Siddhi Military Architecture of the African Diaspora in India-

Comparative and technical aspects

Dr Uday Dokras.PhD Stockholm,SWEDEN

Prof. Dr. Ms Laurence Buzenot,
Docteure en Géographie, Géographer
Part A
With more than 100 unique illustrations( Maps at article end)

INTRODUCTION Forts and Its Features

Famous for its architecture, painting, language, and literature numerous
structures were constructed in different architectural styles in India. First were
the forts, palaces, and gateways which were constructed for safety
and protection. The second were temples, mosques, gardens, etc. for purpose of
divine proximity The structures were of two kinds.
Introduction to Forts
India is considered as a land of the forts. There had been many leaders in India
who were brave and skilful military commanders. They had constructed many
castles or forts showing high level of engineering and architecture.
Feature of Forts
Forts of India are famous for their style, design, and material used like granite or
red sandstone. This style of architecture is known as the Corbelled style. The
important feature of architecture was the use of the arch, the dome, and the
minaret. To decorate the buildings, geometrical designs, flowers and Arabic
calligraphy.

Janjira to LEFT—RSTV. Showing location in Maharashtra State, India

1. Building Materials
The materials used for constructing forts differ from fort to fort and region to
region. Stone was extensively used and gypsum was used for plastering
buildings. Lime plaster was reserved for places that need to be secured against
water leakage in roofs, canals, and drains.

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2. Walls
The walls of the forts were very thick and were made to look higher from the
outside than the inside. A wall could be an earthen rampart faced with stone on
both sides. They were used Lime mortar as a binding material for construction.
The walls were decorated and their height was 36m -40m and width - 21m- 25m.

3. Gate
Fort gates forts were much decorated, often tall and wide. The length of the gate
was app 25 ft and width 13 ft. The gate of the fort had steel spikes to protect it
from elephants. Basically these gates had a smaller small gate inbuilt in them for
passage of the normal activity. The large gate was opened for the King

4. Burj (Bastion) & Hidden Door of the Janjira RIGHT ABOVE

A bastion or bulwark 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 flanks being able to protect the curtain wall and the adjacent
bastions. The shape of the bastion is semi-circular. It consists of three stories
which having solid blocks of granite firmly cemented together or may be bound
with iron clamps. The Weight of blocks was in the tons. There were some guns
on the bastion which were used for defense purpose.

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5. Gardens
Gardens in forts were beautiful creations. Large Gardens with water fountains
and canals in north India were laid by many rulers. These gardens were placed
within rectangular wall enclosure and divided into four quarters by artificial
channels.
6. Palace
Spread over a vast land of more than 45 acres, Siddi Palace, also known as
Nawab Palace. With a distinct architectural style representing a mix of Gothic
as well as Mughal approaches, the Siddi Palace is one of a kind. It is still
owned by the descendants of the Nawab of Janjira. Inside the forts, there were
palacel which were beautifully decorated with relief carving, floral inlay work with
precious and semi-precious stones, and calligraphy. The royal palace was built
for the emperor and their families.

Sheesh Mahal, Moti Mahal are some examples of palaces. In Janjira there is also
a palace for the residence of the higher Ups.
7. Water Supply
Numbers of Baolis were built during the medieval times. Baolis are step-wells to
obtain underground water. It was an intelligent and durable technique for
obtaining water. Baolis had a unique and beautiful architectural style with
impressive appearances. Earthen pipes were used for water supply. These pipes
would have been used to carry water to different places in the palace. Internal
Ponds, wells, small lakes are also present.

8. Worship places
In forts, there were places of worship. In Mughal forts there were mosques and in
Hindu forts there were temples. Temples have marble halls, pillars, carved
ceiling, and roof. The architectural wonder of the medieval period was built to
showcase power and wealth.
Who Designs Forts?
The rulers design Forts and play a major part in seeing that their ideas are put
into reality.Therefore if one takes the modern day example of DUBAI. See our
paper-The Client as the Final Arbiter of Architectural Creations. Here in Dubai
all structures are personally approved by the Sheikh and his team. Same as in
Forts. Therefore, when the nazir of Ahmednagar wanted a Fort built that was
impregnable he had in mind a Sea Fort and he gave this task to Malik Ambar,
The Siddhi (or of African descent ) to carry out his VISION.
The western Indian state of Maharashtra is home to over 350
majestic forts, and some of them have been strategically built in the midst of
the Arabian Sea, referred to as 'Sea Forts. The fort lies on a rocky island just off
the coast of Malvan which is accessible by a boat from mainland. The district
is named after the fort of Sindhudurg which means 'Fort in the Sea'. A sea
fort is (in its classic form) a fort completely surrounded by water by virtue of
being off a coast. It may be a fortified island, built on a large part of an island
or a tidal island, a construction built on the sea bed, or consist of steel towers
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erected on the seabed. The builders have sought to command a sea lane or
block a potential landing place. Being surrounded by water impedes a land
attack.
Murud is a Konkani word, which probably refers to the Shahi of Ahmednagar,
who wanted this fort to be one of his strongholds. Janjira is a colloquial and a
more localized form of the Arabic word Jazeera that means island.Example is
the Omani TV chanel Al Jazeera.

Murud Janjira fort was attacked by the Marathas, some say 30 times, the
British, and the Portuguese, yet remained unconquered. The Siddis were so
powerful here that they established their own sultanate of Janjira here.

Maratha Ruler Sambhaji attempted to unsuccessfully storn Janjira

Janjira State was a princely state in India during the British Raj. Its rulers
were a Sidi dynasty of Habesha descent and the state was under the
suzerainty of the Bombay Presidency.
Janjira State was located on the Konkan coast in the present-day Raigad
district of Maharashtra. The state included the towns
of Murud and Shrivardhan, as well as the fortified island of Murud-Janjira,
just off the coastal village of Murud, which was the capital and the residence of
the rulers. The state had an area of 839 km2, not counting Jafrabad, and a
population of 110,389 inhabitants in 1931.
Jafrabad, or Jafarabad state was a dependency of the Nawab of Janjira State
located 320 km to the NNW.

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 Map of the Kingdom of Janjira from 1896

The Legends of Janjira Fort: Standing tall and proud, forts and palaces of
India are the living legends that stand testimony to a bygone era of indulgence,
elegance and romance.

Built sometimes as a mark of victory and at other times as a defense

mechanism and yet some times for sheer extravagance and pomp; forts and
palaces in India have been the prime jewels of the country’s history. In the race
of heritage forts and palaces, Maharashtra State (of Today) on West Coar of
India unarguably dominates over any other state such was the penchant of
Maratha warrior princes with spectacular, grandiose and elegant structures.
Steeped in history dictated by lore of countless battles that tell us the story of
valor, romance, chivalry and also tragedies that befell this region, the forts are
truly the living legends of North India.

There is another legend to all forts- the story of the fort itself. In view of the
lack of written records, people living in or around these forts tell stories of
grandiose of bravery – not necessarily true.

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The Murud Janjira is One of the strongest marine forts in India, the Murud
Janjira is an oval shaped structure near the port town of Murud. Now in ruins,
the magnificent fort still has 19 bastions left around. Being built in the 15th
century by a Maratha fisherman to protect his people from pirates.

During its construction days, the Murud-Janjira fort was equipped with all
the necessary facilities like mosques, quarters for officers and natural fresh
water lakes. The design of the fort was also kept unique as the gates are
embedded with Ashok Chakras.
Legend 1. Ram Rao Patil or Itbarrao was an Admiral of the Ahmadnagar
Navy and king of Kolis and Janjira. He built and fortified the Janjira Island. He
is credited with building the Janjira with permission of Sultan. But later he
refused to obey the orders of the Sultan. In 1489, The Ahmadnagar was
attacked and sacked and the new ruler appointed his new admiral called Piram
Khan and ordered to capture Janjira from Ram Rao Patil as Ram Rao Patil was
acting like a King on his own in the Janjira Fort.
Legend 2. Piram Khan marched from Surat but would not dare to attack
at Patil as Janjira was difficult to capture. So made plans to enter in to janjira.
Piram Khan and his Afro descent team members of Muslim Siddi mercenaries
disguised as merchants and requested to the Patil for keep their three hundred
large boxes containing silk and wine at island safe, and the request was
granted. After that, Piram Khan thanked him and gave a him alcohol (wine).
When all of the soldiers and Ram Rao Patil were drunk, he attacked at Janjira
and captured it. In the century that followed, the rulers put themselves under
the overlordship of the Sultanate of Bijapur. During the seventeenth and
eighteenth century Janjira successfully resisted the repeated attacks of
the Maratha Empire.

Legend 3. The Architect of Janjira – The Malik of Deccan

Solid Rock Fortress built by Malik Ambar the Malik (owner) of Deccan.:
According to the third legend, The origin of this majestic fort can be traced
down to the fifteenth century when some local fishermen of Rajapuri
constructed a small wooden fort on a huge rock to protect themselves and their
families from the pirates. However, the Nizam Shahi Sultan of Ahmednagar
wanted to capture the fort purely for strategic reasons, and when his general
Piram Khan captured it. Malik Ambar- his spokesperson who was also an
Abyssinian regent of Siddi origin- decided to construct a solid rock fortress in
place of the original wooden garrison. This fort was originally called Jazeera
Mahroob Jazeera.

In Hinduism, Siddhis (Sanskrit: सिद्धि siddhi; fulfillment, accomplishment) are

material, paranormal, supernatural, or otherwise magical powers, abilities, and
attainments that are the products of yogic advancement through sādhanās
such as meditation and yoga. The first Siddis are thought to have arrived

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in India in 628 AD at the Bharuch port. Several others followed with the
first Arab Islamic conquest of the subcontinent in 712 AD.[18] The latter group
are believed to have been soldiers with Muhammad bin Qasim's Arab army,
and were called Zanjis.
Some Siddis escaped slavery to establish communities in forested areas, and
some also established the small Siddi principalities of Janjira State on Janjira
Island and Jafarabad State in Kathiawar as early as the twelfth century. A
former alternative name of Janjira was Habshan (i.e., land of the Habshis). In
the Delhi Sultanate period prior to the rise of the Mughals in India, Jamal-ud-
Din Yaqut was a prominent former Siddi slave who was appointed by Razia
Sultana (1235–1240 CE) as master of the royal stables. It is speculated that he
may also have been her lover, but the contemporary sources provide no
evidence of this.
Siddis were also brought as slaves by the Deccan Sultanates. Several former
slaves rose to high ranks in the military and administration, the most
prominent of which was Malik Ambar.
Later, the Siddi population was increased by Bantu peoples from Southeast
Africa who were brought to the Indian subcontinent as slaves by
the Portuguese. Most of these migrants were or else became Muslims, while a
small minority became Hindu. The Nizam of Hyderabad also employed African-
origin guards and soldiers.
Harris (1971) provides a historical survey of the eastward dispersal of slaves
from Southeast Africa to places like India. Hamilton (1990) argues that Siddis
in South India are a significant social group whose histories, experiences,
cultures, and expressions are integral to the African Diaspora and thus, help
better understand the dynamics of dispersed peoples. More recent focused
scholarship argues that although Siddis are numerically a minority, their
historic presence in India for over five hundred years, as well as their self-
perception, and how the broader Indian society relates to them, make them a
distinct Bantu/Indian. Historically, Siddis have not existed only within binary
relations to the nation state and imperial forces. They did not simply succumb
to the ideologies and structures of imperial forces, nor did they simply rebel
against imperial rule. The Siddi are recognized as a scheduled tribe in 3 states
and 1 union territory: Goa, Gujarat, Karnataka and Daman and Diu.

