The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj had extended his kingdom on the banks of rivers Nira and Koyana. The location of Pratapgad is 8 kilometers west of Mahabaleshwar, in Jawali taluka of North Satara district. In order to safeguard this area of his kingdom, he felt the need to have a well-built fort. Renowned poet Govind described the environments around Fort Pratapgad in very lucid words. The name of this fort is Pratapgad.
According to historical records, people built Pratapgad Fort in 1657 on the hill called Deparya between the towns of Par and Kineshwar.
The way from Mahabaleshwar to Mahad, there is a place called Kumroshi. From there, it is a journey of half an hour. It is difficult to climb the fort.
The fort is situated in the area called Jawali forest.
Pratapgad Fort History 1:
In the year 1657, the rulers of Vijapur could not tolerate the growing power of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. His strength was on rise. He used to conquer new provinces of Vijapur kingdom from time to time.
The army of Maharaj which was hiding in the jungles of Jawali made 1500 soldiers of Afzalkhan run helter-skelter.
Thus the existence of this fort is testimony to the bravery of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
This incident is recorded in history in great detail. The tomb of Afzalkhan still exists there.
Pratapgad Fort History 2:
When Afzalkhan called Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj to meet him at the bottom of the fort, he tried to kill Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj by way of treachery.The second most important aspect of Pratapgad fort is the assassination of Afzalkhan. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj assassinated him by removing his intestines after cutting open his stomach. A bodyguard of Afzalkhan, Sayyad Banda tried to kill Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj by brandishing his sword. But the security man of Maharaj, Jiva Banda, was vigilant enough to thwart this attempt and killed Sayyad Banda.
How to reach:
There are two routes to reach Pratapgad fort. One is via Mahad-Poladpur and the other one via Wai-Mahabaleshwar.
You can reach Kumbhareshi or Vad from either side. On the South-east side, a village called Par is located.
The way passing between these two places takes one to Pratapgad fort.
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