- Type
- Fortress
- Location
- Maharashtra, India
- Heritage
- part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site (an old town or a valley, for example)
- Coordinates
- 18.2460°, 73.6822°
History
Shivaji took over the fort on the peak once called Murumbdev in the 1640s, strengthened it and renamed it Rajgad, the “Royal Fort”. For more than two decades it was the capital of the emerging Maratha state, until the ruler moved his court to Raigad, where he was crowned in 1674. Shivaji's first wife Saibai died at Rajgad in 1659, and his son Rajaram was born here in 1670. Emperor Aurangzeb captured the fortress in 1704, but the Marathas soon won it back. In 2025 the fort was inscribed by UNESCO as part of the Maratha Military Landscapes listing.
What to see
The fortress crowns a peak over 1,300 metres high, with the Balekilla citadel on the summit and three fortified spurs: Padmavati, Suvela and Sanjeevani. Walls with bastions, gates, cisterns, palace ruins and the Padmavati temple survive. Getting there involves a hike of several hours, and the summit looks out to the nearby Torna fort and the ranges of the Ghats.
Wikipedia article Wikidata Q7286112
Popularity: articles about this site in 14 Wikimedia projects (Wikipedia language editions and others).