Raigarh
This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. |
Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
Raigarh
(or The Royal Fort,' originally called Rain, and known to the early European traders as ' the Gibraltar of the East ') Hill fort in the Mahad tdhika of Kolaba District, Bombay, situated in 1 8 14' N. and 73 27' K, 32 miles south-west from Poona, It stands on the Western Ghats, and was regarded in the last century as one of the greatest strongholds of India. Its scarped sides and long top form a great wedge-shaped block, cut off fiom the Western Ghats by a deep valley about a mile broad at the base and 2 miles across from crest to crest. The hill-top, 2,851 feet above sea-level, stretches about a mile and a half from east to west by a mile from north to south. On the west, south, and east, the hill-sides are so steep that, excepting the gateways in the west and south faces, there are no artificial defences, The north-west face is protected by a main line of masonry and two upper walls or portions of walls where the natural scarp is imperfect. Its size, strength, and its easy communica- tion with the Deccan and with the sea must from early times have made Raigarh an important fortress. But its time of magnificence as the capital of a great sovereign was from 1664 to 1680, the last sixteen years of Sivajfs reign.
In the twelfth century Rairi was the seat of a family of petty Maratha chiefs. In the fourteenth century these chiefs acknowledged the Vijayanagar princes as their overlords. About the middle of the fifteenth century, Ala-ud-din Shah Bahmani II compelled the Rairi chief to pay tribute. In 1479 Rairi passed to the Nizam Sbahi Sultans of Ahmadnagar, and was held by them till 1636, On the final con- quest of Ahmadnagar, the Mughals made Rain over to the Adil Shahi Sultans of Bijapur. Under the name of Islamgarh, it was then made over to the Sldi of Janjira, and garrisoned by a body of Marathas. In 1648 Rain fell into the hands of SivajT, who in 1662, after diligent search, chose the hill for his capital, changing the name to Raigarh. The royal and public buildings are said to have numbered three hunared stone houses, including palaces, mansions, offices, a mint, granaries, magazines, quarters for a garrison of 2,000 men, a market nearly a mile in length, and a number of rock-cut and masonry cis- terns. While the hill-top was being covered with these buildings, care was taken to complete its defences. In 1664 Sivaji enriched Raigarh with the plunder of Surat, and made it the seat of his government. In the same year, after the death of his father Shahji, he assumed the title of Raja, and struck coins in his own name. In 1674 Sivaji was crowned with much splendour as an independent prince at Raigarh, and died here six years afterwards in 1680. A description of the coronation, as reported by an English eyewitness, is given by Fryer. In 1690 Raigarh was taken by Aurangzeb \ but having reverted to the Marathas during the decay of the Muhammadan power, it was invested by a British force in April, 1818, and surrendered after a bombardment from the hill spur called Kal-kai lasting fourteen days. A tieasure of 5 lakhs in coin was discovered among the ruins of the fort.
