Pratapgad

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Author : Harshal Joshi
Published: November 4, 2010, 10:31 am

Type : Hill Fort Fort Range : Mahabaleshwar

District : Satara

Height above sea level : 3600 ft. (1100 m)

Difficulty rating : Simple

Base village : -

Appx. time to reach the top : A motorable road takes you to the top.

Visit duration (min.) : 2 days

Water availability : Water available in the shops / stalls.

Food : Hotels are there at the top.

Shelter : Dharmashala's / Hotels. As you go ahead from the statue of Shivaji Maharaj, there is a Maharashtra
Government Rest House. Rooms for accommodating 25 to 30 people are available with prior booking (during
season)

How to reach :
Via Poladpur
Enroute :
to Mahabaleshwar from Poladpur, lies a village 'Wada Kumbroshi'. Pratapgad is situated at about 4
kms from this village. One has to take a right turn from the road to Mahabaleshwar from Poladpur. Since, the
entire stretch of road is asphalted, State-Transport buses take you upto the base of 'Tehalni Buruj,' where there
is a parking bay.
From Mahabaleshwar
'Pratapgad : service is available from Mahabaleshwar.
Darshan' bus

Best time to visit : Any time

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 About :
Recognised as one of the gems in the crown of Swarajya, the PRATAPGAD is situated on the western side of
the famous hill station, Mahabaleshwar. It lies in Satara district of Maharashtra. The route from Poladpur (on
Mumbai-Goa Highway) to Pargaon is called as Parghat, whereas the later portion of the road is called as
Ambenali Ghat. This fort enabled to establish a good control over these Ghat sections. The river Koyna flows
at the foot-hills of this fort. The surrounding of the fort is covered with thick forest which is famous by the
name, 'Jawali'.
This fort was initially recognised as the Bhorpya hill until Shivaji Maharaj completely reconstructed it, which
was later recognised as 'PRATAPGAD'. The construction of this fort was done under supervision of Shivaji
Maharaj's Prime Minister, Moropant Trimbak Pingle. (Prime Minister was recognised as "Peshwe" during
those days. Peshwe was used as 'Title' then).
This fort has got significant historic importance due to the the famous temple of "Bhavani Mata", constructed
by Shivaji Maharaj and the event of Assassination of Afzalkhan on it.
Assassination of Afzalkhan : The wife of Sultan of Vijapur, known as 'Badi Sahebin', used to efficiently
handle all the operations of kingdom of Adilshah. She ordered Afzalkhan to attack Shivaji Maharaj. He was
accompanied by infantry along with elephants & horses. When Afzalkhan (henceforth referred as 'Khan')
reached Wai, he instructed his lawyer, Krishnaji Bhaskar, to arrange a meeting with Shivaji Maharaj.
However, Shivaji Maharaj, who was eventually at Pratapgad, had understood through his detectives that Khan,
in fact, had come with the intention of killing him. Knowing the strength of armed-forces that Khan had along
with him, Maharaj fixed the meeting with Khan at Pratapgad. As a proactive step towards war, Maharaj
stationed Netaji Palkar in the forest of Jawali, Moropant Peshwe in Ghats, Shamrao Nilkanth & Trimbak
Bhaskar in Konkan region and Haibatrao and Balaji Shilmakar in Bacheghodi Ghat. Their respective troops of
soldiers were instructed to come ahead only in the event of war.
A 'SHAMIYANA', the tent, was built for the meeting on the plateau of the fort. It was well decorated with
gold, silver and diamonds. Maharaj was accompanied by two body guards, namely, Jiva Mahala and Sambhaji
Kawji, whereas Khan had Sayyed Banda and other two of his officials with him.
The meeting between Shivaji Maharaj and Afzalkhan took the following itinerary:When Afzalkhan and
Maharaj came in front of each other, Khan spread out his hands in a gesture to embrace Shivaji Maharaj. Khan
had a sturdy and stout built as against Maharaj. After hugging Maharaj, Khan cunningly held Maharaj's neck
firmly in his armpit; took out a dagger and attempted to stab Maharaj on his back. Maharaj was very well
aware of Khan's intentions and hence was wearing body-armor. In addition to it, Maharaj was equally
prepared and had 'Wagh Nakha', the tiger nails hid in his waist-belt. Soon after the brutal attempt of Khan,
Maharaj thronged those tiger nails in Khan's belly and tore his muscles apart. Khan groaned and shouted for
help. Hearing his call, Khan's men rushed ahead with a palaquin, put Khan in it and started to flee away. At
the very moment Sambhaji Kawji arrived at the scene and cut off the legs of those palanquin-bearers carrying
Khan; slit Khan's neck as well. Khan's body guard, Sayyed Banda, too, rushed at the scene with his powerful
weapon, "Patta", however, it was in vain because Jiva Mahala sliced out his hand which was equipped with
weapon.
A signal was given by shooting of cannon-balls to Maharaj's troops, stationed at various positions (as
explained earlier) to move at the war front. A tough war was fought between the duos which ultimately
resulted in the defeat of Khan.
Khan's troops had to pay a very heavy price as against defeat. His top officers, prime ministers, along with
soldiers were slaughtered in the war. Khan had to also loose quite a substantial number of elephants, horses,
cattle and other animals in the battle.
Maharaj, on the contrary, gained a lot during the battle. On his account were registered, about 65 elephants,
4000 horses, 1200 Camels, 2000 cloth-bundles, artillery, jewellery and gold coins.(Courtesy : Sabhasad
Bakhar).