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Flag of the Siddis from Murud-Janjira, an important vassal of the Mughal Empire.

Malik Ambar (1548 – 13 May 1626) was a Siddi military leader and prime
minister of the Ahmadnagar Sultanate in the Deccan region of India.
Born in the Adal Sultunate, in present-day Ethiopia, Malik was sold as a child
by his parents and brought to India as a slave. While in India he created a
mercenary force numbering up to 1500 men. It was based in the Deccan region
and was hired by local kings. Malik became a popular Prime Minister of
the Ahmadnagar Sultanate, showing administrative acumen. He is also
regarded as a pioneer in guerilla warfare in the region. He is credited with
carrying out a revenue settlement of much of the Deccan, which formed the
basis for subsequent settlements. He is a figure of veneration to
the Siddis of Gujarat. He humbled the might of the Mughals and Adil Shah of
Bijapur and raised the low status of the Nizam Shah.
Malik Ambar was born in 1548 as Chapu, a birth-name[ in Kabmbata,
Southern region of modern Ethiopia or Harar, Adal Sultanate. Mir Qasim Al
Baghdadi, one of his slave owners eventually converted Chapu to Islam and
gave him the name Ambar, after recognizing his superior intellectual qualities.

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Ambar is believed to be Oromo descent while other sources claim he was from
the Maya tribe.
Between the 14th and 17th centuries, the Christian Ethiopian Empire (led by
the Solomonic dynasty) and adjacent Muslim states gathered much of their
slaves from non-Abrahamic communities inhabiting regions
like Kambata, Damot and Hadya, which were located on the southern flanks of
their territory. Malik Ambar was among the people who were converted to
Islam, and later dispatched abroad to serve as a warrior.[3] Both the Solomonic
dynasty and the Adal Sultanate were devastated after two decades of war with
each other. According to the Futuhat-i `Adil Shahi, Malik Ambar was sold into
slavery by his parents. He ended up in al-Mukha in Yemen, where he was sold
again for 20 ducats and was taken to the slave market in Baghdad, where he
was sold a third time to the Qadi al-Qudat of Mecca and again in Baghdad to
Mir Qasim al-Baghdadi, who eventually took him to Deccan Plateau. He was
described by the Dutch merchant Pieter van den Broecke as, "a black kafir
from Abyssinia with a stern Roman face.
Malik Ambar was then purchased by Chengiz Khan, a former Habshi slave who
served as the peshwa or chief minister of the Sultanate of Ahmadnagar. Once
his master died, Malik Ambar was freed by his master’s wife. He got married,
and after getting freed, Ambar briefly served the Sultan of Bijapur and gained
the title “Malik” during this time. But Ambar quit this service after citing
insufficient support before entering service in the Nizam Shahi Army.
Malik Ambar was the regent of the Nizamshahi dynasty of Ahmednagar from
1607 to 1627. During this period he increased the strength and power
of Murtaza Nizam Shah II and raised a large army. He raised a cavalry which
grew from 150 to 7000 in a short period of time and revitalized the
Ahmadnagar sultanate by appointing puppet sultans to repel Mughal attacks
from the North. By 1610, his army grew to include 10,000 Habshis and 40,000
Deccanis to counter the Mughal emperor Jahangir's attempts to take over the
kingdom.

Flag of Janjira to LEFT/ Portrait of the Nizam Shahs/ Malik Ambar

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Malik Ambar changed the capital from Paranda to Junnar and founded a new
city, Khadki which was later on changed to Aurangabad by the
Emperor Aurangzeb when he invaded Deccan around 1658 to 1707.
Malik Ambar is said to be one of the proponents of guerrilla warfare in the
Deccan region. Malik Ambar assisted Shah Jahan wrestle power in Delhi from
his stepmother, Nur Jahan, who had ambitions of seating her son-in-law on
the throne. Malik Ambar had also restored some credibility to the Sultans of
Ahmadnagar, who had been subdued by the earlier Mughals (Akbar had
annexed Ahmadnagar).[ However, he was defeated later when Shah Jahan led a
massive army against the dwindling Ahmednagar. Later Malik Ambar offered
full control of Berar and Ahmadnagar to the Mughal as a sign of surrender.

Malik Ambar's Tomb 1860s Khuldabad

He died in 1626 at the age of 77. Malik Ambar had by his Siddi wife, Bibi
Karima two sons; Fateh Khan and Changiz Khan and two daughters. His tomb
lies in Khuldabad, near the shrine of the famous sufi saint Zar Zari Baksh.
Legacy: There are conflicting perspectives on Ambar's long-term impact in
Deccan, and its surrounding Indian states. Some credit the former slave with
creating a long-lasting legacy of Africans rising to power in the eastern regions
of the world, namely India.
Others agree more with historians like Richard Eaton. He cites Ambar's
military prowess as the reason he rose to such influence during his life, but
claims that a string of decisive defeats at the end of his career instigated
distrust and resentment amongst those in his close administration. All claim
Ambar's journey is an impressive story of success, and gave African's
representation in India for a short while, but also believe his lack of positive
leadership in the final years of his tenure prevented him from solidifying his
influence.

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 Regardless of his posthumous impact on the Deccan, and Indian states
generally, it cannot be disputed Ambar was an avid supporter of education and
a patron of the arts. Historians Joseph E. Harris and Chand cite Ambar's
patron ship of the arts and learning as a shining achievement of his tenure as
Malik of Deccan.
Patron of Architecture: Malik Ambar cherished strong love and ability for
architecture. Aurangabad was Ambar's architectural achievement and creation.
Malik Ambar the founder of the city was always referred to by harsh names by
Sultan Jahangir. In his memoirs, he never mentions his name without
prefixing epithets like wretch, cursed fellow, Habshi, Ambar Siyari, black
Ambar, and Ambar Badakhtur. Some historians believe that those words came
out of frustration as Malik Ambar had resisted the powerful Mughals and kept
them away from Deccan."
Foundation of Aurangabad
He founded/inhabited the city of Khirki in 1610.[31] After his death in 1626, the
name was changed to Fatehpur by his son and heir Fateh Khan. When
Aurangzeb, the Mughal Emperor invaded Deccan in the year 1653, he made
Fatehpur his capital and renamed it as Aurangabad. Since then it is known as
Aurangabad. Two imperial capitals Viz. ‘Pratisthana’ (Paithan) i.e. the capital
of Satavahanas (2nd BC to 3rd AD) and Devagiri – Daulatabad the capital of
Yadavas and Muhammad bin Tughluq are located within the limits
of Aurangabad District.
Aurangabad canal system
"Malik Ambar is especially famous for the Nahr or "Neher", the canal water
supply system of the city called Khadki now known as Aurangabad. Malik
Ambar completed the Neher within fifteen months, spending a nominal sum of
two and a half lakh Rupiyahs. This city is situated on the banks of Kham, a
small perennial stream which takes its rise in the neighbouring hills. The
Canal was an impressive engineering feat as it consisted of a 7 feet deep tunnel
large enough for a man to walk through. The Canal had 140 manholes and it
worked efficiently without the need for any maintenance or cleaning for 321
years until it finally needed cleaning in 1931.
Architecture and Art of the Siddhis: Under the reigns of successive rulers of
the dynasty, architecture and art flourished in the kingdom. The earliest extant
school of painting in the Deccan sultanates is from Ahmadnagar. Several
palaces, such as the Farah Bakhsh Bagh, the Hasht Bihisht Bagh, Lakkad
Mahal were built, as were tombs, mosques and other buildings. Many forts of
the Deccan, such as the fort of Junnar (later
renamed Shivneri), Paranda, Ausa, Dharur, Lohagad, etc. were greatly
improved under their reign. Daulatabad, which was their secondary capital,
was also heavily fortified and constructed in their reign. Literature was heavily
patronised in the kingdom, as seen through manuscripts such as the Tarif-i
Husain Shah Badshah-i Dakan. Sanskrit scholarship was also given a boost

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under their rule, as demonstrated by the works of Sabaji Pratap[19] and
Bhanudatta. The city of Ahmadnagar, founded by the Nizam Shahs, was
described as being comparable to Cairo and Baghdad, within a few years of its
construction. It was modelled along the great cities of the Persianate world,
given the Shi'i leanings of the dynasty.

JANJIRA FORT

Part B
Technical Aspects of Coastal Construction of a large
Structure
Monsoons: Monsoons in Maharashtra are particularly troublesome, Rainfall
starts normally in the first week of June. July is the wettest month in
Maharashtra, while August too gets substantial rain. Monsoon starts its retreat
with the coming of September from the state.

Winter: Cool dry spell, with clear skies gentle breeze and pleasant weather
prevails from November to February. But the eastern part of Maharashtra
sometimes receives some rainfall. Temperature varies between 12°C-34°C
during this season.

Rainfall: Rainfall in Maharashtra differs from region to region. In the region

where the fort is located,Thane, Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts,
receive heavy rains of an average of 200 centimeters annually. But the districts
of Nasik, Pune, Ahmednagar, Dhule, Jalgaon, Satara, Sangli, Solapur and
parts of Kolhapur get rainfall less than 50 centimeters. Rainfall particularly
concentrates to the Konkan and Sahyadrian Maharashtra. Central
Maharashtra receives less rainfall. However, under the influence of the Bay of
Bengal, eastern Vidarbha receives good rainfall in July, August and September.

