Prabalgad (also known as Muranjan, Pradhangad or Prabalmachi) is a fort located between

Matheran Matheran is an automobile-free hill station and a municipal council in the Karjat taluka of the Raigad district located in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Matheran is part of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, and one of the smallest hill stati ...

and

Panvel Panvel () is a city and taluka in Raigad district of Maharashtra, India. It is highly populated due to its closeness to Mumbai. Panvel is also governed for development purpose by the body of Mumbai Metropolitan Region. Panvel Municipal Corpora ...

and comes under the

Raigad District Raigad district (Marathi pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, �aːjɡəɖ, previously Colaba fort, Colaba district, is a district in the Konkan division of Maharashtra, India. The district was renamed to Raigad fort, Raigad after the fort that ...

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 ...

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 ...

. The Prabalgad Fort stands at an elevation of in the Western Ghats. The fort was previously known as ''Muranjan'' until it was taken over and renamed 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 under Chatrapati Shivaji's rule. Its sister fort is

Irshalgad Irshalgad is a fortress located between Matheran and Panvel in Maharashtra, India. It is a sister fort to Prabalgad Prabalgad (also known as Muranjan, Pradhangad or Prabalmachi) is a fort located between Matheran and Panvel and comes und ...

. Right next to Prabalgad, to its north, lies the steep Kalavantin pinnacle.

History

The Prabalgad Fort was built by the

Bahmani Sultanate The Bahmani Sultanate, or Deccan, was a Persianate Sunni Muslim Indian Kingdom located in the Deccan region. It was the first independent Muslim kingdom of the Deccan,

to keep an eye on the Panvel Fort and the Kalyan Fort in the North Konkan area. Around 1458 A.D, "Malik Ahmad" the prime minister of the kingdom of Ahmednagar, took over the fort during his conquest of Konkan. After disintegration of the

Bahmani Sultanate The Bahmani Sultanate, or Deccan, was a Persianate Sunni Muslim Indian Kingdom located in the Deccan region. It was the first independent Muslim kingdom of the Deccan,

, the fort remained with the

Ahmadnagar Sultanate The Ahmadnagar Sultanate was a late medieval Indian Muslim kingdom located in the northwestern Deccan, between the sultanates of Gujarat and Bijapur. Malik Ahmed, the Bahmani governor of Junnar after defeating the Bahmani army led by general Ja ...

. During the collapse of the

Shahaji Shahaji Bhonsale (Pronunciation: �əɦad͡ʒiː c. 1594 – 1664) was a military leader of India in the 17th century, who served the Ahmadnagar Sultanate, the Bijapur Sultanate, and the Mughal Empire at various points in his career. As a membe ...

led a helping hand against the separate forces of the

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

and the

Adil Shahi dynasty The Adil Shahi or Adilshahi, was a Shia,Salma Ahmed Farooqui, ''A Comprehensive History of Medieval India: From Twelfth to the Mid-Eighteenth Century'', (Dorling Kindersley Pvt Ltd., 2011), 174. and later Sunni Muslim,Muhammad Qasim Firishta's ...

. After the collapse of the Sultanate, he moved to Muranjan along with his wife

Jijabai Jijabai Bhonsle (or Bhonsale, Bhosale, Bhosle) or Jadhav (12 January 1598 – 17 June 1674), referred to as Rajmata, Rastramata, Jijabai or Jijau, was the mother of Shivaji, founder of the Maratha Empire. She was a daughter of Lakhujirao Ja ...

and son

Shivaji Shivaji Bhonsale I (; 19 February 1630 – 3 April 1680), also referred to as Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, was an Indian ruler and a member of the Bhonsle Maratha clan. Shivaji carved out his own independent kingdom from the declining Adils ...

for a brief period of time. However, following

's defeat and the agreement of

Mahuli Mahuli is an area of the Indian state of Maharashtra, covering about 6km. It is approximately 75km north-east of Mumbai in the 421601 postcode. Features Mahuli Fort, located 2815 ft above sea level, is a popular trekking and rock clim ...

, North Konkan along with the fort, was ceded to Mughals who granted ruling authority of the area to Adilshah of

Bijapur Bijapur, officially known as Vijayapura, is the district headquarters of Bijapur district of the Karnataka state of India. It is also the headquarters for Bijapur Taluk. Bijapur city is well known for its historical monuments of architectural ...

. Shivaji conquered the fort from the Mughals in 1657 A.D, after which he established himself in the

Kalyan Kalyan (Pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, əljaːɳ is a city on the banks of Ulhas River in Thane district of Maharashtra state in Konkan division. It is governed by Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation. Kalyan is a subdivision (Taluka) ...

Bhivandi Bhiwandi () is a city in the Thane district in Maharashtra, India. It is located northeast of Mumbai and northeast of the city of Thane. The city is a part of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. Bhiwandi is a commercial city and a major trade c ...

area. During the attack by Shivaji, the fort was governed by "Kesar Singh", a Mughal sardar, and was the only fort to put up a strong resistance. Singh died during the battle in October 1657. Kesar Singh's mother hid herself and her grandchild during the attack. Shivaji, in an act of kindness made sure the lady and the child were allowed a safe passage out. In the year 1826,

Umaji Naik Umaji Naik (7 September 1791 – 3 February 1832) was an Indian Revolutionary movement for Indian independence, revolutionary who challenged the British Raj, British rule in India around 1826 to 1832. He fought against East India Company, ...

, a freedom fighter and his associates were believed to have made the fort as their home for a brief period of time.

Geography

Prabalgad lies on the Prabal plateau between Matheran and Panvel and can be easily spotted from the Mumbai-Pune expressway. The

Ulhas River The Ulhas River is a river in Maharashtra, India. It is in the Thane, Raigad, and Pune districts of that state. It flows north and west from it source to where it splits into Vasai Creek and Thane Creek, near Thane. The Ulhas divides Salsett ...

runs to the east of the fort while the "Gadhi River" runs to the west. The

Patalganga River The Patalganga River ( mr, पाताळगंगा नदी) is a river that rises in the steep western scarps of the Matheran uplands where it branches off from the main ridge near Khopoli and maintains a general westward flow till it joi ...

is to the south. The forts of Chanderi and Peb are to the west. The Manikgad Fort is to the south while the

Karnala fort Karnala Fort (also called ''Funnel Hill'') is a hill fort in Raigad district, Maharashtra, India, about 10 km from Panvel city. Currently it is a protected place lying within the Karnala Bird Sanctuary. It was a place of strategic importan ...

is located towards the north.

Kalavantin Durg Kalavantin Durg is a high summit located in the Western Ghats, near the Prabalgad fort in the Raigad district of Maharashtra, India. It is also known as Kelve Teen, Kalavantinicha Sulka, or Kalavantin Pinnacle; alternative transliterations i ...

is a 685m high pinnacle on the northern edge of the Prabal plateau. It is located near the Machi and near the Vajepur village.

Climate

Prabalgad has a

tropical monsoon climate An area of tropical monsoon climate (occasionally known as a sub-equatorial, tropical wet climate or a tropical monsoon and trade-wind littoral climate) is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification category ...

(Am) with little to no rainfall from November to May and extremely heavy rainfall from June to September with moderately heavy showers in October.

References

{{Forts in Maharashtra Forts in Raigad district