Mangad Fort is a survey fort which is situated in Borwadi, an area near Mashidwadi in

Mangaon Mangaon is a small town (and ''taluka'') in the Konkan region of Maharashtra, India. It is located in the Raigad district, from Alibag, Alibaug headquarters, and from the state capital of Mumbai, towards the Panjim side. Industrial developmen ...

, a

taluka A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluka, or taluk) is a local unit of administrative division in some countries of South Asia. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administr ...

Raigad district Raigad district (Marathi pronunciation: �aːjɡəɖ, previously Colaba district, is a district in the Konkan division of Maharashtra, India. The district was renamed to Raigad after the fort that was the first capital of the former Marath ...

in the

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 ...

n state of Maharashtra. The fort is made sacred by the footsteps of the founder of Hindavi Swaraj, the famous

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 ...

king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaja. Mangaon is situated about 150 km from

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

Surrounding Area

To the south of this fort, there is Jore valley. To the east, there is

Konkan Diva Fort Konkandiva Fort (transliteration: ''Konkandiva Qilа̄'') is a fort located 70 km from Pune in Maharashtra. This fort is on the boundary of Raigad and Pune district. The fort was important as a surveillance fort to keep watch on the possibl ...

. To the southwest, there is a village

Gangawali Gangawali is a village in Belgaum district in the southern state of Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the S ...

, which is the birthplace of

Chhattrapati Shahu Chhatrapati Shahu Bhosale I (Pronunciation: �aːɦuː CE) was the fifth Chhatrapati of the Maratha Empire founded by his grandfather, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Born into the Bhonsle family, he was the son of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj ...

. The fort is 235 meters above sea level. At the base of the fort, there is an old layout temple of the goddess Vinzai" (विंझाई). From the east side, there is an entrance to the temple in the cow mouth type tradition. Near the entrance of the temple, there is a carved scripture of a fish and lotus. Temple of Goddess Vinzai

On the left side, there are four water tanks (wells) and a cave which can accommodate about 50 persons. During historical days this was used for storing food grains. On this fort, there are remnants of irregular's soldiery, a big house of "Killedars" (किल्लेदार - in charge of the fort) deputed by the king to rule and protect the whole area. To the south end fort, there is an open ground, where there has been military training.

History

In the Treaty of Purandar, "Mangad Fort" was surrendered to Aurangzeb. In 1818 when there was the end of

Peshwa The Peshwa (Pronunciation: e(ː)ʃʋaː was the appointed (later becoming hereditary) prime minister of the Maratha Empire of the Indian subcontinent. Originally, the Peshwas served as subordinates to the Chhatrapati (the Maratha king); later ...

rule, this fort was won by "Col. Prother" - a British officer.

How to reach

To reach Mangad fort-From Mumbai- (112 km by road), regular State transport buses operate from Mumbai central/Dadar/ Thane to the Mangaon ( Taluka Place). one has to take other bus/rickshaw to reach Nizampur ( 12 km from Mangaon) from where again a rickshaw will reach you to Borwadi ( 4 km from Nizampur). From Borwadi it is a walk of 1 hr to reach the Mangad fort. From the village Borwadi, the fort is seen easily towards East. It is also approachable from Villages Mashidwadi and Chach. If the sky is clear, Sudhagad fort, Tala Fort, and the Arabian sea are clearly visible. The best time to visit is during the winter and rainy season. The water in the tanks is potable.

People Related

The bandmaster powers of this fort were with the "Thule" family and the subheads powers were with "Govindaji More". ‘Prabhu’ were the Karkhanis of this fort. Killedars were "Jayawantrao Mankar". We can read the "Sanad" (सनद) of that historical period with "Jadhav Family" who is Vatandar staying at the fort base in Mashidwadi Village. At the entrance of Mashidwadi Village, there is a temple of Kalbhairav (काळभैरव), which is now in almost good condition. Due to this "Mangad Fort," the taluka is also called as "

Taluka".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mangad Fort Buildings and structures of the Maratha Empire Forts in Raigad district