The Janjira lies in the path of the South West Monsoon and close to the
mainland Off Raigad District of Maharashtra. It being a rocky basalt island out
crop in the Arabian sea the monsoon rain bring fresh water that gets trapped
in the depressions in the rocks and the fissures thereby accumulating in the
bowl called the pond. Unfortunately this water may have been potable during
monsoon but rapidly becomes stagnant and unpotable due to degradation of
biomass. Sea water incursion is not prevalent due to the rocky nature of
subsoil that in impervious to the sea and the islands pond may be on a higher
point above Mean Sea Level. July marks the beginning of Monsoon season
in Murud Janjira and it lasts till September. Moderate rainfall is experienced

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by the region in the months of July and September. The summers
in Murud Janjira are hot and dry and are generally avoided by the tourists.
Construction work must have been stopped in these time-lines. Also food and
necessary items coming by small boats would find it difficylt to reach Janjira
during that time unkless the passage was used.
Climate change threatens coastal areas, which are already stressed by
human activity, pollution, invasive species, and storms. Sea level
rise could erode and inundate coastal ecosystems and eliminate wetlands.
Warmer and more acidic oceans are likely to disrupt coastal and marine
ecosystems. Solution. Moisture-laiden winds provide more rainfall to
the coastal parts due to being situated by
the coast and receiving the rain bearing winds, but the interior get
negligible rainfall due to being the almost dry winds without moisture. coastal
flooding?

The main cause is sea level rise, which in turn increases the magnitude
of coastal floods, such that the sea more frequently overtops
existing coastal protection or natural barriers.

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Monsoon in that region

Raigad area(LEFT) Murud Janjira to RIGHT

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Already, coastal erosion costs heavy for coastal property loss, including
damage to structures and loss of land. Coastal erosion is the process by which
local sea level rise, strong wave action, and coastal flooding wear down or carry
away rocks, soils, and/or sands along the coast. The oceans receive
just over their share, percentage-wise, of the world's precipitation, about 70
percent. The remaining 30 percent of precipitation falls on the continents.
Some areas of the world receive far more precipitation than others.

There are four main processes of coastal erosion. These are corrasion,
abrasion, hydraulic action and attrition. Corrasion is when destructive waves
pick up beach material (e.g. pebbles) and hurl them at the base of a cliff.

The tides-- Predicting tides is very important for shipping and travel across
oceans. Ships decide which channels they may navigate by calculating their
own weight, the depth of the ocean and an area’s tidal range. Errors in
navigation can strand ships along shores or on sand banks. Cargo can sit
and spoil while waiting for a tide. Since the moon is closer to our planet than
the sun, it exerts a stronger gravitational pull on us.High and low tides are
caused by the moon. The moon's gravitational pull generates something called
the tidal force. The tidal force causes Earth—and its water—to bulge out on the
side closest to the moon and the side farthest from the moon. These bulges of
water are high tides.We have 2 tides per day This occurs because the moon
revolves around the Earth in the same direction that the Earth is rotating on
its axis. Since the Earth rotates through two tidal “bulges” every
lunar day, we experience two high and two low tides every 24 hours and 50
minutes. Tides are one of the most reliable phenomena in the world. As the sun

15
rises in the east and the stars come out at night, we are confident that the
ocean waters will regularly rise and fall along our shores.

RAINFALL(BELOW)

Murad annual rainfall and temperatures( above)

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At HIGH TIDE steps of the Door are covered by water

Tides are very long-period waves that move through the oceans in response to
the forces exerted by the moon and sun. Tides originate in the oceans and
progress toward the coastlines where they appear as the regular rise and fall of
the sea surface.

When the highest part, or crest, of the wave reaches a particular location,
high tide occurs; low tide corresponds to the lowest part of the wave, or its
trough. The difference in height between the high tide and the low tide is called
the tidal range. Tides are one of the most reliable phenomena in the world. As
the sun rises in the east and the stars come out at night, we are confident that
the ocean waters will regularly rise and fall along our shores.

Tides are very long-period waves that move through the oceans in response to
the forces exerted by the moon and sun. Tides originate in the oceans and
progress toward the coastlines where they appear as the regular rise and fall of
the sea surface.

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When the highest part, or crest, of the wave reaches a particular location, high
tide occurs; low tide corresponds to the lowest part of the wave, or its trough.
The difference in height between the high tide and the low tide is called the
tidal range. The area of the fortm is less than 10 meters above sea level. These
impervious surfaces prohibit water from seeping into the ground and instead
redirect it to storm sewers and local creeks, which can lead to localized
flooding. In many cases, the flood water overwhelms stormwater systems of the
fort. Flood-related closures of the Main door not only interrupt the flow of daily
transportation, but also impact the safety of responders living therein.
Increased water levels can cause instability of the foundation elements and be
washed away – increasing the potential for human injury and fatalities.

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 Murud Beach in Monsoon

Coastal flooding: Flooding of the base of the fort and its foundation occurs
during high tide. Coastal flooding normally occurs when dry and low-lying land
is submerged by seawater, The range of a coastal flooding is a result of the
elevation of floodwater that penetrates the inland which is controlled by
the topography of the coastal land exposed to flooding.[1][2] Flood damage
modelling was limited to local, regional or national scales. However, with the
presence of climate change and an increase in the population rates, flood
events have intensified and called for a global interest in finding out different

19
methods with both spatial and temporal dynamics. Today we know that
the cumulative effect of these floods are comparable to more devastating events
such as Hurricane In other words, nuisance floods are considered a cumulative
hazard. Since nuisance floods are not considered disasters but building a Fort
on the rock in the middle of the sea is a task known to few.
Fisherman;s role: There is a tale that when the Ahmadnagar Kings wanted to
build a marine fort they were searching for ideas when a fisherman from the
Murud village suggested that it be built on a large rock in the niddle of the
oceas. As montioned earlier some structures were already built there and it
was a question of according legitimacy to the construction of a mush solid
structure.

Weathering: The coastal areas of the Fort are opened to weathering and
erosion by the effects of the monsoon rains due to the absence of protective
embankment by rocky hills or mountain ranges.

As a result of this Environmental influences over the centuries, the gap

between the Fort and land-line has considerably widened from it's original
position and it's presumed that the Fort was constructed in the middle of the
sea.

OF THE BUILDING ITSELF

A fortification as a fort is properly called is a construction designed for the

defence 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 ("to
make").
From very early history to modern times, defensive walls have often been
necessary for cities to survive in an ever-changing world of invasion and
conquest. Some settlements in the Indus Valley Civilization were the first small
cities to be fortified. In ancient Greece, large stone walls had been built
in Mycenaean Greece, such as the ancient site of Mycenae (famous for the huge
stone blocks of its 'cyclopean' walls). A Greek phrourion was a fortified
collection of buildings used as a military garrison, and is the equivalent of
the Roman castellum or English fortress. These constructions mainly served
the purpose of a watch tower, to guard certain roads, passes, and borders.
Though smaller than a real fortress, they acted as a border guard rather than a
real strongpoint to watch and maintain the border.
Coastal defence (or defense) and coastal fortification are measures taken to
provide protection against military attack at or near a coastline (or
other shoreline), for example, fortifications and coastal artillery. Because an
invading enemy normally requires a port or harbour to sustain operations,
such defences are usually concentrated around such facilities, or places where
20
such facilities could be constructed. Coastal artillery fortifications generally
followed the development of land fortifications, usually incorporating land
defences; sometimes separate land defence forts were built to protect coastal
forts. Through the middle 19th century, coastal forts could be bastion
forts, star forts, polygonal forts, or sea forts, the first three types often with
detached gun batteries called "water batteries". Coastal defence weapons
throughout history were heavy naval guns or weapons based on them, often
supplemented by lighter weapons. In the late 19th century separate batteries of
coastal artillery replaced forts in some countries; in some areas these became
widely separated geographically through the mid-20th century as weapon
ranges increased. The amount of landward defence provided began to vary by
country from the late 19th century; by 1900 new US forts almost totally
neglected these defences.
Booms were also usually part of a protected harbor's defences. A boom or
a chain (also boom defence, harbour chain, river chain, chain boom, boom
chain or variants) is an obstacle strung across a navigable stretch of water to
control or block navigation.
In modern times they usually have civil uses, such as to prevent access to a
dangerous river channel. But, especially historically, they have been used
militarily, with the goal of denying access to an enemy's ships: a modern
example is the anti-submarine net.
Booms have also been used to force passing vessels to pay a toll.

Left- Siege of Londonderry boom/Capturing Damiate RIGHT

The word littoral may be used both as a noun and as an adjective. It derives
from the Latin noun litus, litoris, meaning "shore". (The doubled tt is a late-
medieval innovation, and the word is sometimes seen in the more classical-
looking spelling litoral.)
The littoral zone or nearshore is the part of a sea, lake, or river that is close to
the shore. In coastal environments, the littoral zone extends from the high water

21
mark, which is rarely inundated, to shoreline areas that are permanently submerged.
The littoral zone always includes this intertidal zone, and the terms are often used
interchangeably. However, the meaning of littoral zone can extend well beyond the
intertidal zone. The use of the term also varies from one part of the world to another,
and between different disciplines. For example, military commanders speak of the
littoral in ways that are quite different.

Littoral
In littoral warfare, coastal defence counteracts naval offence, such as naval
artillery, naval infantry (marines), or both. Sea forts are completely surrounded
by water – if not permanently, then at least at high tide (i.e. they are tidal
islands).
Unlike most coastal fortifications, which are on the coast, sea forts are not.
Instead, they are off the coast on islands, artificial islands, or are specially built
structures. Some sea forts, like Janjira, were within harbours in proximity to
the coast, but due to years of erosion the gap between the rock island and the
shore has widened; but most are at some distance off the coast.
Some completely occupy small islands; others, are on artificial islands built up
on shoals. Fort Louvois 1is on a built-up island, 400 meters (1,312 ft) from the
shore, and connected to it by a causeway that high tide completely submerses.

22
The most elaborate sea fort is Murud-Janjira, which is so extensive that one
might truly call it a sea fortress.

FRENCH Fort Louvois, which is known locally as Fort Chapus or Fort du Chapus, is
a fortification built between 1691 and 1694, during the reign of Louis XIV, on the
Chapus islet, and is about 400 metres (1,300 ft) offshore in the town of Bourcefranc-
le-Chapus in the department of Charente-Maritime, France.

Seaborne assaults: Rather than the beach assault of modern amphibious

operations, seaborne assaults of the classical and medieval age more often took
the form of raiders sailing up river and landing well inland of the coast. Prior to
the invention of naval artillery that could sink hostile ships, the most that
coastal defence could do was act as an early warning system, that could alert
local naval or ground forces of the impending attack. For example, in the late
Roman period the Saxon Shore was a system of forts at the mouths of
navigable rivers, and watch towers along the coast of Britannia and Gaul.

23
The Fort has many towers and turrets that were used to keep guns and
cannons. It is believed that a fort had a total of 572 canons but now only
three.We discuss the canonary later on.

