Shirgaon Fort / Shirgao Fort () is a fort located 6.5km from

Palghar Palghar () is a prominent town in the Konkan division of Maharashtra state, India, and a municipal council. It is strategically located within the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, and since 2014, it has been the administrative capital of the Palgh ...

, 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 in very good condition. The outer walls, steps, parapets, bastions etc. in solid masonry are in excellent order and worth seeing. The fort is located in the Shirgaon village.

History

This fort was built during

Yadava The Yadava (), not to be confused with Yadav, were an ancient Indian people who believed to have descended from Yadu (legendary king), Yadu, a legendary king of Chandravamsha lineage. The community was formed of various clans, being the #T ...

of Devgiri in 1225 A.D. This fort was under the Gujarati Musalman rulers in 1432, followed by the Bahamani Dynasty. After the defeat of Bahamani dynasty, the fort was under the

Ahmednagar 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 ...

for a short period. All the forts close to Vasai fort were won by

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

in 1520-1533. In November 1737 Maratha army tried to capture the fort but, retreated in December 1737. After the siege of Vasai fort, Maratha army captured the fort on 22 January 1739. The Marathas repaired the fort in 1772. The Fort was captured by

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

in 1818.

How to reach

The nearest town is

which is 109km 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 ...

. The base village of the fort is Shirgaon. There are good hotels at Palghar and Shirgaon. Palghar is well connected by Road and rail route.

Places to see

The Fort is rectangular in shape. The entrance gate is east facing immediately followed by another gate at a right angle to the earlier. There is the year 1714 inscribed on near the second gate. There are total five bastions. The four bastions at the four corners are octagonal, while the fifth one at the entrance gate is circular. The vestibules for guards near the entrance gate are in good condition. It takes about an hour to walk around the parapet wall and visit all the places of the fort.

References

{{MarathaEmpire Buildings and structures of the Maratha Empire Forts in Palghar district 16th-century forts in India Tourist attractions in Konkan Former populated places in India

History

How to reach

Places to see

See also

References