval Vanis. The Osval Vanis are a thriving class who have permanently settled in Kavnai and visit Viramgam, their native place, on marriage and other ceremonial occasions. The chief traffic is in grain, pulse, and oil-seed or khurasni, as well as considerable transactions in rice. The foot of the hill on the north is comparatively well clothed with trees, chiefly an inferior description of mangoes. [Mr. J. A. Baines, C.S.] There is a ruined temple of Kamakshi Devi, to whom offerings of cocoanuts, betelnuts, and money are made on Dasra (October), when people go in numbers to pay their respects to the goddess. A small pond close by the temple holds water throughout the year.

Chandor fort

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Chandor fort (3994) stands on the flat top of a hill immediately above the town, The approach has been blasted away and the fort is now almost inaccessible. It commanded the Chandor pass, an important opening between Khandesh and Nasik. The hill on which it stood is naturally strong, being accessible only at one gateway which was strongly fortified.

History.

Its position on the high road from Berar to Nasik and the coast must have made Chandor a place of trade from very early times. About A.D. 801 Dridhaprahar, the founder of the Chandor Yadav dynasty (801-1073), is spoken of as restoring the glory of Chandor (Chandradityapura). [See above p. 185 note 4. Chandor is probably the Chandrapur, ' a city in the Deccan', the capital of Jayakeshi, whose daughter Minal Devi married Karan Solanki (A.D. 1072.1094). See Forbes' Ras Mala, 81.] In 1635 the Moghal army took Chandor fort along with Aniarai (Indrai?), Manjna, and Kanjna; [Elliot and Dowson, VII. 53 and 124. In 1639 Chandor is mentioned as a dependency of Daulatabad forming the eastern boundary of the territory of Baglan. Ditto, 66.] but Chandor must afterwards have passed to the Marathas as in 16G5 it was again taken by Aurangzeb. [Thornton's Gazetteer, 195.] Between 1754 and 1756 His Highness Malharrav Holkar induced craftsmen to settle in it by gifts of land. The new suburb was called Somvarpeth and Chandor came to have a name for its brass-work. In 1804 it surrendered to the British commander Colonel Wallace, but was restored to Holkar until its final surrender to Sir Thomas Hislop in 1818. [Thornton's Gazetteer, 195.] In the Maratha war of 1818, on the 10th of April, after the surrender of Ankai Tankai, Lieutenant-Colonel McDowell's detachment encamped at Chandor. [Blacker's Maratha War, 318.] In 1820 Sir John Malcolm described Chandor as a town of Considerable size, commanding one of the passes into Khandesh. [Central India, II. 486.] In 1827 Chandor had 920 houses, twenty shops, and several wells. [Clunes' Itinerary, 15.] The town continued fairly prosperous till the opening of the railway in 1861 when the bulk of the traffic left the Bombay-Agra road. [Compare Bom. Gov. Sel CXLV. 10 (Survey Superintendent's Report 131, dated 16th February 1874). " Since the accession of the British Government this town has. greatly declined, as may be seen from the numerous ruins in the neighbourhood, and the opening of the railway has turned away much of the traffic which used to pass through Chandor."] In 1857 Chandor was occupied by a detachment of the 26th Regiment of Native Infantry. [Historical Record, 26th Regiment Native Infantry, 16.]

BHASKARGAD FORT

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BHASKARGAD FORT, about eight miles south of Igatpuri, is described by Captain Briggs, who visited it in 1818, as easy of access, but with a long ascent to the foot of the scarp. The path lay through thick bamboo brushwood which hid all view of the fort to within 200 yards. The path then continued nearly across the whole side of the hill by a narrow track under the scarp of the rock which is too overhanging for stones hurled from the top to reach the track. From here the ascent was by good broad steps cut out of a deep road in the rock and rendered easy by its winding route. At the top was a good strong gate. On the hill top there were no bomb proofs for ammunition or provisions and both were kept in ft thatched house. The water supply of the fort was ample. [One weak point in this fort was a space of about forty yards where the perpendicular rock broke into an easy ascent A bad wall about 4½ feet thick had been built here and a worse bastion, neither of them more than twelve and in one place not more than six feet high. This part was easy to carry by escalade with little loss as, not forty yards lower down, there was perfect cover for a large body of men, There were no parapet and no loopholes to this work, so that the garrison were forced to expose themselves. Captain Briggs' Report, 20th June 1818, in Ahmadnagar Collector's File, VI. Inward Miscellaneous.]

Bahula Fort

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Bahula Fort, (3165) about ten miles south-west of Nasik, was described by Captain Briggs in 1818 as difficult of access, with only one road up the scarp of the rock by steep steps. These steps went to within twelve or fourteen feet perpendicular height of the gate, and these twelve feet were climbed by a ladder which was drawn up at pleasure into the fort. This contrivance rendered the gate almost as inaccessible as the rest of the hill. Captain Briggs considered it the simplest and strongest mode of protecting the entrance to the gates of such hill forts. A bad wall ran round part of the fort. The top of the fort was very small and had a ruined arched building like a bombproof. There was plenty of water, and, at the foot of the scarp outside the fort, was a fine excavation in the rock which served as a granary. [Captain Briggs' Report, 20th June 1818, in Ahmadnagar Collector's File, VI. Inward Miscellaneous.]

AUNDHA PATTAH

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Aundha, on the south-west frontier of Sinnar, about ten miles south of Devlali, the nearest railway station, is a natural stronghold ending in a sharp cone but has no traces of any built fort The rock-cut steps that formerly led up this cone have been destroyed, and the summit is at present almost inaccessible. On the opposite hill some fine six-sided basalt pillars stand out from the hill side. A curious trap dyke also stretches in a series of low mounds for some miles from the foot of Aundha towards Kavnai. Pattah, a larger bluff within Ahmadnagar limits, about two miles south of Aundha, has a flat top rising in one place to a low peak, below which there is a large chamber cut in the rock, where Mr. Fraser Tytler, Collector of Ahmadnagar between 1855 and 1860, used to camp in the hot weather. The two forts with the joining ridge form; a regular arc facing northwards. The are includes the valuable forest reserve of Bhandardara about ten miles south-east of Belgaon Kurhe railway station. [Mr. W. Ramsay, C.S.; Mr. J. A. Baines, C.S.]

History.

Both of these forts are said to have been built in the latter part of the fourteenth century, when the Bahmani dynasty (1347-1488) established their power over the Deccan. On the division of their territories towards the end of the fifteenth century, the two forts came into the possession of the Ahmadnagar kings (1488 - 1636). In 1627 they fell into the hands of the Delhi emperors. In 1671 during Aurangzeb's rule, Moropant Pingle took them on behalf of Shivaji. [Grant Duff's Marathas, 112.] Next year Mohobat Khan retook them, but only to lose them in 1675, when Deher Khan, the Moghal general, was defeated by Pingle. [Grant Duff's Marathas, 119.] From 1675 they remained under the Marathas, till the British conquest in 1818. Both Shivaji and the Peshwas used to maintain an irregular force of militia for their defence.

ANKAI TANKAI

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Ankai generally known as ANKAI-TANKAI, the strongest hill fort in the district, rises about 900 feet above the plain and 3200 feet above the sea, six miles north of Yeola and near the Manmad and Ahmadnagar road. The hill top commands a wide view of Khandesh and the Godavari valley. In 1818 the hill was described as nearly square, a solid rock rising from another hill with sides gradually falling towards the low country. The rock was scarped on its four sides to a perpendicular fall of from 150 to 200 feet, thus presenting on its four quarters inaccessible, smooth, and bluff faces. The top, which was about a mile round, was flat except on the eastern quarter where rose a small conical hill about 150 feet high. The point of this little cone was 900 feet above the level of the surrounding plain. The ascent to Ankai was very difficult, passing over a steep and craggy way, and through seven lines of strong fortifications. The lower gate was well built, and, with its curtains and towers, presented an independent work by no means contemptible. Passing the lower gate, the farther ascent led, through a number of difficult and intricate windings, and by flights of rock-cut steps with a low and small parapet to the left. After the last flight of steps the entrance was protected by a strong gateway and works, passing through which the ascent led, by a narrow winding stair, to the edge of the rock, which was protected by a similar gate and works on its top. About twenty-five men, standing on the top of this gateway and armed with nothing but stones, could keep back any number of assailants. As this was the only way to the top, so long as it was held, the garrison could set at defiance all efforts at approach. The latter flight of sixty or seventy steps was just broad enough to admit a single man at a time; and a large quantity of dry wood was kept on both gates ready if necessary to fire the gateways. Close inside of the last gateway was a curious domed building said to be a treasure chamber. On the summit were many rock-cut magazines and granaries, some of them from twenty to fifty feet deep, approached by narrow and winding flights of steps with cisterns of pure water at the different turnings and chambers. On the surface of the rock were two large reservoirs, and at the western end were the remains of a large palace. Tankai which is about a mile north-east of Ankai was also fortified. On the east side there are still the remains of a well-built guard-house, commanding the approach from the plain which is here tolerably easy and was apparently the road by which supplies were brought for the Ankai garrison. Tankai seems to hare been used as a storehouse for the main fort. [Lake's Sieges of the Madras Army, 88, 90; Blackers' Maratha War, 318; Summary of the Maratha and Pendhari Campaign, 163-168. Mr. H. F. Silcock, C.S.]

Fort.

In 1635 Ankai Tankai fort, with Alka Palka, was captured by Shah Jahan's general Khan Khanan. [Elliot and Dowson, VII 57. The local use of Alka-Palka seems uncertain, According to Mr. W. Ramsay, C.S., Alka-Palka are two unfortified hills to the west of Ankai Tankai, and divided from them by the road and railway. According to Mr. H. F. Silcock, C.S., the western block of hills is called Goraknath and Alka Palka is the same as Ankai-Tankai.] In 1665 Thevenot mentions Ankai as a stage between Surat and Aurangabad. [The eighth stage from Surat was Satana 102 miles, the ninth was Umrane (on the Agra road fifteen miles south-west of Malegaon) 16½ miles, and the tenth Ankai Tankai, eighteen miles. Voyages, V. 220.]

During the last Maratha war Lieutenant-Colonel McDowell's detachment came to Ankai on the 5th of April 1818. On the previous day negotiations had been opened with the commandant whose master, a chief in the neighbourhood, had sent orders for surrender. On arriving before the fort, as he found matters not fully settled, Lieutenant-Colonel McDowell ordered a pair of six-pounders to the gate of the village or petta at the foot of the hill. This was instantly opened and a surrender effected, and a party from the detachment climbed the lofty battlements of Ankai, and without striking a blow hoisted the British flag on its summit. The whole of the guns on the top had been loaded, and the matches lighted; nor was it without the greatest difficulty and a handsome gratuity that the commandant prevailed on the garrison to retire without giving the British camp a volley. The garrison amounted to about 300 men with about forty guns. Considering the works and the amount of stores it was fortunate that all were secured without bloodshed. The surrender of Ankai was of great importance to the English, as, if it had held out, even for a short time, the numerous other forts would probably have been encouraged to offer resistance. Within the fort were found forty pieces of ordnance with a large store of ammunition. [The details are, fifty-five pigs of lead and a very large quantity of gunpowder. In Ankai village were found 799 sers of lead' and 9500 matchlock balls. Appendix to Captain Briggs' Report, 20th June 1818, in Ahmadnagar Collector's File, VI. Inward Miscellaneous.] There were about £1200 in cash and £2000 more were raised from prize sales. A party of forty native infantry under a European officer was left in the fort. [Lake's Sieges of the Madras Army, 88, 90; Blacker's Maratha War, 318; Summary of the Maratha and Pendhari Campaign, 163. 168. ] In 1827 Ankai had fifty houses and nine shops. Of the four forts Ankai, Tankai, Alka, and Palka, all but Ankai were dismantled. [Clunes' Itinerary, 23. ]

The Dhond and Manmad railway has a station at Ankai. The station-master and telegraph signallers' offices are at present accommodated in a temporary structure, thirty feet square. Near the station are two temporary houses for the permanent way inspector and engine-driver. A siding about three miles long runs from the station to a quarry from which stone was obtained for the bridges and buildings on the Manmad end of the railway.

Caves.

There are three Brahmanical caves on Ankai hill, all very rough and unfinished. The first, an unfinished ling shrine, is inside the second gate on the ascent to the fort. Its entrance is seventeen feet long by nine feet broad, and, on each side of it, is a small group of sculpture, a central female figure with a maid-servant carrying an umbrella over her head ana a dwarf. One of two figures on the outer side of the pilaster seems to hare been a man attended by a dwarf. Behind the female figure is a pilaster with much carving on its face. Prom the entrance to the front of the shrine is about 13½ feet. The shrine is the usual square room with door-keepers wearing high rounded head-dresses and inside is the base for a ling. The passage or pradakshina round the ling and a chamber to the right of the entrance are unfinished. On the back wall of the shrine is a three-headed bust, or trimurti, somewhat in the style of those in the smaller Elura caves This figure and the style of the pilasters and sculptures show this to be a late cave probably of the tenth or eleventh century. The other two caves are at the base of a knoll on the level top of the hill. They are without ornament or sculpture. One is a hall thirty-one feet wide and forty-eight feet deep with two plain square pillars in front. Three cells have been begun in the left wall. The area is divided by brick and mud partitions, which seems to show that the place has been used for other than religious purposes, probably as a magazine or storehouse. The third cave is a very irregular excavation thirty-two feet wide with two rough pillars in front, and other two further back. Below the front is a cistern. [Fergusson and Burgess' Cave Temples, 480.]

On the south face of Tankai hill, looking down upon the village of Ankai from whioh they are hardly ft hundred yards distant, is a group of some seven Jain caves, small but richly sculptured, though unfortunately many of the figures are much defaced. [Fergusson and Burgess' Cave Temples, 505- 508.]

The first is a two-storeyed cave; the front of the lower storey is supported by two pillars, with a figure at the base of each, facing One another and occupying the place of small door-keepers. Low parapets, ornamented on the outside, join each pillar to the end walls. The door leading from the veranda into the hall is very richly sculptured, overloaded indeed with minute details and far too massive and rich for the small apartments it connects. The hall inside is square, its roof supported by four columns, much in the style in vogue from the tenth to the twelfth century, the capital surmounted by four brackets, each carved with little fat four-armed figures supporting a thin flat architrave. The enclosed square is carved as a lotus with three concentric rings of petals. The shrine door is ornamented similarly to the entrance door, the lower portion of the jambs being carved with five human figures on each. There is nothing inside the shrine.

The upper storey has also two pillars in the front of the veranda similar to those below, but not so richly carved. The hall inside is perfectly plain.

The second cave is similar to the first, being also two-storeyed. The chief difference is that the verandas are shut in and form outer rooms. On the lower floor the veranda measures twenty-six feet by twelve, and has a large figure at either end; that at the west or left end. is the male figure usually known as Indra seated on a couched elephant, but instead of being reliefs, the elephant and Indra are each carved out of a separate block, and set into a niche cut out to receive them. Opposite him is Indrani or Amba, which the villagers have converted, by means of paint, tinsel, and paper, into a figure of Bhavani.

The door into the hall is of the same elaborate pattern as those in the first cave. The hall is about twenty feet square and similar in details to the last, but more coarsely carved. There is a small vestibule to the shrine at the back. The shrine door is much plainer than those already mentioned, having only a pair of pilasters on each side and a small image of a Tirthankar on the centre of the lintel. The shrine itself is about thirteen feet square and contains a seat for an image with a high back rounded at the top. It seems as if it had been intended to cut a passage behind it, but this has not been completed.

The upper storey, which is reached by a stair from the right end of the front room below, has a plain door, and is also partly lighted by square holes, pierced in geometric patterns. The door leads to a narrow balcony, at each end of which is a full-sized lion carved in half relief. The hall inside was apparently intended to be about twenty feet square with four pillars, but only part of it is excavated. The shrine is about nine feet by six with a seat against the wall for an image.

The third cave is like the lower storey of the second cave, with a perforated screen wall in front, much injured by time and weather. The front room is about twenty-five feet long by nine wide, the end occupied by large reliefs of Indra and Amba. Indra who is much destroyed, his elephant being scarcely recognisable, wears a high; tiara of a late type and is attended by fly-whisk bearers and heavenly choristers or gandharvas. A pilaster at each side of the compartment is crowned by a four-armed dwarf as a bracket and supports an alligator or makara and a human figure. Between the alligators is the canopy or torana so common in such positions in modern Jain shrines. Amba has also her attendants, one of them riding a small defaced animal with a large club in his hand; another an ascetic with a long beard and carrying an umbrella The mango foliage usually represented over this figure is here conventionalised into six sprays hung at equal distances under the canopy or torana which, with a grinning face or kirtimukh in the centre, stretches across the top of the sculpture.

The hall, which is entered by a door with a moderate amount of ornament, measures twenty-one feet by twenty-five, the roof being supported by four pillars as in the others, except that the lotus that fills the central square is much richer and more curious. It has four concentric rows of petals, the inner and outer ones plain, but in the second, counting outwards, each of the sixteen petals is carved with a human figure, mostly females, and all dancing or playing on musical instruments; the third circle contains twenty-four petals, each carved apparently with divinities, singly or with. a companion, and mounted on their carriers or vahanas, mostly animals or birds. The lotus is enclosed in an octagonal border carved with a lozenge-and-bead ornament, outside of which, in one corner, is a single figure standing on one foot, and in each of the other corners are three figures, a larger one in the centre dancing or playing and two smaller attendants.

On the back wall, on each side of the vestibule of the shrine, is a standing naked Jain figure about life-size. On the left of this figure is one of the Tirthankars, probably Shantinath. He stands on a low basement, carved with a devotee at each end, a lion next, then an elephant on each side of a central wheel, not set, as in most caves, with the edge towards the front, but with the side: under it is an antelope or mriga, the symbol of the sixteenth Tirthankar, with a small worshipper at each side. The Jina has a diamond-shaped mark on the centre of the breast; and drops his hands straight down on either side to meet with the finger points some objects held op by devotees wearing loincloths. The sculpture has a pilaster on each side, in front of which stands Parshvanath in the same attitude as the central figure but only about a third of the size, and distinguished by the five-hooded snake overshadowing him. In a recess in the top of each pilaster on a level with Shantinath's head is a seated Jina, and outside the pilaster on the left is a female fly-whisk bearer. Over the shoulders of Shantinath are small choristers or vidyadhars, above which, on projecting brackets, stand two elephants holding up their trunks towards a very small figure seated like Shri, behind the point of a sort of crown or turreted canopy suspended over the Tirthankar's head. On each side of this figure and above the elephants are four men and women bringing offerings or worshipping it. Over them is a canopy with a grinning face or kirtimukh and six circles in it each filled with a fleur-delys ornament Above this, under the arch that crowns the compartment, are seven little figures each holding a festoon with both hands. All this is so like what is found in Jain temples even of the present day that it cannot be ancient, and probably belongs to the twelfth or thirteenth century.

The Parshvanath on the other side stands in the same stiff attitude touching with the points of his fingers the heads of two little attendants. On the left stands a woman with an offering, and on the right is a seated figure with a pointed cap. The pilasters on each side of this compartment are plain, and over the snake-hoods which canopy Parshvanath's head is an almost hemispherical object intended for an umbrella. Over this is a figure with his hands clasped, and two others on each side bearing oblong objects like bricks, which they seem about to throw down on the ascetic.

The door of the shrine is moulded but without figure ornament, and the shrine is about twelve feet square with a seat for an image in the middle of it. Behind this to the right is a trap hole into a small room below, with a Tirthankar evidently thrown down from the shrine. The custom of providing sunk hidden rooms for these images came into vogue after the inroads of Muhammad of Ghasni (1000-1025); whether this cellar was formed when the excavation was made or afterwards, it shows that the shrine was in use in times when idols were special objects of Muslim hate, as they were during the rule of Ala-ud-din Khilji (1295-1315).

The fourth cave has two massive plain square pillars in front of its veranda, which measures about thirty feet by eight. The door is similar to that in the first cave, with a superabundance of small members, and having a Jina on the lintel. The hall is eighteen feet deep by twenty-four wide, its roof supported by two pillars across the middle, with corresponding pilasters on the side walls, also on the front and back, quite in the style of structural temples of the present day. They have no fat figures on the brackets which are of scroll form. A bench runs along the back wall which serves as a step to the shrine door. The seat for the image is against the back wall in which an arched recess has been began but left unfinished. On the left pillar of the veranda is a scarcely legible inscription in characters of about the eleventh or twelfth century.

The remaining excavation to the east are smaller and much broken and damaged; they have doors similar to those in the first and second, and in the shrine of one of them is an image of a Tirthankar. They are partly filled with earth.
http://www.maharashtra.gov.in/pdf/gazeetter_reprint/Nasik/appendix_a.html#7

AHIVANT FORT

2010-12-05T16:41:00.004-08:00

Ahivant [Captain Briggs writes the names Eywunta, Blacker Eyewuttah, and the later maps Iwautta and Iawatta.] or the Serpent Port, in the Chandor range, about fifteen miles north of Dindori, was described by Captain Briggs in 1818 as a large and shapeless hill, remarkably bleak and unhealthy. It was accessible both from Khandesh and Gangthadi. The road from Khandesh was good and easy. The Gangthadi route was remarkably steep being entirely a watercourse, almost impassable in the rains. A sort of rough but useless dam was built across the ravine to turn off the water. After passing the ravine the road turned off and was then assisted by steps. [Both routes were infested with tigers in 1818.] There were two smalt arches intended for doors and a little very ruinous wall near the arches. On the hill there was a ruinous storehouse built of stone and mortar. The water-supply in the fort was ample. There were five militia-men or sibandis on the hill. [Captain Briggs' report, dated 20th June 1818, in Ahmadnagar Collector's File, VI. Inward Miscellaneous.]

Achla fort

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Achla fort, the west-most in the Chandor range, about twenty miles north of Dindori, was described by Captain Briggs, in 1818, as a large hill, little different from other hill forts in the same range. The ascent was fairly easy till near the top where it was steep and craggy. The foundation of a wall ran round part of the hill near the doorway, but it was either never finished or had fallen. There was no building and no place to keep ammunition except a thatched guard-house. [Captain Briggs' report, dated 20th June 1818, in Ahmadnagar Collector's File, VI. Inward Miscellaneous.] Achla was one of the seventeen fortified places which surrendered to Colonel McDowell on the fall of Trimbak in 1818. [Blacker'a Maratha War, 322 note 2.]

MARKINDA FORT

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Ma'rkinda, a hill fort in Kalvan, 4384 feet above sea level, stands opposite the sacred hill of Saptashring or Chatarsingi. Captain Briggs, who visited Markinda in 1818, described it as a small barren rock rising out of a flat hill. It faced the Ravlya-Javlya hill, and between the two, over a low neck of hill, ran the pass leading from Kalvan to Khandesh. From this pass two roads struck in opposite directions, one to Markinda and the other to Ravlya-Javlya. The ascent to the fort was very difficult. At the top was a door and a ruined wall. The water-supply was ample, but there was no place for storing guns except thatched houses where five of the Peshwa's militia lived. There is a peak on a tableland on the top, and to the south of it is a pond near an umbar tree called Kotitirth. People come in large numbers to bathe here on no-moon Mondays or somvati amavasyas. There is another pool or tirth on the summit called Kamandalu or the waterpot, which is said to have been built by the Moghals. East of Kamandalu are two underground magazines or granaries. To the west of the magazines is a perennial reservoir with excellent water called Motitanki. The old name of the hill is Mayur Khandi or the Peacock's Hill [Ind. Ant VI 64; Jour. R. A. Soc. V. (Old Series) 350.] The resemblance of sound has given rise to a local story that the hill is called after the sage Markandeya who lived on it and persuaded Devi to punish Bhimasur and other demons who were attacking Brahman recluses. Under the name Mayur Khandi, Markinda appears as the place from which two grants were issued by the Rashtrakuta king Govind III. in A.D. 808 (Shak 730). If not a Rashtrakuta capital, it must have been an outpost or at least a place of occasional residence. [Ind. Ant. VI 64; Dr, Burgess' Bidar and Aurangabad, 32] Under the Peshwas a garrison was kept on the hill. The hill slopes were not originally cultivated, but crops have been grown for the last fifteen years and seven or eight years ago the slopes were surveyed.

Mulher Fort

2010-12-05T16:40:00.000-08:00

Mulher Fort in Satans, on a hill about two miles south of Mulher town and 2000 feet above the plain, lies at the head of the Musam valley about forty miles north-west of Malegaon. The hill is half detached from a range which-rises westwards-till it culminates in Saler about twelve miles further west. The hill has three fortified peaks near one another, Mulher in the middle, Mora to the east, and Hatgad to the west.

Mulher, the strongest of the three, and known as Bala Killa or the citadel, is about half a mile in extent. About half way up, after passing three gateways, comes a rolling plateau with the ruins of what must have been a considerable town. There are still some houses of Kanojia Brahmans, some bungalows, and a mosque, and some cisterns and reservoirs. [There are ten ponds, five with a constant supply of water and five which dry in the hot season. Of the five which last throughout the year the Moti Talav or Pearl Pond is remarkable for the excellence of its water. There are temples of Mahadev, Ram, and Ganpati, and a tomb of a Musalman saint named Bala Pir. On one of the stone pillars of the temple of Ganpati is a Marathi inscription dated Shak 1534 (A.D. 1612, Paridhavi amratsar. It is in four lines of Devnagari letters and records the building of a mandap by Pratapshah who was then chief of Baglan. See above p. 188.] The whole plateau is beautifully wooded chiefly with mangoes and banyans. It is defended by a masonry wall which runs along the edge of the lower slope and at each end is carried to the foot of the upper scarp which is about 100 feet high. The upper scarp is approached through the usual succession of gateways The further ascent is undefended until an angle is reached in the natural scarp above, and the Crevice leading thence to the plateau above the scarp is defended by a succession of gateways now more or less ruined. The point of the plateau thus reached is nearly at the western end of the westmost of the two plateaus of which the hill top is formed. There is a more prominent angle and crevice nearer the middle of the hill top, but the top of this crevice has been closed by a solid masonry wall, which also forms a connection between the two portions of the plateau which are at this point separated by a dip of some fifty to a hundred feet.

