Fort Mangad
Fort Mangad is a survey fort which is situated in Borwadi, an area near Mashidwadi in Mangaon, a taluka in Raigad district in the Indian state of Maharashtra.[1] The fort is made sacred by the footsteps of the founder of Hindavi Swaraj, the famous Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaja. Mangaon is situated about 150 km from Mumbai.
Surrounding Area
To the south of this fort there is Jore valley. To the east there is a Konkan Diva. To the south west there is a village Gangawali, which is the birthplace of Chhattrapati Shahu.
The fort is 235 meters high from sea level. At the base of fort there is an old layout temple of goddess Vinzai” (विंझाई). From the east side there is an entrance to the temple in the cow mouth type tradition. Near the entrance of the temple there is carved scripture of fish and lotus.
On the left side there are four water tanks (wells) and a cave which can accommodate about 50 persons. During historical days this was used for storage of food grains. On this fort there are remnants of irregular’s soldiery, a big house of “Killedars” (किल्लेदार - in charge of fort) deputed by the king to rule and protect the whole area.
To the south end fort, there is an open ground, where there had been military training. In the Treaty of Purandar, “Mangad Fort” is mentioned. In year 1818 when there was end of Peshwa rule, this fort was won by “ Col. Prother” - a British officer.
To reach Mangad fort-From Mumbai- (112 km by road), regaular State transport buses operate from Mumbai central/Dadar/ Thane to the Mangaon ( Taluka Place). one has to take other bus/rickshaw to reach Nizampur ( 12 km from Mangaon) from where again a rickshaw will reach you to Borwadi ( 4 km from Nizampur). From Borwadi it is a walk of 1 hr to reach the Mangad fort. From the village Borwadi the fort is seen easily towards East. It is also approachable from Villages Mashidwadi and Chach. If the sky is clear, Sudhagad fort, Tala Fort, and the Arabian sea is clearly visible. Best time to visit is during winter and rainy season. The water in the tanks is potable.
People Related
The band master powers of this fort were with the “Phule” family and the subheads powers were with “Govindaji More”. ‘Prabhu’ were the Karkhanis of this fort. Killedars were “Jayawantrao Mankar”. We can read the “Sanad” (सनद) of those historical period with “Jadhav Family” who is Vatandar staying at the fort base in Mashidwadi Village. At the entrance of Mashidwadi Village, there is a temple of Kalbhairav (काळभैरव), which is now in almost good condition. Due to this “Mangad Fort” the taluka is also called as “Mangaon Taluka”.
References
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