In Nandurbar district, which is dominated by tribal, there were once not one or two but as many as 15 forts in the form of hill fort, ground fort and fortresses. Except the 7 forts in Durg Maharshi Pramod Mande's book “Maharashtratil Gadkille” rest of the forts are nowhere to be mentioned. In today's modern age, information about these forts is not visible even on the internet. I have tried to present the information obtained on this website after our Durgbharari group made a study tour of all these forts. Two of these forts, Hatmoida and Ashte, have been completely destroyed, and the remaining 13 forts are still standing today, fighting against time, protecting their remaining remnants. Among these 13 forts, 1 is hill fort, 3 are ground fort, 2 are Nagarkot and the remaining 7 are fortress. ... After the dissolution of the institution, it became difficult for the owner of the fortress to maintain the fortress, which was a private property, and most of the fortress are falling into ruins, while some have become razed to the ground. The fortress of Kathi is one of them. Today, there are no remains of this fort except the stone porch and four-five-foot brick wall on one side, so one should visit this place keeping this in mind. Kathi village lies in the Satpura mountain range between rivers Reva and Tapi. Kathi is in Akkalkuwa taluka and the distance from Nandurbar town via Dhanora is 85 km. A 100 x 70 feet ruined stone porch of this fort and a brick wall above it can be seen right next to the road in Kathi village. Currently, a temple has been built on this porch. At the back of this porch is a two-storied mansion of Kathi Sansthanik Padavi built 100 years ago and a descendant of Padavi lives there. Some old photographs and documents of the Padavi kings of the British period can be seen in this wada (mansion) even today. Here we met Mahindra Singh Padavi, a descendant of Padavi family. Kathi Sansthan belongs to the Padavi dynasty and the kings of this were Mansingh Padavi, the last king. His heirs are Prithvi Singh Padavi, Mahindra Singh Padavi, Ranjit Singh Padavi, Bahadur Singh Padavi, Digvijay Singh Padavi, and Rajendra Singh Padavi. According to the documentary records of the Kathi Sansthanik, there were sixteen kings from 1246 until its dissolution. According to the information given by Mr. Padavi, till the British period, the revenue of the villages in this area was collected in the Kathi Sansthan. In short, this was not a fortress but a revenue collecting station.
© Suresh Nimbalkar