Madhogarh Fort is a fort located on top of Madhogarh Hill in the Aravalli mountain range, near Madhogarh village, in the

Mahendragarh district Mahendragarh district is one of the 22 districts of Haryana state in northern India. The district occupies an area of 1,899 km² and has a population of 922,088 (2021census). District have 4 Sub-divisions : Narnaul, Mahendragarh, Nangal ...

Haryana Haryana () is a States and union territories of India, state located in the northern part of India. It was carved out after the linguistic reorganisation of Punjab, India, Punjab on 1 November 1966. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with les ...

state in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. It is located from

Mahendragarh Mahendragarh is a city and a municipal committee in Mahendragarh district in the Indian state of Haryana. It is nearly from Gurgaon and comes under National Capital Region (India). Etymology Earlier earlier was known as Kanaud because i ...

's Satnali Chowk on SH27 Mahendragarh-Satnali-Loharu State Highway. In the Madhogarh village, there are several old

haveli A ''haveli'' is a traditional townhouse, mansion, or manor house, in the Indian subcontinent, usually one with historical and architectural significance, and located in a town or city. The word ''haveli'' is derived from Arabic ''hawali'', me ...

s of interest to tourists, built in the vernacular Hindu architecture in the style of Shekhawato havelis.

History

Madhogarh founded by Madho Singh I in the first half of the 18th century, when he placed the area under the control of Balwant Singh. The fort is named after Madho Singh I; "Madhogarh" literally means "the fort of Madho". Around 1755, this area passed from the Rajputs to the

Maratha Empire The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern India, early modern polity in the Indian subcontinent. It comprised the realms of the Peshwa and four major independent List of Maratha dynasties and states, Ma ...

under Maharaja Khande Rao Holkar of Indore when he attacked the independent

Mughal Mughal or Moghul may refer to: Related to the Mughal Empire * Mughal Empire of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries * Mughal dynasty * Mughal emperors * Mughal people, a social group of Central and South Asia * Mughal architecture * Mug ...

chieftain Ismail Beg, Ismail Beg escaped to Madhogarh and established a post near Madhogarh fort. Khande Rao Holkar attacked Madhogargh fort and captured it on 16 February 1792. Ismail Beg escaped and attacked Kanud when the ruling wife of already deceased Nawab Najaf Quli Khan had died. Khande Rao Holkar then attacked Kanud and captured Ismail Beg, imprisoned him at

Agra Fort The Agra Fort (''Qila Agra'') is a historical Mughal fort in the city of Agra, also known as Agra's Red Fort. Mughal emperor Humayun was crowned at this fort in 1530. It was later renovated by the Mughal emperor Akbar from 1565 and the presen ...

and put him to death in 1794. Maratha Maharaj

Mahadaji Shinde Mahadaji Shinde (23 December 1730 – 13 February 1794), later known as Mahadji Scindia or Madhava Rao Scindia, was a Maratha statesman and general who served as the Gwalior State, Maharaja of Gwalior from 1768 to 1794. He was the fifth and the ...

(Scindia) of

Gwalior Gwalior (Hindi: , ) is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; It is known as the Music City of India having oldest Gwalior gharana, musical gharana in existence. It is a major sports, cultural, industrial, and political c ...

had conquered Rania, Fatehabad and

Sirsa Sirsa is a city and a municipal council in Sirsa district in the westernmost region of the Indian state of Haryana, bordering Punjab and Rajasthan. It is located near the Thar Desert, 250 kilometres north-west of New Delhi and 260 kilometers s ...

from governor of Hissar. Haryana came under

. Mahad Ji divided Haryana in four territories: Delhi (Mughal emperor

Shah Alam II Shah Alam II (; 25 June 1728 – 19 November 1806), also known by his birth name Ali Gohar, or Ali Gauhar, was the seventeenth Mughal emperor and the son of Alamgir II. Shah Alam II became the emperor of a crumbling Mughal Empire. His power w ...

, his family and areas surrounding Delhi), Panipat (Karnal, Sonepat, Kurukshetra and Ambala), Hisar (Hisar, Sirsa, Fatehabad, parts of Rohtak), Ahirwal (Gurugram, Rewari, Narnaul, Mahendragarh) and Mewat.

Daulat Rao Scindia Daulat Rao Scindia (1779 – 21 March 1827) also conferred with the title "''The defender of Delhi"'' was the Maratha Maharaja of Gwalior state in central India from 1794 until his death in 1827. His reign coincided with struggles for supremac ...

ceded Haryana on 30 December 1803 under the Treaty of Surji-Anjangaon to

British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

Company rule in India Company rule in India (also known as the Company Raj, from Hindi , ) refers to regions of the Indian subcontinent under the control of the British East India Company (EIC). The EIC, founded in 1600, established its first trading post in India ...

