Sinhagad (''Lion's Fort'') is an ancient hill

fortress A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from L ...

located at around 28 km southwest of the city of

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

, India. Previously known as ''Kondhana'', the fort had been the site of many battles, most notably the

Battle of Sinhagad The Battle of Sinhagad, also known as Battle of Kondhana, involved an attack by Marathas during the night of 4 February 1670 on the Mughal fort of Sinhagad (then Kondhana), near the city of Pune, Maharashtra. The Marathas captured the fort. B ...

in 1670. The fort is a popular weekend destination for the residents of Pune. A road directly leads up to the summit of the fort. Trekking enthusiasts can get access to the summit from the base of the fort. The trek involves a one-way walk of 2.7 km (1.6 miles) over which the walker gains about 600 m (1950 feet) in elevation. Shared taxi services to the base as well as the summit are also available.

Layout

Sinhagad was strategically built to provide natural protection from the enemies due to its very steep slopes. There are two gates to enter the fort named Pune darwaja and Kalyan darwaja. Pune darwaja is towards north east while the Kalyan darwaja is towards the southeast. Perched on an isolated cliff of the Bhuleswar range in the Sahyadri Mountains, the fort is situated on a hill about above ground and above mean sea level. In clear weather, Rajgad, Purandar and Torna forts can be seen from the Sinhagad. The fort houses a memorial to

Tanaji Malusare Tanaji Kaloji Malusare or Subedar Tanaji Malusare was a military commander of the Maratha kingdom and a companion of Shivaji Maharaj. local poet Tulsidas, wrote a powada describing Subhedar Tanaji's heroics and sacrifice of life in the Batt ...

as well as the tomb of Rajaram I. A military stables, a brewery and a temple of the goddess

Kali Kali (; , ), also called Kalika, is a major goddess in Hinduism, primarily associated with time, death and destruction. Kali is also connected with transcendental knowledge and is the first of the ten Mahavidyas, a group of goddesses who p ...

(goddess) along with a Hanuman statue to the right side of the temple. The original commemorative memorial of Tanaji Malusare has been unearthed by the restoration workers in Feb 2019. The stone structure was found buried under cement, concrete, and layers of oil paint and is believed to be around 350 years old. The fort also houses a television tower set up in 1973 for broadcasting the

Doordarshan Doordarshan (), abbreviated as DD, is India's State-owned enterprise, state-owned public broadcasting, public television broadcaster. Established by the Government of India on 15 September 1959, it is owned by the Ministry of Information and B ...

TV to Pune.

History

Early history

The Sinhagad was initially known as "Kondhana" after the sage

Kaundinya Kaundinya (Sanskrit कौंडिन्य), also known as ''Ājñātakauṇḍinya'', Pali: ''Añña Koṇḍañña''), was one of the first five bhikkhu, Buddhist monks (Pancavaggiya), disciple of Gautama Buddha and the first to attain the f ...

. Until 14th century, the fort was held by Nag Naik. Nag Nayak was worshipped as a symbol of strength and held power over the strategically important mountain fortress. The fort was captured by forces of

Muhammad bin Tughluq Muhammad bin Tughluq (; ; 1290 – 20 March 1351), or Muhammad II, also named Jauna Khan as Crown Prince, further known by his epithets, The Eccentric Prince, or The Mad Sultan, was the eighteenth Sultan of Delhi. He reigned from 4 February 1 ...

in 1328 from

Koli Koli may refer to: People * Koli people, Indian caste group * Koli Christians, a Christian subgroup * Muslim Kolis, Muslim community * Koli (surname), Indian surname * Koli Sewabu (born 1975), Fijian rugby union footballer Places * Koli, Fin ...

chieftain Nag Naik after a siege of eight months and became part of

Delhi Sultanate The Delhi Sultanate or the Sultanate of Delhi was a Medieval India, late medieval empire primarily based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for more than three centuries.

. It later became part of

Bahmani Sultanate The Bahmani Kingdom or the Bahmani Sultanate was a late medieval Persianate kingdom that ruled the Deccan plateau in India. The first independent Muslim sultanate of the Deccan, the Bahmani Kingdom came to power in 1347 during the rebellio ...

in mid 1300s followed by the

Ahmadnagar Sultanate The Ahmadnagar Sultanate was a medieval Marathi Muslim kingdom located in the northwestern Deccan, between the sultanates of Gujarat and Bijapur, ruled by the Nizam Shahi dynasty. It was established when Malik Ahmed, the Bahmani governor o ...

in late 1400s and

Sultanate of Bijapur The Sultanate of Bijapur was an early modern kingdom in the western Deccan and South India, ruled by the Muslim Adil Shahi (or Adilshahi) dynasty. Bijapur had been a ''taraf'' (province) of the Bahmani Kingdom prior to its independence in 1490 ...

in late 1500s.

