FORTIFICATION OF LOHAGADH-VISAPUR

The defence system of Lohagadh-Visapur is quite unique and even strong. This is my small research and particularly 'observation' of how this fort system functions and why this defence system was a jewel for the mighty Maratha empire. Let's start with basic history and introduction of all forts in this region:

LOHAGADH

No one exactly knows when Lohagadh was made, and why it was named as 'Lohagadh', Some people believe that Rishi Loha lived at a cave in the present-day Lohagadh region and thus the fort is named after him but many people even claim that fort translates literally to 'iron fort'.

This fort lies near Pawna lake of Lonavala and stands atop in front of a village named after fort 'Lohagadwadi'. The fort has 4 gates which are still in good condition and has a chest-height wall. The fort has an extension like belt called 'Vinchukada' which means scorpion's tail as the wall is shaped in that manner. The fort has a mosque, temple, durbar, 2 lakes, a granary and a cave.

Lohagadh fort

Lohagadh starts with a normal climb and is horse-friendly like usual forts. But defence based features of this structure starts from here only! It is the positioning of the watchtower which actually gives a perfect degree of vision and aim for archers and cannons. Some of the watchtowers are covered with a dome-like structure that acts as camouflage with mountains and also shields for the protection against the archers. One of the watchtowers gives a full view of the base of the fort and another watchtower gives a 270° view of Pawna lake and the forts of Visapur, Tikona, Tung, Morgiri.

The climbing of the fort holds a unique design; at every corner of the fort, a viewer can get a full view of stairs which is strategically important for the defence to attack perpendicularly downwards. After crossing 3 gates, a person reaches the final gate called Maha Darwaza. The climb around this section is steep to make the offensive slow. The walls around Maha Darwaza are also strategic:

1. The steep stairs have a tall wall section on the right side which provides an efficient aim for archers to defend the last gate.

2. The door is well pocketed with a sharp U-TURN. The tall walls on both sides of U-TURN hide the main door well. From far away or from the base of the fort, a person cannot see the main door at all. The door is hidden almost like a cave which is strategically important.

3. As a last line of defence there are small holes in the tall walls. These holes were used to pour boiling hot oil to prevent enemies to climb the wall or get even near the door.

4. Lastly doors of walls have spikes to prevent elephant attacks. This is commonly found in almost every fort in India.

1. The steep stairs have a tall wall section on the right side which provides an efficient aim for archers to defend the last gate.

2. The door is well pocketed with a sharp U-TURN. The tall walls on both sides of U-TURN hide the main door well. From far away or from the base of the fort, a person cannot see the main door at all. The door is hidden almost like a cave which is strategically important.

3. As a last line of defence there are small holes in the tall walls. These holes were used to pour boiling hot oil to prevent enemies to climb the wall or get even near the door.

4. Lastly doors of walls have spikes to prevent elephant attacks. This is commonly found in almost every fort in India.

The main section of the fort starts from Hanuman Darwaza. At the entrance, there are holes for cannons and a 90° turn towards office buildings. The topmost section of the fort had houses and most importantly office buildings. It consisted main Killedar's Darbar (fort keepers court), mosque, temple, other minister's buildings. Behind this area lies a cave called 'Lakshmi Koti'. It is said that Rishi Loh lived at Lakshmi Kothi, but one of the important facts of this cave was that the cave had secured 'Surat loot'. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj after looting the prestigious city of Surat had stored his booty in Lakshmi Koti.