The east half of the-plateau is slightly higher than the west half, and is defended at the point just mentioned by walls and gateways which make the eastern part a citadel or inner place of defence Near the third gate are three guns known as Fateh-i-lashkar, Ramprasad, and Shivprasad, each seven feet long. There was a fourth gun called Markandeya Top which the British Government is said to have broken and sold. On the flat top inside the fort are the ruins of a large court-house, and a temple of Bhadangnath in good repair with a terrace in front bearing an inscription. Here and there on the slopes are about fifteen reservoirs, some under ground, others open. All of them hold water throughout the year. There are two ammunition magazines and a third with three compartments.

History.

According to a local story, during the time of the Pandavs, Mulher fort was held by two brothers, Mayuradhvaj and Tamradhvaj. The first historical reference is in, the Tarikh-i-Firozshahi, which says that about 1340, the mountains of Mulher and Saler were held by a chief named Mandeo. [Elliot and Dowson, III. 256.] The next mention of Mulher is in the Ain-i-Akbari (1590) which notices Mulher and Saler as places of strength in Baglan. [Gladwin's Ain-i-Akbari, II. 73. According to the local story during Moghal rule the fort was owned by two independent Kshatriya chiefs, Pratapshah and Bairamshah. These chiefs held about 1500 villages, the present district of Baglan and the Dangs. They were very rich and had jewels of great value and a white elephant. The Moghals required the two chiefs to do homage at Delhi. The chiefs refused, and the hill stood a siege of twelve years but had then to surrender. The country fell to the Moghals and the guns and the white elephant went to Delhi.] In 1609 the chief of Mulher and Saler furnished 3000 men towards the force that was posted at Ramnagar in Dharampur t guard Surat from attack by Malik Ambar of Ahmadnagar. [Watson's Gujarat, 68.] In 1610 the English traveller Finch describes Mulher and Saler as fair cities where mahmudis were coined. [The mahmudi, perhaps called after the Gujarat king Mahmud Begada (1459 -1511), varied in value from 1s. to 1s. 6d. (as. 8-12). Watson's Gujarat, 19, 64.] They had two mighty castles, the roads to which allowed only two men or one elephant to pass. On the way were eighty small fortresses to guard the passages. On the top of the mountains there was good pasture with plenty of grain and numerous fountains and streams running into the plain. [Finch in Kerr's Voyages, VIII. 278.] In 1637 Mulher was attacked by a Moghal army. Trenches were opened and the garrison was so hard pressed that the Baglan king Bharji sent his mother and his agent with the keys of Mulher and of seven other of his forts. [Elliot and Dowson, VII. 66.] In 1663 the hill forts of Mulher and Saler were in the hands of Shivaji. [Orme's Historical Fragments, 22.] In,1665 Thevenot calls Mouler the chief town in Baglan, [Voyages, V. 247.] In 1672 Mulher and Saler were plundered by Shivaji. [Orme's Historical Fragments, 26; Scott's Deccan, II. 25, 27.] In 16.75 it is shown as Mouler in Fryer's map. [New Account, 50.] In 1680 the commandant of Mulher made an unsuccessful attempt to seize Aurangzeb's rebel son prince Akbar. [Elliot and Dowson, VII.309.] - In 1682 all attempts to take Saler by force having failed, the Mulher commandant Neknamkhan induced the Saler commandant to surrender the fort by promises and presents. [Elliot and Dowson, VII. 312.] In 1750 Tieffenthaler describes Saler and Mulher, one on the top and the other in the middle of a hill, as very strong eminencesbuilt with excellent skill, connected, by steps cut in the rock, with rivulets, lakes, and houses in the middle of the hill. [Des. Hist et Geog. de I'Inde, I. 365.] In the third Maratha war Mulher surrendered to the British on the 15th of July 1818. An amnesty was granted to Ramchandra Janardan Fadnavis who held the fort for the Marathas. The surrender of Mulher ended the third Maratha war, [Pendhari and Maratha Wars, 381-382. The bars of the cash-room in the present Satana treasury are composed of the barrels of flint-locks taken from Mulher Mr. J. A. Baines, C.S.] In 1826 a Committee of Inspection described Mulher as a high rock Of an irregular and rugged shape and of a large' area, towering above and within the precincts of a lower fort. The approach to the lower defences was easy and practicable for loaded cattle; and it was tolerably defended by a line of works and gates, running along the north and east side. To the north were two gateways, the first protected by two large towers without a gate; the second without towers but with a gate in fair repair, only that the wicket was missing. The lower fort contained a Tillage or petta, with many housed, moat of them empty. It was well supplied with water from rook-out cisterns, and appeared to have every requisite for a considerable settlement. The ascent to the upper fort was by a narrow winding and precipitous pathway at every turn well commanded from above Within one or two hundred yards of the top began a line of parallel defences of eight well built curtains at equal distances from each other which continued to the entrance by two strong gateways leading to the top. Inside the fort there were only two buildings, ruinous and uninhabited, but numerous sites showed that it must once have held a large population. There was a good water-supply in ponds and reservoirs, and there were some dry and secure store-rooms large enough to hold provisions and ammunition for a considerable garrison for a year. Nature had done so much for the strength of the upper fort that there had been no occasion to add artificial works. The Committee recommended some slight repairs to the gateway and that a native officer with twenty-five militia or sibandis should be stationed on the hill. In 1862 the fort was described as in a strong natural position on a high hill very difficult of access. [Govt List of Civil Forts, 1862. ]
http://www.maharashtra.gov.in/pdf/gazeetter_reprint/Nasik/appendix_m.html#5

Kalsubai history

2010-12-05T16:38:00.000-08:00

Kalsubai, the highest point in the Deccan, 5127 feet above the sea, is said to take its name from a Koli girl named Kalsu.' Kalsu, according to the story, was fond of wandering in the forest. One day she came to Indor at the foot of the hill now called Kalsubai, and took service with a Koli family on condition that she should not be asked to clean pots or to sweep. Matters went smoothly till, one day, one of the family ordered Kalsu to clean some pots and clear away some Utter. She did as she was bid, bat, immediately after, climbed the hill and stayed on its top till her death. Where she cleaned the pots is known as Thale Mel, and where she cleared away the litter as Kaldara. The hill is a natural stronghold about ten miles south-east of Igatpuri, the nearest railway station. Its top is a cone with room only for a small shrine and a trigonometrical survey cairn. There is a large lower shoulder without remains of buildings, and the absence of water cisterns shows that the hill was never used as a fort. [Mr. W.Ramsay, C.S.]

The hill falls very abruptly on three sides. On the fourth, that is the south side, are numerous pathways cut by grasscutters and visitors to the temple. There is also a road up the hill from Indor, steep but practicable, the only difficult bit being near the top where it passes over a slippery wall of rock, where holes are cut to climb by. A priest from Indor climbs daily to the temple to offer fowls. Every Tuesday devotees flock from the villages below to pay their respects to Kalsubai Devi and make offerings. About one-third of the way, on the north side which is singularly bare of trees, a fine spring of water flows from a stone-built basin. The water is said to reappear in Shuklatirth, another large basin of out stone with a cow's mouth, about a mile from the base of the hill. There is no regular fair, but all passers-by visit the spot.

Kalsubai is worshipped at two places, one half way up, the other on the hill top. Many Kolis worship her as their household goddess for the people believe that the goddess favours those who make a vow to her in cases of trouble and difficulty. The village of Bari in the Akola sob-division of Ahmadnagar was granted to the Koli family who gave employment to Kalsubai, because their breach of contract gained the bill a deity and the people a guardian.

In 1860 Archdeacon Gell wrote the following account of a visit to Kalsubai: [Chesson and Woodhall's Bombay Miscellany, I. 8.] 'Daring the night I mounted this king of Deccan hills, the ascent of which was more than usually precipitous. At one place, the only possible advance was through the branches of a sturdy little tree, which conveniently grew out of the cleft and formed a ticklish sort of staircase to walk up in the middle of the night. [This cleft overlooks Bari village east of the hill, and the tree still (1879) serves the same purpose. There is an easier, though in one or two places more slippery, path to the south of that used by Mr. Gell. Mr. J. A. Baines, C.S,] When we reached the foot of the knot of rocks, which form the highest bit of earth in the Deccan, so chill a night wind struck us that my guides declined the further ascent and assured me there was nothing whatever on the top, which we, being so close under the rock, could not see. Scrambling up, I found a little temple dedicated to Devi Kalsu on the bit of platform only a few yards in circumference, at a height of 5427 feet above sea level. I knew the sunrise would give me a fine prospect, and I was not disappointed. Below, to the northward, lay a ruck of hills, sinking into the wide Godavari plain, the great rocks of Trimbak, Anjani, and Harish at its source being distinctly observable. A shade of green in the far plain showed where lay the city of Nasik, over which rose the Dhair and Ramsej forts and their range of hills. Above and beyond, the great Chandor range stretched across the horizon; Achla, Ahivant, Saptashring, Markinda, Ravlya-Javlya, Doramb or Dhodap, Rajdhair, and Indrai lifting their sunlit heads against the morning sky. Beyond the hollow of Chandor, hidden by two projecting forts belonging to the line of the Kalsubai hills, were the Ankai-Tankai twins commanding the road between Ahmadnagar and Malegaon. To the west on the Kalsnbai range itself were Alang and Kulang, and to the east and north-east the giant heads of Bitangad, Pattah, Aundha, and Ad. To the south the eye ranged over dense forests, rising amid which, along the line of the Sahyadris, were several more forts, the chief of them Harischandragad; and beyond, to the south and west, lay the Konkan, and resting on it the great fort of Mahuli. Further to the south the Matheran range was dimly visible, like islands floating on a sea of wave-like hills.'

VAIRATGAD FORT

2010-11-28T23:37:00.002-08:00

Vairatgad Fort (Wai T; 17° 50' N, 73° 50' E; RS. Wathar, 21 m;) in Wai 3,939 feet above sea level, lies nine miles north-east of Medha and six miles south-east of Wai, on a spur of the main Sahyadri range which branches nearly due east for about twenty miles from Malcolm Peth by Pancgani. It is a prominent object east of Wai between the Khambatki pass and the gorge by which the Poona-Bangalore road passes into the Satara taluka. The villages of Vyajvadi and Jambulne on the north and Mhasve on the south all touch the fort, the greater part of which is in Vyajvadi. The ascent can be made either from Mhasve village or Bavdhan. The easiest way is to climb by the gorge separating Mhasve and Bavdhan up the west phase of the hill, along the northern ridge of the Jambulne village till the hamlet of Vyajvadi is reached lying close beneath the fort gate. The fort is about 1,000 feet above the plain and the ascent is about two miles. It would be about half a mile less, but much steeper direct from Mhasve. The fort has a vertical scarp of black rock, thirty feet high, surrounded by about seven feet of wall loopholed for musketry. The lower parts of the wall are of large rectangular unmortared stones. The upper part is mortared and of smaller material. There are remains of the head-quarters buildings and some quarters for sepoys, all modern. Inside the fort are five stone ponds none of them more than forty feet in diameter, and outside is one cave pond. The fort is one of those said to have been built by Bhoj Raja, the Kolhapur Silahara chief Bhoja II. (1178-1193) of Panhala, and its name is locally derived from the Vairats, a wild tribe supposed to have dwelt in this neighbourhood, who were subdued by the Pandavas. The fort is partly commanded by the heights of Bavdhan three miles to the west. The view on all sides is very fine and extends on the west to Malcolm Peth.

Banyan Trees.

At the foot of Vairatgad within the limits of Mhasve village are two banyan trees, the larger of them shading an area of three quarters of an acre. The space covered by it is a very symmetrical oval. There is no brushwood underneath, nor aught to impede the view save the stems of the shoots from the parent tree which has decayed. [Murray's Bombay Handbook, 195; the late Mr. S. H. Little, C. S., First Assistant Collector, Satara; Bombay Literary Magazine, 292-293. Lady Falkland writes (Chow, Chow, I, 206-207): The shade was so complete, I could sit in the middle of the day without any covering on my head. The tree was of such a size, that separate picnic parties might take place under it, and not interfere with each other. There were countless avenues, or rather aisles, like those of a church, the pale gray stems being the columns, which, as the sun fell on them, glistened in parts like silver; and here and there were little recesses like chapels, where on the roots from the boughs formed themselves into delicate clustering pillars, up and down which little squirrels were chasing each other, while large monkeys were jumping from bough to bough, the boughs cracking and creaking as if both monkeys and bough would fall on my head.]

TATHAVADE OR SANTOSHGAD HILL FORT

2010-11-28T23:37:00.000-08:00

Tathavade or Santoshgad hill fort (Phaltan T; 17° 57' N, 74° 20' E; RS. Lonand, 2.9 m.) lies in the north-west corner of the Phaltan taluka, about 12 miles south-west of Phaltan, the taluka headquarters! The fort is now easily approachable throughout the year as the Public Works Department has recently constructed a pucca road from village Tathavade lying at the foot of the hill. The fort is roughly triangular in shape. The hill on which it stands is a little lower than the main range. The apices of the triangle are north-west and south-east making it nearly equilateral. At the foot on the northern side lies the village of Tathavade (p. 1,001) with people nearly all cultivators mostly Ramoshis and Marathas. The defences consist of three walls, the top wall going all round the hill and forming what may be called the citadel. It surmounts a perpendicular scarp of black rock about thirty feet high, and is itself about fifteen feet higher. In thickness it is twenty feet and had originally a parapet about six feet high and three feet thick, all of which has broken down. It is made of laterite blocks from one or two cubic feet each, and solidly set in mortar, lined with small stones and mud. It is carefully provided at intervals with secret escape doors for the garrison should the fort be successfully taken. It is especially strong at the three angles from which project triangular outworks about sixty feet lower than the citadel. The outworks are of unequal size, but built of the same materials and more strongly even than the citadel. The sides of the south-west out-work are not more than thirty yards long but it is perhaps the most solid of the three; the sides of the north-east outwork are about fifty yards, and those of the north-west out-work about seventy yards long. The first two out-works communicated with the citadel by a small door not more than two feet wide built through the walls, which led on to the steps cut in the scarp. The citadel wall has a gap at the north-west angle which formed the communication with the north-west out-work. On the north-east side of this was the main gateway about five feet wide, also made of laterite, of beautifully cut massive masonry. It faced, and was sheltered by a projecting bastion. The north side of the hill was partly protected for about a hundred feet by two lower walls or terraces, the one below the other with bastions at intervals. They are of much lighter workmanship than the blocks in rough mortar and the lining of uncut stones and mud. These walls both run east and west along the entire length of the northern face of the hill. They then turn through an angle of over 90 degrees, and are taken up the hill to meet the walls above them. The upper of the two is broken by a gateway of trap facing east, like the upper gateway, similarly sheltered, and otherwise like it, but of far less strength and of much rougher workmanship. The lowest wall is divided by a gap of full thirty feet in the centre flanked by two strong bastions, but no gateway. The ascent between these three entrances and from the north-west out-work on to the citadel is by a winding path with steps at intervals where, not unfrequently, the naked scarp of the rock has to be surmounted. The steps are nearly everywhere broken down and the way generally blocked with prickly pear. The above description will show that the hill was unprotected below the citadel and its out-works on the south-west and south-east sides, and that elaborate care was taken to protect the north side. There seems to be no special reason for this difference except that the entrance and therefore the weakest point of the citadel was on the north side. By making the two gateways face east and protecting them with projections of the wall, their assault was impeded while it was impossible to hit them directly with cannon shot from the plain below, which, according to tradition, was a special point in the fortification of the day. In sieges it was apparently the fashion to direct a cannonade first against the gate and to provide a force to rush through if the besiegers succeeded in bursting it. The difficulties of elsewhere penetrating or escalading hill forts such as these, were probably and not wrongly thought insuperable, bribery and stratagem apart. The citadel is not more than 600 yards round and its area not much more than twenty acres. There were originally but few buildings. The head-quarters or sadar was a building about fifty feet by thirty feet including its two otas or verandahs. It opened to the north and besides accommodating the treasury, was used as a sort of court-house for the subhedar in charge of the fort. Next to it on the west was a stone building about forty feet by twenty, with walls three feet thick, and a roof on the south side made of brick coated with cement. It contained three chambers for storage of grain, treasure and gunpowder. The east chamber still remains. Immediately south of the east chamber is the great pond, cut some sixty to seventy feet down into the rock, and the sides smoothed off with great care. It holds a tolerable supply of water, but is fed by no spring. It is about twenty-five to thirty feet square and has steps on the eastern side leading down to the water's edge. Halfway down at a landing and turn of the steps is a small temple of Tatoba Mahadev from whom the fort takes its name. This large pond was apparently the only source of the water-supply of the citadel. It has been much choked with silt, and is said to hold much less water than before, much probably leaking down through the laterite. The rest of the citadel is so blocked with prickly pear that no other buildings can be distinguished. The hill top has room only for very few. One is a mosque for Musalmans. The north-east out-work has some buildings while, inside the two lower walls, are others all in ruins. Outside the lowest entrance is pointed out the side of the elephant-house, fit for not more than two beasts. On the saddle back between the southern angle and the main range of hills has been cut a gap with remains of buildings said to have been the grass stacks of the fort. The grass was supplied chiefly from lands on the plateau above the Mahadev range and brought for storage to this spot. It is more than two hundred yards from the fort and is hardly convenient than the village itself which is at least as accessible as the fort. Immediately inside and directely facing the lowest entrance is a large cave pond. Its mouth has been almost wholly blocked with rubbish. A descent of some six feet is therefore necessary to reach the water. The excavation is partly natural but evidently enlarged artificially. The exact size of the cave pond cannot be made out. Three massive pillars appear supporting the roof. The rock is laterite and hence no doubt the abundant supply of excellent water filters from above. The upper fort is nearly all made of laterite with no traces of quarrying about. It seems therefore not improbable that the ponds were excavated by the fort builders and the stone used for the fort walls. There are four other similar ponds completely blocked up. Their stone and that of the big pond on the top would amply suffice for the external work considerable as it is. The mildew of this laterite is used by the people as a tonic for women after child-birth. It probably contains some principle of iron. It is a belief in the village that the large pond in the citadel and this cave pond are connected by a passage now choked up, and that a lemon thrown into the water of the one used in former times to appear on the surface of the other. These ponds show that the hill internally is made of laterite with an outer coating of trap, thin at the sides but on the top some forty feet thick.

The name of this village is traditionally derived from Tatoba, a sage who took up his abode on the fort hill. The cave pond is said to have been made by him, and the small temple of Mahadev in the big pond is named after him. The local tradition is that this fort was built by Shivaji the Great (1630-80). In 1666 it was in the hands of Bajaji Naik Nimbalkar. In the same year Chhatrapati Shivaji after the treaty of Purandhar served under Jaysing, the Rajput general of Aurangzeb's army, against Bijapur and with his Mavlas escaladed Tathavade. [Grant Duffs Marathas, Vol. I, 165.] The Bijapur Government again apparently got it back from the Moghals probably by treaty. Chhatrapati Shivaji retook it for himself in 1673 [Grant Duffs Marathas, Vol. I, 202.] and in 1676 he had to retake the open country in its neighbourhood, the estate-holders of which were always ready to rebel against him.[ Grant Duffs Marathas, Vol. I, 209.] The fort was taken by the Moghals in 1689. [Grant Duffs Marathas, Vol. I, 273.]. but was ceded to Shahu in 1720 in the imperial grants made to him in that year. [Grant Duffs Marathas, Vol. I, 339] In a revenue statement of about 1790 Tathora appears as the head of a sub-division in the Nahisdurg sarkar with a revenue of Rs. 1,120. [Warring's Marathas, 244.] The fort remained in the hands of the Marathas till 1818 when it was shelled by a detachment of General Pritzler's army from the plateau and a spur pointed out about half a mile to the west. A good many of the buildings and part of the walls are said to have been injured by the shelling. The commandant fled at the first few shots, the garrison followed, and the fort was taken. Its elaborate design and considerable strength for the times in which it was built may be explained by the fact that it was close to the Nizam Shahi frontier and of some importance therefore to the Bijapur government, while the constant disturbances in the neighbourhood in Chhatrapati Shivajis time would amply account for any additions he made to it.

A story is told that the famous dacoit Umaji Naik (1827) was resting at a spring in the ravine which leads down to the fort from the plateau and that a Brahman on his way to Tathavad passed by with a little grain given him in charity. Umaji called on him to stand and give up what he had. But when he learnt that it was only grain sent him off in peace, entreated his blessings, and gave him Rs. 25.

MAKRANDGAD

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Makrandgad (Mahabalesvar Peta 17° 55' N. 73° 35 E; RS. Wathar, 52 m.) 4054 feet above sea level, well known to Mahabalesvar visitors as the Saddleback, is a hill fort situated as the crow flies seven miles south-west of Malcolm Peril. It is well named the Saddleback and consists of two flattened humps with a ridge between them [A view of the fort with its two flattened humps is given in Chessen and Woodhall's Bombay Miscellany, I, 177.]. From almost any part of the western face of the hill between Bombay and Babington points it forms a fine object in the magnificent pile of hills varying in form and colour which form the south-west group. It is perhaps best seen from Sassoon Point where several peaks and ridges in the background serve for contrast and throw it into strong relief. It is about 650 feet lower than the Mahabalesvar plateau, but to reach the summit it is necessary to walk from ten to twelve miles and descend about 1,800 feet into the Koyna valley. The easiest way is to take a path beyond Gavalani Point which descends by Devli village whence after crossing the Koyna a fairly gradual ascent leads to the village of Ghonaspur lying on a shoulder of the hill at the south-east corner of the scarp. The line of the ridge is north-west south-east. The south-east hump is scalable but the north-west very difficult to climb, if possible. On the south-east hump is a temple of Mallikarjun built by Chhatrapati Shivaji and an unused spring. The fort walls are broken down and appear not to have been Very strong at any time. The local story about this as about other Satara forts is that it was built by Chhatrapati Shivaji probably about 1656 at the same time as Pratapgad. It was a fort of minor importance as it commanded none of the important passes, but it served as a link in the chain between Vasota and Pratapgad. It was surrendered by private negotiation on 14th may 1818 at the same time as Pratapgad [ Pendhari and Maratha War Papers, 343.].

KENJALGAD Fort History OR GHERA KHELANJA

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Kenjalgad or Ghera Khelanja Fort, (Wai T; 18° 10' N, 73° 55' E; RS Wathar 18 m. SE; p. 2,096) 4,269 feet above sea level, is situated on the Mandhardev spur of the Mahadev range eleven miles north-west of Wai. It is a flat-topped hill of an irregular oval shape, about 250 yards long and one hundred yards wide at the extremes, looking remarkably strong both from a far and near. But on ascending it is found to be commanded by the Yeruli Asre and Doicivadi plateaus about two miles to the east which are easily ascended from the Wai side, and the Jambli hills about a mile to the west. The fort forms a village in itself but has to be ascended from the villages of Asre or Khavli which lie at its foot on the Wai side. The ascent is by about two miles of a very steep climb or the Asre-Titeghar bridle path can be followed for two miles and then a tolerably easy path leads due west from the pass another mile on to the fort. The fort is a black scarp rising vertically from the main ridge which is hogbacked. The scarp is one of the highest in any of the Satara forts and reaches in places eighty to a hundred feet. The only entrance is on the north side up a set of a hundred steps running parallel to the line of the scarp till within four or seven feet of the top, when they turn at right angles to it and cut straight into a passage leading on to the top. The steps are peculiarly imposing and differ from any others in the district. Thus on entering, the scarp is on the left and there is nothing on the right till the passage is reached, and invaders ascending would be liable to be hurled back over the cliff. At the foot of the steps is a bastion which evidently flanked a gateway. There are remains of six large and three small buildings, all modern. The head-quarters or kacheri is only marked by a large fig tree. The only building thoroughly recognizable is the powder magazine on the west which is about thirty feet square with strong stone walls three feet thick and seven feet high and three feet of brick on the top. The walls of the fort were originally of large square cut blocks of unmortared stone, but were afterwards added to in many places. They are in most places fully four feet thick and including the rampart about eight feet thick. There was a parapet of lighter work mostly ruined. The fort has three large water tanks about forty feet square and six small ones for storage of water and grain. But there is no living spring inside the fort. The largest tank is in the southern face and is quite thirty feet deep. The tanks were emptied when the fort was dismantled by blowing up the outer sides which were formed by the ramparts and letting the water empty itself down the hill side. On the west is a sort of nose projecting beyond and a little lower than the main ridge of the fort, also strongly fortified. There is a narrow promenade on the ridge at the foot of the scarp and on the north side is a large cave with excellent water and partly used for storage purposes. The village lies about 300 feet below on a ledge of the northern hill slope. To its immediate west is a dense temple grove of jambhul and anjan. The village of Voholi, on the north side of this range, the inhabitants of which were part of the hereditary garrison, is in a hollow to the north-west. Khelanja fort is said to have been built by the Bhoj Rajas of Panhala who flourished in the twelfth century. Its remarkable strength was noticed by Mr. Elphinstone who says it could scarcely be taken if resolutely defended. The guns on the Kenjalgad fort opened fire before surrendering to the detachment sent by General Pritzler up the Wai valley about the 26th of March 1818.

