• Name of the Fort:
• Korlai

• Difficulty Level:
• Medium

• Endurance Level:
• Medium

About Fort

• Region:
• Raigad

• How To Reach:
• It is easily approachable by road. The road from Korlai bus stop ends at the Lighthouse. The fort has three entrance. The entrance from western side is the easiest way, it is from the Lighthouse side. Climbing few steps one reaches in the middle of the fort. The entrance from the eastern side is a tideous walk of 20 minutes. This route is the main route and the entrance is through main gate, but this route is not recommended in rainy season as this is less used route. The entrance from the port side or northern side is good one. One can reach there by walking along a path from the light house.There is ample of water on the topmost fortification, so a night halt can easily be made.

• Description:
• Kokandiva fort is used to keep watch on Kavlya ghat area and capital of Maratha empire i.e. Fort Raigad. This fort is 70-80 kms away from Pune. One has to reach in "Ghol" village from Panshet dam. From Ghol, one can either go to "Gaarjaiwadi" by walk or by 2-wheelar. If you are going to "Gaarjaiwadi" from "Ghol" on your 2-wheelar, remember that, road is in bad condition. I recommend you to start your trek from Ghol village. From Ghol village, go to "Gaarjaiwadi" village in 1 hour. Form Gaarjaiwadi, it takes almost 1 and half hour max to reach on top of the fort. One can see large cave, water cistern on top of the fort. One can see Lingana fort, Raigad fort, Railing plateau, Torna fort and Kavlya ghat from top of the fort.

• History:
• This fort was built in 1521 by the Portuguese with the permission of the Ahmednagar sultanate. In 1521, taking advantage of the confusion in the aftermath of the death of the Burhan Nizam the Portuguese tried to take over the fort. However the sultan retaliated and sent some of his best men to reclaim the fort. Subsequently a truce was reached in which the Ahmednagar sultanate occupied the island and no further fortification of the island took place. Only a wooden cross remained on the island as a sign of its former rulers. However, in 1594, Abranches, a Portuguese captain with 1,500 soldiers and 1,500 natives took possession of the fort. The besieged soldiers of the Sultanate tried to block their way by putting a dead elephant at the main gate and a dead horse at the inner gate. But in the end they had to surrender.The Portuguese won the fort but not having enough men to stand guard there chose to destroy it leaving only the central tower and a battery intact.