We’ve lost track of the number of Sunday mornings we have spent trekking all the way up to Sinhgad Fort for bhajis and chai in the wee hours of the morning, but do we really know the history of this place frequented by almost every Punekar ever?
Located approximately 35 km southwest of Pune city, the Sinhgad Fort trek is famous amongst students, families, and elderly people too! No matter what day of the week or time of the day, groups and groups of people flock to Sinhgad to get away from the city hustle and chaos.
Sinhgad which literally means Lion’s Fort was originally called Kondhana after the sage Kaundinya and has seen many battles like the Battle of Sinhgad in 1670. With steep slopes, this fort was very strategically built to protect the people of the town.
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj took control of the fort in 1647 by convincing the then controller Siddi Amber that he Shivaji could perfectly manage the defenses of the fort. After this first time, he lost control of the fort and recaptured it in a peaceful manner. When in 1665, the fort was lost to the Mughals through the treaty of Purandar, the brilliant Shivaji recaptured it for the third time and after that, it stayed with the Marathas until 1689 A.D.
This back and forth between the Mughals and Marathas continued when the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb conquered the fort in 1703 and in 1706 it was once more captured by the Marathas and stayed with them till 1818 after which it was conquered by the British who took 3 months to take control of it which it is said, was the longest time taken by the British to take over any fort in Maharashtra.
Even recent history has instances where the Sinhgad Fort played an important role in the struggle for India’s freedom. Not only was the fort used as a summer retreat by Bal Gangadhar Tilak but it was also the same place where Tilak met Mahatma Gandhi for the popular historic meeting between these 2 entities who were right on top of the list of individuals who helped give our country freedom. It was this fort that gave the city’s famous Sinhgad Road its name. Stay tuned to read more on the growth and development of Sinhgad Road and how it has become a prime commercial and residential area for Punekars.