Salher is a place located near Waghamba in Satana

tehsil 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 ...

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, ...

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 old name of Salher was Gavalgarh, which was based on the name of the local Bhil king named Gaval Bhil, he was the discoverer of this place. It is the site of the highest fort in the Sahyadri mountains and the second highest peak at after

Kalsubai Kalsubai ( mr, कळसूबाई शिखर) is a mountain in the Western Ghats, located in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Its summit, situated at an elevation of , is the highest point in Maharashtra. The mountain range lies within t ...

and 32nd highest peak in Western Ghats. This was one of the celebrated forts 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 ...

. The money acquired after raiding

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 ...

was brought to this fort first on its way to the Maratha capital forts.

History

According to a legend,

Parashurama Parashurama (), also referred to as Rama Jamadagnya, Rama Bhargava and Veerarama, is the sixth avatar among the Dashavatara of the preserver god Vishnu in Hinduism. He is believed to be one of the ''Chiranjeevis'' (Immortals), who will appear ...

did his Tapascharya at Salher Fort. After winning the earth and giving it as donation, he made land for himself to live in, by pushing the sea back with his arrows, right from this place. The twin fort Salota (4986 feet) is very near to Salher. An ancient and historically significant place like this is also famous for its battles during the reign of

Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj 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 ...

Salher Fort was under Shrimant Sardar Suryajirao Kakade in 1671. The

Mughals 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 ...

attacked the fort in 1672. Almost one

lakh A lakh (; abbreviated L; sometimes written lac) is a unit in the Indian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand (100,000; scientific notation: 105). In the Indian 2,2,3 convention of digit grouping, it is written as 1,00,000. For ex ...

soldiers fought in this war. Many soldiers died in this battle but finally Shivaji Maharaj send Suryajirao Kakade who won the

Battle of Salher The Battle of Salher was a battle fought between the Marathas and the Mughal Empire in February 1672 CE. The battle was fought near the fort of Salher in the Nashik district. The result was a decisive victory for the Marathas. This battle is c ...

. Of all the face to face battles between the Mughals and Suryajirao Kakade's troops, the battle of Salher takes first place. Such a big battle was not won before. The bravery and strategy used by the Maratha troops in the battle spread far and wide and increased Shivaji Maharaj's fame further. After winning Salher, 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 ...

s also captured Mulher and established their reign over the Baglan region. In the 18th century, the

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, ...

s occupied this fort and later 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, ...

. The Marathas defeated the Mughals at the

in 1672.

How to reach

The nearest town is Taharabad, it is 112 km away from Nashik via Satana. The climbing to Salher fort can be started from village-Waghambe, Salher or Maldar. It requires equal time( 2 hrs.) and effort to climb from either of the three villages. However, from Waghambe, it is a regular path that reaches in the saddle between Salota and Salher forts. Night camping can be done either at the top of Salher fort or in Forest Camping rest house at village Salher. There are no good hotels or shops in either of the three villages.

References

Gallery

File:Salher Fort1.jpg, Gate File:Salher Fort2.jpg, Rock cut steps File:Salher Fort3.jpg, Water pond File:Salher Fort4.jpg, Temple at the highest point File:Salher Fort5.jpg, Rock cut walk ways File:kohoj6.jpg, Rockcut water cistern {{Western Ghats Forts in Maharashtra Nashik district 16th-century forts in India