Medieval history

Shahaji Bhosale Shahaji Bhonsale (; 18 March 1594 – 23 January 1664) was a 17th century Indian military leader who served the Ahmadnagar Sultanate, the Bijapur Sultanate, and the Mughal Empire at various points in his career. As a member of the Bhonsle dynas ...

, as the commander of

Ibrahim Adil Shah II Ibrahim Adil Shah II (1570 – 12 September 1627) was Sultan of the Sultanate of Bijapur and a member of the Adil Shahi dynasty. Under his reign the sultanate had its greatest period as he extended its frontier as far south as Mysore. He ...

was entrusted with the control of the Pune region. His son

Shivaji Shivaji I (Shivaji Shahaji Bhonsale, ; 19 February 1630 – 3 April 1680) was an Indian ruler and a member of the Bhonsle dynasty. Shivaji carved out his own independent kingdom from the Sultanate of Bijapur that formed the genesis of the ...

, refused to accept the

Adilshahi The Sultanate of Bijapur was an early modern kingdom in the western Deccan and South India, ruled by the Muslim Adil Shahi (or Adilshahi) dynasty. Bijapur had been a ''taraf'' (province) of the Bahmani Kingdom prior to its independence in 1490 ...

and initiated the task of setting up Swarajya. Shivaji gained control of Kondana in 1647 by convincing Siddi Amber, the Adilshahi Sardar who controlled the fort, that he, the son of Shahaji Bhosale, could manage the fort's defences optimally.

Bapuji Mudgal Deshpande Bapuji Mudgal Prabhu Deshpande (; 1608–1665) was a general who served Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Early life The Deshpande family warriors didn't have firm direction before 1636 and were engaged in battles where they would sometimes a ...

played a key role in this activity. Adil Shah jailed Siddi Amber for this treasonous act and schemed to get it back. He imprisoned Shahaji Bhosale for a concocted crime and informed Shivaji. In 1649, Adil Shah traded the fort for Shahaji's release. Shivaji recaptured it in 1656 again with the help of

who convinced the Fort commander by giving land in the newly created

Khed Shivapur Khed Shivapur is a village in the Pune district of Maharashtra, India, along National Highway 48. It is located south of Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and sta ...

village and peacefully gained control of the fort. This fort saw attacks by Mughals in 1662, 1663, and 1665. In 1664,

Shaista Khan Mirza Abu Talib (b. 22 November 1600 – d. 1694), better known as Shaista Khan, was a general and the Subahdar of Mughal Bengal. He was maternal uncle to the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, and acted as a key figure during his reign. Shaista Khan ini ...

, a Mughal general, tried to bribe the people of the fort to hand it over to him but was unsuccessful. Through the Treaty of Purandar in 1665, that Shivaji entered into with Mughal general Mirza Raja

Jai Singh I Mirza Raja Jai Singh I (15 July 1611 – 28 August 1667) was the senior most general ("Mirza (noble), Mirza Raja") and a high-ranking mansabdar at the imperial court of Mughal Empire as well as the Kachhwaha Rajput ruler of the Jaipur State, Ki ...

, the fort passed into the Mughal hands. In 1670,

reconquered the fort for the third time through his

Subedar,

, and the fort came and stayed under the Maratha rule till 1689 A.D. A steep cliff leading to the fort was scaled in the dead of the night with the help of a tamed

monitor lizard Monitor lizards are lizards in the genus ''Varanus,'' the only extant genus in the family Varanidae. They are native to Africa, Asia, and Oceania, and West African Nile monitor, one species is also found in south America as an invasive species. A ...

named "Yashwanti", colloquially known as a Ghorpad. Thereafter, A fierce battle ensued between Tanaji and his men versus the Mughal army headed by Udaybhan Singh Rathod, a Rajput Sardar who had control of the fort. Tanaji Malusare lost his life, but his brother Suryaji took over and captured the Kondana, now known as Sinhagad. There is an anecdote that upon hearing of Tanaji's death, Shivaji expressed his remorse with the words, "''Gad ala, pan Sinha gela''" - "''The Fort is conquered, but the Lion is lost''". Thus the fort got named as Sinhagad. A bust of Tanaji Malusare was established on the fort in memory of his contribution to the battle. After the death of

Sambhaji Sambhaji (Sambhajiraje Shivajiraje Bhonsle, ; 14 May 1657 – 11 March 1689), also known as Shambhuraje, ruled from 1681 to 1689 as the second king ( Chhatrapati) of the Maratha Empire, a prominent state in early modern India. He was the elde ...