Once inside the Janjira fort, you shall be able to see beautiful water tanks,
impressive tombs, and immaculate stone structures. A beautifully carved
sculpture of a tiger capturing six elephants with its claws greets you at the
entrance. Venture further inside, and you will see an entire arched gate flanked
with formidable motifs of animals. The doorway to the west is called the Darya
Darwaza, literally meaning the gate to the waters, and it opens into the sea.
This Fort was built by Malik Ambar.The Full description of the fort is given in
our earlier article Janjira Fort the Siddhi Architecture of India

CONSTRUCTION ON ROCKS

It is not too hard to build on rocks unless you need to blast. There is a
unique relationship between water and rock. Seawater penetrates topsoil and
starts to head into the ground. Normally rainwater penetrates topsoil and
starts to head down into the ground. But depending on the subsoil makeup
and depth to bedrock the water tends to begin to travel sideways or downslope
along the contact zone between the soil and bedrock. But here we are in the
middle of an ocean so we need to have foundation drainage system that collects
this water as it gets close to the foundation and then channels it away from
the structure.

A poor design will let the water to collect on the footing slab later seeping into
the basement, if any; if not it will climb up the stones. Therefore the builder
must normally keep the footing away from the solid rock so a trench or sluice
can be created that will capture and channel the water. In this case we are on
rock itself therefore the base will have to be made stronger and wider the take
the impact of the impending moisture.

One Foot Rule

Today the footing of the foundation is kept at least one foot away from the side
of the excavated hole giving room to place a drain pipe alongside the poured or
cast-concrete footing. This is then covered with gravel. The foundation walls
need to be waterproofed, not just damproofed. Damproofing is just a spray
coating of hot asphalt. It does a great job of stopping water vapor passing
through the foundation walls, but if the concrete foundation cracks, the thin
asphalt coating will not bridge the crack.

Membrane Bridges Cracks

Waterproofing foundation systems are designed to deal with foundation cracks.
How this was done in the olden days was by using Caco3 or calcium carbonate.

24
Deep Foundation
The foundation hole must not be dug too deep and set the structure too far
into the ground. It must be above the grade line around the structure. A
mystery has puzzled historians since the 18 th century, when a survey in the
Scottish Highlands found an ancient fort with walls made from stones that
had been melted together. Soon 200 in Europe, with 70 in Scotland were
found with the same phenomena.
How did they manage to heat entire stone walls to 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit
(1,100 degrees Celsius)? And why did they do it, when melting the stones
appeared to weaken the fortifications? These “vitrified” forts—like Stonehenge
and the Egyptian pyramids—have inspired theories. Laboratory tests
conducted by placing samples of the rocky building material inside a box
furnace to mimic the Iron Age blaze discovered that while intense heat
weakened the individual stones, it transformed the mortar holding them
together into a dense glass substance that strengthened the overall
structure.

Vitrification
For decades, archaeologists believed that vitrification was an act of
destruction, not construction. That perception stems from an audacious
experiment conducted in 1937 by archaeologists V. Gordon Childe and
Wallace Thorneycroft. They oversaw the construction of a model stone fort,
measuring 12 feet long and six feet high.During their studies of the hill forts,
the archaeologists had found “casts of pieces of timber” and carbonized
pieces of wood within the “vitrified masses.” This inspired them to place
wooden timbers between the stones when building their model structure.
(The design, they noted, was also similar to one described by Caesar during
his military campaign in ancient Gaul.)They ignited the timbers and found
that the heat they produced was sufficient to melt the surrounding stone
bricks. However, the walls became unstable and collapsed. Ralston believed
the fire damage was deliberately caused by invading armies. To prove it, a
model fort wall was built, with a huge pile of brushwood leaning against it.It
is believed that the stones of Janjira were vetrified as above. Now let us
discuss it as a fortification:
In a study of Mineralogical, Chemical, and Thermal Characterizations of Historic
Lime Plasters of Thirteenth–Sixteenth-century Daulatabad Fort, India, M. Singh
and S Vinodh Kumar from the project-Studies in Conservation -Analysis and
Characterization of lime plasters of ancient Indian monuments found that
found that western India hematite instead of crushed bricks was identified as
admixture in thirteenth–sixteenth-century CE Mughal masonry lime works of
Daulatabad Fort. On examining the outer/inner coat plasters from different
locations of the fort for morphological, mineralogical, chemical, and basic
physical properties by optical microscopy, sieve analysis, X-ray fluorescence, X-
ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy,
SEM-EDX, and thermal analyzer; the plaster was dominantly made of micritic

25
calcite and aggregate, incorporation of gypsum in the outer and inner coats
and probably acted as a second binder. Cannabis sativa was mixed in the
plaster, pointing to the knowledge of hempcrete technology. 1

African Influence on the Siddhi Design

Sea as a Moat: A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water,
that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically
to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved
into more extensive water defences, including natural or artificial lakes, dams
and sluices. In older fortifications, such as hillforts, they are usually referred
to simply as ditches, although the function is similar. In later periods, moats or
water defences may be largely ornamental. They could also act as a sewer
outlets. Some of the earliest evidence of moats has been uncovered
around ancient Egyptian castles. One example is at Buhen, a castle excavated
in Nubia. ( SEE BUHEN BELOW)

African Influence: The Walls of Benin are a series of earthworks made up of

banks and ditches, called Iya in the Edo language, in the area around present-
day Benin City, the capital of present-day Edo, Nigeria. They consist of 15 km
(9.3 mi) of city iya and an estimated 16,000 kilometres (9,900 miles) of rural
iya in the area around Benin. The 'walls' of Benin City and surrounding areas
were described as "the world's largest earthworks carried out prior to the
mechanical era" by the Guinness book of Records. Some estimates suggest that
the walls of Benin may have been constructed between the thirteenth and mid-
fifteenth century CE and others suggest that the walls of Benin (in the Esan
region) may have been constructed during the first millennium CE.

26
The walls were built of a ditch and dike structure; the ditch dug to form an
inner moat with the excavated earth used to form the exterior
rampart.Scattered pieces of the structure remain in Edo, with the vast majority
of them being used by the locals for building purposes. What remains of the
wall itself continues to be torn down for real estate developments. The Africans
were using a form of mathematics that they hadn’t even discovered yet.Which
the Europeans never understood-those visiting the embankments.
The Ancient Kano City Walls (Hausa: Kofar Na'isa) were ancient defensive
walls built to protect the inhabitants of the ancient city of Kano. The wall was
initially built from 1095 through 1134 and completed in the middle of the 14th
century. The Ancient Kano City Walls were described as "the most impressive
monument in West Africa."

We all know that lots of castles had moats around them. It is a commonly
known thing. And typically we think of it as a nice obstacle that slows down or
stops the sieging army from getting at the castle. The most important purpose
of a moat is to prevent the attacking army from digging a tunnel underneath
the castle! Yup! This process of digging a tunnel under a castle is called
undermining. And it was meant to collapse a castle tower or a castle wall. This
way the attacking troops could easy get through the breach.This picture shows
you a couple of things.

27
First off the undermine goes right under a tower. Once the attackers had that
dug they could light it on fire, collapsing the wooden timbers that hold it up.
This would collapse the mine and thus collapse the tower above.But.... With a
moat around the castle the attackers couldn't dig the tunnel. It would fill with
water before they could get under the tower.

The Siddhi designers of the fort may have been influenced by these much
earlier developments from their native lands with which they may have been
familiar- in a variety of ways, not necessarily seeing but also haring about
these.

__________________________________________________________________
1.https://www.researchgate.net/publication/324573202_Mineralogical_Chemical_and_Thermal_Ch
aracterizations_of_Historic_Lime_Plasters_of_Thirteenth-Sixteenth-century_Daulatabad_Fort_India

28
 Coastal Fort

Part C
Design aspects of coastal construction of a large
structure

Idea ? : We know very little about the ideasbehind the mechanization of the
process to build the fort- the only record exist shown that the Siddhi General
Ambar was entrusted with this responsibility and he did an admirable job.

Modality of construction, Logistics and movement : The Janjira Fort is not

situated in the middle of the sea. Some say that the Janjira Fort was
constructed by Siddhi Jowar, an Arab General, before the advent of Shivaji
Era, on the shallow continental shelf having the average depth of the coast belt
not more than 15–20 feet. But these author’s feel that written record suggests
what we have said earlier to be true. Though Siddhi Johar as the name
suggests was also of African descent and A roadlink was joined with the
mainland for carrying all Construction Materials and Manforce, Rolling huge
Guns, weighing upto 20 tons (Probably made by the Nizam State), and all
essential necessities.

Stone Walls View from the TOP

Stone was the most important material for building fortifications in medieval
India. Walls were erected by one of the following three construction methods. A

29
wall could be an earthen rampart faced with stone on both sides. The rampart was
built using the earth excavated while digging the ditch, with three-quarters of it
used for building a rampart and one-quarter for levelling out the surface inside the
fortress and in front of the ditch. Facing the rampart with stone allowed for the
erection of higher and steeper walls than those possible with a purely earthen
rampart. The structure had a substantial shortcoming, however: an earthen core
accumulated water, which could destroy the stone shell. Drainage channels were
therefore installed along the length of the wall from top to bottom. The main
binding material for construction was Lime mortar.
The second method consisted of filling the space between the outer layers with
earth mixed with rubble. This core was considerably harder than simply using
rammed earth. The third and most advanced method involved the use of mortar. A
rubble-built wall fastened with mortar was strong and long lasting. Construction
methods depended, however, on the materials available.
In medieval India, several reports exist of the practice of burying humans either
dead or alive in the foundations of fort walls, to ensure their stability, being widely
followed. It was believed that the ghosts of those sacrificed as such would keep evil
spirits away. During the building of the Sri Qila, Delhi Alauddin Khalji is reported
to have buried 8,000 skulls of Mughals killed by him into the foundation.
During the building of Purandar Fort not far from Janjira Fort, one its bastions
gave way several times. The king of Berar then ordered his minister an Esaji Naik
Chive to bury a first-born son and his wife into the foundation of the bastion. This
was promptly done and after a further offering of gold and bricks. When the
bastion was finished Esaji Naik was given possession of the fort and the father of
the sacrificed boy was rewarded with two villages. Along with the fortification,
emphasis was also given for construction of rock cut water cistern, ponds, wells
and lakes. To avoid evaporation of water, the water bodies were covered. At times
rooms were built close to water bodies to keep the temperature low.
Many Indian fortifications have parapets with peculiarly shaped merlons and
complicated systems of loopholes, which differ substantially from similar
structures in other countries. Typical Indian merlons were semicircular and
pointed at the top, although they were sometimes fake: the parapet may be solid
and the merlons shown in relief on the outside (as at Chittorgarh). What was
unique is the arrangement and direction of loopholes. Loopholes were made both
in the merlons themselves, and under the crenels. They could either look forward
(to command distant approaches) or downward (to command the foot of the wall).
Sometimes a merion was pierced with two or three loopholes, but more often, one
loophole was divided into two or three slits by horizontal or vertical partitions. The
shape of loopholes, as well as the shape of merlons, need not have been the same
everywhere in the castle, as shown by Kumbhalgarh.
It is said that the rock was not in the middle of the ocean but a leage trench
was dug on completion of the Fort around the site to protect the Fort from any
direct threat from the land.

