Purandar Fort is known as the birthplace of Sambhaji, the son of Shivaji. The fort is repeatedly mentioned in the rising of Shivaji Maharaj against the Adil ShahiBijapur Sultanate and the Mughals. The fort of Purandhar stands at 4,472 ft above the sea level in the Western Ghats, 50 km to the southeast of Pune. The twin forts of Purandar and Vajragad of which the latter is the smaller of the two, is located on the eastern side of the main fort. The village of Purandar takes its name from this fort.
History
The oldest known reference to the Purandar dates back to the Yadava Dynasty in the 11th century. After the defeat of the Yadavas by the Persian invaders, the territory surrounding the fort fell into the hands of the Persians who further fortified the Purandar Fort in 1350 A.D. During the early rule of the Bijapur and Ahmednagar kings, The Purandar Fort was among the forts directly under the Government rule and was never entrusted to Jagirdars. Under the rule of the Berar Sultanate, The fort was besieged several times. To prevent the Purandar Fort from ever falling again, A sacrificial ritual was performed where a man and a woman were buried alive under one of the fort bastions to appease its patron deity. Another ritual was soon performed where the king ordered a minister to bury a first born son and his mother into the foundation of the bastion which was promptly done with a further offering of gold and bricks. When the bastion was finished, The minister, Yesaji Naik, was given possession of the Purandar Fort and the father of the sacrificed boy was rewarded with two villages. In 1596 A.D, the Bahudar Shah of the Ahmadnagar Sultanate granted the territory of "Pune" and "Supa" to Maloji Bhosale, the grandfather of Shivaji. The Purandar Fort was included in the territory. In 1646 A.D, a young Shivaji in one of his first victories for the Maratha Empire, raided and established control of the fort. In 1665 A.D, The Purandar Fort was besieged by the forces of Aurangzeb, under the command of Mirza Raje JaiSingh and assisted by Diler Khan. Murarbaji Deshpande of Mahr, who was appointed as the killedar, offered strong resistance against the Mughal forces ultimately giving up his life in a struggle to retain the fort. Shivaji daunted at the prospect of the fall of his grandfather's fort, signed a treaty known as the First Treaty of Purandar with Aurangzeb in 1665. According to the treaty, Shivaji handed over twenty-three forts including Purandar, and a territory with a revenue of four lakh hons. Shivaji Raje was made the jagirdar of the territory. In 1670 A.D, The truce did not last long as Shivaji revolted against Aurangzeb and recaptured Purandar after just five years. Under the Peshwa rule, The Purandar Fort acted as a stronghold whenever their capital city of Pune was under attack. In 1776 A.D, a treaty was signed between the British Raj and the Maratha States known as the Second Treaty of Purandar. Its conditions were never fulfilled, being overruled by the subsequent Treaty of Salbai in 1782 between the Bombay Government and Raghunathrao, at the close of the First Anglo-Maratha War. In 1790, It was conquered by a Koli chief Kuroji Naik and a Victory Bastion also erected here. In 1818, The Purandar Fort was invested by a British force under General Pritzler. On 14 March 1818, a British garrison marched into Vajragad. As Vajragad commanded Purandar, the commandant had to accept terms and the British flag was hoisted at Purandar on 16 March 1818. During the British Raj, the fort was used as a prison. During World War II, it was an internment camp for enemy-alien families. Jews from Germany were interned here along with the Aryan's. A German prisoner, Dr. H. Goetz was held here during World War II. He studied the fort during his stay and later published a book on it. The fort's major use however, was as a sanatorium for the British soldiers. The thousand year old Narayaneshwar temple of the Hemadpanthi architecture built by the Yadavas still exists at the base village of the fort called Narayanpur. According to a legend, It is said that Purandar is the broken part of the Dronagiri Parvat, which Hanuman carried in the Ramayana.
Structures
The fort has two distinct levels. The lower part of purandar is called the machi. North of the machi is a flat area where the cantonment and hospital was housed. There are many temples dedicated to Purandareshwar and Sawai Madhavrao Peshwa here. There is a statue of Murarbaji Deshpande, the commander of the fort who gave up his life in order to protect the fort from the Mughals. The northern part of the machi has a low fall with several bastions and an imposing gate with two towers. From the lower level of the machi, a staircase leads to the upper level called Ballekilla. The first structure of the Ballekilla that comes into view is the Dilli Darwaja. This area also houses an ancient Kedareshwar temple. The upper level called is also surrounded by steep drop on three sides.
