Gawilghur (also, Gawilgarh or Gawilgad, Pronunciation: �aːʋilɡəɖ was a well-fortified mountain stronghold of the

Maratha Empire The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern India, early modern polity in the Indian subcontinent. It comprised the realms of the Peshwa and four major independent List of Maratha dynasties and states, Ma ...

north of the

Deccan The Deccan is a plateau extending over an area of and occupies the majority of the Indian peninsula. It stretches from the Satpura and Vindhya Ranges in the north to the northern fringes of Tamil Nadu in the south. It is bound by the mount ...

Plateau, in the vicinity of

Satpura The Satpura Range, formerly also known as the Seeonee Hills, is a range of hills in central India. The range rises in eastern Gujarat running east through the border of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh and ends in Chhattisgarh. The range paral ...

Ranges,

Amravati District Amravati district (Marathi pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, �mɾaːʋət̪iː is a Districts of Maharashtra, district of Maharashtra state in central India. It is the administrative headquarter of Amravati division, which is one of the two ...

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 ...

. It was successfully assaulted by a force commanded by Arthur Wellesley on 15 December 1803 during the

Second Anglo-Maratha War Second Anglo-Maratha War (from 1803 –1805) was a large conflict within the Maratha Confederacy, Maratha Empire involving the British East India Company. It resulted in major loss of territory for the Marathas, including regions around Delhi a ...

History

The fort takes its name from the

Gawli Gavli (also spelled as Gawli or Gavali) (Marathi: गवळी) is a Hindu caste in the Indian states of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. They are a part of the Yadav community. Etymology The name Gauli may have been derived from a Sanskrit word m ...

(cow herds) who inhabited the Berar (modern day Amravati) for centuries. Earlier the fort was likely just made of mud as were several such areas in the region. The exact date of construction is not known but the Persian historian,

Firishta Firishta or Ferešte (), full name Muhammad Qasim Hindu Shah Astarabadi (), was a Persian historian, who later settled in India and served the Deccan Sultans as their court historian. He was born in 1570 and died between 1611 and 1623. Life F ...

, records that Ahmed Shah Wali, the ninth king of the Bahamani dynasty reconstructed Gawilgarh when he was encamped at Ellichpur in 1425. Likely this was the date when major fortification was carried out. In 1803 during the 2nd Maratha War the fort was besieged by Arthur Wellesley (later

Duke of Wellington Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they ar ...

). After two failed attempts at the main gate by British and Sepoy companies, and many casualties, Captain Campbell led the 94th Highlanders (light company) up the ravine dividing the inner and outer forts and into the inner fort by

escalade Escalade is the act of scaling defensive walls or ramparts with the aid of ladders. Escalade was a prominent feature of sieges in ancient and medieval warfare. Although no longer common in modern warfare, escalade technologies are still deve ...

. The Scots then forced the northern gatehouse and opened the many gates, allowing the remaining British forces entry. The British suffered few casualties in the final assault (approx. 150). The fortress was returned to the

Killedar Qiladar (Urdu: قلعہ‌دار) was a title for the governor of a fort or large town in early modern India. During the Mughal Empire, the title was commonly pronounced 'Killedar' (Persian: کیلدار). The office of ''Qiladar'' had the same func ...

Rana Shivsingh Rajput of the

, after making peace with the British but they abandoned it.

Major features

The fort has several inscriptions in Persian recording the date of building of each of its seven gates. It has two water tanks (''Devtalav'' and ''Khantalav''), which would have been the main water source in case the fort was besieged. Within the fort the ruins of a mosque are the most conspicuous. It stands at the highest point in the inner fort and is built in the

Pathan Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghans until 1964 after the ...

style of architecture. The mosque has a square canopy with intricate stone lattice work and a seven arched façade. The mosque originally had two minarets, only one of which is intact today. So, probably there is a tunnel connecting the two forts. There are several unrepaired breaches made by British guns, which remain to this day.

References

{{Berar Berar Forts in Maharashtra Archaeological sites in Maharashtra Amravati district Forts in Vidarbha Historical places Vidarbha

History

Major features

See also

References