VIJAYDURG FORT

The story of Victory Fort!

On the coast of Sindhudurg near the Vaghotan creek stands an unparalleled architectural wonder. An undersea wall at a depth of 8 to 10 metres was built from stones. This wall is estimated to be 122 metres long, 3 metres high and 7 metres broad. The wall protected the Vijaydurg fort as attacking ships were not able to reach near it. It is still untraceable who built this wall. However National Institute of Oceanography at Goa and Western Naval Command conducted at study of the undersea wall and submitted a report that the wall might have been built around 17th century. Going by this report there was only one great fort architect at this time i.e Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and this is the story of his victory for VIJAYDURG.

Vijaydurg fort was previously known as ‘GHERIA’ as it was surrounded by water from all sides, gradually some land was reclaimed and the fort now watches the sea from three sides only. Gheria was built by Raja Bhoj, the second in 1200 AD. Subsequently the Bahamanis and Bijapuris ruled the fort. In 1653, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj captured and strengthened the fort giving it the finest features, the triple line of walls, the numerous towers, and the massive interior buildings. In 1698, the gallantrous Kanhoji Angre, commander of the Maratha navy made the fort his capital and tormented British ships for the next 50 years. In 1717, British ships attacked but were defeated followed by another failed attack by joint forces of British and Portuguese ships in 1720. Later that year a British ship ‘CHARLOTTE’ was attacked and taken to Vijaydurg fort. Even the Dutch attacked the fort and failed in 1724. When Kanhoji went in attacking mode the loss at the other side was much more than expected. Maratha navy at this time captured several ships like the English East Indiaman Derby of twenty guns, Vigilant of sixty-four and the Ruby of fifty guns from the British, Forty gun Jupiter from the French and three Dutch ships of fifty, thirty-six, and eighteen guns. After the death of Kanhoji Angre, one of his sons Tulaji took control of the Maratha navy. This gave rise to an unfortunate and ill fated ego conflict between him and the Peshwa Nanasaheb. Tulaji refused to accept the supremacy of Peshwa , stopped paying revenue and raided Peshwa’s territories. In order to end Tulaji’s dominance, the Peshwa signed a treaty with the British according to which the British would attack from sea under Admiral Watson while the Marathas from the land. Tulaji Angre astonished by the might of the opposite side left the fort under the charge of his brother and surrendered to the Maratha general. Watson then summoned the fort to surrender on 12th February, 1756. Getting no answer from the fort the British ships sailed towards the fort under heavy fire from Angria’s ships. By evening on the 13th February the fort finally surrendered to the British navy and the Peshwa’s army. 250 cannons, six brass mortars, an immense quantity of stores and ammunition, £10,000 in silver rupees, and £30,000 in valuable effects were taken in possession. Tulaji Angre lived a life of prisoner until his death. By the treaty, the fort was handed over to the Peshwa who made Anandrao Dhulap as the Admiral of the navy. His decendents still live in the village today. Under this new Admiral, the Peshwas now made vigorous attacks on the British. In 1780 Anandrav attacked and captured an English ship carrying despatches to the Court of Directors, and imprisoned an officer in Basalgad near Mahabaleshwar. Again in April 1782, in spite of a gallant resistance, he captured the Banger a ship of the Bombay Marine. By 1818, with the decline of the Maratha empire, the Dhulap family surrendered the fort to the British.

Vijaydurg is 517 kms from Mumbai and is well connected by road from Devgad and Kankavali. It is believed to be one of the two forts where Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj hoisted the saffron flag. The road through a typical konkan village takes us straight to the main entrance of the fort. The first place of interest is the ancient temple of Lord Hanuman built by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj after capturing the fort. As we move forward we reach to the first door of the fort known as JIBHICHA DARWAJA. The massive wall of the fort still has white markings of the cannon balls fired from British ships. One can also see ‘JUNGYAS’ on top of these walls. Jungyas are small openings in the wall to fit small cannons and guns. Vijaydurg fort along with Jungyas also has bigger openings in walls called as FANJYAS for larger cannons. These were built in such a way that there is a decent slope towards the wall. Once the ball was fired, the cannons tend to go backwards and hence the slope was prepared so that the cannons came back towards the wall automatically. Provisions have been in the walls and also on pathsways to allow rainwater drain into the sea. A 5 minute semi circular walk takes us to the MAHA DARWAJA which still has its wooden door but now it seems to have withered away. The Mahadarwaja has sections for soldiers while the upper section has the NAGARKHANA. While we see cannons on all other forts, Vijaydurg offers cannon balls used in those days. Once inside the main entrance there are almost 50 cannon balls of different sizes kept at the sides of the pathways. There are also 2 circular towers called as RANI MAHALS of one and two storeyed respectively including quarters for soldiers opposite to these towers. Other attractions include the RAJ DARBAR, TEMPLE OF GODDESS BHAVANI, HORSE STABLE etc are classic examples of Maratha architecture. The fort has 2 tunnels which can also be used today only shows the extraordinary genius of its maker. There are unconfirmed reports of a third underground tunnel 200 metre long to the Dhulap village, although this tunnel is now partially blocked. A wall on the adjacent hill can also been seen today originally built to deceive and confuse the enemy. The fort has also been a landmark for scientific explorations too as in 1868 Sir J. Norman Lankier, a British scientist, was observing a sun eclipse from this fort when he noticed Helium gas around the sun in the form of yellow flames. A few kilometres from the fort stands a beautiful ancient temple called as Shri Dev Rameshwar temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. Its chief interest is the entrance which is 250 yards long cut through a mountain. One has to climb downwards through a plight of steps to reach the temple. It has a huge bell which has engraving of 1791 on it. It seems to have been brought from a captured Portuguese ship . One cannot miss the beautiful wall paintings depicting Ramayana and Mahabharata on the walls of the temple. Outside the temple premises a Samadhi of Sambhaji Angre, son of Kanhoji Angre can also be seen.