Sightseeing :
Hastakala Kendra
This Hastakala :
Kendra (a retail outlet of handicraft products) is situated enroute from Wada village to
Pratapgad. There is also a refreshment centre located within the campus.

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Tomb
EnrouteoftoAfzalkhan
Pratapgad, : lies the Tomb of Afzalkhan on the left side of the road. Next to Afzalkhan's tomb, lies
the tomb of his faithful body guard, Sayyed Banda. The tomb is looked after by Afzal Memorial Trust.
Tehalni Buruj
This is on (Watch-Tower)
the western : fort. This fortified place is adjacent to the currently existing vehicle parking
side of the
bay. This Watch-tower was used to keep an eye on the enemy in the surrounding area.
Mahadarwaja
A road on the :left side of the Watch-tower takes us to the entrance steps of the fort. Mahadarwaja lies here in
between the two bastions. Cannon can be seen placed at this door. After taking a left turn from this door, two
other doors are visible but they are not in use any more.
Rahat Lake
There are : four lakes on the fort, Rahat lake being the largest among them. On the eastern bastion lie the
total
ponds known as 'Naske Tale' and 'Gode Tale'.
Bhavani
The stoneMandir :
from which Goddess Bhavani Mata's idol is carved has been brought by Shivaji Maharaj with the
help of King Leelasen. This stone was extracted from a mountain situated at the convergence point of three
rivers namely; Trishul Gandaki, Shwet Gandaki and Saraswati. The idol of Bhavani Mata has been carved by
Nepali craftsmen. Shivaji Maharaj worshiped this idol at first on Raigad fort and then later, with the assistance
of Moropant Peshwe, it was permanently established on Pratapgad in 1662 A.D.
Just outside the temple, there are two huge stone pillars having rows of lamps, which are called as
'Deepastambha'. Besides it, there lies an Assembly hall ('Sabhamandap') and inside it, is a 'Ghanta
Rangamandap'.
Infront of the idol, a 'Shivpindi' made of transparent crystal stone can be seen. Apart from this, there is a sword
of the vice-Senapati Hambirrao Mohite, over which his name is engraved along with a sign of '6 Ribits'. (One
ribit was awarded to a person who kills 100 enemy solders).
Cultural Library
Some recently :
established refreshment centers can be seen while moving towards citadel. Within those
establishments, on a higher platform, is situated a cultural library. It displays olden coins, dresses of people of
those days and vintage paintings of Marathi-style. One can also view a 15minutes slide show arranged by the
library officials which gives us information about Pratapgad in brief.
Temple of Lord
This temple lies Hanuman
before the :entrance door of citadel. The idol of Lord Hanuman was established by Samarth
Ramdas Swami.
Sadar,
As youAenter
Meeting Platform
through : of the citadel, you come across an open space. This is called as 'Sadar'.
the door
Important meetings and discussions used to take place on this Sadar. Opposite to this lies the Kedareshwar
Temple.
Statue
As we ofgo Shivaji
ahead fromMaharaj :
Kedareshwar temple, we comes across a huge statue of Shivaji Maharaj mounted on
horse-back with sword in his right hand, raised up towards the sky, and bridle in left hand. This statue has
been created by Shri. Kamat, a craftsman from Mumbai, on 30th November 1957. This statue was unveiled by
our Late Prime Minister Shri Jawaharlal Nehru.
Apart from above mentioned places, there are many other structures, viz., 'Yeshwant Buruj' to the east, 'Surya
Buruj' near Hanuman Temple to the south and besides it lies a secret-doorway, 'Rajpaharyachi Dindi', a place
to keep watch-on to the north of the fort.

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