Forts of Maharashtra

The Lonely Mountain, Erebor… haha just kidding, too much Hobbit! (But seriously, why did the producers have to extend The Hobbit to 3 movies long? Should’ve stuck to ONE, like the book!) Anyway, this is Daulatabad, Maharashtra, India

Here’s a recap of the forts in Maharashtra. Compare this to my earlier posts on the Forts of Rajasthan and of Gulf Arabia. For what it lacks in grandeur and details (a lot of it are in ruins due to the constant warfare in the area), it sure makes up for it through its amazing locations! Just see for yourself: -


Daulatabad Fort atop a mountain shaped like a wedding cake, with sheer stone cliffs at its sides. The only entrance was through a narrow upwards sloping tunnel, with stairs at one point where the guards could launch fiery objects and hot oil on invaders, and a narrow bridge, and was regarded as a very formidable fort. Despite this, it changed hands many times. On one occasion, the fort was conquered after the attackers bribed the guards. Doesn’t look like much has changed in India since then, huh?


Pratapgad Fort (at the top of the hill), near Mahabaleshwar, Maharashtra – known for an important battle where the then newly established Maratha Kingdom won against a much larger army of the Sultanate of Bijapur and went on to eventually become the Maratha Empire.


Some fort (or are these only walls?) on the road to Murud-Janjira, in between the main Mumbai – Goa Highway and Murud Village on the coast. There’re countless such structures all over the place.

Maharashtra, being at the centre of India, has seen its fair share of wars. It is home to the Maratha Empire, a number of Deccan Sultanates, the southern bastion of the Mughal Empire, and not a few Princely States. Wars raged right till the British took over (so the British actually did some good after all!). That explains the run down condition of so many of its forts.




Janjira Island Fortress – see my previous post




The fort at Baramati. Baramati is an important industrial city near Pune, rival of Daund (where we stayed), and stronghold of Mr Sharad Pawar (i.e. supremo of the NCP, or National Congress Party and ex-Agriculture Minister of India). This fort houses the government offices. Most cities here have their own forts. It’s like a mandatory structure in Maharashtrian towns, for some reason.


Foggy fort, Sinhagad, near Pune – yep, that’s the best shot I have of the fort! Note: do not visit this fort during the monsoon season, unless you absolutely love fog. I still can’t understand the logic of building a fort in a place where everything is shrouded in fog! How do you defend anything when you can’t make out your sister from your wife? Hold on, is that a kid or a doll? See? I told ya, he can’t even make out a kid from a doll!


Shaniwar Wada, fort / palace, Pune City, Maharashtra - another city fort

Dominion of the Slave Kings

Impregnable sea fortress, Janjira, on the coast of Maharashtra, India – this fort was said to have withstood the attacks of the Portuguese, the Dutch, the British and the Marathas and until the independence of India, remained undefeated. After independence, like all the princely states in India, the state of Murud-Janjira joined the Indian Union, and ownership of the fort passed on to India.


India’s own Battleship Island (remember the villain’s hideout in the James Bond movie, Skyfall? That's in Japan). This is India's version – Janjira Fort, Maharashtra, India

Another coastline, and another beach. This one from across the Arabian Sea, in the west Indian state of Maharashtra. This area was once part of the princely state of Murud-Janjira, a mini kingdom ruled by the Siddis, descendants of slaves from the Horn of Africa (area around Somalia and Ethiopia).

The Siddi were originally brought to India by Arab and Portuguese merchants. Some of them gained a reputation for their strength and loyalty, and later became warriors for hire (mercenaries). They eventually went on to possess their own state at Murud-Janjira. Most of them are Muslims.


Family outing at Janjira Fort, Maharashtra, India - notice how small Justin is at that time? He's like 13 months old then


A view at Janjira towards the mainland


The entrance to Janjira Fort, on the north coast of the island, accessible only by boat from nearby Rajapuri


The river mouth at Murud Town


Amrita at a beach near Murud, …think it’s Kashid (Google Map …what else hahaha)


Sunset at Kashid Beach, Maharashtra – and from here, we drove all the way home to Daund the same evening-night! Some 250 kms, and more than half of that on congested or rural roads. That's one of the reasons why Anu hates my travel plans... but we got to see an entire new area, and such an interesting fort, didn't we?