Ankai Fort is a historic site found in the

Satmala Range Satmala (pronunciation: ɐtmaːla is a mountain range which runs across Nashik District, Maharashtra. They are an integral part of the Sahyadris range within Nashik. These peaks are visible from a greater part of the district and form prominen ...

hills in western

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. It is located in Yeola Taluka of

Nashik district Nashik district, also known as Nasik district, is a district in Maharashtra, India. The city of Nashik is the administrative headquarters of the district. Nashik is well known for the production of wine. Nashik is also known as Mini Maharashtra, ...

in the state of

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

. The fort was built by Yadava of Devgiri. Geographically, it is near

Manmad Manmad ( ənmaːɖ is one of the towns in Nashik district in the state of Maharashtra in India. It is the third largest city in Nashik district, with a population of approximately 80,000. Geographically it lies within Nandgaon Tehsil in Nash ...

. The

Ankai ~Anhui Ankai Automobile Co., Ltd. is a Chinese automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Hefei, Anhui which specialises in the production of buses and coaches. Ankai's products include urban buses, regular coaches, sleeping berth coaches ...

fort and

Tankai fort Tankai fort is a hill, part of the Satmala Range, with the ruins of a large Maratha hill fort on the peak. With Ankai Fort near this fort are known as Ankai-Tankai, the strongest hill fort in the Nashik district, rises about 900 feet above the p ...

are two different forts on adjacent hills. A common fortification is constructed to secure both. The Ankai fort is located on a hill with perpendicular scarps on all the sides, except for a narrow nose on the eastern side.

History

The Jain caves located at the foothills of the fort, spanning two levels. On the lower level there are two caves, neither of which has idols. On the upper level, there are five caves which feature

Mahavir Mahavira (Sanskrit: महावीर) also known as Vardhaman, was the 24th ''tirthankara'' (supreme preacher) of Jainism. He was the spiritual successor of the 23rd ''tirthankara'' Parshvanatha. Mahavira was born in the early part of the 6t ...

idols in good condition. They are secured by lock and key at night to avoid vandalism. There are carvings of

Yaksha The yakshas ( sa, यक्ष ; pi, yakkha, i=yes) are a broad class of nature-spirits, usually benevolent, but sometimes mischievous or capricious, connected with water, fertility, trees, the forest, treasure and wilderness. They appear in ...

Indrani Indrani (Sanskrit: इन्द्राणी, IAST: ''Indrāṇī, lit.'' Indra's queen), also known as Shachi (Sanskrit: शची, IAST: ''Śacī''), is the queen of the devas in Hinduism. Described as tantalisingly beautiful, proud and ki ...

, lotus and Lord Mahavir in the main cave. the fort at the base of the fort depict that Ankai was constructed around 1000 years ago. The fort was built by

Yadava The Yadava (literally, descended from Yadu) were an ancient Indian people who believed to be descended from Yadu, a legendary king of Chandravamsha lineage. The community was formed of various clans, being the Abhira, Andhaka, Vrishni, and Sat ...

Devgiri Mount Everest (; Tibetic languages, Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is List of highest mountains on Earth, Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border ru ...

. Mughals led by

Shah Jahan Shihab-ud-Din Muhammad Khurram (5 January 1592 – 22 January 1666), better known by his regnal name Shah Jahan I (; ), was the fifth emperor of the Mughal Empire, reigning from January 1628 until July 1658. Under his emperorship, the Mugha ...

's General Khan Khanan captured this fort in 1635 by bribing the fort commander. In 1665, Thévenot mentions these forts as a stage on the journey between the cities of

Surat Surat is a city in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The word Surat literally means ''face'' in Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of the river Tapti near its confluence with the Arabian Sea, it used to be a large seaport. It is now ...

and

Aurangabad Aurangabad ( is a city in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the administrative headquarters of Aurangabad district and is the largest city in the Marathwada region. Located on a hilly upland terrain in the Deccan Traps, Aurangabad is th ...

. Ankai was ultimately captured by the Moghals. In 1752, the fort came under control of the

Maratha empire The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern Indian confederation that came to dominate much of the Indian subcontinent in the 18th century. Maratha rule formally began in 1674 with the coronation of Shi ...

after the Treaty of Bhalki. It was subsequently captured by the

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

in 1818.

How to reach

The nearest town is

which is 97 kilometers from

Nashik Nashik (, Marathi: aːʃik, also called as Nasik ) is a city in the northern region of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Situated on the banks of river Godavari, Nashik is the third largest city in Maharashtra, after Mumbai and Pune. Nashik ...

. The base village of the fort is Ankai which is 10 kilometers from Manmad. There are three routes to reach Ankai from Nashik. The shortest and safest is via

, the other two are via Vinchur-Lasalgaon-Patoda (85 km) and via

Yeola Yeola (Marathi pronunciation: eːʋlaː () is a town, a municipal council, and a taluka headquarters in Nashik District in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Demographics India census, Yeola had a population of 43,205. Males constitute 52% of ...

(108 km). There are hotels in Manmad, and tea and snacks are also available in small eateries on the highway. The Ankai railway station is quite close to the village. Local passenger trains passing on the Manmad-Nizamabad route stop at the railway station. The trekking path starts from the hillock north of the Ankai village. The route is free from obstruction and is safe and wide with regular steps to the fort. It takes about half an hour to reach the entrance gate of the fort. It takes about 3 hours to see both the forts. It is advisable to first visit the Ankai fort in the early hours of the morning and complete the Tankai fort before noon.

Places to see

There are a lot of places to be seen around the fort, including: The Jain caves located at the foothills of the fort, spanning two levels. On the lower level there are two caves, neither of which has idols. On the upper level, there are five caves which feature

idols in good condition. They are secured by lock and key at night to avoid vandalism. There are carvings of

, lotus and Lord Mahavir in the main cave. The Main Gate is located south of the hill, featuring well preserved woodwork. The Manmad Gate is on the Northern side of the col facing Manmad city. The Brahmani (Hindu) Caves are near the entrance gate to the upper plateau of Ankai fort. They are in ruins, but the idols of Jai and Vijay carved out of rock and the Shivinga can still be seen. The Palace and Kashi Pond On the western edge of the plateau is a large palace in a dilapidated condition. Only the walls of the palace remain. Among the rock cut cisterns on the way to the palace is the Kashi pond, with a holy

Tulsi ''Ocimum tenuiflorum'', commonly known as holy basil, ''tulsi'' or ''tulasi'', is an aromatic perennial plant in the family Lamiaceae. It is native to the Indian subcontinent and widespread as a cultivated plant throughout the Southeast Asian ...

pot engraved in rock placed in the center of the pond. Book "Saad Sahydrichi-Bhatkanti killyanchi" by P.K. Ghanekar There is a series of rock-cut water cisterns on the southern side of the fort. It takes about two hours to visit all the attractions on the fort.

Gallery

File:Ankai 1.jpg, Main gate of the Fort File:Ankai4.jpg, Jain caves File:Ankai2.jpg, Kashi Pond File:Ankai7.jpg, Entrance gate File:Ankai9.jpg, The Hindu cave with jai-Vijay File:Ankai10.jpg, The Jain Cave File:Ankai13.jpg, Wada or Palace File:Ankai Fort.jpg, Ankai fort from Tankai

References

{{MarathaEmpire Buildings and structures of the Maratha Empire Forts in Nashik district 16th-century forts in India Caves of Maharashtra Tourist attractions in Nashik district Former populated places in India Forts in Maharashtra *

History

How to reach

Places to see

Gallery

See also

References