The small fort of Raikot in the Kondaibari Ghat of Dhule was built by the Ahir kings to guard the Surat-Burhanpur trade route. Raikot fort is at a distance of 86 km from Dhule and is situated on the plateau on top of the wharf. The area of this triangular-shaped fort is 12 acres and the height of the fort is 1650 feet above sea level. Since Raikot village is on the plateau of the fort, this route almost takes us directly to the height of the fort. Before entering the village of Raikot, a Hanuman temple is seen. An unpaved road can be seen passing by this temple. From where the road ends, the footpath takes you to a natural moat between two hills. On the way to the fort, one can see a lake on the plateau after the fort and the remains of ramparts above the natural moat. Currently, the villagers have made a path in the moat to take tractors to the fort for farming. ... After climbing this moat, we enter the fort. This is where the ruined ramparts and the broken bastion can be seen on the left. Further from the bastion, on the right side, you can see the steps carved on the bridge. This path descends to Morkaranj village. Many remains have been destroyed due to large scale farming on the fort. Today, the remains of the fort include a bastion, the remains of a ruined structure, a pond, a well, and a rainwater harvesting lake. Considering the size and shape of this fort, there should not be many soldiers on it. The history of the fort is not available and the locals know very little about the fort. As it has a vertical edge on three sides, only one side of the fort, in the direction of Raikot village, has a moat dug and ramparts have been constructed. The valley on three sides of the fort is known as 'Makaddari'. There is an amazing view of the Makaddari from the top of the fort. Apart from the road coming to the fort from Raikot village, another road comes to the fort from Morkaranj village. The road is eroded and there are steps carved out of stone but as they are not in use, they have collapsed on a large scale and soil has accumulated on them. Near these steps is a cave measuring 10 feet x 20 feet. While climbing the fort from this path, we climb from the base of the fort. It takes ten minutes to reach the fort from Raikot village and one hour is enough to walk around the entire fort. Today, due to the ignorance of the villagers, this fort is on the verge of extinction.
© Suresh Nimbalkar