30
Drilling Rocks on Janjira: Same ancient techniques coupled with use of
explosives was done to blast the rock for the foundation.

The ancient pyramid builders used a technique for drilling

holes that is commonly known as "trepanning." This technique leaves a central
core and is an efficient means of hole making. For holes that didn't go all the
way through the material, they reached a desired depth and then broke the
core out of the hole. The building blocks for the Egyptian pyramids and
obelisks were obtained by using hammers and wooden wedges to extract large
sections of stone in carefully measured shapes and sizes. The wedges had a
hole in the middle for holding and carrying.

Miners from the time of the Roman Empire though the Middle Ages often
applied a "fire setting" system to break rock. A rock face was exposed to intense
heat followed by a quick dousing with water. The sudden cooling caused the
rock to crack and split along natural seams. Sometimes a suspended wooden
ram with a hard stone ball on its front was used to open a hole in the center of
a rock face, and the face was chipped into it radially.

Gun powder was first used to break rock during the Middle Ages. In 1683 a
Saxon named Hemming Hutman used a drill forged of wrought iron with an
inset bit of tempered steel to hammer holes in the rock at critical points. The
charges placed in the holes broke the rock more effectively than those laid on
or near it.

The early history of construction of Forts and castles contains many accounts
of legendary 'hammer and steel' drillers who were experts at both single and
double jacking. Single jacking involved an individual holding and turning the
steel with one hand while hitting the steel with a small hammer held in the
other hand.

Single jack drilling, circa 1850. (Photo reprinted

courtesy of Compressed Air Magazine.)

31
Ambidexterity was very helpful for the single jack driller because he could work
longer by shifting the hammer from one hand to the other to distribute the
work. In double jacking one or two drillers hit a drilling steel with large sledge
hammers while a holder turned the steel slightly after each blow. As the hole
deepened, the holder substituted longer steels in a way that did not interrupt
the driller's disciplined rhythm.

Some of the older techniques are not applicable today. For example, we
consider double jacking unsafe for inexperienced drillers. Since most of today's
hand drilling will be done by beginners, we suggest you use either single
jacking or modified double jacking, a technique we developed. Both of these
methods are safe, effective, and readily learned.

'Up hole' double jacking, early 1800's. (Photos

'Down hole' double jacking, early
reprinted courtesy of Compressed Air
1800's.
Magazine.)

32
Fresh water Ponds and wells on janjira: When Chhatrapati Shivaji, the great
17th century Maratha warrior, died in 1680, he was in command of about 370
big and small forts built over hilltops in the Sahyadri range. Each one had
scores of lakes and tanks that catered to the water needs of the soldiers and
the local population. Many of these are still functional. Locals say the way
these lakes and tanks were constructed and the water-management practices
during the time of Shivaji hold a lesson for today when water has become a
scarce commodity.This is the same time as Janjira Fort.

No special technique wes used. Experts say these lakes are built on watertight
soil and rocks that do not allow much percolation of water. At the hills, the rate
of evaporation is also slower. “Basalt rocks abound in the region. They were
formed after a volcanic eruption 65 million years ago. Since these rocks are

Murud Fresh water Tanks. There are 2 in number

moulded from lava or magma, they are watertight and allow minimal
percolation. The rate of leakages and seepage of water from the lake body at
subsurface is negligible,

33
 It still yields fresh water fit for drinking

Fort architects took the help of nature as it was. The natural lakes are
present in the foothills where they receive continuous water supply from the
surface and subsurface. In addition, these lakes are also fed by natural
springs. That is the reason they never go dry. Some of the best examples of
these all-weather lakes are found on the Raigad fort, one of the biggest and
most important of Shivaji’s forts. Twelve of these, both artificial and natural
ones, are prominent there.The planners during the construction of janjira show
a great application of mind. The lakes were set up where nature blessed them.
The fort tops were the favourite as the temperature there is relatively low.The
Pune region gets plenty of rainfall during the monsoon season, and the forts
have sophisticated arrangements to store and utilise the rainwater. The
artificial lakes are constructed at locations where the water-streams, created
from the rains, meet, on the lower plains of the fort premises. The gullies and
streams originate in the peaks of the hills and mountains, and are united on
the lower flat base — the plateau where large amounts of water could be stored
in natural depressions by shallow digging of the land.

34
Besides lakes, water tanks also abound on the forts. These water tanks were
meant for specific purposes. They stored water collected from rain. The water
was used as reserve. The best examples of water tanks are in the Sinhagad fort
in Pune where 48 of them stand tall. The tanks were apparently built from the
rocks brought for the construction of the fort and had the capacity to store
enough water to last a few months. Dressed stone walls can be seen wrapping
these water tanks which seem to have been used to increase the storing
capacity of the tanks. The water tanks are present all over the fort, but seem to
be most prominent on the slopes where it was easier to divert the run-off water
into these tanks.

There is evidence to suggest that the population during that time cared for
water wastage. The fort is oval shaped, had 5-storey palace and lot of storage
supported by 2 big fresh water ponds.

Secret passages drilled through rock: Also, there is a secret underground

passage in the water leading to the mainland town of Murud.

Stone arches are generally used in both stone and brick structures, over
door and window openings, for porches, etc. They are also erected over streams
and roads for highway and railway bridges and aqueducts. Stone arches of long
span are not as frequently built now as formerly, iron and steel haying been
very largely substituted for stone. In some ways, a stone arch is not as
satisfactory as a brick one. Being composed of a few large pieces, instead of
many small ones - as is a brick arch - the bond is not so perfect; and
consequently, of the two, the stone arch is somewhat more liable to settle and
crack.
The amount of masonry in heavy piers, etc., can, without injuring the stability
of the structure, often be considerably diminished by the use of arches,
provided the stone and the footings are capable of carrying the increased load.
The pressure on the soil may, if necessary, be decreased by using inverted
arches.

35
The principal parts of an arch are as follows: The abutments are the piers from
which the arch springs,. The inner edge of the top of the abutment is called the
springing line; the stones resting on the abutments, shown at b, are
called skewbacks. The arch itself consists of wedge-shaped stones,
called voussoirs, or ring stones. These are sometimes of varying sizes, but for
the same arch are generally made as nearly uniform as possible; the depth
(back into the wall), however, may vary as much as may be necessary for
proper bonding. The voussoirs are shown at c. The ring stones between the
keystone and the skewbacks are collectively known as the haunches of the
arch. The masonry resting on the arch ring, from the piers to a horizontal line
touching the highest point of the upper curve, form the spandrels. The under
surface of the arch is called the soffit, and a line representing the curve of the
soffit is the intrados; the one parallel to it at the outer end of the voussoirs is
called the extrados. The span of an arch is the distance between the
abutments; and the rise is the extreme vertical height from the springing line to
the intrados.
In building construction, it is not customary to determine the proportions of
arches of small span by calculation. The appearance is often the controlling
factor in designing such arches. But when the arches are of considerable span,
the position of the line of resistance should be determined. As that is somewhat
beyond the scope of this section, merely the conditions necessary for stability
will be here mentioned.
Having fixed the depth of the keystone, the voussoirs are all made the same
height, in arches of small span, while in longer ones the ring stones vary in
depth, increasing gradually from the crown to the skewbacks, so as to preserve
a uniform pressure on the stones as the load becomes greater. The resistance
to crushing of any kind of stone may be readily determined, and a large margin
of safety must be allowed over the greatest pressure to which it will be
subjected in the arch.

Janjira

36
To insure the stability of an arch, there are two conditions, besides the one just
mentioned, which must be satisfied. One is that the pressure shall not cause
the opening of the joints; the other, that the direction of the pressure shall not
be such as to cause one ring stone to slide on another.
In order to prevent rotation on the edge of any stone, the line of pressure -
through which the load is assumed to act - must not be above or below the
arch ring at any point, but must cut the abutting surfaces of the stones as near
as possible to the center of the joint, and always within the middle third of the
arch, so as to prevent the opening of the joints. To obviate the liability of sliding
at any joint, the pressure tending to move one stone on another must not be
sufficient, nor in such direction as to overcome the friction between the
surfaces.
These requirements are met by making the arch ring of proper depth, and
generally do not need to be determined theoretically for small arches.

37
6 pics Janjira Arches( ABOVE)
Flat arches - those having but little rise - give way by breaking the four parts,
opening at the crown of the intrados and at some joint on the extrados. When a
flat arch breaks, the two upper parts fall inwards and press the lower parts
outwards. In pointed arches, the reverse is the case, the lower portions tending
to fall into the opening, and to force the upper parts outwards.
A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from
a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly
common on more ancient buildings, as a means of providing support to act
against the lateral (sideways) forces arising out of the roof structures that lack
adequate bracing.
The term counterfort can be synonymous with buttress and is often used
when referring to dams, retaining walls and other structures holding back
earth. In addition to flying and ordinary buttresses, brick and masonry
buttresses that support wall corners can be classified according to their ground
plan. A clasping or clamped buttress has an L shaped ground plan
surrounding the corner, an angled buttress has two buttresses meeting at the
corner, a setback buttress is similar to an angled buttress but the buttresses
are set back from the corner, and a diagonal (or 'French') buttress is at 135° to
the walls (45° off of where a regular buttress would be).
The gallery below shows top-down views of various types of buttress (dark grey)
supporting the corner wall of a structure (light grey).
Buttress ground plans

Bastion

38
A bastion or bulwark 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 flanks being able to protect the curtain wall and the adjacent
bastions. Compared with the medieval fortifications they replaced, bastion
fortifications offered a greater degree of passive resistance and more scope for
ranged defence in the age of gunpowder artillery. As military architecture, the
bastion is one element in the style of fortification dominant from the mid 16th
to mid 19th centuries.
Nave and Aisle in Janjira main building
The main body of the building, is called the nave. In this case it is presumed
that the Nave was not the residential uarters but constructed for military
purposes. The term Nave is from the Latin word for ship. It was first used to
build cathedral which is symbolically a ship.The nave is braced on either side
by lower aisles, separated from the main space by a row of piers or columns.
The aisles facilitate the movement of people, even when the nave is full of
worshippers. They also strengthen the structure by buttressing the inner walls
that carry the roof, which in the case of many forts and other large Palaces is
made of stone. Above the roof of the aisle are the clerestory windows which
light the nave.There are no windows here.
Some forts have a single aisle. In Janjira there are multiole aisles as picture
below shows.
Crossing and transept
The crossing is the point in a building at which the transept intersects the
nave. This point is often marked externally by a tower or dome and internally
by the piers and arches that are required to bear the weight of such a
structure.The transept is in the form of the arms of the Cross, but also
provides space. Like a military store or office.

