The Sion Hillock Fort is a

fort A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

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- ...

(Bombay),

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 was built under the regime of the English

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 ...

, between 1669 and 1677, atop a conical hillock when Gerard Aungier was the Governor of Bombay. It was notified in 1925 as a Grade I Heritage structure. When it was built, the fort marked the boundary between British-held Parel island and 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 ...

held

Salsette Island Salsette Island is an island in Konkan division of the state of Maharashtra on India's west coast. Administratively known as Greater Mumbai, the city district of Mumbai, Mumbai Suburban District, Mira Bhayander and a portion of Thane lie withi ...

that lay to the north across the creek. The hillock is situated 500 metres from the Sion railway station. At the base of the hill is the Mumbai Circle office of the

Archaeological Survey of India The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is an Indian government agency that is responsible for archaeological research and the conservation and preservation of cultural historical monuments in the country. It was founded in 1861 by Alexande ...

, and a garden – the

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

Udyan. Nearby forts include the Riwa Fort and

Sewri Fort The Sewri Fort (also spelled Sewree Fort) (Marathi: ) is a fort in Mumbai built by the British at Sewri. Built in 1680, fort served as a watch tower, atop a quarried hill overlooking the Mumbai harbour. History Up to the eighteenth century, M ...

. The fort is dilapidated and a collection of broken stone steps, scattered walls and ruins, overrun by trees and ground cover. The fort wall has a small room on top. A series of pathways lead to it. The fort offers a panoramic view, overlooking the salt pans in the

Thane Creek Thane Creek (or Thana Creek) is an inlet in the shoreline of the Arabian Sea that isolates the city of Mumbai (Bombay) from the Konkan region of the Indian mainland. It comprises the area between Mumbra Retibunder and the Mankhurd-Vashi Bridg ...

. However vandalism and apathy have taken their toll on the structure. Restoration of the fort had begun in 2009 but was stopped mid-way due to paucity of funds.

Gallery

File:Sion_Fort_Panorama_view.jpg, The fort together with all ancient Portuguese remains of buildings situated to the north, east and south-east sides of the hill File:Sion_Fort_-_structure.jpg, Fort walls File:Sion_Fort_-_remains.jpg, Fort walls File:Sion_Fort_Structure.jpg, Fort walls File:Structure_at_Sion_Fort.jpg, fort of Sion ancient Portuguese remains at Sion Fort File:DSCN9277c.jpg, The fort File:Canon_at_Sion_Fort.jpg, A Canon at the Fort File:Sion_Fort.jpg, The fort on the hill

References

Archaeological sites in Maharashtra History of Mumbai 1670s establishments in the British Empire {{fort-stub

Gallery

See also

References