The Ponda Fort is located near Ponda, in the state of

Goa Goa (; ; ) is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is bound by the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north, and Karnataka to the ...

on the west coast of India. The present structure is a modern reconstruction on this location and converted into a park. In 2017 the lower walls of the fort had collapsed, due to neglect and also due to the use of poor quality materials during a previous (1977) renovation. The original structure was constructed of stone and mud, and left bare, the new structure contains stone, concrete and is plastered and painted red.

History

Muslim Era

In the early 16th century, the region around Ponda was ruled by the Adil Shahi Kingdom. They wanted a defense against the ever-expanding

Portuguese Empire The Portuguese Empire was a colonial empire that existed between 1415 and 1999. In conjunction with the Spanish Empire, it ushered in the European Age of Discovery. It achieved a global scale, controlling vast portions of the Americas, Africa ...

to the west, and had built a fortification on a hillside at Farmagudi.

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 ...

led a failed raid on the fort in 1665. Due to their recent skirmishes with the Portuguese, the Sultan's forces were weakened and the fort was badly damaged due to the artillery bombardment. Shivaji tried again, this time successfully, to capture the fort later in 1675.

Maratha Era

After Shivaji's death, his son

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 ...

succeeded to 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 ...

. In 1683, he launched a

surprise attack Military deception (MILDEC) is an attempt by a military unit to gain an advantage during warfare by misleading adversary decision makers into taking action or inaction that creates favorable conditions for the deceiving force. This is usually ...

on the Konkan territories of Portugal. To avoid unnecessary bloodshed, the Portuguese offered to pay off the local Maratha governor named Naik to take control over Ponda Fort. This peace offer was refused, since Naik was expecting the arrival of Sambhaji reinforcements from Rajapur. He had along with him an army of 11,000 infantry and 6,000 cavalry. The Portuguese Viceroy, Francisco de Tavora, led an artillery attack on the fort to weaken it. In this battle, the Ponda Fort was badly damaged and there were high casualties among the Marathas but the fort remained under Maratha control. The war ended with a general retreat of the Maratha forces from Portuguese territories. Following Sambhaji's execution by the

Mughals The Mughal Empire was an early modern empire in South Asia. At its peak, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus River Basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to the highlands of pre ...

Tulapur Tulapur is a village in Pune district, Maharashtra, India, associated with the last execution of Sambhaji, second Chatrapati and son of Shivaji. Etymology Tulapur village was originally known as Nagargaon. It was renamed Tulapur when Shahaji ...

in 1689, the

Peshwas The Peshwa was the second highest office in the Maratha Empire, next in rank and prestige only to that of the Chhatrapati. Initially serving as the appointed prime minister in the Maratha Kingdom, the office became hereditary when Shahu gave ...

gained control over the Maratha Empire which also included Ponda Fort.

Portuguese Era

In 1783, the fort, along with the rest of the ''Novas Conquistas'' regions was ceded to the Portuguese by the Maratha Kingdom of Savantvadi under

Ramachandra Savant I Bhonsle Rama (; , , ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the seventh and one of the most popular avatars of Vishnu. In Rama-centric Hindu traditions, he is considered the Supreme Being. Also considered as the ideal man (''maryāda'' ...

, as they needed assistance against their rival

Sambhaji II Sambhaji II or Sambhaji I of Kolhapur (1698 – 18 December 1760) was a Raja of Kolhapur from Bhonsle dynasty. He was a grandson of Shivaji and the second son of Chhatrapati Rajaram with his second wife, Rajasbai. After defeat by Shahu, Samb ...

of the Kingdom of Kolhapur. It stayed under Portuguese control for more than 175 years until the

Invasion of Goa The Annexation of Goa was the process in which the Republic of India annexed the Portuguese State of India, the then Portuguese Indian territories of Goa, Daman and Diu, starting with the armed action carried out by the Indian Armed Force ...

by India. During this time, it fell into disuse and crumbled off due to neglect, as there was no hostile forces left, to defend against.

Indian Era

The Indian government took control of the fort after 1961, and renovated it into a park in 1977. During this time, a statue of

was erected by

Shashikala Kakodkar Shashikala Kakodkar (7 January 1935 – 28 October 2016), also known as ''Tai'' (), was an Indian politician and a leader of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP). She served as the Chief Minister of Goa, Daman and Diu on two occasions, and ...

of the pro-Marathi

Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party ( MGP) is a political party in India. It was Goa's first ruling party after the end of Portuguese rule in Goa in 1961. The party has its base amongst non-Brahmin Hindu migrants from Maharashtra and their desce ...

References

External links

Forts in Goa Colonial Goa Maratha Empire Sultanate of Bijapur Shivaji 16th-century fortifications {{goa-geo-stub Ruins in India