, the Mughals regained control of the fort. The Marathas headed by "Sardar Balkawade", recaptured it in 1693.

Rajaram I Rajaram I (Rajaram Bhonsale, ; 24 February 1670 – 3 March 1700), also known as Ram Raaje, was the third king ( Chhatrapati) of the Maratha Kingdom, who ruled from 1689 to his death in 1700. He was the second son of Shivaji, the founder of t ...

took asylum in this fort during a Mogul raid on Satara. He died at the Fort on 3 March 1700 A.D. In 1703,

Aurangzeb Alamgir I (Muhi al-Din Muhammad; 3 November 1618 – 3 March 1707), commonly known by the title Aurangzeb, also called Aurangzeb the Conqueror, was the sixth Mughal emperors, Mughal emperor, reigning from 1658 until his death in 1707, becomi ...

re-conquered the fort. In 1706, it once again went into the hands of the Marathas. Panaji Shivdev of

Sangola Sangole or (Sangola) is a city with a municipal council in Solapur district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is situated near Holy city Pandharpur . It is located at the intersection of state highways SH-161, SH-3, and SH-71. Traditional ...

, Visaji Chafer, and Shankar Narayan, the Pant Sachiv played a key role in this battle. The fort remained under Maratha's rule till the year 1817. The more than one century of the Maratha rule saw the fort serving as a refuge from hostile forces attacking Pune, or as a place of confinement for rebels. During the

Third Anglo-Maratha War The Third Anglo-Maratha War (1817–1819) was the final and decisive conflict between the British East India Company and the Maratha Empire, Maratha Confederacy in India. The war left the Company in control of most of India. It began with an in ...

in 1817, the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

General Pritzler laid siege to the fort on the orders of

Mountstuart Elphinstone Mountstuart Elphinstone (6 October 1779 – 20 November 1859) was a Scottish statesman and historian, associated with the government of British India. He later became the Governor of Bombay (now Mumbai) where he is credited with the open ...

, the company resident in Pune, and it passed into the British hands. The British retained it until 1947 post which it became part of Republic of India.

Modern history

The fort has played a vital role in India's freedom struggle.

Bal Gangadhar Tilak Bal Gangadhar Tilak (; born Keshav Gangadhar Tilak (pronunciation: eʃəʋ ɡəŋɡaːd̪ʱəɾ ʈiɭək; 23 July 1856 – 1 August 1920), endeared as Lokmanya (IAST: ''Lokamānya''), was an Indian nationalist, teacher, and an independence ...

also known as 'The Father of Indian Unrest', used the fort as a summer retreat. It is here where

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...

after his return from South Africa had a historic meeting with Tilak. The bungalow has his bust at the entrance. A television tower was set up in 1973 for broadcasting the

TV to the city of Pune.

Gallery

File:Pune Darwaza - Sinhagad Fort (2).jpg, Pune Darwaja File:Kalyan Darwaza, Sinhgad fort, Pune.jpg, Kalyan Darwaja File:Horse and Elephant stand on the Fort.jpg, Horse and Elephant stables File:Distant view of Torna & Rajgad Forts from Sinhagad.jpg, View of Torna & Rajgad Forts from Sinhagad File:View of Khadakwasla Dam from Sinhgad Fort.jpg, View of Khadakwasla Dam from Sinhagad File:Sinhagadfort konadsheswartemple1 utsav.JPG, Kondhaneshwar Temple File:Lokmanya Tilak's Bungalow - Sinhagad Fort.jpg, Lokmanya Tilak's Bungalow File:Rajaram centotaph at fort Sinhagad.jpg, Rajaram cenotaph File:Sinhgad-Tanaji Malusare.jpg, A memorial for Tanaji and his soldiers File:Sinhagadd tower with clouds.JPG, Sinhagad TV tower

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sinhagad Buildings and structures of the Maratha Empire Tourist attractions in Pune Forts in Pune district