39
BASTIONS (left pic) also shows Hidden Door not easily seen from the enemy ships sailing
for a attack

ARMAMENTS_CANNONS
Not much is known of the armaments of the fort. Suffice it to assume that it was similar to
other forts.Tejas Garge of the Archeological Sruvey of India in his article on Artillary and
Architecture of the Daulatabad Fort – a profusely illustrated piece points out to 20 different
types of cannons and muskets that were found on this fort which co-incidentally also belonged
to Siddhi Ambar in Aurangabad which was his home State.

40
CANNONS: At one poinbt the fort had more than 150 cannons-though now 3
remain.So all these claims and counter-claims form part of the legend of the
Castle and is not the gispel truth. However considering the 35 turrets, one can
guess that more than 50 may have been there.
 Guns in medieval India were essentially muzzle loading guns
 Gunpowder and cannonball is loaded from front in muzzle loading gun
 Second half of 18th century witnessed introduction of breech loading
guns

The wrought-iron cannons found in different parts of India were

manufactured from individual iron rings that were forge- welded together.
Medieval blacksmiths continued to use this technique in the fabrication of
small and large iron objects, such as the Delhi and Dhar iron pillars.

41
In an article in Heritage India-“A marvel of medieval Indian black smithy-Kalal
Bangadi cannon at Janjira”, 1 it is said that a cannon is a tubular device designed
to fire a heavy projectile over a long distance. The introduction of cannons in
warfare enlarged the canvass of traditional battles and played, number of
times, a decisive role. India has a glorious tradition in cannon technology.
The cannons used in India were either forge welded iron cannons or cast
bronze cannons. While bronze casting practice for manufacturing cannons was
adopted from the Ottoman Turks, the forge welded canon technology seems to
have been developed in India.

Heritage India Article

_________________________________________________________________________

1. https://heritage-india.com/a-marvel-of-medieval-indian-black-smithy/ Author and

Photographs: P. P. Deshpande(Source: Vol 3 Issue 2 (2010)

42
Landakasam TO RIGHT _Kalal

Although medieval Indian black smiths successfully used casting in the

manufacture of intricate bronze objects, available evidence indicates that few
practiced iron casting techniques. The black smith’s lack of interest in casting
was likely due not only to the high temperatures required for casting, but also
to their mastery over the forge welding technique to produce large wrought iron
products. Huge and massive forge welded iron cannons found at Nurwar
Mushirabad, Bishnupur, Bijapur, Gulbarga and Thanjavur exemplify the
medieval Indian blacksmith’s skill in the design engineering and construction
of large forge welded iron products. Western Maharashtra is littered with a
number of forts each having several forge welded cannons. Janjira, an excellent
marine fort of western Maharashtra, is located on an oval shaped rock near the
port town of Murud, 165kms south of Mumbai. Even today around fifty-five
cannons are lying in different locations of this fort. Out of these, three are forge
welded iron cannons: Kalal Bangadi, Chavari and Landa Kasam which attract
immediate attention of all tourists. It is certain that these three massive
cannons were not cast, implying that these cannons were made of wrought
iron.

There is no specific recorded history of all these cannons, however it is said

that, the largest cannon – Kalal Bangadi, 5.4 m in length and 14 tons in
weight, was brought by Peshwa’s Army in 1735. This cannon is a muzzle
loading type where in the gun powder and the projectile object are loaded from
the muzzle i.e. front end. The barrel must have been fabricated separately from
the chamber. The outer appearance of the cannon indicates that individual
pre-fabricated iron rings were forge welded in order to create the complete
cannon structure.The rings exhibit good continuity and the skill of the
medieval blacksmith must be appreciated because these rings have been so
skilfully forge welded that the entire surface of the cannon appears smooth due

43
to the excellent closure of gaps between the individual iron rings However,
pitting corrosion is seen on the surface. It appears that iron rings were forge
welded over a solid cylindrical shaft that made the rear portion. The rear end of
the cannon is not flat but consists of successively smaller diameter rings
presumably to provide impact resistance to the rear section of the cannon. Also
near the trunion and front end extra rings are observed. These additional ring
assemblies would have provided further strengthening to the cannon. These
outer rings appear to have been forge welded over the layers of rings. The total
number of rings that make up the thickness of the barrel cannot be easily
distinguished by visual observations alone.

It is reasonable to assume that there are layers of rings building the thickness
of the barrel, based on the design of other similar cannons at Thanjavur and
Bishnupur. Thus it appears that the medieval engineers were familiar with the
idea of structural design for improved fracture toughness because the solid
structure created with successively larger rings would have possessed a better
impact resistance compared to a single solid piece of wrought iron. Although
handling clamps are visible on the cannon, it is difficult to visualize how this
massive cannon was transported.

One of the remarkable observations concerning this cannon is that it is almost

devoid of significant rusting. The surface possesses a reddish golden hue and
the surface is reflective indicating the relatively thin layer present on the
surface. This might be attributed to the high phosphorus present in the
wrought iron used for making the cannon. It must be noted that no special
maintenance procedures are currently applied to this cannon. Despite this, the
cannon reveals only pitting corrosion. Under similar conditions, modern mild
steel would have corroded severely in a marine environment. Thus the
atmospheric corrosion resistance of the cannon is excellent and can be
compared with the iron pillar at Delhi. Therefore, it can be concluded that Kalal
Bangadi cannon constitutes a marvel of medieval Indian metallurgical skill.

44
Hidden Door TOP PIC

45
Cannon ball lobbying. The enemy would not see the door to the fort but from the encampments
/Towers cannons would be fired at the enemy ships sinking them

Spread over a vast land of more than 45 acres, Siddi Palace, also known as
Nawab Palace, is one of most visited destinations of Raigad District in the state
of Maharashtra. With a distinct architectural style representing a mix of Gothic
as well as Mughal approaches, the Siddi Palace is one of a kind.

Though not open for public as it is still owned by the descendants of the Nawab
of Janjira, many tourists still stop by the place to take photographs of this
architectural marvel. Siddi Palace is located to the left of Revdanda-Murd road

46
and can be encountered just before entering Murud. It was actually built by
the Nawab of Janjira and was intended for administration purposes.

The palace is historic of architectural importance, however, it is not owned by

the government and is still under the control of Nawab’s heirs and is
considered as a private property. As a result, public is not allowed to enter the
palace without seeking appropriate permissions of the owners of the property.

The palace was vacated in the year 1885 as the Nawab of Janjira decided to
move into his Ahmedganj palace. Standing tall in its own unique style, Siddi
Palace is built on the edge of a mountain and offers breath taking views of the
great Arabian Sea as well as the entire Murud village.People who have visited
the palace in good olden days remember that there is an artistic Mosque along
with several tombs of the previous rulers of Janjira in the premises of the
palace.

There are a number of auto-rickshaws, taxis and private buses available to

reach the Nawab Palace or Murud's Durbar Road from Roha railway
station. Tourists that come to Murud to visit places like Murud Janjira Fort,
Padmadurga (Kasa) Fort, Garambi Dam, Korlai Fort, and Kude Caves, often
stop by the Siddi palace to click a few frames of the exotic Arabian Sea and the
stunning aerial views of the Murud village.

Spread over a vast land of more than 45 acres, Siddi Palace, also known as
Nawab Palace, is one of most visited destinations of Raigad District in the state
of Maharashtra. With a distinct architectural style representing a mix of Gothic
as well as Mughal approaches, the Siddi Palace is one of a kind.

Though not open for public as it is still owned by the descendants of the Nawab
of Janjira, many tourists still stop by the place to take photographs of this
architectural marvel. Siddi Palace is located to the left of Revdanda-Murd road
and can be encountered just before entering Murud. It was actually built by
the Nawab of Janjira and was intended for administration purposes.

The palace is historic of architectural importance, however, it is not owned by

the government and is still under the control of Nawab’s heirs and is
considered as a private property. As a result, public is not allowed to enter the
palace without seeking appropriate permissions of the owners of the property.

The palace was vacated in the year 1885 as the Nawab of Janjira decided to
move into his Ahmedganj palace. Standing tall in its own unique style, Siddi
Palace is built on the edge of a mountain and offers breath taking views of the
great Arabian Sea as well as the entire Murud village.People who have visited
the palace in good olden days remember that there is an artistic Mosque along
with several tombs of the previous rulers of Janjira in the premises of the
palace.

47
There are a number of auto-rickshaws, taxis and private buses available to
reach the Nawab Palace or Murud's Durbar Road from Roha railway
station. Tourists that come to Murud to visit places like Murud Janjira Fort,
Padmadurga (Kasa) Fort, Garambi Dam, Korlai Fort, and Kude Caves, often
stop by the Siddi palace to click a few frames of the exotic Arabian Sea and the
stunning aerial views of the Murud village.

48
 PART D

OTHER SIDDHI DESIGNED FORTS

ख ांदेरी - उां देरी सिल्ल | ज गर गडदु ग ां च
Undari Sea fort by Siddhis
Underi (also called Jaidurg Base Village:Thal)
Region:Alibag
District:Raigad

Twin fort islands of Khanderi and Underi lie in Alibagh. They’re located in
Thal, amidst shrubby terrain, about 7km from Alibaug and 20km to the south
of Mumbai. Khanderi and its sister fort Underi were built by the Portuguese
and later occupied by the Marathas in 1660 who kept a check on the Siddis
(their opponents) occupying the Murud-Janjira Fort.

. There are 2 forts in the vicinity of each other:

1. Underi(Jaidurg) and
2. Khanderi.
The first or Underi Fort was built by Kahim of the Siddis in 1680. This is a
support to Khanderi main sea fort. Underi (also called Jaidurg) is a fortified
island near the mouth of Mumbai harbour south of Prong's Lighthouse. It is a
companion fort to Khanderi and currently lies in Raigad district, Maharashtra.
These islands of Khanderi and Underi served as one of the landmarks for ships
entering Mumbai harbour. Underi is smaller than Khanderi. Underi lies south
of Prong’s Lighthouse, built by the British in 1852. Underi, however, is smaller
in size and circular in shape as opposed to Khanderi which is dome-shaped. It
has a cave with some interesting carvings on its walls. The fort also has an
underground chamber that was used for prisoners.
The second fort Khanderi was built to tackle the Siddhis locatred at Underi.
Underi Fort is an island fortification which is located in the district of Raigad in
the state of Maharashtra. The fortress is also known as Jaidurg and is situated
near the Mumbai harbour towards the south of Prong's Lighthouse. Underi
Fort was founded in 1680 CE by Kahim of the Siddis. The fortification serves as
a sister fort of the Khanderi Fort which is also located in Raigad district. The
fort of Underi is comparatively smaller than the structure at Khanderi. The
fortification was built by Kahim of the Siddis in 1680 CE. Undari is a village
/ panchayat located in the Gir Gadhada Taluka of Gir Somnath
district in Gujarat, India. Earlier, until August 2013, Undari was part
of Una Taluka and Junagadh district. The latitude 20.851433 and longitude

49
70.959487 are the geo-coordinate of the Village Undari. Gandhinagar is the
state capital of Undari village which is located around 400 kilometres away
from Undari.