BHAIRAVGAD FORT

2010-11-28T23:33:00.001-08:00

Bhairavgad Fort (Patan T; RS. Karad 48 m. W.,) twenty miles south-west of Patan and about four miles west of Mala, from which it is pretty easily accessible by a rough footpath through dense jungle, is a rounded hill situated on the face of the Sahyadri range and jutting about a hundred feet into the Konkan. A narrow neck thirty yards long separates it from the cliff on the east, which rises some 300 feet above it. About five acres in area, the hill has on the east a temple of Bhairav which gives it, its name. The temple roofed with earthen tiles is in a state of good repair. It was repaired in 1957.

According to Grant Duff [Marathas, 13 note 3 (Old Edition).], Bhairavgad was one of the forts built by the Rajas of Panhala. The garrison in Maratha times was furnished by soldiers sent from Satara. There are no traces of houses and the walls are in ruins. In the last Maratha war, Bhairavgad was captured by the English on the 23rd of May, 1818. A detachment of a hundred rank and file was sent by Lieutenant-Colonel Kennedy under command of Lieutenant Capon from Savarde in Ciplun in Ratnagiri district They proceeded to Talavde, a village at the foot of the hill from which there was an ascent of nearly six miles. But a message brought down the native officer in charge of the fort with a party of the garrison, who promised to surrender next morning on condition that the arms and property belonging to him and the garrison about a hundred strong, were respected and an escort of sepoys allowed as far as Patan. The fort was accordingly taken without resistance. [Pendhari and Maratha War Papers.]

CHANDAN AND VANDAN FORT History

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Candan and Vandan (Satara T; 17° 50' N, 74° 00' E; RS Rahimatpur 6 m. S; p. 1,379) forts are situated some ten miles north-east of Satara and stand out prominently from the range of hills running nearly south from Harali, the massive hill immediately east of the Khambataki pass and terminating with Jaranda nearly due east of Satara. Vandan the higher, larger, and more prominent of the two, 3,851 feet above sea level, lies in Malganv village of Satara taluka, and is approached most easily from Jaranda, a hamlet of Kikli. An approach to both the forts can be made from Ibrahimpur which is three miles from Ambevadi. The ascent is very steep. On the half-way to the fort is the Mari-aai temple. Further up, the ascent is steep and it becomes steeper as we go further up. On the fort the water is available but not potable. The path, which bears evidence of having been at one time a broad roughly-paved causeway with here and there some rude steps, ascends steeply the northern slope of the fort until it reaches the saddle between Vandan and Candan, then it doubles back along the eastern slope immediately under the lower of the two scarps for some distance almost level. About midway along the eastern side of the hill it again doubles back and the ascent is by a steep flight of rough steps to the first gate which looks nearly due south. The gateway is in order but the curtain behind it has fallen down and is completely ruinous. A sharp zigzag leads to the second gate which looks more ancient than the first gate and is nearly blocked up with stones. There is an inscription in Persian characters over the gateway. A covered way leads on from the gate to a point whence a very steep winding flight of stones leads direct to the top of the scarp or a more gradual gradient gives access to the top by walking round to the northern side. The lower scarp is a very perfect one and the only possible approach to the top is by the gateway first mentioned. Once within this gateway, now that the curtain has fallen down, the top can be reached by either route.

The area on the top is considerable and bears the appearance of having held a large garrison. The ruins and foundations of houses are very numerous up and in the south-east corner where there is a regular street. This quarter is pointed out as the Brahman ali. Immediately above it, approached by a broad flight of steps, are the ruins of the sarkarvada. Close by is a second large banyan and above a large shivri tree. These trees form conspicuous objects on the hill top from considerable distances around. Near the vada is a large room divided into three compartments and still completely roofed. More to the west is a mosque still in fair preservation, and at the extreme west corner is a considerable musalman bathing place with two roofed and walled tombs. A ministrant with a small patch of inam land still attends to them and the tombs themselves are covered with clothes. There are several large water reservoirs on the hill top, noticeably one close below the remains of sarkarvada, and another, near the Musalman burying place, which is still confined by masonry in fairly good order. Near the south-west corner there evidently was a large tank formed by excavation, the earth being thrown up near the edge of the precipice so as to form a dam. But the dam has been pierced evidently on purpose and the tank can hold no water now. The whole of the hill top is not level. An eminence rises with steep slopes on its southern half to a height of some 100 feet above the level of the sarkarvada. This eminence is surmounted with the ruins of a considerable building, the object of which unless it were a pleasure-house, is not evident.

The whole of the hill top is not walled. There are masonry walls at all the weak points and bastions at the angles. Captain Rose visited the fort in 1857 to burst the cannon none of which now remain. He probably also destroyed the dam. There used to be a subhedar on the hill. Some 200 gadkaris were attached to the fort and lived in the various hamlets around, chiefly to the north.

Candan, situated in Banavadi village of Koreganv taluka and separated from Vandan only by the saddleback scarcely half a mile across, is a slightly lower hill and wants the eminence on the top of Vandan. We come across one mosque on half way to the fort which is in dilapidated condition. The gate is at the south-east corner and the easiest ascent is from the north, crossing the north-cast slope of the hill. If visited from Vandan, difficult footpaths lead from the saddle either along the north-west or north slopes or along the south slope to' the south-east angle where they join the regular approach near the gateway. The gateway is in no way remarkable, and once within, there is no further difficulty beyond a steep ascent to gain the level top. On the side of Vandan there is one mosque which is in dilapidated condition. There is no second gate, but, after passing an old temple of Mahadev and a fine banyan tree, a flight of fairly broad steps leads to the top of the hill between two curiously built pillars. They consist each of four huge unhewn stones piled one on another. It is said they were placed there when the fort was built about 1,600 A.D. by Ibrahim Adilshah II (1580-1626), the sixth Bijapur king [According to Grant Duff Chandan and Vandan were among the fifteen forts built by one of the Panhala kings about 1190. Marathas, Vol. I page 26 Note V.]. A local legend explains how the stones were erected. A huge stone was first made firm, then it was surrounded by earth, and up the back thus formed a second huge stone was rolled and pushed and fastened on the former. This operation was repeated again and again and finally the earth cleared away leaving the present pillars of huge stone rising to a height of some fifteen to twenty feet. The pillars are damaged through the passing of time. There is not much else of interest in the fort. There are evidences of the existence at one time of a very considerable population and traces remain of a fine sarkarvada and a room. The tank holds some water but does not afford enough supply when the visitors come, the dam having been evidently purposely damaged to prevent water being retained. A Subhedar formerly resided on the fort with villages from the Koreganv sub-division in his charge. As in the case of Vandan only the broken points were defended by masonry walls and angles by bastions. In 1673, Candan Vandan were among the forts which fell into Shivaji's hand [Grant Duff's Marathas, Vol. I, page 202.]. They were taken by Aurangzeb's Officers in 1701[Grant Duff's Marathas, Vol. I, page 303.] but were recaptured by Shahu after his release in 1707[Sardesai's New History of the Marathas, Vol, II, page 9.]. During the civil war between Tarabai and Shahu, Shahu's army was encamped at Candan Vandan in the rains of 1707[Grant Duff's Marathas, Vol. I, page 318.]. Later in 1752, Peshva Balaji Bajirav kept a small force under Dadopant Vagh to keep a watch on Tarabai and to prevent her from making any mischief. In 1756 Tulaji Angre was kept as a prisoner by the Peshva in the same place for some time after the fall of Vijayadurg. In a revenue statement of about 1790 ' Candan-Vandan' are mentioned as the headquarters of paragana in the Bijapur Subha with a revenue of Rs. 21,644[Waring's Marathas, 244. The statement also- mentions ' Chenden ' separately with an income of Rs. 20,786. Ditto.]. They fell in 1818 to the British.

The forts are deserted and visitors, mostly Muslims, visit these forts at the time of urus.

VASOTA FORT History

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Vasota hill fort, also called Vyaghragad (Javli T; 17° 35' N, 73° 40' E; Rs Satara Road 32 m. NE; p. 156) in Javli is situated five miles west-north-west of Tambi, at the head of a small valley which branches west from the Koyna. At the mouth of the valley is a village named Vasote, but the fort is within the limits of the Met Indavli village, and on the very edge of the Sahyadris. It is a flat-topped hill nearly oval in shape and about 800 feet above the valley. The height on the other or Konkan side is probably some 3,700 feet. The first clear drop is perhaps 1,500 feet, which, Arthur's Seat excepted, is one of the sheerest on the Sahyadris. The ascent was made from Met Indavli village. The first half was through dense forest apparently primeval, a block specially preserved to increase the difficulties of approaching the fort. Emerging from this by the path which was here and there cut into steps and getting steeper every yard there was a karvi grove which was nasty to get through, but quite commanded from the fort. Further on was a perfectly bare piece of rock with rude steps cut in it. This led to the double gateway at the northern end of the eastern face along a causeway made for about twenty yards on a ridge below the scarp. To enter this the path, here much blocked up with fallen debris, turned right round to the south, and by some thirty steps cut in the rock emerged on to the plateau above. There were three massive masonry arches set in mortar and apparently of Musalman type. The space on the top was some fifteen acres in extent. On reaching the top and turning to the north close by was the temple of Chandkai a small plain stone structure. Fifty yards further was a large pond forty feet square and fifty feet deep. Besides this was another pond holding good water. It was built of large blocks of dry stone, each block-projecting about two inches below the one above, a very ancient type. Further on was a temple of Mahadev with an image-chamber and a small hall completely modernised. It had a small white-washed spire with an urn-like top. There were remains of the head-quarters or Sadar, a building about fifty feet square with walls about fifteen feet high and three feet thick, modern but of finely hewn stone. The plinth and first three feet of the walls were partly of large dry stone blocks and might be much older. To this building was attached an inner dwelling house or majghar with a court about thirty feet square, on the west of which was the powder magazine. The defences consisted of a vertical scarp varying in height from thirty to sixty feet, crowned by a well and parapet from six to eight feet high and loopholed at intervals. The principal portion of this wall was of huge boulders of dry stone, but it was added to by different masters of the fort, who mostly used mortar and smaller masonry. To the north was a small detached head, used apparently as an outpost. It was connected with the fort by narrow neck which dipped some thirty feet below the general level of fort. This was filled up with immensely strong mortared masonry, while the walls of this head, though mostly modern, were in very good condition. The rest were much fallen in. On the south of the fort was a gorge, on the other side of which rose what was known as the old fort. This was about 300 yards distant, and, like the hills to the north about 1,000 yards distant, completely commanded the present fort. Remains of the batteries of the British attacking force were to be seen on the brow of the old fort. But there were no other buildings or trace of fortifications on it, nor was any reason given why it was so named. The cliff to the west of the gorge has a sheer drop of 1,500 feet if not more. It was known as the Babukhada and was used as a place of execution for criminals or offenders who used to be hurled down the cliff. The west face of the fort was only a degree less abrupt, and a loose block or boulder of the old wall, if tumbled down the cliff, might be seen bounding from ledge with increasing violence- and speed for an extraordinary distance. The face of the cliff to the south is in three concave stretches and a shout or whistle gives three or sometimes four beautifully distinct echoes. The view to the north is fine, including Makrandgad or the Saddleback and the fine group of steep hills about Kandat and the Par pass. The view south is shut out by the Babukhada, but the west gives an extensive prospect over the rugged Konkan down to the sea.

History.

The fort of Vasota is the most ancient in the hill districts. It is attributed to the Kolhapur Silahara chief Bhoja II (1178-1193) of Panhala and, from the Cyclopean blocks of unmortared trap which formed the pond and older portions of the wall, appears undoubtedly to be of great antiquity. The gateway looked Musalman, but it is doubtful whether any Muhammedans ever came so far. The Shirkes and Mores possessed the fort till it was taken by Shivaji in 1655 after the murder and conquest of the Javli chief. Shivaji named the fort Vyaghragad which name it has not retained. The name of Vasota was seen permanently associated with Tai Telin, a mistress of Pant Pratinidhi who was undergoing imprisonment at Masur in 1806 under Bajirav I. During his absence Tai Telin obtained the possession of Vasota and had the dash and courage to release her paramour. [Grant Duff's Marathas, Vol. II, 414.] Pratinidhi declared himself the servant of the Raja of Satara, and broke off relations with the Peshva. He was, however, soon overpowered at Vasantgad by Bapu Gokhale, the former General of Peshva. Tai Telin, however, continued to fight the Gokhale for over eight months at Vasota; but had to surrender in consequence of a fire which destroyed her granary. [Grant Duffs' Marathas, Vol. II, 415.] Since then it was chiefly used as a State prison. Early after his defeat at Kirkee (5th November 1817). Bajirav sent the Satara Raja and his family into confinement at Vasota, but before the end of the month the princes were brought away and sent to join his camp on march from Pandharpur to the Junnar hills. The wives and families with him remained till the following April. About the same time Cornets Hunter and Morrison of the Madras establishment, on their way from Hyderabad to Poona with a small escort, were captured by the Peshvas forces at Uruli about fifteen miles east of Poona, sent first to Kangori fort in Kolaba. [Compare Bom. Gazetteer, XI 323, 471-72,] and thence to Vasota. At Vasota they were lodged in a single room in the head-quarter buildings. A man named Mhatarji Kanhoji Chavhan looked after them and was rewarded by the ex-Government for his attentions. Their human treatment was due to the special orders of Bapu Gokhale. The British force advanced from Medha by Bamnoli and Tambi, driving in outposts at Vasote and met at Indavli. Negotiations were opened with the commandant one Bhaskar Pant, but he obstinately refused to surrender. The British forces then advanced a detachment under cover of the thick forest before mentioned to positions in the karvi grove where they dug up shelters for themselves in the hill side. A battery was set on the old fort, The local story is that negotiations proceeded seven days, when at last it was decided to bombard. The first shot fell over in the Konkan, the next in the powder magazine which it blew up, the third in the temple of Chandkai, and the fourth in the middle of the head-quarter on which the commandant surrendered. According to Grant Duff, the bombardment lasted twenty hours. [Grant Duff's Marathas, Vol. II, 517-18] The prize property amounted to about 2 lakhs and the Satara Raja recovered family jewels worth Us. 3 lakhs.

At Present (1960), the fort stands in a dilapidated condition amidst a thick jungle. There is no path through the jungle leading to the fort-hill and then to the fort. The fort is difficult of access. Nothing remains of the temple of Mahadev.

Raigad Fort History

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Raigad

Raigad [From materials contributed by Mr. H. Kennedy.] or the Royal Fort (T. Mahad, 18° 14' N, 73°30' E) originally called Rairi, was known to the early Europeans as the Gibraltar of the East [ Grant Duff's Marathas, 679.]. It stands 2,851 feet above the sea, sixteen miles north of Mahad, and about forty east of Janjira. Its sheer scarped sides and long top form a great wedge-shaped block, cut from the Sahyadris by a deep valley about a mile broad at the base and two miles across from crest to crest. As it is backed by the lofty line of the Sahyadris and surrounded by spurs and blocks of hills, Raigad seldom forms a striking feature in the Kolaba landscape. From the west, about six miles on each side of Manganv, though the lower slopes are hid, the Takmak and Hirkani points are noticeable, forming an irregular horse-shoe. From the south, two long spurs, Kalkai from which Raigad was shelled in 1818, and the prominent top of Guiri, mask its height and hide its scarps. And from Mahabalesvar, so encircled is it by higher and bolder hills, that Raigad is difficult to make out even when its position is known. According to Mr. Douglas the finest view of Raigad is from the peak of Torna, 1,000 feet higher and about twenty miles to the east [ Book of Bombay, 411.]. Much the same view can be had from the cone topped peak of Lingana on the western edge of the Sahyadris, about two miles east of Raigad, and the Lingana view has the advantage of including a sight of the ruins which give a special interest to the top of Raigad [ Gell in Chesson's Miscellany, I. 11.].

Apprcaches.

To those who live in the district the most beautiful approach Approaches. to Raigad is, among, the finest hills in the district, from Nizampur about twelve miles to the north-west, across the rugged spur that runs, south-west from the Sahyadris. This route is passable for footmen and horsemen only. Another rough feet track leads from Manganv which is fifteen miles to the west. An easier approach is from the south-east, from Birvadi, about six miles east of Mahad. From Birvadi a country track, rough in places but practicable for carts, runs up the valley of the Kal, about sixteen miles, to Chatri Nizampur. About four miles north of Birvadi, the road crosses the Kal, and keeps along its left bank, about twelve miles, to within a quarter of a mile of Chatri Nizampur where it again crosses to the right bank. The track runs through rugged and lonely country, with the Sahyadris on the right and the Raigad and Guiri ranges on the left. Between nine and ten miles north of Birvadi, in a deep stony gorge below the village of Dapoli is a pool about 100 yards long by thirty feet broad, known as the Valan Kund, full of sacred fish, some of them of great size [ Details of this pond are given under Walan Kund.]. At Pane, about three miles from this pool, a fine clump of trees by the roadside shelters an old temple called Panekar. Four miles from Pane is Chatri Nizampur, so called, according to a local story, because one of Sivaji's servants, carrying an umbrella over his master's head, was swept off the top of Raigad by a gust of wind, and, clinging to his umbrella, alighted in safety in the small village of Nizampur. From Chatri Nizampur the path, which is passable only for footmen, rises about a mile and a half to Vadi on the east slope of a spur at the west foot of Raigad. It was at Vadi that on the 9th of May 1818, after a siege of fourteen days, terms of capitulation were arranged between Colonel Prother and the Pesva's. Arab commandant Sheikh Abu of Raigad [ Pendhari and Maratha Wars, 288.].

Way to Raigad.

The nearest way to Raigad is from Mahad in Mahad taluka, Kolaba district. At about eleven miles from Mahad is situated the tiny village of Konzar and is connected with Mahad by a good road. From Konzar the visitor to Raigad has to begin his long track to the fort of which the first stage ends at Pacad. The village is situated on the top of a hill from which the limits of Raigad fort could be said to begin. The Road from Konzar to Pacad is a well made road and offers a very comfortable journey on foot. Private taxis and cars often ply on this road. The road actually traverses quite a few hills and is not straight running even in a short span of about 100 yards or so. A walk of about half a mile gives one the impression that Pacad is now in close proximity but barely one covers the distance than another half a mile brings in view hill feature over which the road winds and winds. This goes on till the foot of the fort of Raigad, viz., Pacad is reached. Both sides of the road are covered with green mango groves and other varieties of wild trees so that a continuous walk fails to dislodge the visitor from his intention to climb up the fort in one stretch. A glance in any direction parallel to the eye, as one walks the distance does not reveal any plains but the vision catches the beautiful and magnanimous sights of towering hill tops where the warriors of that great monarch must have leisured at will. Quite in contrast to the too-often barren hill landscapes found in Satara district, the hill features round about Raigad possess parts of evergreen forests, thick and dense at some places and providing natural colour of brownish green to the entire outlook, which so pleases the eye. On the surrounding hill feature and on the level ground visible from above as one winds his way to Pacad could be seen a few isolated huts from which emerge the snowy specks of smoke which seems to be in a hurry to meet the hanging clouds above. However, the beauty of the path-way up the Raigad is more tantalizing and slick to the eye in the months after monsoon than before when it appears as if a green carpet has been spread over the entire foreground with the fragrance of honey dew and still unborn wild flowers pervading and lulling the entire surroundings. In such an atmosphere, there is very little to hurry about and the visitor slowly lingers his way to Pacad at the foot of the fort all the while experiencing the magic warmth of the atmosphere.

To Pacad and a look above gives one a glimpse of the gigantic citadel which is awe inspiring in its entire set up and must have dispirited many a valient foes in the days of its glorious history. The eye fails to reach the magnanimous top of, the hill and imagination cannot measure the wide and wild expanse of the fort. There are dense green forests at places and wild descending scarps at others which when visited freeze the heart and set it at a faster palpitation. But Pacad and its surroundings bring to the mind the ghosts of the past, of those glorious days when the Maratha warriors in their thousands must have walked the paths of the hill with swords drawn and ever eager to take revenge. One often feels elated to tread on the same ground and the mind is overwhelmed with mixed feelings which are hard to put down or describe. Only the scattered and dilapidated remains of that once scintillating past are now visible. At a distance of about a mile from Pacad stands in an isolated place the mausoleum erected to commemorate the mortal remains of Jijabai. the mother of Chatrapati Sivaji. It is an edifice of stone pillars raised on a platform about three feet high. The structure is plain. The monument has a surrounding stone wall about three feet in height. Till 1943 the entire place was almost in ruins when Major Malojirav Naik Nimbalkar, the ex-chief of Phaltan, decided to rebuild the monument with the remnant of the material in such a fashion so as to be an exact replica of its past. Accordingly the construction was carried out. In 1948, the compound wall was similarly built. Now the monument is preserved and pro tected by the Archaeological Department of the Government of India.

Halfway back from the monument to Pacad are the remains of the palace of Jijabai. A look from a mound nearby reveals to the eye the extent of devastation and damage which time could Wrought upon the elegance, however mighty it might be, of the past. The once gigantic surrounding walls built in stone, mud and mortar and enclosing the palace compound by a width of about 6' are in utter ruins and from their present state it could well be said that a few more years of terrific onslaught by nature, which is a normal feature in those regions, would suffice to ground the visible standing walls of the palace. The compound wall seems to have been built to serve the purpose of protective enclosure as could be seen from the existing apertures from which gun muzzles could be inserted to fire at the approaching enemy. Inside the compound are the remains of the once exquisite residence of Jijabai. Only at a few places the walls are standing but they utterly fail to give-any idea of the magnitude and dimensions of the palace. But it was a lofty structure, with a big sitting hall, side rooms. God room, can well be deduced from the basic plinth of the foundation which is so compartmentalized as to give a general impression of what the palace might have been when it was built. There are two wells within the compound, one behind what could now be dimly regarded as the then used kitchen room. The other well is a few yards away from the palace, close to the compound wall. From the accounts given by Khafi Khan, a Persian historian of Aurangzeb's times, itappears as if this well was a public well and the residents of the village nearby were allowed to carry water from this well [ Marathyanche Swatantrya Yuddha (Khafi Khan)-Setu Madhavarao Pagdi, p. 21.]. The well is rectangular in shape of the size of about 6' x 10'. There are stone steps leading to the well water but on the other side could be seen two apertures probably meant to lift up the water from the well. The part of the well above the steps is covered with a well-built stone structure of the size of about 4' x 10'. A stone seat is carved on the top of this structure and as Khafi Khan describes in his account, Sivaji used to sit on this seat and distribute to the children of the village-folk the fruits typical to the season of that region. From the details given by Khafi Khan it appears that he actually lived in this palace in the year 1691 or nearabout after the death of Sambhaji. A glance over the place and the remains of the palace spreads a sort of gloom and one experiences a rueful feeling that the palace in its ruins is telling its own tale of centuries of neglect.

The Way Up.

From Pacad about a mile and a half east leads to Vadi, which is perhaps 600 feet above the sea. From Vadi to the top of Raigad is a rise of about 2,250 feet in a distance of about four miles. In the lower slopes the path is rough, and higher up, though there are traces of the old pavement, most of the steps are broken, only the highest tiers being nearly perfect. The part is easy for footmen and passable for a light palanquin or a chair. The real ascent begins about a quarter of a mile from Vadi, in the middle of a patch of forest said to have been Sivaji's garden. Close to the patch almost hid by brushwood, are some plinths or platforms protected by a wall about four feet high, said to be the sites of Maratha granaries. Above the pathway, on the right or west, at the extreme north-west corner of the spur that runs to Raigad and separated from Raigad by a deep gorge, is a bastion called Khubladha, that is khub ladha or the hard fight. A narrow difficult pathway runs to this bastion, by the Nana Darvaza, along the north face of the spur about a quarter of a mile to the west. Above the granaries the path is rough and rises about 600 feet in about a mile to the Nana Darvaza, apparently the Little Gate to distinguish it from the Motha or Maha Darvaza, the Greate Gate, about 1,000 feet higher [ The local belief is that this gate took its name from Nana Phadnis, who, according to Grant Duff (Vol. II, 261-Marathas) overhauled the fort in 1796. The mention of two gates by Oxenden in ' 1674 makes it probable that this gate Was formerly called Nahan, the local form for Lahan or little, and that the Word has been changed to suit the belief that the gate Was built by Nana Phadnis,]. The Nana Gate is flanked on the lower or outer side by a bastion twenty feet high. The gateway consists of two arches, twelve and fourteen feet high and of ten feet span, with a flight of seventeen stone steps which begin below the lower archway and lead through the gateway. Inside of the gate, cut in the stone walls, are two sentry-boxes each seven feet square, and, on the inner side of the gateway are two large holes for fixing a bar across the gate. The gate has been removed.

