• Name of the Fort:
• Samrajgad

• Difficulty Level:
• Easy

• Endurance Level:
• Easy

About Fort

• Height of the fort:
• 541 feet

• District:
• Raigad

• Height of the fort:
• Pune - Chinchwad - Dehu Road - Lonavala - Khopoli - Pen - Roha - Murud - Ekdara village - Samrajgad Fort.

• How to Reach:
• We have to reach Kasu station after Pen on Konkan railway. From Kasu rickshaw is available to Pabal Phata. From here, we have to reach in Kondhvi village at 9km. One way to the fort goes from this village.There is another village by name Zapadi at 3 km from Kondhvi. The way from here is less tiring. We reach a plateau in 45 min. The way to the fort is along a huge tree here. We can see 4 hillocks from here. The second from the left is Songiri. It takes 20 min from here to reach the top.

• Description:
• Samrajgad a.k.a. ‘Danda-Rajapuri’ is situated on a hill, south-west of the sea shore of Murud village and is near to the famous fort Janjira. It was built by Shivaji Maharaj to keep an eye on Janjira and to cut off its access from land. Samrajgad was used as the main base for the attacks on Janjira. Janjira was under the control of Siddi, who are Habshi or Abyssinians.

• History:
• Shivaji Maharaj sent Vyankoji Datto to build this fort. As Samrajgad is perilously close to Janjira, Vyankoji was given a platoon of Maratha soldiers for protection. Vyankoji fought with Siddi’s cavalry and captured the surrounding regions of Danda-Rajapuri. Around 300 Habshi were killed in this battle. Siddi tried to make a truce but Shivaji Maharaj did not yield. Samrajgad was built on a hill near Rajapuri.With the construction of Samrajgad, the access to Murud was cut off for the Siddi. To remove these shackles over his trade routes, Siddi attacked Samrajgad. He sent soldiers and cannons in small boats. They attempted an attack on the fort by tying cannons to palm trees, but the trees collapsed and the attack fizzled out. After this failure, Siddi planned the next attack carefully. Shivaji Maharaj had left Raigad for the conquest of Janjira. Siddi wanted to capture Samrajgad before that. The second attack was led by Siddi Khairat and Siddi Kasim. On 11th February 1671, under the cover of a dark night, Siddi Khairat attacked from the land side of the fort with 500 Habshi soldiers. It was the festival of Holi on that day and Maratha soldiers were in festive mood. They still managed to counter-attack and fought Siddi Khairat well. Meanwhile, Siddi Kasim had landed near the fort from the sea in boats. He put up ladders and ropes on the fort wall. While Maratha soldiers were busy fighting off Siddi Khairat, Siddi Kasim and his soldiers climbed up the walls and entered the fort. The Maratha army was now caught in this pincer attack. They fought hard in spite of the overwhelming odds. They were finally beaten when the stores of gunpowder caught fire and exploded. Scores of soldiers from both sides were killed.