Fort Sinhagad - किल्ले सिंहगड

Pune is surrounded by hills and Sahyadri ranges which are the home to many forts of very high historic importance. Sinhagad is one of them. The moment one hears the name 'Sinhagad' it reminds of the famous story of Tanhaji Malusare who laid down his life while fighting to conquer this fort. Though the story is very inspiring, one needs to be aware that the story contains an inspirational element which may not necessarily have factual basis.

Approach to the fort

There are two main approaches to Sinhagad - one through Pune Darwaja i.e. Pune Gate which is east facing and and the second through Kalyan Darwaja i.e. Kalyan Gate which is south facing.

Buses shuttle between Donje village and Swargate Bus station in Pune and are quit convenient. Also, one can drive up to Donje Village and park there. From Donje, it is an hour long walk/climb up to Pune Darwaja. It is possible to drive right up to Pune Darwaja as well.

What to see in the fort? 

Turrets and Fortress: In olden days the fort used to be guarded by turrets and a strong fortress connecting them. In the local language which was then mostly marathi mixed with few Farsi words), turrets are called Buruj ( बुरूज ). This word is said to be derived from the Arabic word Burj. There are three turrets which can be seen today -

• Khandkada Machi - this is the eastern tip of the fort which overlooks the entire easter region. To fortify this area, three doors and couple of pieces of the fortress were built.
• Zunjar Buruj - This turret is at the south western tip of the fort.
• Kalavanteen Buruj - This turret can still be is still found in very good condition. The flooring is almost intact. Also, this place gives a nice view of the Tanhaji Kada (cliff).
• Tanaji Kada (cliff) - This is the cliff which Tanhaji climbed with his tiny army and conquered Sinhagad. This story of this battle inspires the maharastrian youth. It is a common belief that the name Sinhagad was given to this fort after this battle. However, there are mentions of this name in the past literature.

Somewhere midway to Pune Darwaja, there is a sugar cane juice vendor. Having a glass of sugar cane juice here is quite refreshing. When you reach the top, you will find dozens of vendors selling buttermilk, lemon juice, curd and seasonal fruits. After an hour's climb these things really freshen you up. The atmosphere there is so serene that thoughts like cleanliness, hygene often tend to be irrelevant.

Memorials and Temples - Besides the fortress and the turrets, one gets to see the plinths of old buildings, the temple of Kondaneshwar Mahadev, the memorial of king Rajaram and some caves.

• Kondhaneshwar Temple: This East facing temple is the highest point in the fort. It is built in stone on which some carved designs are seen.
• Amruteshwar Temple: This temple faces south. It has idols of the deities Bhairav and Bhairavi. Both together are said to represent the duality in nature.
• Tanhaji's memorial - Tanhaji's memorial is built at the place where he is said to have laid down his life while fighting with Udebhan Rathod.
• King Rajaram's memorial - The memorial resembles a hollow Tulashi Vrindavan and built in muslim architecture.
• Udebhan Rathod's memorial - The memorial of Udebhan Rathod looks like a tomb. Considering the fact that Udebhan was a staunch Rajput, there is no reason his memorial should look like a tomb. More information about Udebhan Rathod is available here.

Historic events which took place on Sinhagad:

Times before Chhataprati Shivaji

• 1328 AD - The sultan of Delhi - Tughlak attacked Sinhagad (known as Kundhiyana at that time). The fort was in the possession of Nagnayak Koli. He defended the fort for 8 months. In the end, he lost it to Tughlak because he ran out of supplies.
• 1482-83 AD - Malik Ahmed Bahiri Nizamshah won Sinhagad (known as Kundhiyana at that time)
• 1553 AD - Burhan Nizamshah Nasirullah imprisoned Naseer-ulmulk in Kundhiyana fort. Burhan's three sons fought with each other for power. To clean this up, Maulana Shah Mohammed attacked Kundhiyana and killed Naseer-ulmulk.
• 1567 AD - Adilshah of Vijapur got Kondhana back from Moortaza Nizamshah
• 1633 AD - Shahaji Raje was one of the Feudal lords associated with Nizamshah. He moved Shivaji Raje and Jijabai (Shivaji's mother) to Kondhana i.e. Sinhagad.