Inside of the Nana Gate the path stretches about three-quarters of a mile to the left or east, almost on the level, passing an open space or point on which are the ruins of two buildings, one 39' x 25½', said to have been a guard-room, the other 75' x 20', said to have been a granary. At this point, which is about 300 feet above the Nana Gate, there seems to have been a battery, probably the Masjid battery mentioned in 1818 by Lieutenant Remon of the Engineers, and there is still the tomb of a Musalman saint called Madar Shah. About 400 yards further, still on the level, are three rock-cut caves which were used for storing grain. One is 20' x 8', another 18' x 8', and the third, which has two square stone pillars, is 33' x 8'. The height varies from eight to ten feet. Beyond the caves or rock-cut granaries, the path takes a sudden and very steep turn to the right, and after a climb of about 300 feet in half a mile, the Great Gate comes in sight. It is about 400 feet higher, and half a mile distant, at the top of a very steep ascent, in a bend to the north-west of the end of Hirkani point. The gateway is approached by a flight of thirty-two steps which take a slight turn to the right after passing the right bastion [ The following account of the ascent is by Lieutenant Remon, who commanded the Engineers in the siege of 1818: "The road from Vadi to the Lower Gate and to the Masjid or one-gun battery higher up, is bad, rocky, and uneven. At the Masjid battery the ground is level for a short distance, and afterwards the road runs with very little unevenness along the foot of the precipice to a cavern below the gateway, probably 350 or 400 yards from the Masjid. The preciice on the left makes it necessary to go along this part with caution, the space beinpin places not more than five or six feet broad. Some part of it is much exposed as the upper cliff is so steep that stones thrown over fall immediately on the road, as was the case not many yards in rear of us when returning. Beyond the cave for twenty or thirty yards the road continues level. It then turns sharply to the right, and br ings the Upper Gate and other works in view at a height of about five or six hundred feet. It is then carried circuitously up the ascent, and is said to be tolerably broad over rugged steps. From the appearance of this part the ascent must unavoidably be rather steep. Pendhari and Maratha Wars, 288.]. It is flanked by two massive well-preserved bastions, seventy-five and sixty-five feet high, which face the northwest. The distance between the bastions increases from eight and a half to sixteen and a half feet immediately in front of the gate, and again narrows to eight and a half feet. The Great Gate is about 400 feet below the crest of the west or Hirkani Point of the hill top, and 600 feet below the citadel or highest point of the hill. At the same level as the gate, a high curtain wall, strengthened by a broad deep fosse, runs along the whole north-west side of the fort. About 200 feet higher, pieces of a second curtain wall protect the accessible parts of the hill, and 200 feet higher, 200 feet below the top of the citadel, is another broken line of fortifications. On the inside of the gateway is a sentry-box six feet square, cut in the rock, and on the right a ruined guard-room of which the doors are modern.

This approach from the west is the only path up the hill. The gateway on the south, which is known as the Cor Darvaza or Secret Gate, was probably placed there to guard against a surprise. The name suggests this and the suggestion is supported by the absence of any trace of a path.

The view inside of the Great Gate includes the Takmak and Hirkani Points with all the intervening part of the hill. The citadel or Balekilla (Raj Mahal) shows behind the Hirkani Point and about 200 feet higher.

Hill Top

The hill top stretches about a mile and a half from east to west by a mile from north to south. It forms an irregular wedgeshaped block tapering to the east; with three main points, Hirkani in the west, Takmak in the north, and the blunt point of Bhavani in the east. There is a fourth smaller point Srigonda at the southeast. The hill top is roughened by mounds and hollows and is bare of vegetation, except some trees on the east slope of the citadel or Balekilla. Much of it is covered with ruins and there are a number of cisterns and rock-cut reservoirs though few of them hold water after the end of December. On the west, south, and east the hill sides are so sheer that except the gateways in the west and south faces there are no artificial defences. As already noticed the north-west face is protected by a main line of masonry and two upper walls or portions of wall where the natural scarp is imperfect.

Objects.

A steep climb of about three-quarters of a mile east from the Great Gate, leads to a point on the northwest crest of the hill top, where there is the tomb of the Musalman saint Madar, with, in front of it, an upright iron bar called the Malkhamb or Gymnast's pillar. Near Madar Shah's tomb is an irregular oval-shaped reservoir, about 129 feet by 75. About 100 yards further south is the Gahga Sagar reservoir, about 120 yards by 100, rock-hewn on the south and east which requires repairs. The water is excellent, and formed the chief water-supply for the garrison, though Sivaji and his people used another reservoir near the citadel. About 100 yards south of the Ganga Sagar, facing north, are two ruined towers, which, when in repair are said to have been five storeyed high. They are ornamented with carved masonry which stands out about two feet from the wall. They are twelve-sided and in each side have a pointed window in Musalman style. The inside forms a room, fourteen feet in diameter, with a domed ceiling. West from the towers a flight of thirty-one steps, flanked by high walls of well preserved masonry, leads through the Palkhi Darvdzd, a gate six feet wide, into the Balekilla or citadel, which measures about 300 yards east and west by 150 north and south. Along the west side of the citadel from the Palki Gate, across to the Main Gate in the south wall, a distance of about 150 yards, a path leads between a double row of ruined buildings. Those on the right are the remains of seven large mansions which formed the women's quarters of Sivaji's palace, and those on the left are a row of rooms for the guards and servants. Through the Main Gate in the south wall of the citadel, a path leads to a point where the ladies of the palace used to take their evening walk. To the left, inside of the Palki Gate, a path leads east to the back of the King's Court or Kaceri. There is no gate to the King's Court, hut in the east or front wall a gap about thirty feet broad probably marks the place where the door formerly was. The walls are still standing and enclose a space about 120 feet by 50. The mound in the centre is the site of Sivaji's throne. The platform round the throne is still held in honour. The buildings on each side of the throne were granaries, and the two walled-off rooms at the end of the court, about fifteen feet wide, were used as treasure-rooms. In front of the throne a passage five feet wide runs along the whole length of the building. In the front or east wall there are still twelve arched windows about 3½ x 1½ In front of the courthouse is an open space with the remains of a fountain, and in front of this space is the Nagar Khdnd or Drum Gate, the main entrance to the citadel. The upper part of the main entrance has come down. The large walled space on the south wall to the left of the Main Gate on a lower level than the rest of the citadel, is said to be the site of the Rang Mahal or Pleasure Palace. The ruins behind the Court near the north wall, opposite the Pleasure Palace, are said to have been Sivaji's private quarters. The Nagar Khana or main entrance gate is in the east wall of the citadel opposite the King's Court. It is a solid square structure with a pointed archway about thirty feet high and with a span of eight feet. The whole building is about fifty feet high, thirty wide, and twenty feet deep. On the top, reached by a flight of twenty-nine steps, is the drum-room, and ten steps more lead to an upper parapet, the highest point on the hill, commanding a wide view.

Outside of the Nagar Khana a little to the east, is a dry reservoir called Kusavarta. Close to the pond is the point of Srigonda, where are several ruins said to be the sites of the Potnis' and other ministers' houses. To the east of the Srigonda Point, on a lower level, are the ruins of the powder magazines ninety feet long by twenty feet broad and with walls 3½ feet thick. These were destroyed during the English siege by shells fired from the ridge of Kalkai. Near the powder magazines are twelve rock-cut cisterns, some with water. 'About 200 paces to the north of the citadel are the ruins of the market place with the sites of two rows of twenty-two shops in each row separated by a space forty feet wide. ' Further to the north-west are the ruins of the elephant stables. Below the market place, on the east slopes of the upper hill top, are the remains of the tower and of the Brahman quarters and Brahman pond. About half a mile to the north-east of the citadel is a temple of Mahadev Jagadisvar in a walled enclosure. Outside the west entrance is a well-carved image of Maruti about three feet high and one and a half feet broad. The temple at present is locally known as the Jagadisvar temple and bears a Sanskrt inscription with the same date as the coronation. The inscription says that the temple was built by one Hiroji Etalkar as ordered by Sivaji. Round Mahadev's temple are the dancing girls' quarters, and below is the dancing girls' pond which still holds water. Below, and in front of the east entrance to the temple, is a large eight-sided stone plinth on which Sivaji's body was cremated. At present, there is a bust of Sivaji on the spot. A tomb is raised to commemorate Sivaji's faithful pet dog Vaghya that died on the same pyre. It consists of an image of a dog fixed on a pillar 12 feet high erected in front of Sivaji's bust. Half a mile further are some more ruins in a long line evidently quarters for the garrison. The distance of these ruins, one mile from the citadel, suggests that one of them was the house set apart for the English ambassadors who visited Raigad in 1674. To the east of these ruins, on the extreme edge of the plateau, is the Kala Kund or black pool. The extreme eastern edge of the fortress, facing Lingana, is called Bhavani Point. Passing to the north-west the most prominent point is Takmak, a sheer precipice, down which prisoners are said to have been hurled. Hirkani, the extreme west point, which is some 200 feet below the citadel, is guarded by a walled bastion. They say that a Gavli woman named Hirkani went up from Vadi to sell milk. She was delayed on the top and evening fell and the gates were closed. She had to get home to feed her infant, so she scrambled down the point. Next morning Sivaji sent for her and asked how she had left the fort. She told him, and a bastion was built and the point called after her. The temple of Sirkai has been recently rebuilt.

The best way to see the hill is to send a small tent to Pacad or Chatri Nizampur, dine there, and move to Vadi to sleep. Next morning an early start should be made as the ascent takes three hours if done leisurely. Now a road has been built up to Pacad and S: T. buses ply on it. The citadel, the Hirkani Point, and the ruins near the points can be seen before breakfast, and the rest of the hill top in the afternoon. The descent to Vadi does not take more than an hour or an hour and a half, and cither Pacad or Chatri Nizampur can be easily reached before dark. On the hill top was a Dharmasala. The Dharmasala is completely damaged and is not in use.

History.

Its size, its strength, and its easy communication with the Deccan and with the sea, must from early times have made Raigad or Rain an important fortress. But its time of magnificence as the capital of a great sovereign lasted for only sixteen years, from 1664 to 1680, the last sixteen years of Sivaji's reign [From the Saracenic style of their architecture Mr. Kennedy thinks that the towers and the great Nagar Khana gateway are older than the time of Shivaji. It seems more probable that they were built by a Musalman employed by Shivaji.].

In the twelfth century Rain (Sk. Raygiri or the royal hill) was the seat of a family of petty Maratha chiefs (Raje Sirke) or Palegars, who in the fourteenth century are said, though this is doubtful, to have acknowledged as their overlords the Anagundi or Vijaynagar princes (1350-1565 [.Tervis' Konkan, 89, and Elphinstone's History of India, 756. Anagundi or Vijaynagar, one of the finest ruined cities in India, is about thirty-six miles northwest of Belari.]). About the middle of the fifteenth century (1436) Ala-ud-din Shah Bahamani II (1434-1457) made Rain his chief tributary [.Briggs' Ferishta, II. 424, and Nairne's Konkan, 25. The Bahamani conquest of the Konkan was not completed till 1469, after about forty years of fighting Elphinstone's History of India, 756.]. In 1479 Rairi passed to the Nizamshahi rulers of Ahmadnagar and was held by them till, in 1636, on the final conquest of Ahmadnagar, the Moghals made it over to the Adilshahi kings of Bijapur. Under Bijapur, with the name of Islamgad [Jervis' Konkan, 92.]' it was, entrusted to the Sidi of Janjira and garrisoned by a body of Marathas [Elliot and Dowson, VII. 287; Grant Duff's Marathas, Vol. I, 111.]. For some time Mores of Javli who were under the suzerainty of Bijapur laid claim to it. Bur in the course of struggle between the Mores and Sivaji, the latter captured it from then in 1656, and thus not only challenged the supremacy of Bijapur but opened up Konkan routes for the extension of his power. In 1662, finding himself cramped on the craggy loft of Raigad, which for fifteen years had been his home, Sivaji, after a diligent search, chose for his capital the hill of Rairi [Khafi Khan in Elliot and Dowson, VII. 288. According to one account Shivaji acted on his father's advice. Rajgad his former capital, is a few miles from Torna hill about twenty miles east of Raigad. According to another authority the choice of Raigad for his capital was made by Shivaji in 1672 and not in 1662; (S. V. Avalaskar: Raigadaci Jeevan Katha p. 26).]. The natural strength of the hilla, in a most difficult country and almost surrounded by sheer walls of rock, and its position close to a highway of trader [The road to Surat passed near the place. Khafi Khan in Elliot and Dowson, VII. 288.], with easy access to the Deccan, and with a safe retreat to the island forts of the Ratnagiri coast, influenced Sivaji in his choice of Rairi [So thoroughly did Shivaji understand that at any time he might be overwhelmed by the Moghals. that he prepared a retreat in the is land fort of Malvan in South Ratnagiri. Bombay Gazetteer, X. 380 and note 5.]. But perhaps the chief reason which made him prefer Rain to his thirty other hill forts, equally strong and nearly as well placed, was the size of its flat top, a mile by a mile and a half, not too large to guard against surprise, and with room for suitable buildings and retinue of a king. In 1662 he changed the name of the hull from Rairi to Raigad, or the Royal Fort and ordered Abaji Sondev, the governor of Kalyan. to furnish the fort with a complete set of royal and public buildings. These, which, are said to have numbered 300 stone houses, included palaces, mansions, offices, a mint, granaries, magazines, quarters for a garrison of 2,000 men, a market nearly a mile in length, and a number of rock-cut and masonry cisterns. While the hill-top was being covered with these buildings, care was taken to complete its defences, to prepare an approach which should be easy for friends and impossible for foes, and to close every entrance except this one approach. According to Khafi Khan (1680-1755), when Sivaji thought that all ways up the hill, except one, were closed, he called an assembly, and, placing a bag of gold and a gold bracelet worth 100 pagodas before the people, ordered proclamation to be made, that the bag of gold and the gold bracelet should be given to any one who, without ladder or rope, would climb, by any other than the regular road, and plant a flag on the top of the hill. A Mahar came forward, and, being allowed to try, climbed the hill, fixed the flag, and bowed before Sivaji. Sivaji ordered that the purse of money and the gold bracelet should be given to him, and gave directions for closing the path up which the Mahar had climbed [Khafi Khan's Muntakhab-ul-Lubab in Elliot and Dowson, VII. 288. As Khafi Khan visited Raigad during SivaJi's life,, or soon after his death, this story of the Mahar is probably true. The Mahar's path was blocked by the Chor Darvaza or Secret Gate.].

In 1664 Sivaji enriched raygad with the plunder of Surat, and made it the seat of his government. [According to Khafi Khan (Elliot and Dowson, VII. 287) Shivaji took from Surat an immense booty in gold and silver coined and uncoined, and in the stuffs of Kashmir, Ahmedabad, and other places. He made prisoners some thousand Hindus- men and women of name and station, and Musalmans of honourable position. Millions in money and in goods came into the hands of that evil infidel. The sacking of Surat, Shivaji's treasure-house, was repeated seven years later. Details are given in the Surat Statistical Account, Bombay Gazetteer, II 89. The store-houses of Raigad were filled from the spoils of many other cities and countries. However different Shivaji's raids, they had one termination when he sat on Raigad top and counted his gains. Mr. Douglas, Book of Bombay, 405.]. In the same year, after the death of his father Sahaji, Sivaji came to Raigad, assumed the title of Raja, struck coins in his name, and spent some months arranging the affairs of his government. [Shivaji's military regulations were simple. His infantry which consisted chiefly of hill people called Mavlas, seldom accompanied him; they served as garrisons to his forts and guarded his conquests in the Deccan. His artillery was poor and it seems to have been seldom used except against the island of Janjira. His main support lay in his cavalry which was of two sorts; men who kept their own horses called Shiledars. and others called Bargirs who were mounted by Shivaji. He constantly kept 40,000 horses in his stables. Over every ten horses was a havildar who had the care of feeding them, a water carrier, and a torch-bearer; each hundred horses had an officer, and every thousand horses an officer who commanded the other ten. A division of five or six thousand had a superior, chieftain, and, on the most important expedition, Shivaji commanded in person. The Bargirs were armed and clothed at the state expenses and were paid out of the plunder. Numerous spies watched their conduct and his troops were seldom caught in secreting plunder or contributions. Operations in the, Deccan in Waring's Marathas, 102. Details are given in Grant Duff, Vol. I, 175-178.]

In 1665, awed by the skill of Aurangzeb's general Jaysing Raja of Jaypur, and apparently unwilling from political and religious motives to fight a Hindu, Sivaji sued for peace, and agreed to hold his territory as a feudatory of the Moghal empire. Under the Convention of Purandhar, Sivaji's territory included twelve forts of which Raigad was the chief and the most central. In 1666, before paying his famous visit to Agra, Sivaji called his leading officers to Raigad, and invested Moro Trimal Pingle, Abaji Sondev, and Annaji Datto with full authority during his absence. He left Raigad in March 1666, and after about six months returned in September [Dr. Kale, Shivaji Maharaj, p. 145.] a fugitive and in disguise. On reaching Rajgad with his beard shaved and in the dress of an ascetic, he fell at his mother's feet. She did not know him, but when he pulled off his turban she recognised her lost son and sank into his arms. Soon after in November, the Brahman in whose charge he had left his son Sambhaji at Mathura, came with the boy. Sivaji celebrated this escape with great rejoicing, distributed large sums in charity and presented the faithful Brahman with Rs. 4,00,000 [Waring's Marathas, 79-80.]. In 1667, the Portuguese sent an envoy Martin to Raigad, to conclude a treaty with Sivaji [.S. V. Avalaskar, Raigadachi Jeevan Katha, 25.]. Sivaji passed the greater part of 1668 and 1669 at Raigad, completing his wise arrangements for the foreign policy of the Marathas and the internal management of his kingdom. In 1672 several of the prisoners of rank, who had been captured in the course of his conquest of Cakan near Poona, were sent to Raigad, where they were treated with distinction till their wounds were healed, and then allowed to leave, or to remain in Sivaji's service.

In June 1674, Sivaji was crowned with much splendour at Raigad. For ten years Sivaji had struck coins and styled himself Raja or Maharaja, but he was anxious to declare his independence, to assume the state of a king, and to found an era. Brahmans were consulted, and a learned priest from Benares (Varanasi) named Gagabhatt, fixed the sixth of Tune for the installation. Some account of the installation ceremony has been preserved by an English embassy from Bombay who seem to have spent the three months of May, June, and July on the top of Raigad. The embassy was sent by the great Gerald Aungier, the founder of the prosperity of Bombay. The English had lately suffered severely at the hands of Sivaji. In 1664 their courage had saved themselves and their neighbours during the sack of Surat. But their factory at Karwar was plundered in 1665, and their factory at Rajapur in Ratnagiri in 1670. Maratha exactions also threw grievous difficulties in the way of developing trade between Bombay and the Deccan. Sivaji, though in the course of his raids might rob their factories, was not unfriendly to the English. Early in 1672 the English had sent Mr. Ustick to Raigad to negotiate terms of compensation for their losses caused on account of the raids of Sivaji. Ustick went to Raigad via Ceul but his embassy did not lead to much fruitful result as Sivaji on his part made a counter-proposal to the English that they should assist him in his war with the Sidis which the English were unwilling to accept. Subsequently, in July the Dutch also sent their envoy to Raigad. In the following year the English sent Nichols on a commercial mission. He reached Raigad via Nagothana-Kolad route and first met Prince Sambhaji on May 24, 1673 as Sivaji had not been on the fort at that time. Subsequently, he could meet Sivaji on June 3, 1673 who agreed to allow fuel to be taken to Bombay without payment of customs duties. Nichols urged upon the Bombay Government the need of sending an embassy of the English to Raigad to be present on the occasion of Sivaji's coronation [ S. V. Avalaskar, Raigadachi Jeevan Katha, 29.]; for it was thought that the compliment of an embassy to be present at the coronation might bring him to grant compensation for their losses at Karwar and Rajapur, and lead him to lower transit dues or otherwise help the trade between Bombay and the Deccan. The embassy consisted of Henry Oxenden, who was afterwards (1676) Deputy Governor of Bombay, and two factors [ Henry Oxenden was the brother of Sir George and of Christopher Oxenden among the ablest and most respected of the early servants of the Company, perhaps best known by their great tombs in the Surat graveyard. Henry Oxenden had been chief of Karwar. He became Deputy Governor of Bombay in 1676 and a baronet in 1679. He was' 56 years old when he climbed Raigad. Mr. Douglas' Book of Bombay, 416.]. But the embassy did not start immediately; for the Bombay Council had resolved in March 1674 to send Narayan Senvi to Raigad to negotiate and complete the details of a commercial treaty. Narayan's meeting with Sivaji was delayed for some time on account of Sivaji being in mourning due to the death of one of his queens. Narayan stayed at Pacad near the foot of the fort and took the opportunity of meeting Niraji Pandit, an influential man at the court of Sivaji. The mission of Narayan was eminently successful for when he had the opportunity of meeting Sivaji on the 3rd of April, Niraji pleaded the case of Narayan with such vigour that the Raja was persuaded to agree not only to the principle of giving compensation but also laid down the manner in which it was to be granted for the loss that the English had suffered at Rajapur. Successful Narayan returned to Bombay and urged on Bombay Council to send the embassy with rich presents to wait on Sivaji at the time of his coronation. Accord ingly the embassy started from Bombay in May [S. V. Avalaskar, Raigadachi Jeevan Katha, p. 35.] in a small sailing boat, stayed the night in a Portuguese church outside the walls of the then Portuguese Ceul, and, in the afternoon, went on to old upper or Maratha Ceul. The day following they took boat to Esthemy, that is Roha Astami, where they stayed the night. Leaving Astami in palanquins at day break, they pitched their tent, about sunset in a plain six miles short of Nizampur. Here they stayed about an hour to refresh their bearers and. then set forward, passing Nizampur at nine, and next morning reaching Gangouli (Gahgavli) 'a little village on a pleasant rivulet from which on a fair day can be seen the castle of Rairi'. Next day they resumed their journey to Rairi, and about nine in the evening came to Puncharra (Pacad), a town at the foot of the hill. Here they learned that Sivaji had left for Pratapgad to offer forty-two pounds of gold to the goddess Bhavani. As the embassy could not go up the hill till Sivaji returned, they pitched their tent in the plain. There they made their business known to Niraji Pandit to whom they gave their letters and the draft of their treaty. The ambassador also asked Niraji what hopes there were of mediating a peace between Sivaji and the Sid! of Janjira. because their quarrels did much damage to trade. He also asked if there was any chance of making arrangements to help the inland trade with the Deccan. Niraji advised him not to urge Sivaji to make peace with the Sidi. Sivaji was resolved to take Janjira at any cost; it was hopeless to move him. The improvement of the Deccan trade was more feasible. The Bijapur king would soon come to terms with Aurangzeb and, after his coronation. Sivaji would act more like prince; he would take care of his subjects and endeavour to advance commerce in his dominions. Niraji was a man of prudence and power who suggested that it was well to be content to win Raja's goodwill at that time. Thereupon the ambassador took his leave, and later, when on 20th' of May Oxenden again met him on the fort, he presented him with a ring and his son Pralhad Niraji with a pair of pamerins.

After some very hot and incommodious days in their tent, the embassy were pleased to hear that Sivaji had returned and that they might pass up the hill to Rain castle. They left Pacad about three in the afternoon, and about sunset, 'forsaking the humble clouds, after a difficult and hazardous passage', reached the top of the hill. The mountain was fortified by nature more than by art, of very difficult access, with but one avenue guarded by two narrow gates [This makes it probable that the lower or Nana Gate is the small or Nahan (Marathi-lahan) gate, not Nana's Gate.], strengthened by a massive wall exceedingly high and with bastions thereto. The rest of the mountain was direct precipice, impregnable unless betrayed by treachery. The hill-top was in length about two miles and a half, without pleasant trees or any sort of grain, but with many strong buildings, the Raja's Court and houses of Ministers to the number of about 300. One of the 300 houses, about a mile from the Raja's palace, had been set apart for the embassy, and to this they retired with no little content. Four days after arrival, by the help of Niraji Pandit, Sivaji, though busy with his coronation and marriage, gave them an audience on 26th of May when Oxenden respectfully placed the rich presents he had brought before the Raja, which he accepted in a courteous manner. Shivaji was pleased with the proposals of the treaty; assured the ambassador that the English might trade freely through the whole of his country; referred him for details to his Pesva Moro Pandit; and with his son Sambhaji, withdrew to their private apartments to consult Brahmans and purify themselves, fast, and attend to no business till the installation was over. After a day or two the ambassador went to Niraji Pandit to consult him as to how the conclusion of the treaty could be expedited and asked him how he should deliver the presents he had brought. Naraji advised him to take his present to Moro Pandit, the Pesva, and to send the rest through Narayan Senvi. At the same time he advised that more officers should receive presents, for every officer expected something according to his degree and charge, and if he was disappointed would raise objections. The ambassador, anxious that the Honourable Company should not be at the expense of keeping him a whole monsoon on Raigad, agreed to give Moro Pandit, the Pesva four cloths or pamerins instead of two; to give Dattaji Pandit Vaknis (that is the Vakanavis or keeper of private journal) a diamond ring worth Rs. 125; to give the Dabir four pamerins or cloths; to give Samji Naik, the keeper of the seal four; and to give four more to Annaji Pandit. About this time, according to Hindu custom, the Raja was weighed in gold and poised about 16,000 Hons. All of this with 1,600 Hons more were distributed among Brahmans who had flocked in numbers from all parts of Maharastra. The ambassador, anxious to press his errand, asked Niraji how the treaty was getting on. He was told that Sivaji embraced the friendship of the English with satisfaction and looked for profit to himself and his people from English settlements and English trade. Two points he would not enter in the treaty, the currency of English coins in his realm and the surrender of English wrecks. No special mention need be made about the currency. If the Bombay coins were good, they would circulate of themselves and he would do nothing to prevent them. As to the wrecks he could do nothing. It was against the laws of the Kohkan to restore ships or goods driven ashore by storm, and if he granted the privilege to the English he would have to grant it to the French and the Dutch [Fryer does not mention that part of the negotiation was asking payment for losses caused to the Rajapur factory. He is right, because the question of compensation for Rajapur loss had already been decided, and was not connected with Oxenden's mission. Grant Duff (Marathas, Vol. I. P. 206) notices that Shivaji agreed to pay a compensation of 10,000 Hons., Rs. 35,000. This sum was not to be paid in cash. Rs. 8,750 of it were to be granted on remissions of custom and the rest taken in cloth. Grant Duff doubts whether this Rajapur compensation was ever recovered by the English.].

Shivaji's Coronation.

