Forts around Pune 🏯

🏯 Sinhagad

About 28 km south-west of Pune · 1,317 m

Once Kondhana, named after the sage Kaundinya

• 1328: taken by Muhammad bin Tughluq after an eight-month siege
• 1670: Tanaji Malusare wins it back in the Battle of Sinhagad: "Gad ala, pan Sinha gela"
• 3 March 1700: Chhatrapati Rajaram dies at the fort

🥾 About 2.7 km on foot from the base, or a road to the top

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🏯 Rajgad

About 60 km south-west of Pune · 1,376 m

Formerly Murumbdev; building from 1654

• Capital of the Maratha kingdom for about 26 years, before Raigad
• 24 February 1670: Rajaram is born here

🥾 So big it cannot be seen in one day; water tanks hold water all year

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🏯 Torna (Prachandagad)

Above Velhe, about 50 km south-west of Pune; the highest hill-fort in Pune district · 1,403 m

Believed to date from the 13th century

• One of the first forts Shivaji Maharaj took; gold found here helped build Rajgad

🥾 Best September to December; visitors must leave by 5 pm

⚖️ The year Shivaji took Torna (1646, at sixteen) is marked "citation needed".

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🏯 Purandar

About 50 km south-east of Pune, with its twin fort Vajragad · 1,374 m

Further fortified in 1350

• 1665: besieged by Jai Singh; Murar Baji Deshpande dies defending it; the Treaty of Purandar hands over 23 forts
• The birthplace of Sambhaji Maharaj
• 16 March 1818: the British flag goes up

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🏯 Shivneri

Near Junnar, about 90 km from Pune

Guarded the old trade route from the Deccan to Kalyan

• 1595: granted to Maloji Bhosale
• 19 February 1630: Shivaji Maharaj is born here

🥾 An easy main path through seven gates; the Lenyadri caves are close by

⚖️ Another article dates the grant to 1596. Scholars also disagree on Shivaji Maharaj's date of birth.

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🏯 Raigad

Near Mahad, Raigad district · 820 m

Built 1656–1674

• 6 June 1674: Shivaji Maharaj is crowned here, and Raigad becomes the capital

🥾 About 1,737 steps, or a ropeway; Jijabai's samadhi is at the base village, Pachad

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🏯 Lohagad

Near Lonavala, about 52 km north-west of Pune · 1,033 m

First built around the 10th century

• Used as a treasury for the loot of Surat after 1670; Nana Phadnavis later built a tank and a stepwell

🥾 Nearest station Malavli; monsoon trails get slippery

⚖️ One article says Shivaji took Lohagad in 1648, two others say 1657.

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🏯 Visapur

Next to Lohagad, near Malavli · 1,084 m

1713–1720, by Balaji Vishwanath, the first Bhat Peshwa

• 4 March 1818: taken by the British, who shelled Lohagad from here

🥾 Walking the walls takes about two hours

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🏯 Tikona (Vitandgad)

Maval, near Kamshet

A rock-cut vihara here dates to around the 7th–8th centuries

• 1657: taken by Shivaji Maharaj; 1665: surrendered under the Treaty of Purandar

🥾 About an hour from Tikonapeth; very steep, narrow steps near the top

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🏯 Tung (Kathingad)

Maval, surrounded on three sides by the Pavana reservoir · 1,075 m

Built before 1600

• A watchtower over the Maval valleys, for not more than 200 troops

🥾 From Tungwadi or Tungi; about 300–400 m of climbing

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🏯 Malhargad

Near Saswad, about 30 km from Pune

1775: the last fort the Marathas built

• Built by Peshwa sardars to watch the Dive ghat; named after Malhari (Khandoba)

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🏯 Korigad

About 18 km south of Lonavala · 923 m

Probably older than 1500

• 14 March 1818: taken by the British after its ammunition store was set alight

🥾 An easy climb from Peth Shahpur; six cannons on top, the biggest is "Laxmi Toph"

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