The rule of Chhatrapati Shivaji

• 1635 AD - Kondhana i.e. Sinhagad was a part of Shahaji Raje's feudal kingdom. Siddi Ambar was the Killedar (the officer in charge) of the fort. Mughals and Adilshah attacked Kondhana and won it. Along with it, they also won large amount of money of approximately 50 to 60 thousand Gold coins (called Hon at that time). In this battle, a great warrior Baji Shilimkar got killed.
• 1636  to 1647 AD - Dadaji Konddev Malthankar was the administrative officer of the region. Later, Dadaji went on to become the mentor of Shivaji Maharaj. He provided valuable guidance to Shivaji Maharaj to establish his empire. After Dadaji's death, Deshpande of Shivapur and Bapuji Mudgal Narhekar conquered Kondhana on behalf of Shivaji Maharaj.
• 1649 AD - Adilshah had imprisoned Shahaji Raje. To have him relieved, Shivaji Maharaj handed over Kondhana to Adilshah as ransom. Along with Kondhana, he also gave another fort Purandar.
• 1656 AD - In addition to the existing Jagir (feudal land), Shahaji Raje got an additional Jagir of Bengaluru region. He decided to move to the south and Shivaji Raje became the defacto owner of the Jagir in Maharashtra. He renamed Kondhana as Sinhagad (some historians believe that this name was given to this fort much earlier). He established his kingdom with Sinhagad and few other forts like Torna, Murumbdev (which got renamed as Rajgad later) and Purandar.
• 1663 AD - Aurangzeb sent Jaswant Singh Rathod to capture Sinhagad. He besieged Sinhagad.
• 1664 AD - Shivaji Maharaj attacked Jaswant Singh Rathod and defeated him on 14th April 1664. As result, Jaswant Singh Rathod left Sinhagad and went back.
• 1665 AD - Mirza Raje Jaising attacked Sinhagad. Keeran Singh (Mirza Raje's son) led the battle. He forced Shivaji Maharaj to surrender and go to Agra with Mirza Raje (29th September 1665). Eventually, Shivaji Maharaj fled Agra in an amazingly miraculous manner and returned to Rajgad (Maharashtra).
• 1670 AD (4th of February) - The famous battle of Sinhagad where Tanhaji Malusare won Sinhagad back from Aurangzeb. With just 300 soldiers, he fought against Udebhan Rathod. Both - Tanhaji and Udebhan died in this battle.

After Chhatrapati Shivaji

• 1689 AD - Sidhoji Prataprao Gujar was the officer in charge of Sinhagad. Santaji Ghorpade, Vithoji Chavan ambushed Aurangzeb who had camped at Tulapur and took resort at Sinhagad.
• 1690 AD - Mughals captured Sinhagad. Ramchandrapant Amatya instructed Kanhoji Zujarrao Maral Deshmuk to win Sinhagad back.
• 1692 AD - Shakaraji Narayan Pantasachiv and Santaji Ghorpade made an unsuccessful attempt to win Sinhagad.
• 1693 AD - With great valor, Navji Balkawade along with Vithoji Karke captured Sinhagad once again. They started on 25th of June from Rajmachi and made this attempt on 30th of June. On 1st July, Sinhagad was in their possession.
• 1700 AD (3rd March) - Chhatrapati Rajaram died on Sinhagad.
• 1702 AD - Aurangzeb besieged Sinhagad (December 1702 to March 1703).
• 1703 AD - Tryambak Sadashiv Mutalik and Sidoji Sadhav were looking after Sinhagad. Vardhai, Khandai, Lakhmai and Ganai Berad defended Sinhagad and lost it to Aurangzeb. He took it for 50000 Rupees.
• 1705 AD - Before 28 April, Pantasachiv captured Sinhagad once again. In this battle, Tryambak Shivdev and Ramji Phatak captured the Mughal in charge of Sinhagad - Devising.
• 1706 ADTimes - Using Shahu Maharaj (the son of Sambhaji Maharaj and the grandson of Shivaji Maharaj), Zulfikarkhan took Sinhagad. Including bribary, he used all the available means for this. The marathas won the fort back once again. In this battle, a merchant - Rakhmaji Mavji Kudale took care of all the supplies required by the Maratha army.
• 1749 AD - 1750 AD : On behalf of Shahu Maharaj, three generations of Sachivs - Shakaraji, Narayan and Chimaji looked after Sinhagad for two years. After the death of Shahu Maharaj, the queen Tarabai overpowered Sachivs.  This created a conflict between Peshwas and Sachivs. Later, on behalf of Peshwas, Jivaji Ganesh Khasgiwale took possession of Sinhagad on 6th of July 1750. In return, Peshwas gave Shirval district to Pantasachivs. Sinhagad remained with the Mathas till the British acquired it later in 1816AD.
• 1771 AD - The fort got damaged because it was struck by lightening. Also, there was an explosion in the amunition store on the fort.
• 1776 AD - Ramchandra Naik Paranjape was an accomplice of the quack who posed to be Sadashivrao Bhau Peshwa.
• 1802 AD - Yashwantrao Holkar defeated Kind Bajirao the second who accepted the british dominance. Bajirao the second fled to Sinhagad.
• 1816 AD - On behalf of the British, Elphinston captured Sinhagad. Alongwith, he also captured three other forts - Raigad, Purandar and Trimbak. This reason for this was that the British were after Trimbakji Dengale and they suspected that he was in touch with Bajirao Peshwa (the second).
• 1817 AD - After the British were convinced that Bajirao was not in touch with Trimbakji Dengale, Sinhagad was with Peshwas till the British attack. The British captured Pune. Ganpatrao Panse attempted to defend the British with 100 cannons, but, without success. British Brigadier General Smith attacked Sinhagad and foreced Bajirao Peshwa out when he fled to the costal area of Konkan.
• 1818 AD (1st March) - Under the orders from General Smith, General Pitzler bombarded Singahad from the East, North and South. It is said that he fired 3378 mortars. The Maratha army in the fort - 700 Gosavis and 400 Arabs surrendered. The British looted the treasury on Sinhagad. 

During the Indian Freedom Struggle

• 1889 AD - Lokamanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak stayed on Sinhagad where he prepared the written copy of his book Geetarahasya (गीतारहस्य). In the same stay, he wrote his second book The Arctic Home of Vedas.
• 1910 AD - Mahatma Gandhi met Lokamanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak on Sinhagad.
• 1931 AD - Netaji Subhashchandra Bose stayed on Sinhagad.

Stories of Sinhagad:

1. Tanhaji Malusare
2. Navji Balkawade