One day, when the ambassadors had been nearly a month on Raigad, Niraji sent them word that about seven in the morning of the next day Sivaji intended to ascend the throne; that he would take it kindly if they came to congratulate him; and that they should bring some small present, as it was not the custom of the eastern parts to appear before a prince empty-handed. Accordingly the next morning (June 6th) the ambassador and his retinue went to Court. They found the Raja seated on a magnificent throne and all his nobles waiting on him in rich attire. On an ascent under the throne were prince Sambhaji, Moro Pandit, the Pesva, and a Brahman of great eminence. At a distance were the officers of the army and others standing with great respect. On each side of the throne, after the fashion of the Moors, many emblems of dominion and government were hung on the heads of gilded lances. On the right were two great golden fish heads with very large teeth and on the left were several horses' tails and a pair of gold scales equally poised on a high lance's head, an emblem of justice. On entering the Court, the English made their obeisance at a distance, and Narayan held up the diamond ring that was to be presented to the Raja. The attention of the Raja was attracted on account of its refracted light and he ordered the English to come nearer, even to the foot of the throne, where they were vested and desired to retire. Sivaji was forty-seven years [This is as per information got by Oxenden.] of age, of a handsome and intelligent countenance, and for a Maratha fair in skin. His eye was keen, his nose-long, aquiline and somewhat drooping, his beard trim and peaked, and his moustache slight; his expression was rapid and resolute, hard and feline [Mr. Douglas from the Vignette in Orme's Historical Fragments.]. As the ambassadors returned they saw at the palace gate two small elephants on each side, and two fair horses with gold trappings, bridles, and rich furniture, an admirable sight on the top of so hazardous a hill. Every day he went on bestowing alms on Brahmans. Some days later Niraji Pandit sent word that the Raja had signed all the articles, except the article about money. Then the rest of the ministers signed the articles and the ambassador went to receive them from Niraji Pandit, who delivered them with expressions of great kindness and offered on all occasions to be serviceable to the English. The ambassadors seem to have remained on the hill sometime longer, as they did not reach Bombay till after coconut day, the full-moon of August [The account of the embassy is from Fryer, who was then in Bombay, New Account, 77-81. There is almost no complaint of the heat of the Mahad valleys in May, and no grumbling over the discomforts of the journey back in the rains probably by way of Nagothana. But, according to Fryer, one thing on Raigad the embassy could not stand; the diet of the people, their delightfulest food being only cutcery (Khicadi) pulse and rice mixed together and boiled in butter, with which they grew fat. This, he continues, was signified to the Raja, who ordered a butcher, who supplied the few Moors who were able to go to the charge of meat, to give them goat. The embassy consumed the meat at the rate of half a goat a day. So profitable was the demand that, though a very old man, the butcher climbed the hill to have a sight of his masters who had taken off his hands more flesh than he had sold for years (Ditto 81). Seeing that almost all Marathas eat sheep and goats, it seems hard to believe that this is not one of 'the tales of good fellowship' which Fryer found the only means of passing time during the Bombay monsoon. It is curious that, in spite of Oxenden's detailed account of his journey to Raigad, the position of the hill was for more than a hundred years doubted. Orme (1770) places it about fifty miles north-west of Poona, Major Rennell (1783 Memoir 180) places it in Baglan, Its true position was established by Colonel Close (1802) Waring's Marathas, 199. According to Waring (Ditto) during the reign of Sambhaji (1680-1689) an English ambassador, one of the Council of Bombay, visited Raigad and went by Nagothana. It seems probable that this is a confusion with Oxenden's embassy.].

Meanwhile at Raigad the coronation festival was going on with full vigour. Sivaji started a new era which dates from the day of his coronation the 13th day of the moon's increase in Jayestha (June 6th) His weighing himself against gold and his lavish gifts to Brahmans raised Sivaji to a high rank among Rajputs, from whom the Brahmans now proved his descent [Grunt Duff, Vol. I., p. 207. As regards the controversy regarding his Kshatriya descent it should be noted that there were two schools of thought one led by Shesh and the other by Bhatt, the former asserting that there were no Kshatriyas in Kaliyugn, while the latter remaining convinced of their existence. Gaga Bhatt the high priest of the coronation belonged to latter school. It is not therefore the lavish gifts that t persuaded the Brahmins to prove Shivaji's Kshatriya origin. Earlier Shivaji had sent responsible men to Udepur and elsewhere in Rajpurana to make inquiries about the traditions prevailing amongst the ruling Rajput families of his times.]. Sivaji took the title of Ksatriya Kulavtansa. Sri Raja Siva, Chatrapati, that is 'The chief ornament of the Ksatriya race, his majesty the Raja Siv, lord of the Royal umbrella.' At the same time Sivaji added to the titles of some of the officers of State and changed other titles from Persian to Sanskrt. But except those of the eight ministers or Asta Pradhans, none of the new names remained in use after Sivaji's death [The following were the names of the eight ministers and their old and new titles.

Names	Original Title	New Title	Office
Moropant Pingle.	Peshva.	Mukhya Pradhan.	Prime Minister.
Ramchandrapant Bavdekar.	Muzumdar.	Pant Amatya.	Finance Minister.
Annaji Datto.	Surnis.	Pant Sachiv.	Record Keeper-General.
Dattajipant.	Vaknis	Mantri.	Chamberlain.
Hambirrav Mohite.	Sarnobat.	Senapati.	Commander-in-Chief.
Janardanpant Hanmante.	Dabir.	Sumant.	Foreign Minister.
Balajipant.	Nyayadish.	Nyayadish.	Chief Justice.
Raghunathpant.	Nyayashastri.	Panditrav.	Law Adviser.

The duties of these Ministers are explained in Grant Duff's Marathas, Vol. I, 184-85; and Waring's Marathas, 101.]

The following details are from a Marathi account of the crowning of Sivaji [This account or bakhar was written in 1811. The details are interesting, but two points raise the suspicion that they are imaginary or copied from some state procession at Poona. 'A hundred lances of the city police' is an impossible contingent for Raigad top, and the drive in the state carriage from the main gate of the palace courtyard seems unlikely. Oxenden would have noticed a carriage. As more wonderful than an elephant, and the distance driven is only a few yards.]. When all difficulties had been overcome and Gaga-bhatta had declared Sivaji a Rajput and invested him with the sacred thread, three skilful astrologers were called to fix the day and the hour for the coronation. The three astrologers chose the thirteenth day of the bright half of the month of Jyestha of the Anand year [ For a coronation, except Kartik and Margasirash, all the dakshinayan or southing half of the year, the extra month, Chaitra in the uttarayan or northing half of the year, and the rainy months, are unlucky. The stars most favourable for a coronation are' the polar stars, the lunar mansion of Vishnu, and Yogkaran.]. The coronation was to take place at Raigad as Raigad fulfilled the, conditions required of a royal seat in the sacred books. It was in the centre of several sacred places, an impregnable fortress in a rich well watered country. Invitations were sent to all chiefs and subjects and to every teacher and priest. Reception and dining-rooms were built and a coronation hall with room for thousands of seats. It was decorated with silks and brocade and was carpeted and lined with velvet. The ceiling was rich satin with gold lace. The throne platform was covered with a rich cloth of gold, and a gilt post was fixed in each corner. The other halls were beautifully painted. Rich and tastefully decorated canopies were raised in the hall for tributary princes and chiefs. The best singers, musicians, and dancers were engaged. Officers were set apart to receive guests, to entertain princes, and to give out stores and provisions. Cooks and attendants were engaged. Dining sheds large enough to hold a thousand people were raised both inside and outside of the fort. Programmes were written out and every officer was carefully instructed in his duties. Deerskins and tiger-skins were collected, and water was brought from the sea and from every sacred stream. The thread ceremony was begun on the 4th and finished on the 6th [.Considering how many Marathas and Kunbis wear the sacred thread, it seems surprising that Shivaji should not have been invested with it as a boy. The statement in the text is supported by Waring (Marathas. 83) who says, Shivaji was invested with the sacred thread as it is supposed to impart a virtue even to those who are not born to the distinction]. Each day 50,000 Brahmans were fed and were each paid a rupee, while special presents were given to every teacher and priest. On the sixth day, after the worship of Ganapati and other preliminary ceremonies, the crowning or palta bandha ceremony was performed and the sacred fire kindled. From the kindling of the sacred fire to the day of the coronation, Sivaji and the officiating priests ate nothing but fruit and butter. During these seven days the movements of the sacred fire were carefully watched, and no movement of the flame foreshadowed evil. Thousands of Brahmans were fed every day and the wants of all were satisfied. Music played night and morning singers sang all day long, and dancing girls danced the whole night. On the coronation day, the eight chief officers bathed, and, wearing ornaments and pure white robes, kept themselves ready for the grand cremony. Sivaji was bather four times, first in muddy water, then in the five products of the cow, then in the sacred waters of holy streams, and lastly in honey, sugar, curds, butter, and milk. He wore ornaments and flowers, scented himself with the choicest perfumes, and clad himself in white. He was then seated on a low stool of ksir (khair) wood, nine inches square and nine inches high. The queen, dressed and adorned and wearing a crown or patta, sat on a similar stool by Sivaji's side, and Sambhaji sat close by. To the east of Sivaji stood the chief Brahman minister, Moro Pandit Pingle, holding a golden vessel filled with clarified butter; to the south stood the Rajput minister of war, Hansaji Hambirrav Mohite, with a silver vessel filled with milk; to the west stood the finance minister, Ramcandra Bavdekar, son of Nilo Pandit, with a copper vessel filled with curds; and to the north stood the chief Law Adviser, Raghunath Pant with a golden vessel filled with honey in one hand and earthen vessel with Ganga water in the other. To the south-east stood Annaji Pandit, the Record Keeper-General, carrying the state umbrella; to the south-west Janardan Pant Hanmante, the Foreign Minister, with a fan; to the north-west Dattaji Pandit, the chamberlain, with a fly-whisk; and to the north-east, with another fly-whisk, Balaji Pandit, the. Chief Justice. Facing Sivaji, with writing materials, stood Balaji Avji, the chief writer, and, to his left, Cimnaji Avji, the chief accountant. The heads of all other departments stood around forming the first row; the priests and pandits formed a second row; and all other noted guests formed a third row. Then, amid great rejoicing, music, and cries of "Victory to Sivaji", the vessels carried by the eight ministers one after another, were pierced with a hundred holes and their con-tents allowed to fall on Sivaji's head. Brahman ladies waved lights round Sivaji's head, and he looked at his face in a glass and in liquid butter. Every Brahman priest was paid Rs. two. Then Sivaji changed his clothes and amid the cheers and praises of all ascended the throne. The throne exactly corresponded with the details given in the sacred books. The platform was of khair wood and the throne of umbar, Ficus glomerata. It was covered with cloth of gold and was decorated with thirty-two rows of pictures of animals, eight rows on each side. The lowest row was of oxen, the second of cats, the third of. hyenas, the fourth of lions, and the fifth of tigers. On the throne was laid a deer-skin, over it coins were heaped, over the coins a tiger-skin a velvet cushion, and over the cushion a very rich cloth of gold. There were also cushions for the back, the legs, and the hands. Over the throne was a golden arch set with precious stones. Over the arch was a gold canopy with hanging bunches of pearls; over the canopy was the state umbrella, and, above the umbrella, a great gold sheet. Holding on his right palm a golden image of Visnu, Sivaji drew near the throne from the left, and prostrating himself before it, ascend-ed it, as is laid down in the holy books, by resting on it his right knee and thigh without touching it with his feet. The moment Sivaji was seated, guns were fired, and, as arranged every fort in his kingdom joined in salute, passing it from one to the other. Fireworks blazed, music sounded, and all was joy. After ascending the throne Sivaji put on scarlet clothes and ornaments, and drew a cloth of gold over his shoulder. Gold and silver flowers were showered on him, and sixteen Brahman ladies waved lights round his face and were presented with ornaments and robes. Then the priests blessed Sivaji. Gagabhatta with many other presents received Rs. 1,00,000, the family priest Rs. 24,000, other officiating priests Rs. 5,000 each and all other priests from Rs. 1,000 to Rs, 10 according to their merit. Both within and outside of the fort, religious beggars were paid Rs. 2-Rs. 5. In the coronation hall, the chief minister and the Commander-in-chief or Senapati were each given fixe cloths, a turban ornament, and other precious stones, a dagger, a shield and sword banners, musical instruments, horses. and elephants, and fly-whisks with gold handles. The controller of finance Amatya was given a gold cloth, a dagger, a sword and shield, ornaments, a silver writing-box. a fly-whisk and fan. and a horse and an elephant. The record-keeper and foreign minister and other officers were given cloth of gold, ornaments, daggers and swords, and horses and elephants. When all had made their obeisance. Sivaji started to pay his homage to the goddess of the fort. A handsome horse in rich trappings was brought to the throne, and Sivaji rode from the hall to the royal yard where an elephant was ready for his use. Sivaji sat in the elephant carriage, and the head of the army with a dagger and trident rode on the elephant's neck. On either side of Sivaji marched the most trust-ed of his Mavalas in their richest dress. The state officials followed, some on horseback and some on elephants, and, behind the officers, the state banner and the golden streamer were carried on elephants. Then followed the other ensigns and flags, the war elephants, the cavalry, horse-archers, stores, arms, ammunition and treasure under a strong guard. Next came the horse artillery and after the artillery the leading officers of the army. Then came infantry, swordsmen, spearsmen, archers and gunners followed by camels loaded with arrows and weapons. Behind the camels came musicians and drummers. After them came a hundred horses of the city police, then more musicians on horseback, then bards singing praises, then attendants and retainers, and last of all wrestlers and athletes. This procession moved slowly amid the cheers of the people. The houses through which they passed were freshly painted and whitewashed and at intervals were adorned with triumphal arches and festoons of flags. At the chief temple Sivaji worshipped, offering ornaments and clothes, and money and fruit. On his return at the main gate of the palace Sivaji alighted, and drove in the state carriage to the palace court-yard. He was then carried in a palanquin to the entrance of the council hall, where a water vessel and butter and a twig of the nimb tree were waved round his face and he entered the palace. In the palace he returned thanks to the family god and distributed presents to the household priests. When this was over he went to the women's quarters to meet his mother and his wives. He paid his respects to his mother and received offerings of betelnut and leaves. The queens waved lights round his face and in return received clothes and ornaments. Then he again seated himself on the throne, and, after receiving presents from his subjects and officials, and after distributing betelnut and leaves, dismissed the assembly. Next day, the 14th of Jyestha Suddha, Sivaji exchanged presents with the princes and chiefs, and paid the musicians, singers, and dancing girls.

Thus ended the grand coronation ceremony. It very aptly symbolised the mute feelings of the populace of the time. According to Sabhasad, the seventeenth century author of a chronicle, Gagabhatt and men of his school felt that while Muslims did not hesitate to sit on the throne and crown them-selves as kings and hold canopy on their head, why should Sivaji Raja who had defeated four muslim sultanates and was the master of several forts and 75,000 cavalry be without a throne. Let a Maratha king, so they thought, be the bearer of a canopy; and then he proposed to Sivaji that he be coronated. Fortunately Gagabhatt was able to trace the descent of Sivaji from Sisodias, a Rajput family which had for many generations established itself in the South. Sivaji then was made to pass through such processes of religious purifications as were required for restoring him to his so long forgotten Rajput descent and traditions.

But the whole ceremony did not pass off quite smoothly. A section of the people believing in ghosts, magic and such influences of the underground world, headed by Niscalpuri Gosavi were of opinion that the rites and rituals at the time of coronation had not been properly performed. They said to Sivaji that it was the Vedokta (as laid down by Vedas) form rather than the Puranokta (as laid down by Puranas) that had been followed in the performance of those rites, which had resulted in many inauspicious events, one of which had been the sad death of Jijabai the mother of Sivaji that had taken place within a fortnight of the coronation. Thereupon Sivaji, adopting a policy of accommodation and tolerance agreed to hold another coronation under the guidance of Niscalpuri. It was celebrated on a modest scale on Lalita Pancami (Asvin Suddha Pancami), i.e., 24th of September 1674. The incident has been described in a manuscript known as Rajyabhisek kalpataru (translated by Dr. V. D. Rao and printed in Potdar Commemoration Volume, pp. 353-368).

Subsequent to the coronation, Raigad witnessed two more festivities during the lifetime of Sivaji. The thread ceremony of Sambhaji is said to have been performed on 4th February 1675, although according to one source it must have been celebrated at the time of Sivaji's coronation itself. The thread ceremony of Rajaram, the younger son of Sivaji (born in 1670) was performed on 7th of March 1680 and a week later on the 15th he was married in the same place to the daughter of Prataprav Gujar.

It would be convenient at this stage to take note of all the English embassies that visited Raigad after the coronation of Sivaji. In 1675 Samuel Austin called upon Sivaji on 7th of September to plead for the compensation for the loss that the English factory at Dharangahv had sustained in the course of Sivaji's campaign against the Moghals in Khandes. His mission was successful. Another embassy was sent in the autumn of 1676 to discuss the problem of the custom dues at Kalyan, which Sivaji had insisted on collecting. The mission apparently proved abortive. In 1678 the attention of the Marathas was directed towards Mazganv, near Bombay, as the Sidi quietly stayed there bringing his ships under the protection of the English. Fearing that the hostile relations between the Sidi and the Marathas would create unsettlement in the region the English wanted to negotiate with the Marathas for the preservation of peace in the area. No mission, however, was sent until after the death of Sivaji. When in June 1680 the English ambassador reached Raigad to congratulate Sambhaji on his accession to the throne, Sambhaji frankly pointed out that the British in giving protection to the Sidi in their harbour when he was at war with the Marathas, did a hostile act and that there could be no talk of friendship, until the Sidi was made to quit Mazganv [S. V. Avalaskar: Raigadachi Jeevan Katha, p. 69.]. There were only one or two minor occasions after this, when the English embassies had been sent to Raigad during the lifetime of Sambhaji. In 1683 English gallivat 'President' was badly damaged off Sangamesvar in the course of a naval clash between the English and the Marathas, whereupon Bombay Governor Mr. Keghwin sent his envoy to Raigad to discuss the question of compensation as also to secure commercial facilities for the company in the Maratha territory. This time the negotiations were fruitful and the Maratha-English relations appear to have heen so carefully denned that they were not seriously disturbed later for over a number of years'. [Ibid 70.] In the next year another envoy came to Sambhaji to settle once for all the Rajapur affair, which had remained unsettled during the lifetime of Sivaji. On the whole Sambhaji used to be polite and firm towards western traders

In 1680 Sivaji, who was then in his fifty-third year, made a rapid raid on Jlna, about thirty-five miles east of Daulatabaad. On his return to Raigad he fell seriously ill. According to one account inflamation of the knee brought on fever; according to another, over-exertion burst a blood vessel in his lungs; and according to a third, the curses of Musalman saints whom he pillaged at Jalna paralysed his strength. Whatever the cause, his last illness was short and ended fatally after six days on Saturday 3rd April 1680.[Grant Duff, Vol. 227 and Khan Khan in Elliot and Dowson, VII. 305. Khaft Khan consoled himself for the lasting injury the 'hell'-dog' Shivaji hail done to the Musalmans by finding the day of his death in the words 'Kafir be-jahannam raft, the infidel went to hell'. (Ditto). At the same time he was fair enough to admit, besides his genius for taking forts, that Shivaji abstained from disgraceful acts, and was careful to maintain the honour of the women and children of Mohammedans when they fell into his hands, Ditto, 305; Scott's Fetishia, I. 54: Waring's Marathas, 205-206.] Sivaji had not yet completed the 53rd year of his age. The funeral rites of the Raja were performed by Rajaram. The Marathi Samrajyaci Choti Bakhar mentions one Sabaji Bhosle as being present on the occasion. Taking advantage of Samhhaji's absence who was at the fort of Panhala near Kolhapur, Soyarabai, hoping to secure the succession for her son, then a boy ten years old made an effort to keep Sivaji's death secret. She had addressed enough to persuade several of the principal ministers especially Annaji Datto. the Saciv and Moro Trimal, the Pesva that Sivaji had intended Rajaram to be his successor. Though Annaji Datto had always been his rival Moro Trimal Pesva was drawn into a Plan of administering the Government under a regency in the name of Rajaram and the other minister acquiesced in the arrangement. [The ground for setting up Rajaram is said to have been a deathbed remark of Shivaji's that Sambhaji was passionate and revengeful and Rajaram mild and placable. Maratha MS. in Waring's Marathas, 110.] The captain of the messengers, Khandoji was sent to Panhala and the officers at Panhala, viz., Sambhaji Naik Kondvalkar, Bahirji Naik, Ingle Havaldar, Bahirji Fariand and Janardanpant Hanamante were ordered to put Sambhaji who was then at Panhala under arrest. A force was also directed to march to Panhala, the garrison of Raigad was strengthened and 10,000 horses were stationed at Pacad at the foot of Raigad. The main army under the command of Senapati Hambirrav Mohite was ordered with a large force to take a position at Karad in Satara. Accompanying the Senapati were Rupaji Bhosle, Anandrav Nimbalkar and Mahadu Maholkar Gujar. In the meanwhile Khandoji who had reached Panhala acquainted Sambhaji with the real state of affairs and disclosed the news of the death of Sivaji. Sambhaji dismissed Samaji Naik the Havildar of the fort of Panhala and imprisoned him. He also gained a part of Janardan's troops, made him a prisoner and confined him in Panhala. When this was happening, Rajaram was placed on the throne at Raigad in April and the ministers began to conduct affairs in his name. When the news of the disaster that fell upon Janardanpant reach-ed Raigad, the ministers set out to meet Sambhaji. Hambirrav executed the arrest of Ministers and also joined his forces with Sambhaji's. Whereupon Sambhaji quitted Panhala and marched towards Raigad. Before he reached Raigad the garrison rose in his favour, put under arrest those who were opposed to his authority. Sambhaji despatched Pilajirav Sirke with 10,000 troops ordering him to station at Pacad. The army at Pacad came over to him in a body. Sambhaji got possession of Raigad on 18th June 1680. He performed the obsequies of Sivaji on his arrival at Raigad. Putalabai became a Sati on 27th June 1680. Soyarabai the mother of Rajaram survived for a considerable period after the death of Sivaji and died some time after the discovery of the second plot of the conspirators against Sambhaji in 1681, though according to current reports she was administered poison. Sambhajl kept his younger brother Rajaram at Raigad only. After this he ascended the throne on 20th July 1680. In gratitude for this success he immediately made a formal grant to his family goddess Bhavani of ten thousand gold hons a year. Matters appeared to move smoothly. Moropant Pingle died in October and Sambhaji appointed his son Nilopant to Pesvaship. [Sardesai: New History of the Marathas, Vol. I, 294.] The formal ceremony of coronation was performed on 16th of February 1681. In the new ministry formed by Sambhaji, Annaji Datto who was arrested as a suspect in the first plot against Sambhaji was released and made a minister.

Unfortunately, the men sympathising with Rajaram were not satisfied with the new arrangements and entered into a league with Akbar, the Moghal Prince who had sought the protection of the Marathas in 1681 and had been staying at Pali in Konkan. But Akbar unwilling to get himself entangled in the dissension at Raigad quickly apprised Sambhaji of the activities of the conspirators. On one occasion a plot to poison Sambhaji's food was discovered in time and he was narrowly saved. Sambhaji naturally felt very much enraged and he took his full revenge upon all those suspected to have complicity in the plot. Annaji Datto, Balaji Avaji, Hiroji Farzand were seized and put to death. Many other suspects met a similar fate. Sambhaji now made Kavi Kalusa, a Kanoja Brahman, his confident. Sambhaji had to feel his way in an atmosphere of distrust within and opposition without. He had to face the Sidis, and the Portuguese, no less than the Moghals whose grand army under Aurangzeb had descended to the south to pursue Akbar. A study of his activities during these years shows, him to be a worthy son of his father; for such was the vigour with which Sambhaji acted that up to the end of 1684 Aurangzeb failing to subdue him turned his attention towards the subjugation of Bijapur early in 1685. It is, however, very sad but only too true that this same Sambhaji fell under evil influences during this period and became fond of performing tantric rites, including certain magical processes advocated by the Sakta sect of which Kalusa was a follower. Having secured the throne for himself Sambhaji became anxious because he had no son and a successor to the gadi, [ S. V. Avalaskar: Raigadchi Jeevan Katha, p. 85.] and resorted to those rites to secure the favour of the deity for the purpose. As the sequence of events would have it a son was born to him soon after (May 1682) which only confirmed Sambhaji's belief in the methods of worship he had been pursuing. Seeing that Aurangzeb had directed an attack against Bljaptir, Sambhaji turned towards Panhala, probably to harass the Moghals from that centre. In 1688 Sambhaji rushed to help his. trusted minister Kalusa who had been attacked by the Sirke and forced to retreat towards Khelna or Visalgad. Sambhaji defeated the Sirkes, joined Kalusa at Khelna and the two started towards Raigad. They halted at Sangamesvar on their way. Aurangzeb, having finished up the work of destroying Bijapur and Govalkonda, was now expected to direct his full attack against the only enemy hitherto 'left unconquered- Sambhaji. The Moghal general Sheikh Nizam who was watchful got news of Sambhaji's whereabouts and suddenly came down upon him before Sambhaji could at all have any idea of the enemy being in the neighbourhood. The Maratha king was quickly brought before Aurangzeb. On the news of Sambhaji's arrest the leading Maratha chiefs met at Raigad, where since Sivaji's death Rajaram had been confined. In confining Rajaram to Raigad Sambhaji seems to have treated him, with nomoie severity than was required for his own security. Rajaram had the free use of the fort and lived on terms of friendship with Yesubai, the wife of Sambhaji, who with her son Sivaji also lived in Raigad. In consultation with Yesubai the ministers determined that Rajaram should be declared regent during the minority of Sivaji, who was then entering his seventh year. At this council the leading officers planned their measures with wisdom, unanimity and firmness. It was agreed that Rajaram should move from place to place between Raigad and Visalgad near Kolhapur having no fixed residence, and being ready, if necessary, to retire to Jinji on the Coromandal coast. Yesubai and her son remained in Raigad and the family of Rajaram to Visalad. The Maratha chiefs were to act according to circumstances, but to keep most of their horse at no great distance from the person of Rajaram.

