Did you know that Suvarnadurg, on the west coast of India, which was called a "Golden Fort" and the pride of the Marathas, was a naval fortification built to defend against European colonialist attacks?
Suvarnadurg, also spelled Suvarnadurga, meaning "Golden Fort", is a fort that is located between Mumbai and Goa on a small island in the Arabian Sea, near Harnai in Konkan, along the West Coast of India, in Maharashtra. The fort, on an island in the Arabian sea, is credited to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, founder of the Maratha Empire, in 1660 though it was built by the Adilshah Navy for defence purposes. Many other forts such as the Kanakadurga fort and other land side forts such as Bankot fort, Fategad fort and Gova fort were built primarily as lookout forts to secure the Suvarnadurga.
The fort was captured by Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in 1660 by defeating Ali Adil Shah II (1656–1672). Kanhoji Angre (1667–1729), popularly known as "Samudratla Shivaji" (Shivaji of the sea) was the[12] Admiral of the Maratha Navy; in 1696, Kanhoji's naval fleet was stationed here. However, the fort was formally handed over to Kanhoji in 1713 by Shahu Raja.
The Angrias are credited with not only strengthening the fort but also establishing the shipbuilding yard at Suvanadurg and creating a large fleet of warships to secure the west coast, the Konkan coast, from attack from the British, French, Dutch and Portuguese East India Companies.The fort was under the control of the Peshwas till 1818. on 4 December 1818. Captain William of the British army attacked the fort and took full control of it.
The fort is spread over an area of 8 acres (3.2 ha) and is about 1 mile (1.6 km) from the main land and is encircled by a dry moat. It tapers towards the southern direction from where the Kanakadurga fort is clearly visible. The walls have been mostly cut out of the rock exposures on the island. However, some part of the fort walls are built with large stone blocks of 10–12 feet (3.0–3.7 m) square. It has two entrances or gates, known as the 'Mahadarwaja' (big gate) also called the postern wall (above the high tide level) on the east and 'Chor Darwaja' on the west; the former gate faces the land and the latter faces the sea. At the main entry, carvings of a Hanuman carved on the wall and a carved turtle on one of the leading steps are seen. The sea-gate depicts carved figures of a tiger, eagle and elephants. The fort is fortified with many bastions, which also have small built-in rooms. The central part of the fort has two granaries and a decrepit building. The fort can be approached only during the low tide condition when it is also easier to walk in the precincts of the fort.
In the past, the land fort and the sea fort were connected by a tunnel, but this is now defunct. The present approach to the sea fort is only by boats from the Harnai port on the headland. Harnal is 230 kilometres (140 mi) from Bombay (Now Mumbai).
Source: Extracts from article in Wikipedia with my inputs posted during January 2010.
Narasipur Char
