Asheri Fort / Asheri is a fort located 102 km from

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

and 88 km from

Thane Thane (; also known as Thana, the official name until 1996) is a metropolitan city in Maharashtra, India. It is situated in the north-eastern portion of the Salsette Island. Thane city is entirely within Thane taluka, one of the seven talukas ...

. It is in

Palghar district Palghar District (Marathi pronunciation: aːlɡʱəɾ is a district in the state of Maharashtra in Konkan Division. On 1 Aug 2014, the State government of Maharashtra announced the formation of the 36th district of Maharashtra Palghar, it was ...

, 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 ...

. This fort is an important fort in Palghar district. The fort is located on the hills near Mendhavan Khind on Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway. The base village Khodkona is a very small tribal village. The Fort restoration is done by the local villagers.

History

This fort was built by the Bhojraja of

Shilahara The Shilahara Kingdom ( IAST: Śilāhāra; also Sinhara, Shailahara, Shrilara, and Silara) was a royal dynasty that established itself in northern and southern Konkan in 8th century CE, present-day Mumbai and Southern Maharashtra (Kolhapur) d ...

dynasty. This fort was captured by Bimb Raja of Mahim (Palghar) from Kolis. This fort is about 800 years old. It was ruled by Gujarat Sultanate. The

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 ...

captain of Bassein, Antonio Moniz Barreto annexed the Asherigad in 1556, after bribing the Abyssinian captain who commanded the fort. Manor Fort was captured later. This fort was the northern boundary of Portuguese territory. Portuguese made it as a capital of 38 villages and 6

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

es. The fort had twenty water cisterns and two ponds. In 1737, this fort was conquered by the

Maratha The Marathi people (Marathi: मराठी लोक) or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed as a M ...

forces led by

Chimaji Appa Chimaji Balaji Bhat was born in a Chitpavan caste family in 1707 and died in 1740, commonly referred to as Appa or Bhau, was the son of Balaji Vishwanath, Balaji Vishwanath Bhat and the younger brother of Baji Rao I, Bajirao Peshwa of Maratha E ...

against Provincia do Norte, but it was reconquered in the counter-offensive by Antonio Cardim de Frois, the new General of the North. In February 1739, it fell definitely into the Maratha hands. In 1818 Captain Dickinson captured this fort and thus it went into the hands of the

British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

How to reach

The nearest town is

Manor Manor may refer to: Land ownership *Manorialism or "manor system", the method of land ownership (or "tenure") in parts of medieval Europe, notably England *Lord of the manor, the owner of an agreed area of land (or "manor") under manorialism *Man ...

which is 80 km from

. The Fort lies between mastan naka and Charoti naka. There are local rickshaws available from either nakas to reach the base village Khodkona खडकोना. There are good hotels at Mastan Naka and Charoti Naka. Now tea and snacks are also available in small hotels on the Highway. The trekking path starts from the hillock north of the Khodkona. The route is very safe and wide. There is a dense forest on the trekking route. It takes about an hour to reach the col below the fort hill. The narrow path climbing up on the eastern side of the hill leads to the entrance of the fort. The night stay on the fort can be made in the cave on the fort. The local villagers make night stay and food arrangements at a reasonable cost.

Places to see

There are nothing much structures to be seen on the fort, except for the rock cut pond, which is full of lotus flowers and a cave inhabited by a sadhu.

Gallery

File:Asheri1.jpg, Portuguese post of arms engraved in rock on the Fort File:Asheri2.jpg, Rock cut stps on the fort File:Asheri3.jpg, Vaghya dev tribal god File:Asheri4.jpg, Forest below the fort

References

{{MarathaEmpire Forts in Maharashtra Portuguese forts in India Buildings and structures of the Maratha Empire Forts in Palghar district 16th-century forts in India 1521 establishments in the Portuguese Empire Tourist attractions in Palghar district Hiking trails in India * Hiking

History

How to reach

Places to see

Gallery

See also

References