On 25th March 1689, a Moghal force under Etikad Khan (Zulpikarkhan) settled down before Rayagaol. For several months, though helped by the Sidi, the siege made little progress, till the fort surrendered on 18th October 1689. The widow of Sambhaji and her son sivaji fell into the hands of Etikad Khan. They were conveyed to Aurangzeb's camp and were well treated. Aurangzeb's daughter befriended Yesubai and Aurangzeb became partial to the boy, called him Sahu, a name which he ever after bore. Raigad was renamed Islamgad and was given in charge of Sidi with strict orders to defend it against any attempt of the Marathas. [Marathyanche Swatantrya Yudha, Setu Madhavarao Pagdi, pp. 20-21.]

In 1734, on the death of Sidi Surul Khan, a quarrel arose between his sons, which gave an opportunity to the Marathas to recapture the capital of the Chatrapati. Fatesing Bhosle and the Pratinidhi, with the aid of one Yakuh Khan who possessed the confidence of the late Sidi and who corrupted the commander of the place, succeeded in recovering Raigad. In the same year it was formally ceded by treaty and remained in the hands of the Marathas, till its capture by the British in 181.[Marathas MS. in Grant Duff's Marathas, Vol. II, 520.] Ever since 1732 Raigad was administered by Sahu and he had appointed Yesvant Mahadev Potnis as the Chief Killedar there on his behalf. With the waning of the influence of the Chatrapatis the commandant of the fort Vitthal Yesvant, the successor of Ye'svant Mahadev showed disinclination to obey the Pesvas. In 1772 some months before Madhavarav Pesva's death Vitthal Yesvant revolted and refused to hand over the charge of Raigad to the Pesvas, and it was feared that the Commandant of Raigad intended to give the fort to the Sidi. In 1773, the first object of Narayanrav's administration was the reduction of Raigad. When required to surrender, the commandant replied that he held the fort for the Raja of Siitara and would maintain it against the Pesva until the Raja was released. But, on producing an order from Ram Raja and on paying the commandant Rs. 40,000, Narayanrav gained possession of Raigad in March 1773. During the subsequent period, although the Pesvas arranged to allot a fixed grant for the maintenance of the royal throne and the Samadhi of Sivaji, Raigad never revived its past splendour. The place was chiefly used for holding under arrest important state prisoners, as also to guard the activities of the Sidi in Bankot creek. Sakharambapu, the great rival of Nana Phadnis, and a shrewd partisan of Raghoba, was kept in imprisonment at Raigad till his death in 1781. In 1796 Nana Phadnis put the fort into efficient repair. In 1802, after Holkar had made himself master of Poona, Bajirav fled from Sinhgad to Raigad, where he released Madhavrav Raste, who had been confined there for about a year, and gave him a commission to raise men for his service. In October of the same year, Yesvantrav Holkar, pursuing the Pesva with 5,000 men, took the fort with little resistance. It was restored to the Pesva in the following year. In 1817, the British demanded Raigad, Sinhgad and Purandhar, as a pledge that Bajirav would carry out the provisions of the treaty of Poona. After much dis-cussion Raigad was handed over and was restored" to the Pesva in the month of August of the same year.

In November 1817, when Bajirav determined to break with the English, he sent his wife Varanasibai with much property to Raigad. As has been mentioned in the History Chapter, after the fall of Visapur and Lohagad near the top of the Bor pass, and of Koari fort near the top of the Sava pass in Poona, Lieutenant-Colonel Prother, on the 17th March 1818, made arrangements, for the capture of all places of strength in Kolaba. Tala, Ghosala, and Mangad fell almost without opposition, and on the 23rd of April the troops marched from Indapur to Mahad. Major Hall of His Majesty's 89th Regiment, with a detachment of two hundred Europeans and as many sepoys, was sent to the foot of Raigad hill. At daybreak on the 24th he drove in the enemy's first post, and near the petta, apparently the village of Pacad, found a body of about 300 men drawn up to oppose him. These he charged and routed, with a loss to himself of three men wounded and to the enemy of twenty men killed. A party was placed in possession of Pacad, and the rest retired three miles for want of water. On the 25th the camp was established as near Raigad as the ground admitted, and the force was split up and the whole foot of the hill invested. A small post on the ridge of the hill was driven in, and a battery for mortars constructed, though the ground was so narrow that the mortars had to be placed on the line of each other's fire. As the season was late and the smallness of the besieging force was likely to prolong operations, the Bombay Government sent a reinforcement of six companies of His Majesty's 67th Foot. These troops reached Raigad on the 4th of May, and the strength of the force was soon further increased by the arrival from Malvan of a detachment of his Majesty's 89th Regiment. An additional mortar battery was established on the opposite side of the mountain. The mortars in the camp were with great exertion got into suitable positions, and the bombardment was maintained with unremitting spirit, and, as the ruin of almost every building in the fort afterwards showed, with extreme accuracy. During the siege a body of the enemy's troops from the forts of Kangori and Pratapgad gathered in the rear of the besieging force but were attacked and dispersed by the detachment under Lieutenant Crossby, who was stationed in Mahad. A pass-port was offered to Varanasibai, Bajirav's wife, but she refused to leave the fort. At four on the afternoon of the sixth, after eleven days' siege, a great fire, caused by an eight-inch shell from the right battery broke out in the fort. At sunset the commandant, on the persuasion, it was said, of the Pesva's wife, sent word that he wished to surrender. Negotiations were opened at eight o'clock next morning at Vadi near Pacad, and the garrison were allowed five hours to consider the terms. In the afternoon as the terms were not accepted, the batteries re_opened and continued to play till ten o'clock on the eighth, when Saikh Abud, the Arab commandant himself came down. Horrible evasions and misinterpretations on the part of the Commandant continued till three o'clock of the ninth. It was at last agreed that the garrison of one hundred Arabs and eight, hundred Sindhians, Marathas, Pathans, and Gosavis, should march down with their arms, families, and property; that the commandant with five of his followers might live in Poona; that no one of the garrison should accompany the wife of the Pesva to Poona; that the com-mandant should remain with the English as a hostage; and that the garrison took away nothing but their own property. Next after-noon (10th May) Colonel Prother went up the hill. The garrison filed past him, and a hundred of the Company's troops took possession of the great gateway. Colonel Prother found the fort empty except the servants of the Pesva's wife and of the commandant. In the fort only one house, a granary, was untouched. The garrison lived in huts. Sivaji's palace was entirely consumed. All was in ruins, long streets, beautiful and regular buildings, temples, and Sivaji's tomb could be traced. Although this damage was largely caused by the siege it must be noted that for a number of years past the place had been neglected and allowed to fall into decay.

Colonel Prother went with some of his officers to pay his respects to the Pesva's wife. She was a woman of interesting appearance, seated in her robes and state jewels, in the old palace, among burning beams, ashes, and all the horrors of a fire. She was allowed to proceed to Poona with her private property, and was escorted by elephants and camels and by a force of hundred men. On taking possession of the fort five lakhs of money in coin were discovered. [Pendhari and Maratha War Papers, 287-292; Blacker's Maratha War, 310-313 also compare Hamilton's Gazetteer, II, 483; Grant Duff's Marathas, Vol. 520. Duffs description differs in a few details, e.g., as regards Peshva's wife Varanashibai, ho, he states, was allowed to retire to Wai near Satara.]

Under British rule, Raigad faded out of the memory of the people for some years and nobody seemed to take note of it. According to an unpublished manuscript a mild tremour of earthquake affected the region in 1862. It was only in 1885 when Sir Richard Temple, the Governor of Bombay visited Raigad and saw the decaying condition of the samadhi of sivaji that this historic capital of the Maratha Chatrapati emerged out of oblivion. The royal families of Satara and Kolhapur came in for some criticism at his hands for their indifference and the same was subsequently echoed by the public.

In 1895 Lokmanya Tilak led the movement of the celebration of Sivaji festival and the people of Maharastra, awakened to the consciousness of their proud historic heritage fully supported the movement. In the following year the people gathered at Raigad in large numbers to observe and celebrate in a fitting manner the day of Sivaji's passing. Although the Government was in sympathy with the preservation of the historic monument of Sivaji at Raigad, the political differences between Tilak and Government left the latter somewhat cold over the affair and whenever the question of Sivaji memorial used to be raised by the people they could insist upon keeping a strict control over the memorial. In later years Government withdrew themselves from the affairs and the celebration at Raigad became a popular movement. In 1926 Laxmanrav Raje Bhosle of Nagpur took' the lead in reviving the movement and in the same year a bust of Sivaji was raised on his samadhi. Raigad is somewhat out of the way from the modern routes of communication and, in spite of the popular respect for the maker of Maharastra, the revival of the activities at Raigad largely has been limited to local enthusiasm and to those others that are keenly conscious of their historic heritage.

PEB FORT

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Peb Fort (T. Panvel) otherwise known as Vikatgad, in the village Maldunga, stands about nine miles north-east of Panvel on a hill about 1,000 feet high. When surveyed by Captain Dickinson in 1818, it had two pathways meeting a little from the gateway which was nearly twenty feet below the top of the hill. The gateway was built across and nearly at the top of an exceedingly steep ravine, the water turned from its natural course by a channel on each side of a retaining wall of solid masonry thirty feet high and about as many feet wide at the top. The perpendicular height of the threshold of the gateway was about eighteen feet. Beyond this gateway the ascent continued exceedingly steep to a platform on a projecting part of the hill at the head of the ravine, about eighty feet above the gateway. From this platform was a further very steep climb of 100 feet to the top of the hill where there had formerly been a fort. Like Malang Gad, Peb is for the most part surrounded by a precipice, the principal works, in addition to those already mentioned, being at the north and south extremities, commanding such parts of the hill as were deemed accessible. The ground on the top of the hill was very irregular, and no vestige of the former fort remained except a wretched wall of loose stones. Besides two buildings and a few huts, there was an excellent reservoir and a Ganapati temple outside the gateway. Under the precipice, about 100 yards from the temple, was a large room enclosed with solid masonry and a strong door which was said to have been used as an ammunition and store-room. In 1862 the fort was in ruins: the water was unfit for drinking, and food supplies were not procurable.

The fort can be climbed from Neral station, a distance of six miles. At the foot of the hill is a goddess called Pebi, who appears from her name to be the deity of the fort. Half way up the hill is a god called Mhasoba and about a quarter of a mile beyond are two caves, and a rock-cut cistern. There are the foundations of large buildings and a cistern, twenty cubits square and four deep, containing water all the year round. Besides the large buildings, there are the remains of from forty to fifty small houses.

Bhudargad

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Bhudargad, one of the Kolhapur forts which in 1844 were dismantled under the advice of the Bombay Government, stands on a bluff rock thirty-six miles south of Kolhapur. It is 2600 feet from north to south and 2100 feet from east to west, and is enclosed by a broken stone and mortar wall with two gateways. Within it 170 people live in thirty-three houses, ten of them tiled and the rest thatched. At the foot of the hill are two hamlets in one of which every Monday a small market is held. Before the repairing of the fort (1667) the hill of Bhudargad had shrines sacred to Kedarling, Bhairav, and Jakhrubai, with a hamlet at the foot of the hill inhabited by the priests who performed the service of the deities and managed their festivals. In 1667 the fort was repaired and put in excellent order by Shivaji. Shortly after it was captured by the Moghals. About five years later the fort was retaken, and the standard colours of the Moghal general who was killed in the conflict were presented to the temple of Bhairav where they are still kept. About the close of the eighteenth century Parasuhram Pant Bhau Patvardhan took the fort by bribing the garrison and held it for about ten years when it was retaken by the Kolhapur State. Subsequently Parashuram Pant Bhau and Gopal Pant Apte the chief of Ichalkaranji made several vain attempts to win it back. During this war, of the five hamlets which formerly clustered round the fort three were destroyed. In 1844 the garrisons of Bhudargad and Samangad revolted and closed their gates. On the 13th of October 1844 Bhudargad was taken by a British force under General Delamotte, and dismantled. [Details of the 1844 rebellion are given above under History, 241 -242.] Besides a mansion belonging to the State, a large granary with an excellent courtyard and a cistern built at a cost of about £500 (Rs. 5000), the chief object of interest is the temple of Bhairav which is about 3000 feet square and consists of a stone and cement shrine, a hall, and a northern veranda. In front of the hall stands a stone and mortar lamp-pillar. The temple has about twenty ministrants supported by a yearly cash allowance of about £56 (Rs. 560) and land valued at a yearly assessment of about £13 (Rs. 130). Every year from the dark first to the dark tenth of Magh or January-February a fair is held attended by about 4000 people and with a sale of goods worth about £200 (Rs. 2000).
http://www.maharashtra.gov.in/pdf/gazeetter_reprint/Kolhapur/places_b.html#6

SAMANGAD FORT

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Samangad Fort (Gadhinglaj T.) an isolated oval-topped hill three and a half miles south of Gadhinglaj (16° 10' N; 74° 20' E), has greatest height of 2,600 feet above the sea and greatest breadth of 260 feet. The hill top is surrounded by an eight-feet high wall. Formerly it was well supplied with water from several rock-cut cisterns. For want of repairs for many years, the cisterns are not functioning at present (1957). In 1676, Samangad was thoroughly repaired by Sivaji. Though one of the smallest of Sivaji's forts, Samangad was one of the strongest. In 1844, injudicious changes introduced by the minister Daji Pandit, by bringing their lands under the mamlatdar, enraged the Samangad garrison or Gadkaris who rebelled and shut the gates of the fort. On the 13th of October, 1844 the fort was taken by British troops under General Delamotte and dismantled. Since the disturbances of 1844 the mamlatdar's head-quarters have been moved from Samangad to Gadhinglaj. [Details of the 1844 disturbance are given above under History.] The fort is now in a dilapidated condition.
http://www.maharashtra.gov.in/english/gazetteer/KOLHAPUR/places_Samangad.html

GANDHARVGAD FORT

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Gandharvgad Fort: (Chandgad Taluka), about 400 feet above the plain, lies in a spur of the Sahyadris about twenty-one miles west of Belgafiv. The hill on which the fort is built has bare sides with an easy ascent on one side and a difficult ascent on the other side. Of the fortifications which occupied a space about 1,000 feet square the greater part are gone and only the walls to the west and north appear lining the ravines. Gandharvgad was built about 1724 by Nag Savant the second son of the great Phond Savant of Savantvadi. In 1778 the Kolhapur chief captured Gandharvagad, but in 1793 it was restored to Savantvadi through Scindia's influence. About 1787 the chief of Nesargi rose against his master the chief of Kolhapur and took Gandharvgad among other forts; but soon after, the chief and his confederates were put down, their army was dispersed, and the forts retaken. There were temples of Bhaloba. Siva, Gajanana and Maruti inside the fort. All of them are now in ruins. The fort has a population of about 100 at present (1956).http://www.maharashtra.gov.in/english/gazetteer/KOLHAPUR/places_Gandharvgad.html

PARGAD Fort History

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Pargad Fort (Chandgad Taluka), on the Belaganv-Savantwadi frontier about thirty-five miles west of Belaganv, is built on a peaked hill in the Sahyadris about 2,000 feet above sea level. The hill sides are wooded, except in places where they have been laid bare by brushwood clearing or Kumri. The ascent to the fort is steep by rock-cut steps. The fort which is about forty acres in area is mostly out of repair. Part of the walls, which only line the crests of ravines and one gateway are fallen. The water-supply is from six reservoirs four of which are in repair. A temple of Bhavani and two broken pieces of cannon are the only other remains in the fort. In 1827 a committee of inspection described Pargad as an extensive hill fort in the Sahyadris 1,900 feet high, about thirty-one miles from Belaganv and two miles north of the Ram pass. It was formed by the basalitic band of rock which crowns so many of the Sahyadri hills. The perpendicular scrap varied from forty to hundred feet and was inaccessible in every part except at the gateway where the masonry was only fourteen feet high. The fort was overlooked and commanded on several sides, especially on the north where a hill approached as near as

1,200 feet. The water-supply was from numerous wells supplied by springs. A reservoir in the fort also held water till February. A stone-built temple, the commandant's house, an eight-pounder, and three Jamburas were the only other remains in the fort. The garrison consisted of 360 irregulars. A second committee of inspection in 1842 described the fort as about forty-five miles west of Belaganv on a spur of the Sahyadris about 1,200 feet above the plain. The spur contained two distinct heights the most northern of which formed the fort. The hill was triangular in shape, its eastern side forming the base about 2,400 feet, its south-west front about 1,800, and north-west front about 1,650 feet, and the entire breadth of the hill from east to west was about 1,200 yards. The crest of the hill with a natural scrap all round of thirty to sixty feet formed, without any help from art, a strong and almost impregnable position; for though in many places the scarp had a slight slope it was nowhere sufficiently sloped to admit of an assault. The works crowning the crest of the scarp were strong stone wall twelve to twenty feet high, and according to the form of the hill, flanked in various places with bastions fit for ordnance. At the north angle round which the road led to the gate the rock was particularly high, bold and rugged and was crowned by a double line of works of masonry completely commanding the road to the gate which was placed in the north-west front about 600 feet from the western angle of the hill. The only entrance to the fort was up a flight of steps about fifty yards long on the top of which was a small gate facing south-west and much exposed. The passage up the steps was steep and well flanked by the works. The south-east end of the fort was the weakest point forming a sharp acute angle without any defences. The fort was inhabited, but water was scarce and had to be brought by the people from a village outside the slope of the hill to the north-west not far from the gate. The committee observed that even without defences the hill would be regarded as a very strong position, but formed into a fort, with the defences as they then (1842) existed, it should be deemed a fort of great strength. Pargad appears among the ten Belganv forts held by Sivaji at the time of his death in 1680. In 1749 Pargad fort was ceded to Sadasivsurav the cousin of the third Pesava Balaji. In 1844 Pargad and Candgad were threatened by insurgents [See Kolhapur History.], but a timely reinforcement of irregulars saved them.
http://www.maharashtra.gov.in/english/gazetteer/KOLHAPUR/places_Pargad.html

The Marathas, 1660-1818.

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For fifty years after the decline of the Portuguese (1600-1650), Bijapur power remained unbroken. But about the middle of the seventeenth century, Shivaji (1658) began to conquer the south Konkan, and in a few years, except that Malvan was left to the Savants, he had, by building and repairing forts, spread his power over the whole district. [In 1666, he held the whole coast north of Rajapur; he took Rajapur in 1670, and in 1674 the south up to Goa limits. Orme's Hist. Frag. 22, 26, 40; Bruce's Annals, II. 37, 38, 43, 48, 57. Jervis (Konkan, 92) puts Shivaji's conquest some years earlier. He completed the conquest in 1661, forced the Savants to submit, built the forts of Redi and Siudhudurg in the south, and repaired the old forts of Vijaydurg, Ratnagiri, Jaygad, Anjanvel, and Suvarndurg.] The rise of Shivaji was, to their utmost, resisted by Bijapur and the Janjira Sidi, and the country was the scene of almost unceasing war. Still Shivaji (1674-1680) by introducing a better revenue system and offering the people well paid employment did much to improve the district. After Shivaji's death (1680), Ratnagiri suffcred on the land side by Moghal invasions, [Two large well equipped Musalman forces, in 1681 and 1683, passed through the inland parts of the Konkan. Though both suffered grievously from the country, the climate, and the food, they were unopposed by the Marathas and wrought much havoc and loss of life. Elliot, VII. 311,315. Aurangzeb was enraged with Sambhaji for helping his rebel son Prince Akbar.] and along the coast by struggles among the Portuguese, the Marathas, and the Sidi.

The A'ngrias, 1698-1756.

In 1690, by the capture and execution of Sambhaji their ruler, and by the spread of the Sidi's power over Anjanvel and Suvarndurg, [In 1695, at the mouth of the Rajapur river the Portuguese gained one of their last victories, burning throe Maratha ships, the largest of thirty-two guns and carrying 300 men. Nairne's Konkan, 78.] the Marathas sustained two heavy reverses. [Kalusha, the minister, and his guest Sambhaji, in a pleasure house near Sangameshvar, were surprised by Mukarrab Khan from Kolhapur. Kalusha was wounded and taken prisoner. Sambhaji escaped but was found in a temple in the garb of a beggar and carried to Aurangzeb near Poona. Here, refusing to become a Musalman and reviling the Prophet, his tongue and eyes were torn out, and his head cut off. Elliot, VII. 339, 341.] Soon after (1698), Kanhoji Angria succeeded to the command of the Maratha fleet. A most daring corsair, he attacked vessels of all nations, ravaging the coasts, and leaving unmolested few trading towns from Travankor to Bombay. At first, Kanhoji's head-quarters were at Kolaba. Afterwards (1713), siding with Shahu Raja, he was confirmed in command of the Maratha fleet, and except the Sidi's territory of Dabhol and Anjanvel, was given the whole coast from Savantvadi to Bombay, and the important inland stations of Palgad, Rasalgad, Kharepatan, and Rajapur. Encouraged by this increase of power, Angria plundered the shipping more fiercely than ever, not even respecting the English flag. In 1717, attacked both by the English and Portuguese, he laughed at their efforts. In 1720 a British attempt on Vijaydurg, in 1722 a joint British and Portuguese attack on Kolaba, and in 1724 a Dutch expedition against Vijaydurg, alike failed. Till his death, in 1728, Kanhoji Angria was master of the Ratnagiri seas. Three years later (1731), the inland districts, formally ceded by the Moghal Emperor in 1720, were divided between Kolhapur and Satara. Except that Angria continued to hold Vijaydurg and the Sidi Dabhol and Anjanvel, all south of Vijaydurg went to Kolhapur and all north to Satara.

Kanhoji (1728) left two legitimate and three illegitimate sons. Sambhaji, one of the legitimate sons, succeeded his father at Suvarndurg, while the other, Sakhoji, remained at Kolaba. Soon after, on Sakhoji's death, in spite of Sambbaji's opposition, Manaji, one of the illegitimate sons, with the Peshwa's help established himself at Kolaba. In 1737, with the Peshwa's help he repulsed Sambhaji and the Portuguese, and three years later another attack on Kolaba was stopped by the English, and Sambbaji's fleet was driven south to Suvarndurg.[Grant Duff, I. 375, 385, 402.]

Suvarndurg Taken, 1755.

On Sambhaji's death (about 1745), his half-brother" Tulaji succeeded to the lands between Bankot and Savantvadi. Manaji Angria at Kolaba, obedient to the Peshwa, did not molest the English. But Tulaji, disavowing the Peshwa's authority, seized and plundered all ships he could master, which did not carry his passport.[Grant Duff, II. 59.] Though the English and Peshwa's Governments had for many years determined to put a stop to Tulaji's robberies, nothing was done till, on the 22nd of March 1755, under Commodore James, a small squadron started from Bombay. Owing to the delay of the Peshwa's fleet, Angria's ships escaped. But after three days' battering (April 6th), the four Suvarndurg forts were taken without the loss of a man. [Grant Duff, II. 61.] Suvarndurg was, according to agreement, made over to the Peshwa, and towards the close of the year (1755), the English obtained possession of the Bankot fort and five neighbouring villages, in the following February, under the command of Admiral Watson and Colonel Clive, a fleet of fourteen sail, with eight hundred European soldiers and one thousand native infantry, was sent from Bombay.

Vijaydurg Taken, 1756.

Meanwhile, the Peshwa's troops had reduced all Angria's forts north of Vijaydurg.[Grant Duff, II. 63.] On the arrival of the English off Vijaydurg, Tulaji began to treat with the Marathas. As this was a breach of the last year's agreement, Admiral Watson (February 12th, 1756) attacked the sea face, while Colonel Clive, landing with the troops, invested the fort on the land side. [Grant Duff, II. 64.] The siege was pressed with vigour, and on the following evening the fort was surrendered and Tulaji made prisoner. During the attack a shell bursting on one of the vessels, set it on fire, and in less than an hour the whole of Angria's fleet was destroyed. As the Peshwa's officers had, contrary to agreement, treated with Angria, and as his troops' had taken no part in its capture, the English were unwilling to give up Vijaydurg. They offered instead to restore Bankot. To this the Peshwa would not agree, and in the end it was settled (October 12th, 1756) that the English should give up Vijaydurg, taking in its stead four more villages on the Bankot creek.[Grant Duff, II. 70.]

' The Malvans'.

Angria's fall was no deathblow to piracy. The 'Malvans', [The English gave them this name from their head-quarters at Malvan fort See ChaptervXIV. (Malvan).'] that is the Kolhapur chief and the Savants, were as troublesome as ever, and under their Admiral Dhulap, the Peshwa's fleets and Raghoji Angria from Kolaba greatly harassed trade.

In 1765, a force under Major Gordon and Captain Watson took the forts of Malvan and Redi, Naming it Port Augustus, the Bombay Government meant to keep Malvan; but as it did not pay, on his promising not to molest their ships, to give security for future good conduct, and to re-pay losses and charges to the amount of £38,289 12s. (Rs. 3,82,896), Malvan was made over to the Raja of Kolhapur. Similarly, on his promising to keep the peace and pay a sum of £20,000 (Rs. 2,00,000), Redi was, at the close of 1766, restored to Khem Savant, the Vadi Desai. The £20,000 (Rs. 2,00,000) were raised by a thirteen years' mortgage of the Vengurla revenues, and to induce the mortgagee, Vithoji Kumti, to advance the amount, Mr. Mostyn, besides procuring two Vadi hostages, was obliged to promise that a small factory should be established at Vengurla and the English flag hoisted. [Grant Duff, III. 70.] The hostages escaped, and the mortgagee's agents were driven from their revenue stations. At the end of thirteen years, though they, had prevented the mortgagee from recovering the revenue, the Savants demanded the district. This was refused, and Vengurla was attacked and taken (4th June 1780), with a loss to the English of much private and some public property.