According to Census 2011, with the 252 families, the population of this village
is 1575. Out of this, 837 are males and 738 are females. Most residents are
dependent on agriculture. Underi (also called Jaidurg) is a fortified island near
the mouth of Mumbai harbour south of Prong's Lighthouse. It is a companion
fort to Khanderi and currently lies in Raigad district, Maharashtra. These
islands of Khanderi and Underi served as one of the landmarks for ships
entering Mumbai harbour. Underi is smaller than Khanderi.

The islands of Underi and Khanderi were used as landmarks for shipping
vessels entering Mumbai harbour. Underi Fort presently lies in a dilapidated
condition. It is now open to all tourists and is maintained by the Government of
India.

Map Underi
This fortified island near the mouth of Mumbai harbour south of Prong's
Lighthouse is not only a companion fort to Khanderi and currently lies in Raigad
district, Maharashtra but these islands of Khanderi and Underi served as one of
the landmarks for ships entering Mumbai Harbour. Underi is smaller than
Khanderi and nearly circular. It was built by Kahim of the Siddis in 1680 CE.

50
Khandari Island map

51
52
History of Khanderi: Battles of Maratha armies and the Siddhi Armies located
at Murud-Janjira:
Khanderi (Official name Sardar Kanhoji Angre Island) is located 5 km off the
coast of Maharashtra (off Thal, Kihim) and 20 km south of Mumbai. Khanderi,
along with its sister fort Underi (Jaidurg) formed the major fortification along
the Maharashtra coast, the former falling under Shivaji Maharaj's control and
the latter under his opponents, the Siddis. The island consists of two high hills,
one facing north and the other facing south. Initially, the islands of Underi and
Khanderi were uninhabited. It contained two wells to supply water to the forces
within, and a temple of Sri Betal. The fort is a restricted area, which falls under
the jurisdiction of the Indian Navy.
In 1679, Khanderi was occupied by the forces of Shivaji under the leadership
of Maynak Bhandari, who oversaw the building of the fortifying
walls. Subsequently, Khanderi fort was built during the reign of
the Maratha king Shivaji Maharaj in 1679 CE. to keep a check on
the Siddis at Murud-Janjira fort and was the site of many battles
between Shivaji Maharaj's forces and the navy of Siddi.
In 1813 Manaji Angre handed over the fort to Peshve in return of the support
given against Baburao. The fort was subsequently ceded in 1818 to the forces
of the British East India company at Bombay as part of the Peshwa territory.
Most of the fort is still intact, with the most prominent structure being a
lighthouse built by the British in June 1867 and the two storey building upon
which the lighthouse is located. The lighthouse is 22 feet high and can be seen
from up to 13 km away. Additionally, the fort has a few old metal canons, the
tomb of Daud Pira local saint and a musical stone that emits metallic musical
notes when struckThere is a one secret way for going on the Kulaba fort of
Alibag.

Renaming: In 1998, Khanderi island was renamed Kanhoji Angre Island in

honour of the Maratha Admiral Kanhoji Angre.In September 2013, The Indian
Ministry of Tourism and Ministry of Shipping drew up plans to develop
Khanderi island and its octagonal light house as a tourist destination.
History:Shivaji Maharaj selected the island of Khanderi to fortify it to keep a
check on the British trade route to Mumbai and northward ports. He tried
building the fort in 1672, but the British were sceptical and tried to siege the
fort. The Marathas retreated, only to return back in 1679. Under the leadership
of Maynak Bhandari, 150 men were garrisoned on Khanderi to complete the
fortification. The English warned the Marathas, who did not pay heed to them.
The Marathas continued their work without hindrance. The British then
deputed their warships to block the supplies to the Marathas and stop their
work.

The Marathas till then had improvised a lot in their naval strategy, and

53
deployed shallow vessels that could travel in low tide. Daulat Khan, another
brave naval officer of Shivaji, defended the British from Khubladha fort of Thal
and dispatched the supplies in the small boats during low tide, when huge
British ships could not sail. Finally, Khanderi was completed and the British
signed a truce with Marathas in 1680.

On 8th March 1701, Siddi Yakut Khan attacked Khanderi, but had to retreat.
In 1718, the British attacked this fort with a big fleet of warships. Mankoji
Suryavanshi defended the fort with 500 men for almost a month, due to which
the British had to retreat back. In 1814, the Peshwas took over the fort from
Angres, who got it back in 1817. It went into the hands of the British in 1818.

Underi Fort

54
Fortified Island and Rock fort

Surrender of Udgir fort to the Mughals RIGHT

55
Khanderi lighthouse to the LEFT Island to the RIGHT

56
57
58
Prong's Lighthouse is a lighthouse situated at the southernmost point
of Bombay (now Mumbai), India in the Colaba (Navy Nagar) area. It forms a
TRIANGLE with the two forts. It was built in 1875 by Thomas Ormiston at the
cost of Rs. 620255.There were nearly 84 shipwrecks in the 1800. The twin
islands if the Siddhi owned Underi and the marath owned Khanderi were
totally inadequate as land marks for ships to guide into the Mumbai harbor
and hence the urgent need for a serious Light House was felt hence the Prongs
was constructed.
It is a 41 meters high circular tower with a 23-meter range and the beam can
be seen at a distance of 30 kilometres (19 mi). It is one of three lighthouses of
the city. The tower is painted in three horizontal bands, red, white, and black
respectively. The lighthouse had a cannon during British rule to secure the
bay.

59
Prong

60
Guardians of Mumbai: Khanderi-Underi and Arnala
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the legendary Maratha King had a unique
strategic vision that combined valour with use of terrain and geography. When
17th century peninsular India faced external and internal challenges, his
attention to maritime geography of the Konkan Coast left a lasting legacy in the
form of coastal and island forts as visible symbols of seaward defence.

The great Maratha warrior inspired growth of a strong Naval Force in the
Arabian Sea that ushered maritime personalities in his armed forces and
constructed many forts.Even today, after centuries, most of these forts have
stood the test of time. To the South of Mumbai lie the twin island forts, of
Khanderi and Underi. The Siddis were appointed by the Nizam of Ahmednagar
to command the coastal fort of Janjira. The Marathas tried to conquer it many
times; but the resilient Siddis thwarted their attempts each time.

To counter the Siddis the Marathas, under the leadership of Chhatrapati

Shivaji Maharaj, occupied the island of Khanderi to the north in the vicinage of
Alibaug. The Siddis attempted attacking Khanderi for many years, but to no
avail. Fatigued, the Siddis raised a fort on the adjacent island of Underi as a
strategic alternative to the Khanderi. The forts of Khanderi and Underi are built
on rocky outcrops close to the coast. The main attraction at Khanderi is the
lighthouse, which was first built in 1852. The island also houses two religious
shrines, a Temple dedicated to Vetal, a Saivite demigod and a dargah
entombing the mortal remains of Daud Pir.

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/travel/guardians-of-mumbai-khanderi-underi-and-
arnala/articleshow/72470742.cms

61
62
 HOSHU SIDDHI

Another famous military commander of the Siddi community was General

Hosh Muhammad Sheedi Qambrani or Hoshu Sheedi belonged to the
Ahmadnagar Askari unit, and also supreme commander
of Sindh's Talpur army led by Mir Sher Muhammad Khan Talpur. Hoshu
Sheedi fought against the British forces under Sir Charles Napier at the Battle
of Dabbo, and was killed on March 24, 1843. He was from African-
descent Sheedi community of Sindh Pakistan. Before his death, in the
Battleground of Dubbo, he called out the famous slogan:
Marvesoon par Sindh na desoon
(We will die but not give Sindh [to others])
Hosh Muhammad was respected by the British commanding officer, Sir
Charles James Napier, who buried him with full military honours. The
historical mausoleum of Hosho Sheedi Qambrani is in Dubee, a small village
approximately 10 kilometers from Hyderabad, in Pakisthan.

63
 OTHER ISLAND FORTS OF MAHARASHTRA
Sindhudurg island-fort was built by Shivaji, the 17th-century ruler of Maratha
Empire. Its main objective was to counter the rising influence of foreign
(English, Dutch, French and Portuguese) merchants and to curb the rise
of Siddis of Janjira. Construction was supervised by Hiroji Indulkar in 1664.
The fort was built on a small island known as the Khurte island.
Shivaji brought 200 Vaddera people for building this fort.
Vaddera (alternatively Vadde, Waddera, Vadar) is a caste in Andhra
Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and some other states in India.Traditional
stone. Over 4,000 pounds of lead were used in the casting and foundation
stones were firmly laid down. Construction started on 25 November 1664. Built
over a period of three years (1664-1667), the sea fort is spread over 48 acres,
with a two-mile (3 km) long rampart, and walls that are 30 feet (9.1 m) high
and 12 feet (3.7 m) thick. The massive walls were designed to serve as a
deterrent to approaching enemies and to the waves and tides of the Arabian
Sea. The main entrance is concealed in such a way that no one can pinpoint it
from outside.
At a time when traveling by sea was banned by scriptures, this construction on
an island represents the revolutionary mindset of its engineer. A remain of an
iron mould can be seen.
The number of permanent residents living in the fort has been in decline since
its abandonment. Most residents have moved out due to inadequate
employment opportunities but some families remain. The fort is closed for
tourists during rainy season due to high tides.

64
 Kolaba (Colaba) Fort
Kolaba Fort (sometimes Colaba Fort or Alibag Fort) is an old
military fortification in India. It is situated in the sea at a distance of 1–2 km
from the shores of Alibag, 35 km south of Mumbai, in the Konkan region
of Maharashtra, India. It is a popular tourist destination and a protected
monument.[1] Kolaba Fort, an old military fortification in India, is unique in its
location and is situated right by the seaside, at about a distance of 1 or 2
kilometres from the shores of Alibaug. Built by Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in
1652, the fort was built to keep a check on the activities of the foreign naval
powers of the English, Portuguese and the Siddhi of Janjira.

