Asheri Fort / Asheri is a fort located 102 km from

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

and 88 km from

Thane Thane (; previously known as Thana, List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1996) is a metropolitan city located on the northwestern side of the list of Indian states, state of Maharashtra in India and on ...

. It is in

Palghar district Palghar District (Marathi pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, aːlɡʱəɾ is a Districts of Maharashtra, district in the state of Maharashtra in Konkan Division. The headquarters of the district is the town of Palghar. Other major cities in the ...

, of

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

. This fort is an important fort in Palghar district. The fort is located on the hills near Mendhavan Khind on Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway. The base village Khodkona is a small tribal village. The Fort restoration is done by the local villagers.

History

This fort was built by the Bhojraja of

Shilahara Shilahara was a royal dynasty that established itself in northern and southern Konkan in 8th century CE, present-day Mumbai and Southern Maharashtra ( Kolhapur) during the Rashtrakuta period. The founder of the Shilahara dynasty, Sanaphulla, ...

dynasty. This fort was captured by Bimb Raja of Mahim (Palghar) from Kolis. This fort is about 800 years old. It was ruled by Gujarat Sultanate. The Portuguese captain of Bassein, Antonio Moniz Barreto annexed the Asherigad in 1556, after bribing the Abyssinian captain who commanded the fort. Manor Fort was captured later. This fort was the northern boundary of Portuguese territory. Portuguese made it as a capital of 38 villages and 6

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

es. The fort had twenty water cisterns and two ponds. In 1737, this fort was conquered by the

Maratha The Marathi people (; Marathi: , ''Marāṭhī lōk'') or Marathis (Marathi: मराठी, ''Marāṭhī'') are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are native to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-A ...

forces led by

Chimaji Appa Chimaji Balaji Bhat (c. 1707 – 17 December 1740), born as Antaji more commonly known as Chimaji Appa, was a military commander and statesman of the Maratha Empire. As the younger brother of Peshwa Bajirao I and the son of Peshwa Balaji Vishw ...

against Provincia do Norte, but it was reconquered in the counter-offensive by Antonio Cardim de Frois, the new General of the North. In February 1739, it fell definitely into the Maratha hands. In 1818 Captain Dickinson captured this fort and thus it went into the hands of the

British 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 ...

How to reach

The nearest town is Manor which is 80 km from

. The fort lies between Mastan naka and Charoti naka. There are local rickshaws available from either nakas to reach the base village Khodkona खडकोना. There are good hotels at Mastan Naka and Charoti Naka. Now tea and snacks are also available in small hotels on the Highway. The trekking path starts from the hillock north of the Khodkona. The route is very safe and wide. There is a dense forest on the trekking route. It takes about an hour to reach the col below the fort hill. The narrow path climbing up on the eastern side of the hill leads to the entrance of the fort. The night stay on the fort can be made in the cave on the fort. The local villagers make night stay and food arrangements at a reasonable cost.

Places to see

There are nothing much structures to be seen on the fort, except for the rock cut pond, which is full of lotus flowers and a cave inhabited by a sadhu.

Gallery

File:Asheri1.jpg, Portuguese coat of arms engraved in rock on the Fort File:Asheri2.jpg, Rock cut steps on the fort File:Asheri3.jpg, Vaghya dev tribal god File:Asheri4.jpg, Forest below the fort

References

{{MarathaEmpire Forts in Maharashtra Portuguese forts in India Buildings and structures of the Maratha Empire Forts in Palghar district 16th-century forts in India 1521 establishments in the Portuguese Empire Tourist attractions in Palghar district Hiking trails in India

History

How to reach

Places to see

Gallery

See also

References