Proud of this success and of the marriage of Khem Savant with the niece of Mahadaji Shindia, the Savants renewed their piracies; and joined by the Kolhapur fleet, caused grievous losses to trade. In 1792, finding that an expedition was organised to punish him, the Raja of Kolhapur offered to indemnify all who had suffered from his piracies, and to allow the Company to establish factories at Malvan and Kolhapur. [Grant Duff, III. 72.] These terms were accepted; but next year the complaints of traders were as bitter as ever. Meanwhile, in 1785, war broke out between the Savants and Kolhapur, and with varying success lasted for twenty-three years. In 1793, except Malvan, the whole of the south coast was in possession of the Savants. In 1806, Kolhapur took Bharatgad or Masura and Nivti, and in return the Savants wasted the country, re-took Nivti and Redi, and laid siege to Bharatgad. Coming in strength, the Kolhapur troops raised the siege and carried the war into the Vadi territory. At Chaukal, a pitched battle, ending in favour of Kolhapur, was followed by the siege of Vadi. But Lakshmi Bai, the regent of Vadi, by inducing Siddojirav Nimbalkar of Nipani to enter their territory, forced the Kolhapur troops to retire. Next year (1809), Phond Savant, the new Vadi chief, defeated by Mansing Patankar the Kolhapur general, was pursued and his lands laid waste as far north as Rajapur. In 1810, the Kolhapur troops were again forced to leave the Konkan, and Redi and Nivti fell into the Savants' hands.

Meanwhile the Peshwa's power was waning. His forts were out of order, and when, in 1802, he fled there from Holkar, Suvarn-durg was found unfit for defence, and Bajirav was forced to seek shelter with the English. As one consequence of the treaty of Bassein (31st December 1802), an English fleet in 1803 attacked and, on the Peshwa's behalf, took the fort of Suvarndurg from one of his revolted officers.

Cession of Malvan, 1812.

Piracy was still unchecked. The Kolhapur chief's promises had proved worthless. It was clear that trade would never be safe until. the British held some forts and harbours near Malvan. With this object, in 1812, as part of the settlement between the Peshwa and the southern Maratha Jaghirdars, the Raja of Kolhapur ceded to the British Government the harbour of Malvan, including the fort and island of Malvan or Sindhudurg and its dependencies. He also agreed to give up piracy, to allow no armed vessels to leave or to enter his ports, to restore wrecks, and to help vessels in distress. At the same time, Phond Savant, the Vadi chief, made over to the British the fort of Vengurla. He bound himself to put down piracy, engaging, if he failed, to cede Nivti and Redi, to pass duty-free all articles required for the British troops, and on their paying customary duties, to allow British merchants a free passage to and from his territory. From this time, British civil and military establishments were maintained at Malvan and Vengurla. Though Kolhapur troubles were at an end, the Savant's quarrels kept the country in confusion for several years. Durga Bai, who soon after succeeded as regent, seized the Kolhapur fort of Bharatgad; and as she refused to give it up, British troops had to be called in. The fort was restored. But her attacks on Kolhapur continued till, in 1819, a British force took Savantvadi and exacted security for good behaviour.
http://www.maharashtra.gov.in/pdf/gazeetter_reprint/Ratnagiri/ratnagiri/histroy1_early.html#3

PANHALA

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Panhala is the traditional residence of the sage Parasr. The Karavir or Kolhapur Puran a compilation of A.D. 1730, mentions Panhala as Pannagalaya or the home of Serpents. In old inscriptions the name appears as Pranlak and Padmanal. A copper plate found in Satara shows that in A. D. 1191-92 Panhala was the seat of the Siahara Bhoja Raja II. (1178-1209) who is first mentioned as living at Valvad, apparently either Valva about fifteen miles south or Valivade about four and half miles north of Kolhapur; in 1187 as ruling at Kolhapur and about three years later (1191) as ruling in Panhala fort. Bhoja Raja is said to have built fifteen forts of which Bavada, Bhudargad, Panhala, Satara and Visalgad are the chief. About A.D. 1209-10 Bhoja Raja was defeated by Singhana (1209-1247) the most powerful of the Devagiri Yadavas. After Bhoja Raja's defeat Panhala seems to have fallen into the hands of petty Maratha chiefs. In 1376 inscriptions record the settlement of Nabhapur to the south-east of the fort. On the establishment of the Adil Shahi dynasty of Bijapur in 1489, Panhala came under Bijapur and was fortified with great care. To the Bijapur government are ascribed the strong ramparts and gateways of the fort which according to tradition took a hundred years to build. Numerous inscriptions in the fort refer to the reign of Ibrahim Adil Shah, probably Ibrahim I (1534-1557). In 1659, immediately after the discomfiture

of the Bijapur general Afzal Khan, Sivaji took Panhala from Bijapur. In May 1660, to win back the fort from Sivaji, Ali Adil Shah II (1656-1672) of Bijapur sent Sidi Johar who laid siege to Panhala in which Sivaji had shut himself. After four months siege Sivaji escaped to Rangana about fifty-five miles south-west of Kolhapur, and shortly after Panhala and Pavanagad were taken by Ali Adil Shah in person. In 1673, Sivaji again took Panhala. In 1674, the Bijapur generals made an unsuccessful attempt on the fort, and till his death in 1680 Panhala remained in the hands of Sivaji, who for a time kept his son Sambhajl under guard at Panhala. After Sivaji's death Sambhajl won over to his side the commandant of Panhala and marching on Raigad in the central Konkan overthrew Rajaram's faction and established himself as head of the Marathas. About nine years later in 1669 when Sambhaji was made prisoner by Aurangzeb's general Takribkhan at Sangamesvar in Ratnagiri, Panhala came under the Mughals. In 1692, Panhala was retaken by Parasuram Trimbak, the ancestor of the Kolhapur Pant Pratinidhi family of Visalgad. In 1701, the emperor Aurangzeb laid siege to and took Panhala in person. In this year at Panhala, on the 28th of April, Aurangzeb received the English ambassador Sir William Norris who spent 200 gold mohars (£ 300) in fruitless negotiation with the Moghal emperor. Shortly after, in 1701, Panhala was taken from the Moghals by Ramcandra Pant Amatya. In 1705 Tarabai, the widow of Rajaram (1689-1700) made Panhala her head-quarters. In Tarabai's war with Sahu of Satara in 1708, Sahu took Panhala and Tarabal fled to Malvan in Ratnagiri. Shortly after, in 1709, Tarabal again took Panhala. In 1782 the seat of the Kolhapur government was moved from Panhala to Kolhapur. In 1827 under Sahaji (1821-1837) Panhala and Pavanagad were for a time made over to the British Government. In 1844, during the minority of Sivaji IV (1837-1866), Panhala and Pavanagad were taken by rebels who seized Colonel Ovans, the Resident of Satara, when on tour and imprisoned him in Panhala. A British force was sent against the rebels and on the 1st of December, 1844 breached the fort wall, took it by storm, and dismantled the fortifications. A garrison of 1845 militia and a hundred pieces of ordnance were left to guard the fort.

Present stale of the fort.

Of the ruins on the hill top one of the oldest is the citadel in the centre of the fort, surrounded by high ruined walls enclosing a tangled growth of jack, mango, guava, and other trees and bushes. Nothing remains of, the old palace but stone foundations and plinths hid in shrubs and underwood. Of three enormous stone and cement granaries built with arched roofs and capable of holding provisions for a large army, the largest known as Ganga Kothi, a massive building with two entrances, is nearly choked with rubbish. On either side a staircase leads to a terrace where exist small holes through which large quantities of grain used to be passed. The building is 10,200 feet square and thirty-five feet high. Of the two other granaries, one is 152 feet long, forty feet broad, and eighteen feet high, and the other eighty-eight feet long, thirty-five broad, and thirty high. Besides these three large granaries the Dharma Kothi granary is also a stone building fifty-five feet by forty-eight and thirty-five feet high with an entrance and a staircase leading to a terrace. On the east of the fort close to the rampart stands the Kalavantin's Sajja or courtesans' terrace-room. It is nearly a complete wreck except that traces of fine ornament remain in the ceiling. It is sixty feet by thirty-six and fifty-eight feet high. To the north of the fort stands a palace of His Highness the Maharaja of Kolhapur, a stone and mud structure two storeyed and tile-roofed with room for a hundred to two hundred men. To the east of the palace close to the rampart is a massive stone and mortar building called the Sajjekothi. It is two-storeyed, thirty-six feet by thirty-one and forty-one feet high with one entrance and a staircase leading to the upper storey. On the south of the fort close to the rampart stands a small stone building called the Talimakhana or wrestling house with three domed rooms. The Redemahal to the south of the mamlatdar's office is 101' x 53' x 36' high. Close to the Mamlatdar's office stands Sambhaji Maharaja's temple, ninety feet by forty-six and including the spire fifty-five feet high. The temple is surrounded by an arch roofed building which is used as a rest-house. Opposite Sambhaji's temple is another dedicated to Jijibai Saheb the wife of Sambhaji Maharaja (1712-1760). Of Musalman buildings the most important is the shrine of Sadhoba a Musalman saint. It is surrounded by a stone and mud wall and is twenty-nine feet square and including the dome fifty feet high. Every year a fair or urus is held. This place is said to have been the seat of the sage Parasar whose name the Karavir Mahatmya associates with several objects of interest on Panhala hill. Among these objects to the south of the fort is a rock-cut cave of the sage Parasar.

http://www.maharashtra.gov.in/english/gazetteer/KOLHAPUR/places_Panhala.html

VISHALGAD Fort History

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Vishalgad Fort (Sahuvadi T.; 16o 50' N; 73° 45' E; p. 79), crowns the Gajapur hill about forty-five miles north-west of Kolhapur. It is 3,200 feet long and 1,040 feet broad. The walls, gateways and towers are almost entirely ruined. Besides the old mansion of the Kolhapur Pratinidhi the chief building is a mosque with a tomb to Hajrat Malik Rehanzir seventeen feet long by fifteen broad and eight high. This mosque is visited both by Hindus and Musalmans. Every year on the 13th of the Musalman month Zilhaj a fair or urus is held attended by 300 to 400 people. To meet the cost of this fair the mosque has a yearly cash allowance of Rs. 90. The fort is watered by the Bhopal and Ardhacandra (half-moon) reservoirs, and by a cistern. The Bhopal reservoir which is said to have been built by Bhopal Raja, is 6,400 feet square. The Ardhacandra reservoir is seventeen feet long, fifteen broad and eight deep, and is said to have been built by Ramcandra Pant Amatya who held the fort after its capture by Sivaji in 1659. The eisten, which also is said to have been built by Ramcandra, is 324 feet square and ten feet deep.

According to tradition, about the year 1,000 Visalgad. was in possession of a Hindu king named Bhopal who built the reservoir which still bears his name. On the wall of the mosque which is dedicated to Malik Rahan Pir, a Persian inscription runs:-

"A Maratha king named Bhopal held the fort. I Malik Rahan came and six times besieged it without success. In the seventh siege I took it. Be brave and thou shalt prosper." Another inscription on a tower known as the Daulat Buruj (tower of wealth) runs-

In this world "perseverance overcome difficulties." "The Daulat tower has been completed with elegance." "If you wish to learn its date, it lies, in the letters Daulat Buruj."

According to Major Graham (author of Kolhapur) the letters of Daulat-Buruj give the apparently incorrect date of 645 that is A. D. 1247. The Musalmans failed to maintain their hold of Visalgad. In 1470 the Bahamani general Mahmud Gawan took Visalgad after a nine months' siege. After the fall of the Bahmani dynasty in 1489 Visalgad came under Bijapur, and continued under Bijapur, till in 1659, it was taken by Sivaji and in 1660 given by him in grant to Parasuram Trimbak In 1661 a large Bijapur army under Fazilkhan besieged Visalgad for several months and tried to take it by mining the western corner and bombarding it from the top of the Ghonasli hill. Traces of the wells which were dug for the Bijapur army remain at the neighbouring village of Gajapur and the rocky ground which was occupied by the troops is still known as Badasahaca Mal or the royal terrace. In 1730 when Kolhapur was finally separated from Satara, the grant of Visalgad was continued to Janardan Pant by fresh patent or sanad passed by Sambhaji (1712-1760). Till 1844 Visalgad continued to be the head-quarters of the Kolhapur Pratinidhi. In 1844, as the fort had been occupied by the' rebels, it was dismantled and the Pratinidhi's head-quarters were moved to Malkapur.
http://www.maharashtra.gov.in/english/gazetteer/KOLHAPUR/places_Vishalgad.html

Naneghat info -

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cant find total info on nangeghat

but that it originally belonged to Western Maharashtra is proved by its earliest inscriptions which have been discovered at Naneghat near Junnar and near Nasik. The Puranas call it Andhra because they were ruling in Andhra when the Puranic account of the dynasty was compiled in the third century A.D.
http://www.maharashtra.gov.in/english/gazetteer/greater_bombay/history.html

The Pandavas, having performed their pilgrimage on the 13th year had settled in the adjoining territory of the Ratnagiri district and when the Pandavas and the Kauravas had the famous war at Kurukshetra, the Raja of this region, Veer at Ray had accompanied them there [An inscription in Naneghat also records that the statute which stands there is of Yira who is called Maharathagranika, that is, the leader of the great heroes or the leader of the Marathas. Bhandarkar maintains that Virben Abhir was the son of Damari and Shivdutta-Bhandarkar (Bapat), 99. Mahabharat was translated from the original Sanskrit into Persian verse by Sheikh Abdul Fazl, the son of Sheikh Mubarak by order of Akbar, the emperor of Delhi. Mahomed Kasim Ferishta made abstracts of the work- Briggs, Ferishta, I, Lix. Bakhle, 89 (for Karad region).
http://www.maharashtra.gov.in/english/gazetteer/RATNAGIRI/his_epic.html

karni defeated Nahapana and annexed the southern provinces of the Ksaharata dominion. In the inscriptions found in caves at Naneghat (near Junnar), this king is described as 'Khakharatvamsaniravsesakala', i.e., the person who uprooted the entire family of Ksatrapas and 'Sakayavanapallavanisudana.', i.e., the destroyer of Sakas, Yavanas and Pallavas.
http://www.maharashtra.gov.in/english/gazetteer/KOLABA/his_early.html

Satakarni belonged to the Satavahana family. This family derived its name from king Satavahana, [Ibid., Vol III, pp. 1 f.] who rose to power soon after the death of Asoka and had his capital at Pratisthana (Paithan in the Aurangabad district). It received support from the local rulers called Maharathis, with whom it formed matrimonial alliances. This dynasty is called Andhra in the Puranas, but that it originally hailed from Western Maharastra is indicated by its earliest inscriptions which are found in the caves at Naneghat near Junnar and at Nasik. Its earliest coins have been found at Aurangabad and in Vidarbha. In later times it extended its rule to Andhra as shown by its later inscriptions and coins found in that region.
http://www.maharashtra.gov.in/english/gazetteer/SANGLI/his_ancient%20period.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Raigad_district

Peb Fort history

2010-06-27T19:46:00.001-07:00

PEB FORT

Peb Fort (T. Panvel) otherwise known as Vikatgad, in the village Maldunga, stands about nine miles north-east of Panvel on a hill about 1,000 feet high. When surveyed by Captain Dickinson in 1818, it had two pathways meeting a little from the gateway which was nearly twenty feet below the top of the hill. The gateway was built across and nearly at the top of an exceedingly steep ravine, the water turned from its natural course by a channel on each side of a retaining wall of solid masonry thirty feet high and about as many feet wide at the top. The perpendicular height of the threshold of the gateway was about eighteen feet. Beyond this gateway the ascent continued exceedingly steep to a platform on a projecting part of the hill at the head of the ravine, about eighty feet above the gateway. From this platform was a further very steep climb of 100 feet to the top of the hill where there had formerly been a fort. Like Malang Gad, Peb is for the most part surrounded by a precipice, the principal works, in addition to those already mentioned, being at the north and south extremities, commanding such parts of the hill as were deemed accessible. The ground on the top of the hill was very irregular, and no vestige of the former fort remained except a wretched wall of loose stones. Besides two buildings and a few huts, there was an excellent reservoir and a Ganapati temple outside the gateway. Under the precipice, about 100 yards from the temple, was a large room enclosed with solid masonry and a strong door which was said to have been used as an ammunition and store-room. In 1862 the fort was in ruins: the water was unfit for drinking, and food supplies were not procurable.

The fort can be climbed from Neral station, a distance of six miles. At the foot of the hill is a goddess called Pebi, who appears from her name to be the deity of the fort. Half way up the hill is a god called Mhasoba and about a quarter of a mile beyond are two caves, and a rock-cut cistern. There are the foundations of large buildings and a cistern, twenty cubits square and four deep, containing water all the year round. Besides the large buildings, there are the remains of from forty to fifty small houses.

