Visapur Fort (also called Visapoor Fort) is a

hill fort A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...

near

Visapur Visapur is a small village near the town of Dapoli, in Ratnagiri district, Maharashtra state in Western India. The 2011 Census of India The 2011 Census of India or the 15th Indian Census was conducted in two phases, house listing and popul ...

village in

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 ...

. It is a part of the

Lohagad Lohagad is one of the many hill forts of Maharashtra state in India. Situated close to the hill station Lonavala and northwest of Pune, Lohagad rises to an elevation of above sea level. The fort is connected to the neighboring Visapur for ...

-Visapur fortification.

Location

It is located in

Pune district Pune district (Marathi pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, uɳeː is the most populous district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. The district's population was 9,429,408 in the 2011 census, making it the fourth most populous district amongst I ...

, 5 to 6 km from

Malavli Malavli (Marathi: मळवली) is a town and a hill station in Pune district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is about 55 km away from the city of Pune, 139 km away from the city Mumbai and 39 km from Chinchwad. It is a major ...

Railway station out of which 3 km is steep road. It has an elevation of 1084 meters above sea level. Friends of forts website
It is built on the same plateau as Lohagad.

History

It was built during 1713-1720 CE by

Balaji Vishwanath Balaji Vishwanath Bhat (1662–1720) was the first of a series of hereditary Peshwas hailing from the Bhat family who gained effective control of the Maratha Empire during the 18th century. Balaji Vishwanath assisted a young Maratha Emperor Shah ...

, the first

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, ...

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 ...

. Maharashtra Government Tourism Site
/ref> Visapur fort was built much later than

but the histories of the two forts are closely linked. Sunlit view of Visapur Fort

In 1818, when reducing the Peshwa's forts, the strength of Lohagad and its fame as the treasury of 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 ...

kingdom, caused the English to make special preparations for its attack. A detachment of 380 European and 800 native soldiers, with a battering train, summoned from Konkan, were joined by artillery from Chakan, and two other British battalions. On 4 March 1818, Visapur was attacked and occupied. Making use of its higher elevation and proximity to Lohagad, the British troops set up their cannons on Visapur and bombarded Lohagad, forcing the Marathas to flee. Thus, in 1818, Lohagad-Visapur was taken over by the British in 1818 AD and placed under the command of a Colonel Prother. Considering, the strategic importance of Visapur, both the north (Konkan) and the south (Deccan) gateways were blown up, and except a few huts, nothing was left standing. In contrast, most of Lohagad fort is still intact.

Major Features

Visapur Fort is larger and at a higher elevation than its twin fort-

. Within the fort are caves, cisterns of water, a decorated arch and old houses. These two roofless buildings surrounded by outer or veranda walls said to have once been Government offices. The ruins of a large stone-built house are known as the Peshwa's palace. In addition to a huge carving of

Hanuman Hanuman (; sa, हनुमान, ), also called Anjaneya (), is a Hindu god and a divine '' vanara'' companion of the god Rama. Hanuman is one of the central characters of the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. He is an ardent devotee of Rama and on ...

, there are also several temples dedicated to him scattered all over the place. Nirvana adventures website
/ref> There is a well which local legend says was built by the

Pandavas The Pandavas (Sanskrit: पाण्डव, IAST: Pāṇḍava) refers to the five legendary brothers— Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva—who are the central characters of the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. They are acknowledg ...

. In 1885, near the north wall there was an iron gun ten feet long and of four-inch bore, marked with the Tudor Rose and Crown, flanked by the letters E. R. This is probably a gun of Queen Elizabeth's reign probably taken as bounty from an English ship and presented to the Peshwa by

Kanhoji Angre Kanhoji Angre (Marathi: कान्होजी आंग्रे, Help:IPA/Marathi, anʱod͡ʒiː aːŋɡɾe, also known as Conajee Angria or Sarkhel Angré (August 1669 – 4 July 1729) was a chief of the Maratha Navy in present-day Ind ...

or some other commander of the

Maratha Navy The Maratha Navy was the naval wing of the armed forces of the Maratha Empire, which existed from around mid-17th century to mid-18th century in India. Formative years Historian Sir Jadunath Sarkar noted: In medieval India, the Muslim rul ...

. Like other guns on the fort it has been disabled by breaking off its

trunnions A trunnion (from Old French "''trognon''", trunk) is a cylindrical protrusion used as a mounting or pivoting point. First associated with cannons, they are an important military development. Alternatively, a trunnion is a shaft that positions a ...

. Close to it are the remains of an old Mahadev shrine. Unlike the inner structure, majority of its wall is still intact. At a moderate pace, it takes two hours to walk along the winding Visapoor walls. It is high and strengthened by towers along the west face. In other parts, the wall varies from 3 feet thick fortification, backed by masonry platforms where the slope of the hill is easy, to a mere parapet of dry stone where the plateau ends in a precipice. Two massive bastions still flank the ruined central gate. Visapur fort in monsoon

Gallery

File:Visapoor Walls.jpg, Visapur fort walls from outside File:Last building standing.jpg, Ruins of the Peshwa's Palace, Visapur fort File:Visapur.JPG, Visapur File:Visapur Fort trek way on rainy day.jpg, Trek way near from Lohgad

Nearby attractions

Bhaja Caves Bhaja Caves is a group of 22 rock-cut caves dating back to the 2nd century BC located in the city of Pune, India. The caves are 400 feet above the village of Bhaja, on an important ancient trade route running from the Arabian Sea eastward into th ...

- from Malavli, once home to

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

monks. *

Karla Caves The Karla Caves, Karli Caves, Karle Caves or Karla Cells, are a complex of ancient Buddhist Indian rock-cut caves at Karli near Lonavala, Maharashtra. It is just 10.9 Kilometers away from Lonavala. Other caves in the area are Bhaja Caves, P ...

Lonavala Lonavala (ISO 15919, ISO: Loṇāvaḷā) is a hill station town and a Municipal Council in the Pune district, Maharashtra, India. It is about west of Pune and to the east of Mumbai. It is known for its production of the hard candy ''chikki'' a ...

- , a famous and scenic hill station. * Aamby Valley City - from Lonavala. *

How to reach

The cheapest and convenient way to reach the fort is via railways.How to reach Visapur fort near Mumbai:https://www.india.com/travel/articles/how-to-reach-visapur-fort-an-excellent-monsoon-trek-near-mumbai-for-beginners-3228631/ The nearest railhead to Visapur Fort is Malavli station (approx. 5 km) which is well connected to

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

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...

via local trains. From Malavli station shared auto/taxi are available for the base village of Visapur Fort

References

{{reflist Buildings and structures of the Maratha Empire Forts in Pune district Lonavala-Khandala Buildings and structures in Lonavala-Khandala 1720 establishments in Asia