After Lakshmi Kothi, comes the water tanks. There are 2 main water tanks for Lohagadh which is fed by rainwater harvesting mostly. The first tank is quite old, dating back to the Satavahana era, the second tank was built by Peshwas. After this comes the highlight of the fort, 'Vinchukada' literally translating to a scorpion's tail. This is almost a kilometre of extension of this fort. It overlooks the opposite side of Pavna lake, mainly towards the side of the ancient Bhaja caves. If an attack from the direction of Pune occurs, then the Vinchukada provides a strategic and important location for the long fire of cannons and shot of archers if possible. Vinchukada has walls in all directions, yet it is quite small. The small walls of Vinchukada give cannons a scope to fire at an angle of 360°. This fort stands tall and leads the defence system for Pune from the Konkan frontier. Vinchukada stands atop a cliff, due to which defence-based combat from this region is possible through long-ranging cannons, which cannot actually work in the tall walled boundaries. Hence, walls in Vinchukada are small and this extension is narrow. Below the Vinchukada stands a valley that seeps towards the Pavna lake, hence an attack from the valley is almost impossible.

But Lohagadh stands at one edge of the valley, the other edge of the valley stands empty. This was like the greek mythological mountains of Olympus and Othrys! This problem was understood by Peshwa Balaji Vishwanath, who initiated the project of the modern fort of Visapur at the other edge of the valley.

VISAPUR

Balaji Vishwanath had built the modern fort of Visapur. This fort had a modern design, which was pretty updated compared to Lohagadh. One of the most important features upgrades in Visapur was that the inner structure of Visapur was made out of stone and bricks, unlike Lohagadh whose inner structures; mainly houses were made of the old design of mud and straw. The walls of Lohagadh were quite eroded compared to the new, sharp-edged bricks of Visapur. The fort of Visapur is quite large in size and has tall walls surrounding the perimeter. The fort stands over a great height, at a plateau right in front of Lohagadh. This fort was mainly used for artillery purposes, as it was a canons depot. There have been findings of guns from Queen Elizabeth's era. Maximum architectural based shreds of evidence regarding information about the fort were destroyed by the British after they captured Visapur in 1818. Visapur has caves (which some people believe act as bunkers) yet the caves do not highlight much importance in defence of this fortress.

Comparison between size of the two forts

TIKONA AND TUNG

Right in front of Lohagadh and Visapur lies another pair of forts called Tikona and Tung. Both of these structures lie at their respective hills, who stand opposite to each other divided by the Pawna lake.

At the foot of Tikona lies the village of Gheravitangad. These forts were not as large as Lohagadh-Visapur and were used as a watchtower and a fort solely made for the defence of the main fortification. It is said that small bands of soldiers were deployed to guard the forts, extract necessary information from the enemy encampment, etc. The climb towards the fort is quite steep which was quite advantageous against enemies. The summit of Tikona gives a panoramic view of Pawna Lake. The uninterrupted view ranges till the village of Chavni, which is referred to as a gateway to Konkan from Pune. Usually, trading from the Konkani coast used to be transported via Pawna lake; hence the security of the goods carried was under the fortification of Lohagdh-Visapur which made the view of Tikona till Chavni quite important. Tung fort is a bit smaller than Tikona. Tung's summit also gives a panoramic view of Pawna lake but one of the most important factors of its summit is its view towards Ghangad, Morgiri, Korigad, Anghai.

Further Tung's fortification extended from Morgiri till Taila Baila. The fort of Morgiri lies to the west of Tung fort and has a difficult climb. The fort has a low height wall which creates a favourable condition for the archer. The fort chains up with the Tung fort and the Korigad fort. The fortress overviews towards the Taila Baila fort, which is another entrance towards Konkan. Taila Baila overlooks Karjat. Taila Baila and Morgiri ensured security against an attack from Topikars (British) from the Bombay side. This added a valuable defence for Pune city against any attack by foreign powers.

FALL OF THE FORTIFICATION

The Lohagadh-Visapur fort had fallen under the British in 1818. The Visapur fort was first attacked by cannons. Seeing this site from Lohagadh, Peshwas stepped down from the fort and the fortification fell subsequently. The design of the forts was not updated enough to match the power of long-ranging British artillery. The standard way of defense with a fort did not really work out against attacks. It is because attacking devices became more stronger than the old defending structures which had subsequently led to the emergence of the bunker system. Maratha forts lacked bunkers, and were more dependent on protection with the fort wall.