Acheulian cave at Susrondi, Konkan, Maharashtra

2010-04-21T20:38:00.000-07:00

Ashok Marathe
Deccan College Postgraduate and Research Institute,
Pune 411 006, India
The discovery of a Late Acheulian cave occupation at
Susrondi in Palshet near Guhagar, on the banks of a
small perennial stream, near a waterfall, at a height of
85 m amsl and 2 km inland is the first of its kind on
the more than 7500 km long coastline or on the Dec-
can plateau. On the basis of observations made on tool
typology, geomorphology and lithostratigraphy, it is
shown that early man occupied the cave during early
Late Pleistocene.
Keywords: Acheulian, Maharashtra, Palaeolithic, Sus-
rondi.
THE Acheulian tradition forms a distinctive facies of the
Lower Palaeolithic. The tradition derives its name from
e-mail: pranav@pn2.vsnl.net.in
CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 90, NO. 11, 10 JUNE 2006
1538
RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS
Saint Acheul (Amines, France) on the river Somme where and Middle Palaeolithic artefacts were discovered around
Mahad (District Raigadh) as surface finds19. After 1972,
it was first recognized in 1850. In European terminology,
the term Acheulian refers to bifacially flaked stone artefacts no further work on the Palaeolithic studies was carried
having varying proportions of large cutting tools – handaxes, out in the Konkan region until the author began work in
cleavers, picks and other tools1,2. The Acheulian is the 2001. Under such circumstances, this is the first discov-
first industrial complex to have attained and attempted ery of a coastal Acheulian cave site on the coast of India.
standardization and symmetry of form. The earliest Acheulian Fieldwork was carried out by a number of field visits
tools date back about 1.6 to 1.5 myr ago, the tradition during 2001 and 2002 around Guhagar (17°30′N, 73°14′E),
lasted till about 0.1 myr ago. During this period the stone a town on the coast, 15 km south of Anjanvel, the head-
tool assemblages betray an evolving trend towards finer quarters of Guhagar taluka of Ratnagiri District (Figure
forms and they can be subdivided into three chronologi- 1). The initial explorations were confined to Guhagar,
cal stages, namely, Early, Middle and Late Acheulian. Palshet and Hedvi and were aimed at locating the Palaeo-
Each stage is characterized by the relative frequency of lithic sites either on surface or in the caves. Three impor-
certain tool types and predominance of specific manufac- tant sites were discovered: (i) Two Early Acheulian
turing techniques3–7. cleavers were collected on the surface near the cave at
The first discovery of the Acheulian in India was the Susrondi in Palshet (17°26′N, 73°15′E). (ii) A few Early
Palaeolithic artefact discovered by Robert Bruce Foote8,9 Acheulian choppers and a cleaver were collected on the
at Pallavaram near Madras in Tamil Nadu. The discovered surface near a cave at Mandavkarwadi in Palshet; (iii) A
find was an Acheulian handaxe which was recovered good number of cattle bones with chopping marks on
from the detrital laterite gravel deposit. Since then the Pa- them, were collected inside a cave near Hedvi (17°21′N,
laeolithic research in India is more than 130 years old, 73°16′E).
however, noteworthy developments in the Palaeolithic After the explorations, because of the occurrence of two
studies began only from 1950 onward. There was intensi- Acheulian artefacts on the surface, it was decided to carry
fication of regional studies and they established the exis- out an excavation at Susrondi in Palshet. Palshet is a small
tence of different cultural stages in various parts of India. village, 12 km south of Guhagar. A number of minor streams
Especially, the coastal regions of India provide much originate on the lateritic plateau at a level of 120 m amsl
scope for the Acheulian studies. The west coast continues and they have a steep gradient. All such streams flow
to be a promising area as the data from Kerala, Karnataka, through deep, narrow gorges; meet the main stream near
Goa, Konkan, south Gujarat, Saurashtra and Kutch10 have Palshet; and finally drain into the Arabian Sea. On the
shown. The earliest Palaeolithic discoveries on the west bank of a small perennial stream, near a waterfall, at a
coast of India were from Kandivli (Mumbai) by Todd in height of 85 m amsl and 2 km away from the sea there is
1932. With the exception of Saurashtra11, all the Palaeo- a cave in the laterite (Figure 2). The cave has developed
lithic artefacts discovered so far from the Western littoral as a result of karstic weathering process operating within
are surface collections, and further work is essential in docu- the heterogenous mass of coastal laterite and later on, it was
menting well-preserved sites, particularly cave sites such occupied by early man. This location is known as Sus-
as those described in this paper.
The previous work carried out on the Palaeolithic of
Konkan can be summarized as follows. The first survey
of the Palaeolithic sites in the Konkan was carried out by
Todd. He collected a number of artefacts from surface
sites from Worli Point, Kandivli (Mumbai) to as far south
as Jaygad. The former comprised of choppers, handaxes
and cleavers of the Chellean/Acheulian stages. He also
found Mesolithic artefacts at several sites in Mumbai and
Salsette12–14. This work was resumed in Konkan two dec-
ades later by Malik. His discoveries were the finds of a
handaxe at Nala Sopara and Ghodbundar15,16. Sankalia
explored Kandivli and surrounding regions with Zeuner
in 1949, with McCown in 1958 and again in 1960 with
Misra and Mohapatra17. Guzder began work in north
Konkan in 1970. She discovered Palaeolithic sites around
Malvan in south Konkan18. Joshi and Bopardikar on be-
half of the Archaeological Survey of India also explored
the region around Kolaba and Ratnagiri districts. Their major
discoveries were of Mesolithic cave sites at Pachad (Dis-
trict Raigadh) and Hatkhamba (District Ratnagiri). Lower Figure 1. Location map.
CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 90, NO. 11, 10 JUNE 2006 1539
RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS
rondi, 1 km east of Barbhai, in Palshet. The entrance of silt with blocks of Deccan Trap and gradually grading
the cave is facing the south, it is rectangular in shape, into silty clay up to the bottom of the trench, i.e. 2.7 m
1.5 m wide and 2.5 m in height. There was a huge boul- from the top. The deposit is considerably finer and
der (more than 3.5 m high) at the front of the entrance graded. Acheulian artefacts were discovered at a depth of
and therefore, it was difficult to enter the cave. It was 2.4 to 2.7 m level from the top. Below 3.2 m subsurface
necessary to clear the entrance for removing the debris water-level was encountered and the deposits grades into
reddish brown mottled clay. Therefore, a 1 × 1 m step
from inside the cave. The boulder was cleared with the
help of multiple mine blasts. The cave was completely trench was dug towards the eastern side at 1.2 m below
filled with lateritic pebbly gravel and the ceiling was only the first trench. It was dug to a depth of 2.2 m from the
1 m high from the surface of the gravel. The area after en- top and at this level subsurface water-level was encoun-
tering the cave was 5 m × 4 m, further there were two tered and therefore, it was not possible to dig further.
passageways towards east and north. It is believed that During the survey an interesting and useful section was
the north passageway is very deep in the laterite and runs observed near Velneshwar, 12 km from Palshet, 110 m
many metres towards the end of the laterite plateau, while amsl and 2 km away from the sea. A well has been dug in
the eastern passageway is 2 m deep. the laterite. In this freshly dug section fluvio-estuarine
Two trenches were dug into the floor of the cave (Figure sediments containing ironstone bands, white kaolinite
3). The trench (Figure 4) measuring 2 m × 3 m was ori- claystone, gravel bed with laterite pebbles and greyish green
ented in the east west direction. Samples of the deposit clays were observed. The sedimentary sequence is capped
were collected at every 50 cm level from the top. Upper by ferruginous laterite crust, thereby suggesting ferricretiza-
1.5 m was angular lateritic pebbly gravel with blocks of tion of fluvio-estuarine sediments which occur 90 m amsl
laterite. It was underlined with 0.6 m angular lateritic gravely and 2 km inland from the present shore.
The collection comprises of both flake (76%) and core
(24%) tools (Figures 5 and 6). The majority of artefacts
are on flakes. Among the flakes, end-struck types pre-
dominate over the side-struck ones in the ratio of 5 : 1. There
is a clear indication that man has utilized the natural shapes of
the raw material. The ventral surface was left compara-
tively untouched and larger primary flakes were struck
off from the convex dorsal surface. Subsequently, the
margins were retouched by removing finer flakes. Thus
minimum work has been done only along the lateral sides.
The collection consists of 54 artefacts (Table 1), and as
noted earlier, were collected from the strata at the depth
of 2.7 m in a layer of 30 cm thick deposit.
Figure 2. Acheulian cave.
Figure 3. Plan of the cave. Figure 4. Section of the cave.
CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 90, NO. 11, 10 JUNE 2006
1540
RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS
Stone artefacts are made on acidic derivatives of the of handaxes are small in size, symmetrical and broad. The
locally occurring Deccan Trap basalt, with a glossy, lustrous transverse cross-section is biconvex. The handaxe of the
colour, varying from greyish-green to dark grey to brown limande-group is small and shows less workmanship as
and buff colour. The material is fine-grained and has typical compared to the ovate-group. The transverse cross-
conchoidal fracture. The artefacts are extremely fresh section is plano-convex. The specimen is also mint fresh.
with clear flake-scars and betray razor-sharp margins. The
freshness of these specimens suggests that after the deser- Cleavers: Both the specimens belong to divergent-edge
tification of the site by early man, artefacts were pre- and pointed-butt type. Both are fashioned on side-struck
served because of the sediment cover. flakes. In one example, the dorsal surface shows secon-
Typologically, the assemblage shows a higher propor- dary working and in another both dorsal and ventral faces
tion of shaped tools (92.5%) than the simple artefacts are beautifully worked with shallow, skimming scars. The
(7.4%). Handaxes, cleavers, picks, choppers and scrapers working edge is trimmed from both sides. The transverse
are the five major components which comprise of shaped- cross-section is biconvex.
tools.
Picks: These implements occur as a component of the
Handaxes: Typologically there are two of ovate-group Acheulian assemblage. None of these picks exceed 100 mm.
and one of limande-group of handaxes. The ovate-group Three picks are spatulated-picks and one is a beaked-
pick. Two each are made on end-struck flakes and on
chunks. The transverse cross-section is plano-convex.
Table 1. Artefacts collected during the study
Choppers: Choppers form the second largest shaped-tool
Tool type Number %
group and comprise of the following types as side-choppers,
Handaxes 3 5.5 end-choppers, two-edged choppers, circumferential chop-
Cleavers 2 3.7
pers and pointed choppers. Dorsal and ventral faces are
Picks 4 7.4
worked. The working edge extends for nearly the whole
Choppers 14 26
length of the lateral edge. The butt ends are mostly
Scrapers 27 50
rounded or irregular and are usually without working.
Flakes 2 3.7
Cores 2 3.7
Scrapers: In the collection, the scrapers form the largest
Total 54 100
group and bi-faces form the second largest group when
grouped together. The typological distribution of the
scrapers is as follows: end scrapers (4), side scrapers
(10), double scrapers (9) and circumferential scrapers (4).
The tool kit composition of the collection shows the
following techniques: Stone-hammer; cylinder-hammer;
and prepared-platform.
The stone-hammer technique was employed to manu-
facture a negligible proportion of implements, which in-
cludes cleavers, choppers and scrapers. Flaking may be
partial, unilateral, apical or all round the periphery. Some
Figure 5. Tool drawings. Figure 6. Artefacts collected in the cave.
CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 90, NO. 11, 10 JUNE 2006 1541
RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS
specimens are flaked from both surfaces but the nature of scrapers (35.3%). Of the long sharp edge tools, handaxes
flake-scars for the product of stone-hammer technique are (number: 2) and cleavers (number: 3) do not, as at some
always deep and large, outlines irregular and surfaces un- of the Early Acheulian collections in India, vary in propor-
even and in certain cases retain the cortex. tionate representation so greatly. Characteristic handaxe
The collection indicates an overall preponderance of forms are ovate and limande; cleaver-forms are restricted
cylinder-hammer technique in the manufacture of cleavers to divergent edges group. Picks also smaller in size as
and in the secondary work of cleavers and other imple- well as choppers. The light duty tools, viz. scrapers are
ments made on flakes. All implements produced by the exclusively fashioned on flakes. The bifaces from Sus-
cylinder-hammer technique exhibit small, shallow flake- rondi clearly show ‘Advanced’ Acheulian characters. The
scars, symmetrical outlines, thin sections and even surfaces, assemblages include refined forms of bifaces. Therefore,
especially the handaxe and cleavers showing secondary considering the characters and stylistic techno-morphological
scars, around the entire circumference. Several flake-scrapers features, the assemblage from Susrondi is assigned to the
display the type of edge-retouching which generally is Late Acheulian tradition in India.
common in the Middle Palaeolithic group of scrapers. A The evidences of man–land relationship are only in the
small number of diminutive flake implements denotes the form of geomorphic features. In the absence of precise
presence of prepared-platform technique, but none shows work, particularly in the off-shore zones, it is not possible
faceted platform. The skimming scars, invariably shallow to establish accurately the trend and nature of the eustatic
and usually rounded on the dorsal surface(s) have been changes. The picture of the sea level changes during the
obtained due to subsequent working but not because of Quaternary is hazy. The laterite, the gravels, the alluvium
special preparation beforehand. and the littoral deposits are the relict indicators of the pa-
Kleindienst8 has pointed out that ‘a large composite laeoprocesses. In the same way, erosional/depositional
activities and weathering/leaching processes have varied
Acheulian collection (random sample) should include 40–
in the intensity and extent from time to time. Similarly,
60% of handaxe/cleavers/knives; 20–45% of small im-
the hypothesis of the polycyclic origin of the landscape
plements and varying percentages of other components.
perceives minimum five cycles of lateral planation and
As such, variability within the Acheulian assemblage(s) in
intermittent incision during Neogene and Pleistocene pe-
India has not been worked out, albeit the Acheulian oc-
riod (Figure 7). The deep weathering and stripping of lat-
currence from a few excavated sites; open air as well as
erite presumes a major episode of dissection and stripping
cave-like or rock-shelter sites, tend to represent prepon-
during late Neogene or early Pleistocene period. The suc-
derance of bifaces at some assemblages and proportionate
ceeding erosional history of mid- and late Pleistocene pe-
abundance of ‘chopper-chopping tools’ at others.
riod is totally blank, as no records exist in the landscape.
The total number of excavated Acheulian sites in India
During the terminal phase of Pleistocene the intensity of
is 22. The Acheulian sites with geological context are:
Anagwadi, District Bijapur, Karnataka20; Mahadeo Piparia, erosion was high due to low sea level. The episode termi-
District Narsingpur, Madhya Pradesh21,22; Hiran valley, nated with the widespread deposition during the early
District Junagadh, Gujarat23; Samadhiala, District Bhavna- Holocene epoch. At present, all the rivers are incised,
gar, Gujarat24; Madhuban, District Bhavnagar, Gujarat25 – most likely due to ubiquitous mid-Holocene rejuvenation.
In the absence of high level gravel and due to the absence
and those with archaeological context are: Adamgarh,
District Hoshangabad, Madhya Pradesh26; Bhimbetka, of raised beaches, beach rocks, oysters on the coast, it is
District Raisen, Madhya Pradesh27,28; Chirki, District difficult to comment on the depositional history.
Ahmednagar, Maharashtra29,30; Hunsgi, District Gulbarga, On the basis of above-mentioned background of the pa-
Karnataka31,32; Lalitpur, District Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh33; laeoprocesses in the region, stratigraphy of cave deposits
Isampur, District Gulbarga, Karnataka34,35. and tool typology, it can be deduced that: The stratigraphy
in a well section near Velneshwar shows that the entire
The sites at Adamgarh and Bhimbetka are cave-like or
coastal fringe area around Guhagar and Palshet was at a
rock-shelter occupations. The industries recovered from
low elevation during the Late Tertiary. The region attained
Lalitpur, Mahadeo Piparia, Adamgarh, Chirki, Anagwadi,
its present elevation of 120 m amsl due to Neogene/Early
Hunsgi and the Hiran valley represent the earlier phase or
Pleistocene uplift. Thus, the drainage and the karstic
Early Acheulian; Madhuban represents Middle Acheulian
caves in this region are therefore of the early mid-Pleisto-
and Samadhiala represents Late Acheulian in India. How-
cene age. These observations are in concurrence with the
ever, there are considerable inter-industry, typological
outcome of earlier studies carried out around Ratnagiri36.
and technological variability as well as temporal differ-
The cave sediments bring to light interesting stratigraphy
ences.
and contemporary palaeoenvironment. The cave was oc-
Against this background the occurrence at Susrondi is
cupied by early man during the early Late Pleistocene
considered in a primary archaeological context and shows
(approximately earlier than 90 Ka BP) when the sea level
preponderance of bifaces (handaxes, cleavers, small-picks
was slightly higher than that today. This is explained by
together forming 52.5%), of which picks are 11.5%, a low
the lower fine-grained mottled clay (about 80 cm thick).
percentage of choppers (12.2%) and high percentage of
CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 90, NO. 11, 10 JUNE 2006
1542
RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS
Figure 7. Block diagram showing palaeo processes through time.
6. Howell, F. C. and Clark, J. D., Acheulian hunter-gatherers of sub-
Acheulian man occupied the cave during this phase. The
Saharan Africa. In African Ecology and Human Evolution (eds
situation continued even during his occupancy. Immedi-
Howell and Bourliere, F.), Methuen, London, 1964, pp. 458–533.
ately after this phase, a rubble deposit (1.5 m thick) oc- 7. Kleindienst, M. R., Variability within the Late Acheulian assem-
curred, capping the artefacts-bearing layer. The rubble blage in East Africa. South Afr. Archaeol. Bull., 1961, XVI,
deposit indicates increased intensity of mechanical 35–52.
8. Foote, R. B., On the occurrence of stone implements from various
weathering in response to relative degree of aridity pre-
parts of Madras and North Arcot Districts. Reprinted in 1966 in
vailing in the area during the Last Glacial Maxima, when
Studies in Prehistory (eds Sen, D. and Ghosh, A. K.), Firma K. L.
the sea level was low by at least 100 m and the climate Mukhopadhyay, Calcutta, 1866, pp. 1–22.
was largely cold and dry37. 9. Foote, R. B., The Foote Collection of Prehistoric and Protohis-
There were sincere efforts by several workers during toric Antiquities, Government Museum, Madras, 1916.
10. Marathe, A. R., Prehistory and Quaternary sea level changes along
the last seventy years in the pursuit of early man, on the
the West Coast of India: A summary. Quaternary Environments
Indian coast. However, this is the first convincing dis-
and Geoarchaeology of India (eds Wadia, S., Kovisettar, R. and
covery of Late Acheulian coastal cave occupation on the Kale, V. S.), 1995, No. 32, pp. 405–413.
more than 7500 km long coastline of India. The discovery 11. Marathe, A. R., Rajaguru, S. N. and Deodhar, P. G., Coastal
of Palaeolithic artefacts from a cave site in a stratified Miliolite Formation and history of early man in Southern Saurash-
tra. In Quaternary Deserts and Climatic Change (eds Alsharahan,
context is of great significance for deducing the chronology
A. S., Glennie, K. W. and Whittle, G. L.), A.A. Balkema Publish-
of Early man, related sea level and environmental changes
ers, Netherlands, 1996, pp. 701–711.
in the Konkan region. The picture presented here, as 12. Todd, K. R. U., Prehistoric man around Bombay. Proc. Prehist.
based on geoarchaeological data is certainly incomplete but Soc., East Anglia, 1932, 7, 35–42.
the prospects of achieving the record of man–land rela- 13. Todd, K. R. U., Palaeolithic industries of Bombay. J. R. Anthro-
pod. Inst., 1939, LXIX, 257–272.
tionship are enormously tantalizing. The reconstruction of
14. Todd, K. R. U., The microlithic industries of Bombay. Anc. Ind.,
coastal environment during the early Late Pleistocene in
1950, 6, 4–17.
this humid tropical part of Western India will provide in- 15. Malik, S. C., Stone Age Industries of the Bombay and Satara Dis-
novative perception of man–land relationships in this part tricts, M.S. University Arch. Ser. 4, Baroda, 1959.
of India. 16. Malik, S. C., Studies in the prehistory of western India with spe-
cial reference to Gujarat, Unpublished Ph D thesis, M.S. Univer-
sity, Baroda, 1963.
17. Sankalia, H. D., Stone age industries of Bombay: A re-appraisal.
1. Bordes, F., Typologie du Palaeolithique Ancien at Moyen, Bor-
J. Asiat. Soc., Bombay, 1962, 34/35, 120–131.
deaux: Delmas, 1961.
18. Guzder, S. J., Quaternary Environments and Stone Age Cultures
2. Bordes, F., The Old Stone Age, WUL009, Weidenfeld and Nichol-
of the Konkan, Coastal Maharashtra, India, Deccan College,
son, London, 1968.
Pune, 1980.
3. Clark, J. D., The Prehistory of Africa, Thames and Hudson,
19. Joshi, R. V. and Bopardikar, B. P., Stone age cultures of Konkan.
London, 1970.
In Archaeological Congress and Seminar Papers (ed. Deo, S. B.),
4. Clark, J. D., A comparison of the Late Acheulian industries of Af-
Nagpur, 1972, pp. 47–57.
rica and the middle East. In After the Austalopithecines (eds
20. Pappu, R. S., Pleistocene Studies in the Upper Krishna Basin,
Butzer, K. W. and Issac, G. L.), Mouton, Chicago, 1975, pp. 605–
Deccan College, Pune, 1974.
659.
21. Supekar, S. G., Pleistocene stratigraphy and prehistoric archae-
5. Clark, J. D., The Acheulian industrial complex in Africa and else-
ology of the Central Narmada basin, Ph D dissertation, University
where. In Integrative Paths to the Past: Palaeoanthropological
of Poona, Pune, 1968.
Advances in Honour of F. Clark Howell (eds Corruccini, R. S. and
22. Supekar, S. G., Some observations on the Quaternary stratigraphy
Ciochon, R. L.), Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1994, pp. 451–
of the Central Narmada valley. Recent Advances in Indo-Pacific
469.

Forts in maharashtra listed by Height

2009-09-06T23:15:00.000-07:00


Haji Malang	790	2595
Tavli	790	2594
Chanderi	790	2592
Matheran	767	2516
Badlapur Hill	738	2420
Tavli Cave	730	2400
Mhasmal	713	2339
Nakhind	704	2311
Bhivpuri Hill	634	2081
Navri navri	613	2011
Peb Fort	474	1554



Prabal	707	2318
Manekgad	572	1876
Mira Dongar	569	1867
Kavaltin/Kelve teen	500	1640
karnala	469	1538
Irshalgad(Vishalgad)	370	1213



Bhimashankar		1005	3296
Dhak Plateau	707	2320
Padar Killa	610	2002
Palasdari Fort	533	1750
Peth(Kotilgad)		472	1550
Kondana Caves		60	200


Ghambhirgad	686	2252
Tungareshwar		664	2177
kamandurg	652	2140
Tak - Mak	610	2001
Gotara	584	1916
Shandur Hill	459	1506
Goshalgad	372	1222
Janani Hill	342	1121
Avchitgad	305	1000
Dronagiri	304	997


Salher	1567	5140
Takara	1478	4848
Mangi - Tungi	1329	4360
Mulher	1317	4320
Nhavi Killa	1280	4200
Chauler Fort	1137	3730
Dher Kharak	1099	3605
Hanuman	1062	3486
Galna Fort	878	2882


Dholap	1451	4761
Saptashiringi	1416	4645
Rawlya	1332	4370
Bhorair	1287	4222
Jawlya	1236	4056
Taula	1231	4040
Ahiwant	1228	4029
Pedhya Dongar		1194	3917
Kem	1177	3863
Nirhi	1167	3829
Ikhara Pinnacle		1158	3798
Kachna	1134	3722
hatgad	1114	3656
Varnad	987	3240


Indrai Killa	1370	4495
Chanwad	1125	3691
Rajdher	1091	3579
Koldher	978	3209
Ankai	961	3152



Mahuli	762	2501
Mahuli Chanderi		748	2454
Chhota Mahuli		610	2003
Lingi	540	1772
Bhairoba Mal	510	1675
Bhopatgad	480	1603


Basgad	1806	3564
Anjaneri	1300	4264
Brahmagiri(Trimbakeshwar)		1295	4248
Utwad	1238	4062
harihar (Harish)		1120	3676
Bhorgad	1091	3579
Fani Dongar	992	3255


Kalsubai	1646	5400
Ghanchakkar	1532	5028
muda	1520	4986
Kirda	1516	4975
Alang	1479	4852
Kulang	1470	4822
Madangad	1466	4842
Pandhra	1450	4756
Mahankal	1427	4682
Kathra	1406	4614
Sindola	1395	4577
Patta Fort	1390	4560
Ajoba	1375	4511
Avandh	1319	4329
Ratangad	1297	4255
Asawala	1275	4184
Mhasoba Chainnagiri		1273	4178
Aad Fort	1233	4046
wakri	1195	3920
Bitangad	1085	3560
Mhordan	1052	3452
Tringalwadi Fort		987	3238
Katlia	970	3185
Ghargad	962	3155
Bahula	956	3137
Dhoria	926	3039
Walavihir	916	3007
Kanvai	914	3000
Shenit Pinnacle		900	2960
Budhya	880	2887
Ghodishep	861	2825
Talegaon Fort	813	2668
kanjangad	707	2321
Randha Falls	702	2303




karkai Dongar	1488	4883
Amberdara	1428	4684
Harishchandragad		1424	4671
Napta	1204	3949
Bhairavgad	864	2835



Hadsar(warode)		1428	4687
Bhagaria	1308	4292
Dev Dandya	1295	4248
Dhakoba	1264	4148
Hatkeshwar	1251	4105
Durga Killa	1175	3855
Jivdhan	1145	3754
Nimgiri	1108	3635
Talegad	1072	3561
Chanwad	1065	3495
Shivneri	1018	3342
Ghonemal	1013	3325
Damdamia	1008	3307
Siddhagad	982	3223
Narayangad	875	2872
Nane Ghat (pass)		830	2724
Gorakhgad	651	2137


Lohagad	1440	3412
Shingi	1293	4243
Hedruj	1245	4086
Trikona	1191	3580
Visapur fort	1087	3567
Rajmachi	826	2710



Tung	1075	3526
Telbaila	1013	3322
Korigad	929	3049
Dhangad	782	2565
Sudhagad	619	2030
Dukes Nose




Torna	1403	4604
Purandar Fort (wajrangad)		1390	4560
Rajgad	1376	4514
Sinhgad (Kondana)		1317	4320
Ratnagiri	1126	3694
Konkan Diva	1035	3397
Mangad	991	3252
Malhargad(Sonori fort)		965	3166
Lingana	908	2979
Raigad	862	2829


Raireshwar	1398	4589
Kenjagad	1302	4273
Vichitragad(Rohida)		1116	3661
Kangori Fort(Mangalgad)		774	2538
kalwa	647	2124


kamalgad (Bhelanja)		1375	4511
Mandhardeo	1374	4508
Sonzai	1310	4298
Pandavgad	1273	4177
Chowneshwar Hill		1218	3998
Vairatgad	1200	3939
Bawdhan Fort	1002	3287


Mahableshwar		1438	4718
Panchgani	1334	4377
Makarandgad	1236	4054
vasota	1171	3842
Parvat	1135	3692
Pratapgad	1080	3543
Chakdev	984	3230
Jungli Jaigad	901	2957
Chandragad	805	2641


Prachitgad	971	3187
Jyotiba	952	3124

Amboli area

	Bhudargad	979	3212
	Manohargad	762	2500
	Mansantoshgad		750	2460
	Pargad	550	1800

Jaigad fort ratnagiri

2009-09-04T09:54:00.001-07:00

Jaygad, [Jaygad has been identified with Strabo's (B.C. 54-A.D. 24), Sigerdis, " the rest of the coast besides Sarasostus or Saurashtra" (Hamilton's Strabo, II. 253); with Pliny's (A.O. 77), Sigeris on the Konkan coast, "one of the chief ports of western India" (Bostock's Pliny, II. 50); with Ptolemy's (150) Melizigeris an island of the pirate coast; and with the Melizeigara of the Periplus (247). It seems better to refer these names to island. Jazira and town of Meli or Melundi now known as Malvan. See Malvan.] or Fort Victory, with an area of four acres, stands close to the shore on gently rising ground not more than 200 feet above the sea. Except in a few places, the walls and bastions are in good repair. The fortifications consist of a strong upper fortress on the brow of the hill, with a lower line of defences on the shore immediately beneath it, joined to the upper works by a connected line of bastions down the steep slope of the bill, the whole enclosing a considerable space occupied by a few huts. The upper part, added by Shivaji, has one well of good water. There is a sallyport in the lower walls near the sea, but the main gate is at the top of a very steep flight of steps on the east side. The walls are covered with creepers, which are slowly but surely causing them to fall into ruin. Supplies are limited to fish and poultry, the latter being difficult to obtain; water can be procured from two wells near the landing place. [Hydrographic Notice No. 20.]

Two miles distant, on a hill on the opposite shore, about a quarter of an acre in area, with no water, is the smaller fort of Vijaygad, protected by a ditch on three sides. Its walls are very ruined. Jaygad fort is said to have been built in the sixteenth century by the Bijapur kings. [Jervis' Konkan, 92. Major Jervis says fifteenth.] Towards the close of the sixteenth century, Jaygad seems to have passed into the hands of the Naik of Sangameshvar, who, with seven or eight villages and 600 troops, was so strong that the combined Portuguese and Bijapur forces, twice, in 1583 and 1585, made expeditions against him. [De Coutto, XII. 30; Faria in Briggs, III. 524. See Nairne's Konkan, 35.] Jaygad was (1713) one of the ten forts ceded by Balaji Vishvanath to Angre on his promising to renounce Sambhaji, release the Peshva, restore all his conquests except Rajmachi near the Bor pass, and maintain the cause of Shahu. [Grant Duff, 193.] With other Ratnagiri forts Jaygad was, in June 1818, made over to the British without a struggle. [Nairne's Konkan, 116.]

Within the fort, two buildings are still used by district officers but these require repairs now. To the west of the fort, on the sea slope of the cliff, protected from the sea by extensive outworks, stands the temple of Karteshvar or Shiv, still in good condition. There is also a reservoir of very pure water.

VASOTA FORT

2009-09-04T09:12:00.000-07:00

Harish Fort Harshgad (Harishgad)

2009-09-04T09:04:00.001-07:00

Harish Fort, four miles west of Trimbak and 3676 feet above the sea, has been described by Captain Briggs who visited it in 1818. It was tolerably easy of access till half way up, where several paths from the foot of the hill united and where were a reservoir, some wells, and some houses for the garrison. Then began the ascent of the scarp, [There were one or two houses at the foot of the scarp where one or two men always paraded as sentries.] which Captain Briggs describes as truly wonderful. Words could give no idea of its dreadful steepness. It was perfectly straight for about 200 feet and could only be compared to a ladder up a wall 200 feet high. The steps were bad and broken and holes were cut in the rock to support the hands. At the fop of the steps was a strong door, then a walk under a rock-cut gallery with no wall along the outer edge. After the gallery came a second flight of steps worse than the first, and, at the top of the steps, a trap-door with only room to crawl through. Then came two good gates. So difficult was the hill to climb that Captain Briggs was satisfied that five men could hold it against any odds. There was plenty of water in the fort and a well-built bombproof for powder. The grain and provisions were kept in a thatched house. [Captain Briggs' Report, 26th June 1818. Captain Briggs left a body of men here, not so much for the defence of the fort as to be on the look-out for and attack marauding parties with which this part of the country was infested.] In 1636 Harish, with Trimbak, Tringalvadi and other Poona forts, was given by Shahaji to the Moghal general Khan Zaman. [Elliot and Dowson's History, VII. 60.] Harish was one of the seventeen strong places that surrendered to the British after the fall of Trimbak in 1818. [ Blacker's Maratha War, 322 note 2.]

Harshgad (Harishgad)

Hatgad Fort

2009-09-04T09:03:00.000-07:00

Hatgad Fort, near Mulher, almost on the edge of the Sahyadris, overlooking Surgana state and the rest of the southern Dangs, is on a flat-topped hill which rises some 600 feet above the plain, and about 3600 feet above sea level. The village which bears the same name lies at the foot of the hill, and is fairly prosperous containing some 700 people.

The ascent to the fort is through a narrow passage out in the rock, provided with steps and defended by four gates. Most of the passage is roofed. Below the natural scarp the hill side is pleasantly and thickly wooded. The path climbs through the woods, and, after passing under one or two small ruined gateways, enters the rock and runs under ground for a few yards. As the natural scarp is not very perfect a masonry wall has been run completely round the upper plateau. The wall is now in disrepair. The plateau, which is not very large, is covered with ruins of buildings and with reservoirs. Two of the reservoirs, called Jamna and Ganga, are very deep and spacious, and contain a good supply of excellent drinking water throughout the year. No historical mention of Hatgad has been traced. [Hatgad fort is believed to have been the seat of the sage Hastaman. It is said to have originally been called Hastachal after the sage, but, after it was fortified, its name was changed to Hastagad or Hatgad.] The only local story is that in the time of Bangrao Aundhekar, the last officer who held the fort for the Peshwa, one Supkarn Bhil came with a large following and laid siege to the fort. The siege continued for some time and was not raised until a shot from the garrison destroyed one of the Bhil guns. The Bhils then burnt the village and withdrew. In 1818 Captain Briggs visited Hatgad fort. He found it on a much smaller scale than any other Nasik fort, probably not more than 400 feet above the plain. Like other forts it had a perpendicular scarp of rock all round, and its want of height was more than made up by the strength of its gateways and the works connected with them. It had a wall all round which, though not very thick, was sufficient to give the garrison cover from everything but large guns. There were five gateways in a large tunnel which traversed the rock as it ascended By steep steps. There was one small built bombproof filled with mortar for repairs to the fort. In the middle was a round tower which appeared much like a work but was only a deposit for grain. The absence of any good bombproof was likely to give an invading force means of annoying the garrison, and these were aggravated by a hill about 1200 yards off, from which a very raking and destructive fire might be brought to bear on the fort. The water supply was ample, but the water was bad and guineaworm was common. There were no militia in the fort. [Captain Briggs' Report, 20th June 1818.] In 1826, the Committee of inspection thought it advisable to station a small detachment of native soldiers in Hatgad.