Krishnagiri Fort is one of the strongest forts in the

Krishnagiri district Krishnagiri district is one of the 38 districts (a district in the north western part) of the state of Tamil Nadu, in India. This district is carved out from Dharmapuri District by 2004. The municipal town of Krishnagiri is the district hea ...

and is now one of the monuments protected by the Archaeological Survey of India. The fort was built by King Krishna kone in to the konar family After king Krishnadevaraya of the

Vijayanagar Empire The Vijayanagara Empire, also called the Karnata Kingdom, was a Hindu empire based in the region of South India, which consisted the modern states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Goa and some parts of Telangana and Mahar ...

. For this reason, the town and the fort got the name

Krishnagiri Krishnagiri () is a city in the state of Tamil Nadu, India, and it serves as the administrative headquarters of Krishnagiri District formed in 2004. It is located at the bottom of Krishnadevaraya Hills, and the town is fully surrounded by hi ...

("Krishna" from the king’s name, "giri" meaning hill). The fort and the surrounding areas, then called "Baramahal", were given to Jagadevarayar by the Vijayanagar for his valour in the wars. Jagadevarayar made Jagadevi his capital. In the 17th century the fort and Baramahal were occupied by Bijapur Sultanate and it was given to Shahji as jagir. Shahji made

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

his headquarters and ruled these areas. After the death of Shahji, his younger son Vyankoji (Ekoji) became the ruler. In the 1670s

Chatrapati Shivaji Shivaji Bhonsale I (; 19 February 1630 – 3 April 1680), also referred to as Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, was an Indian ruler and a member of the Bhonsle Maratha clan. Shivaji carved out his own independent kingdom from the declining Adilsh ...

captured this fort from his younger brother Vyankoji during his Deccan expedition. In the 18th century

Hyder Ali Hyder Ali ( حیدر علی, ''Haidarālī''; 1720 – 7 December 1782) was the Sultan and ''de facto'' ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore in southern India. Born as Hyder Ali, he distinguished himself as a soldier, eventually drawing the at ...

captured this fort and Baramahal on the instruction of

Chikka Devaraja Devaraja Wodeyar II (22 September 1645 – 16 November 1704) was the fourteenth maharaja of the Kingdom of Mysore from 1673 to 1704. During this time, Mysore saw further significant expansion after his predecessors. During his rule, centralise ...

Wodeyar, king of

Mysore Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...

. Later, Hyder Ali retained these areas when he got separated from the king of Mysore and made his own capital

Srirangapatna Srirangapatna is a town and headquarters of one of the seven Taluks of Mandya district, in the Indian State of Karnataka. It gets its name from the Ranganthaswamy temple consecrated at around 984 CE. Later, under the British rule the city wa ...

. In 1768 this fort surrendered to the British after a long blockade in the

First Anglo-Mysore war The First Anglo-Mysore War (1766–1769) was a conflict in India between the Sultanate of Mysore and the East India Company. The war was instigated in part by the machinations of Asaf Jah II, the Nizam of Hyderabad, who sought to divert the ...

. In November 1791 British troops under Lt. Col. Maxwell attacked the fort, during the third Anglo-Mysore war, resulting in 50 British casualties. With almost all their officers wounded or dead they were forced to retreat. The fort remained in

Tipu Sultan Tipu Sultan (born Sultan Fateh Ali Sahab Tipu, 1 December 1751 – 4 May 1799), also known as the Tiger of Mysore, was the ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore based in South India. He was a pioneer of rocket artillery.Dalrymple, p. 243 He in ...

’s possession until the Treaty of Srirangapatna in 1792 which ceded it to the British.

Gallery

File:Kistnagherry_Krishnagiri.jpg, File:Kistnaghurry.jpg, File:East View Of Kistnaghurry.jpg, File:Fort of Krishnaghirry.jpg, Fort of Krishnaghirry

References

Government's Krishnagiri District website
{{Forts in Tamil Nadu Krishnagiri Fort