The Kolaba Fort, on account of its being a military fortification, is an extremely

strong and impregnable fort with high ramparts and seventeen bastions. The
main gate faces east and sculptures of a tiger, peacock, elephant adorning it,
but with the passage of time they are becoming indistinct. Similarly, most of
the buildings inside and the main fortification have perished due to lack of
sufficient restoration attempts.

A Ganesh temple, built in 1759 by Kanhoji Angre, still survives. A wall

surrounds it and a large number of devotees come to pray at the temple on a
regular basis. The idol, made out of marble, is definitely worth a look. Another
unique structure worth a visit is the isolated fortified structure a little distance
north of the main fort, which was named Sarjekot and was consider the
eighteenth.bastion.of.Kulaba.

65
An interesting feature of this sea fort is that it has freshwater wells in its
premises even though it is a seaside fort. In the monsoons, the fort can be
reached by wading through waist-deep water at low tide, while, at high tide,
boats must be used to reach it.
The first mention of Kolaba fort is when it was chosen by Shivaji to be fortified
after the whole of South Konkan became free. The work of constructing the fort
started in 19 March 1680. In 1662, he strengthened and fortified Kolaba fort to
make it one of his chief naval stations.[2] The command of the fort was given to
Darya Sarang and Mainak Bhandari under whom Kolaba Fort became the
centre of the Maratha attacks on British ships. Kolaba Fort was captured by
Chatrapati Shivaji .
The fort was completed by Sambhaji after the death of Shivaji in June 1681. In
1713 under a treaty with Peshwa Balaji Vishwanath, Kolaba along with several
other forts was given over to Sarkhel Kanhoji Angre. He used it as his main
base from which to launch raids on British ships. In 17 November 1721, the
British, incensed at Angre's activities, joined the Portuguese in an expedition
against Kolaba. A Portuguese land force of 6000 and three English ships of the
line under Commodore Mathews co-operated but the attempt failed. The British
blamed the failure on the "cowardice of the Portuguese". About this time Kolaba
is described by Hamilton as a fort built on a rock, a little way from the
mainland and at high water an island. On 4 July 1729, Kanhoji Raje Angre
died on the Kolaba Fort. In 1729 many buildings were destroyed due to a major
fire incident near the Pinjara Bastion. In 1787 another major fire incident took
place in which the Angre Wada was destroyed. In 1842 the British sold the
wooden structures in the fort by auction and used the stones for the
construction of Alibag water works.
Features: The average height of the fort walls is 25 feet. It has two main
entrances, one on the seaside and the other towards Alibag. An interesting
66
feature of this fort is that it has freshwater wells in its premises even though it
is a seaside fort. In the monsoons, the fort can be reached by wading through
waist-deep water at low tide. However, at high tide, boats must be used to
reach it. In that fort, there are temples. Many tourists come to visit Kolaba
Fort. In the fort are houses in which several people stay to take care of that
fort. The celebration of Ganesh festival. Many people come to in this festival.
The fort should be visited during the low sea tide timings. There is a Dargah of
Haji Kamaluddin Shah on the fort. Near the northern wall of the fort lie, two
English cannons mounted on wheels. The inscription on the cannon is
"Dowson Hardy Field, Low Moor Ironworks, Yorkshire, England". The
Siddhivinayak temple inside the fort was built by Raghoji Angre in 1759.

67
Kolaba the 2 pics aove and Janjira the bottom pic as comparison

68
Kolaba

69
 SOME OTHER SIMILAR SEA FORTS IN THE WORLD
We have selected some interesting sea forts that resemble the Janjira Siddhi
architecture, but have no connect with them.

French Fort Boyard

An imposing stone vessel, Fort Boyard rises up from the heart of the Pertuis
straits, halfway between the islands of Aix and Oléron. It’s one of the coast’s
most famous monuments thanks to the success of a gameshow that was
popular for over 25 years in more than 30 countries. This TV hit was an
unexpected tribute to a military building with a fascinating history. Begun
under Bonaparte in 1803, construction work continued until 1866 under
Napoleon III and represented a remarkable technical and financial
achievement.

An impressive technical feat

It was a difficult endeavour: thanks to storms, which ruined incomplete walls,

the capsizing of ships transporting the stone, and attacks by the English,
progress was slow, and the work was not completed until 1859.
 Napoleon
would not see it finished, leaving the Île d’Aix for a life of exile. However,
progress in artillery was quicker than in construction work, rendering it
useless as soon as it had been completed. It had cost the equivalent of more
than €200 million in today’s money. It was the pride of the era, and a model of
it was even presented at the International Exposition of 1867.
70
A symbolic place

Fort Boyard was used as a prison before being decommissioned in 1913.

Abandoned by the army, it was put on sale in 1961 for 7,500 francs. Just two
bids were made. The new owner seemed to lack both the resources and time to
maintain their new property.
 The location was used in films on several
occasions, but in the end it was television that saved Fort Boyard. Property of
the Department of Charente-Maritime since 1989, it’s had a national and
international media career since the first broadcast of the Fort Boyard TV show
in 1990.

Explore Fort Boyard

Have you always wanted to visit Fort Boyard? Make your dreams come true
and take a trip to this icon of the Atlantic coast. Cruises from La Rochelle,
Rochefort, St Martin-de-Ré, Boyardville, Fouras-les-Bains or Port-des-Barques
bring you up close and personal with this ocean behemoth, which is 68m long,
31m wide and 20m high!

NB: Fort Boyard is not accessible to the public and no tours are available.

Fort Boyard is a French game show created by Jacques

Antoine that was first broadcast on 7 July 1990 (originally
as Les Clés de Fort Boyard, however shortened to Fort
Boyard from the second series in 1991). Foreign versions of
the show, with varying success, have aired around the world
since 1990.
Set and filmed on the real fortress of the same name on the
west coast of France, the programme appears similar to
British game show The Crystal Maze which was created as
an alternative format by Antoine for Channel 4 in the United
Kingdom, after the fortress was unavailable to film in
because of its then ongoing refurbishment (during 1989). In
both programmes the contestants have to complete
challenges to win prize money. However, while The Crystal
Maze varies the type of games quite considerably, Fort
Boyard tends to focus mainly on physical and endurance
challenges. Although Fort Boyard was something of a
pioneer in the area of game show fear and adventure, later
programmes such as Fear Factor have pushed things even
further, requiring Fort Boyard to react and adapt with new
twists and games, including a couple of seasons in which
the contestants spent the night in the Fort (this was
particularly popular in the French and Russian versions).
Fort Boyard is the most exported French TV format and the
fourth most exported adventure-style game show format in
the world after Wipeout, Fear Factor and Survivor. In 2019,
a spin-off called Boyard Land [fr] was launched.

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 Alhucemas FORT Islands-Spain

The Alhucemas Islands (Spanish: Islas Alhucemas, Arabic: ‫ )جزر الحسيمة‬is a

group of islands and one of the Spanish plazas de soberanía just off
the Moroccan coast in the Alboran Sea. Spanish rule dates back to 1559, when
the Saadis ceded several territories to Spain in exchange for Spanish help
against Ottoman armies. In 1673, Spain sent a garrison to the island of Peñón
de Alhucemas, and has permanently occupied it since then. The islands are
also located near the landing place the Spanish and French expeditionary
forces used in 1925 during the Rif War. Morocco has contested Spanish
sovereignty over the islets since Morocco received its independence in 1956.
In 2012 the Spanish military garrison in the fort on Peñón de Alhucemas
comprised an infantry section of 25–30 men from the 32nd Mixed Artillery
Regiment, plus personnel from the marine services with an inflatable boat for
reaching supply vessels. On 29 August 2012, 19 sub-Saharan immigrants
traversed the short expanse of water between Morocco and the Isla de
Tierra.[1] These individuals camped on the island, hoping to somehow gain
access into the Spanish mainland. They were shortly joined by an additional 68
immigrants on 2 September 2012. Refugees and illegal immigration from sub-
Saharan nations has been a problem that Spain, and the European Union as a
whole, has been trying to solve.
Since the islets had an "undefined internal status", the immigrants did not
benefit from the Spanish immigration laws and, under a joint operation,
Spanish troops tended to the women, children, and medical needs of the
immigrants, then turned them back over to Morocco. Moroccan forces promptly

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deported the individuals across the Algerian border. The Spanish Army has
since stationed a small camp on the Isla de Tierra to discourage new attempts
to illegally cross into Spanish territory. The handling and deportation of these
individuals have been criticized by the Ombudsman of the Spanish Parliament,
the Defensor del Pueblo, and by various NGOs and organizations. The Banu
Zaydan claimed descent from the Islamic prophet Muhammad through the line
of Ali ibn Abi Talib and Fatima Zahra (Muhammad's daughter), and more
specifically through Muhammad al-Nafs al-Zakiyya, grandson of Hasan ibn Ali.
The Saadians were an important chapter in the history of Morocco. They were
the first Arab Sharifian dynasty to rule Morocco since the Idrisids, establishing
a model of political-religious legitimacy which continued under the later
Alaouites, another Sharifian dynasty. They successfully resisted Ottoman
expansion, making Morocco the only part of North Africa to remain outside
Ottoman suzerainty, but followed Ottoman example by modernizing their army
and adopting gunpowder weapons. During the long reign of Ahmad al-Mansur
in the late 16th century, Morocco established itself as an ambitious regional
power that expanded into West Africa and pursued relations with Europe,
including a potential alliance with England against Spain. The Saadians were
also significant patrons of art and architecture, with Abdallah al-Ghalib and
Ahmad al-Mansur both responsible for some of the most celebrated
monuments of Moroccan architecture.
Over the years this Spanish North Africa, have developed a special
relationship with the Spanish government, on and off the Mediterranean coast
of Morocco. They are Alhucemas, Ceuta, the Chafarinas Islands, Melilla, and
Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera, with a combined area of about 12 square miles
(31 square km). Ceuta is administered as part of Cádiz province, the rest as
part of Málaga province.
This Spanish exclave on the Mediterranean coast of Morocco, comprises of a
bay, three islets, and a small port. The bay, a semicircular inlet (9 miles [14
km] wide and 5 miles [8 km] long), is protected by Cap Nuevo; its sandy bottom
is an extension of the Nekor River alluvial plain. The islets, administered
by Spain since 1673, are uninhabited, although Peñón de Alhucemas was
garrisoned until 1961. The Moroccan port of Al-Hoceïma, founded by Spaniards
in 1926 as Villa Sanjurjo, on the mainland opposite, is mainly a fishing port.
Its fine beaches provide the basis for a tourist resort.

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Street seen from 1920 Pic

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The Red Area if of MURUD Domain

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