. It is very important from the point of view of tourism, it would be better to go here during the time of rain and winter, it is also called "Mini Musuri" of local area during foggy session. According to the information received from the bujurg people, this fort was built in 16-17 AD and Swai Madho Singh built it for take rest between Jaipur and Delhi, and the village was named Madhogadh in his name. At that time, Madhogarh trade point between Delhi and Jaipur was strong. There are still many havelis of Baniyas (Business men) built below the hill. In which the film also shot titled "Jalpari".

Attractions

Among the numerous forts spread across Haryana, only very few are hill forts. The Madogarh Fort is among those few hill forts of Haryana, hence special. Surrounded by the protective

rampart Rampart may refer to: * Rampart (fortification), a defensive wall or bank around a castle, fort or settlement Rampart may also refer to: * LAPD Rampart Division, a division of the Los Angeles Police Department ** Rampart scandal, a blanket ter ...

, the fort has a palace, a garrison building and a step well. The Madhogarh Palace Car Park inside the fort, in fort of the palace, is reachable by a motorable black-topped road which is 2.6 km from Madhogarh village's bus stop. The rampart is several meter high and it is built along the highest ridge line of the hill. It is made of stone masonry using the in-situ available stones. The rampart has a few feet high continuous

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an upward extension of a wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/brea ...

on top on the outward facing side of the rampart. There are several observation guard towers along the length of the rampart. The Madhogarh Palace is a several story high building, with a 2-story high gateway as the main entrance. The Madhogarh Garrison-cum-storage building is a large square-shaped ruined structure 50 m ariel distance northwest of the palace. It is accessible from the car park in front of the palace, via a 150 meter foot track running along the northern side of the palace. The Madhogarh Step Well, built as the main water supply for the fort, is dependent on the rain water harvesting. The step well has a

ghat Ghat (), a term used in the Indian subcontinent, to refer to the series of steps leading down to a body of water or wharf, such as a bathing or cremation place along the banks of a river or pond, the Ghats in Varanasi, Dhobi Ghat or the Aap ...

, i.e. flight of stairs, leading down to the water. The rampart begins on the western corner of the stepwell. The step well is approximate 100 m ariel distance west of the palace, it is reachable by a 100 m foot track which begins 100 meter before the palace off the left or western side of the motorable road going to the palace. The Madhogarh Ropeway and the Madhogarh Glass Bridge Skywalk are also planned. See also Ropeway s in India and Glass Bridge Skywalk in India.

Architecture

The architecture is of

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

Rajput Rājpūt (, from Sanskrit ''rājaputra'' meaning "son of a king"), also called Thākur (), is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating fro ...

origin. From the perspective of defence, it is hard to access fort and stairs were formed by cutting the rocks in the hills.Sohan Singh Khattar and Reena Kar, 2021
Know Your State Haryana
Arihant Publications, pp 308. It has two portions: an upper section on top of the hill, with a ruined main structure, and a smaller section just below the top of the hill. The fort is surrounded by a high and thick wall around the hill with several

bastions A bastion is a structure projecting outward from the curtain wall of a fortification, most commonly angular in shape and positioned at the corners of the fort. The fully developed bastion consists of two faces and two flanks, with fire from the ...

. Below the sections of the fort, there is a water tank that still stands. The upper complex has a few chambers that appear to be connected to the water tank.

Conservation and further development

The

Government of Haryana Government of Haryana, also known as the State Government of Haryana, or locally as the Haryana Government, is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Haryana and its 22 districts. It consists of an executive, ceremonially led ...

plans to develop an integrated tourist resort incorporating the Madhogarh fort.Haryana govt to give a boost to tourism
/ref> Both Mahendragarh fort and Madhogarh fort are being restored along the lines of

Pinjore Gardens Yadavindra Gardens, also known as Pinjore Gardens, is a historic 17th century garden located in Pinjore city of Panchkula district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Haryana. Panchkula, Panchkula city is nearby it. It is ...

to develop them as the international tourist destination as part of Rewari-Narnaul-Mahendragarh-Madhogarh tourist circuit, and of the INR 100 crore an initial amount of INR 30 crore was already released for the Madhogarh fort in fy2018-19.No dearth of fund to develop tourism
UNI India, 8 Dec 2018.

In popular culture

Owing to its picturesque location, several movies including '' Kaun Kitne Paani Mein'' and '' Jalpari: The Desert Mermaid'' were shot here, as was

Aditya Narayan Aditya Narayan Jha (born 6 August 1987) is an Indian singer, host and actor. He is the son of singer Udit Narayan. He is known for hosting Indian Idol and participating in Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi 9. Personal life Narayan was born t ...

's popular Haryanvi song "git pit git pit".

References

{{Forts of Haryana Forts in Haryana Mahendragarh district Archaeological sites in Haryana Rebuilt buildings and structures in India Tourist attractions in Haryana