Malegaon Fort

Malegaon Fort
Malegaon Fort
Nashik district, Maharashtra
	Malegaon fort
	Malegaon Fort
Coordinates	20°32′43.4″N 74°31′47.6″E / 20.545389°N 74.529889°E
Type	land fort
Height	1437Ft.
Site information
Owner	India
Controlled by	Maratha Confederacy (1740-1818); United Kingdom East India Company (1818-1857); British Raj (1857-1947); India (1947-)
Open to; the public	Yes
Condition	Good
Site history
Materials	Stone

Malegaon Fort is a land fort located in the town of Malegaon. It is located 104 km from Nashik, in Nashik district, of Maharashtra. The fort is on the north bank of the Mausam river, which is a tributary of the Girna river. It was built during the Maratha Empire.

History

Malegaon Fort was constructed in 1740 by Naro Shankar Raje Bahadur, general of the Peshwa. He was appointed as an agent in Malwa.^[1] He was gifted 18 villages which included Malewadi.^[2] Craftsmen were brought in from Surat and northern India to build the fort, the construction of which took 25 years.^[3] After the fort was completed, the craftsmen settled in the town.

In 1816, a Rohilla sepoy named Dilawar Khan constructed the first Eidgah in the town.

After the fall of Trymbakgad fort on 24 May 1818, Malegaon Fort was besieged on 16 May 1818 by the East India Company.^[4]

How to reach

The fort is located within the town of Malegaon. Malegaon is located on the Mumbai-Agra National highway NH-3. The fort is also known as the Raje Bahadur Wada. It is close to the Ramsetu bridge. The fort is open to the public between 10 am and 5 pm. At present, there is a Marathi high school in the premises of the fort.

Places to see

The fort is in good condition. The height of the inner wall is 60 feet. The fort has lofty entrance doors. The thickness of the walls is about six feet. There are two cannons at the entrance door and a hexagonal well inside the fort. It takes about an hour to see the fort.