The British built very few forts in Maharashtra. Sitabardi fort at Nagpur was the last fort built by the British. After a three-day battle fought by Appasaheb Bhosale's army at Nagpur, on 28 November 1817, the hill was captured by the British and they converted it into a fort. During the British rule, the fort was under the control of the army due to the presence of a large number of cannons and ammunition on forts. Even today, the fort is under the control of the Indian Defense Forces. Only 3 times a year, on 26th January, 15th August, and 1st May, a part of the fort is opened to civilians and tourists. The fort is still in good condition as it is under the control of the Defense Forces and the 118th Regiment of the Indian Army is deployed on the fort. Mobile phones as well as cameras are strictly prohibited inside the fort. ... Both buses and rickshaws are available from the railway station to visit Sitabardi Fort in Nagpur on the scheduled day. As the fort is under the control of the security forces, you are first checked with your identity documents at the check-post and then you are let inside the fort. Outside this check post, you get to see two cannons of the defense force. From here we climb the hill with the paved road and come to the second check-post. During the recent excavations at the fort, a large cannon was found and this cannon is kept here. Inside of the check-post is boarding telling the history of the fort. On the way to the fort from this check-post, one can see two small brass cannons on the right side of the road. From here we cross the ascent and reach the north-facing gate of the fort. The fort has a total of two gates, from one of these, we enter the fort and from the other, we exit the fort. As now we have reached the gate to exit the fort, we should walk around the entire ramparts to the right of this gate and reach the second east-facing gate of the fort. The ramparts that had been buried in the ground have now been completely cleared by the security forces in recent times. These ramparts are built of black stone. The shape of the fort is oblong and while walking around the fort, you can see a total of four bastions in the fort. Three of these bastions are round and one of these bastions is shaped like a star. There are steps on the ramparts to get down to the bastion and inside the bastion, there are rooms and barns for soldiers to stay during the British rule. At some places on the bastion as well as on the ramparts, you can see cannons. For security reasons, only one of these bastions is accessible. Upon entering through the second gate of the fort, one sees a tomb on the right. This tomb is known as Nau Ghazi. The nine heroes who joined the uprising of 1857 were hanged by the British at Gandhigate and their bodies were hung there for three days to put terror into the minds of the people. One of the nine heroes was a Maratha and the other was a grandson of Tipu Sultan. This tomb is of these nine heroes. In front of this tomb is a star-shaped bastion which you can see from outside and it has steps to go inside from two sides. There is no access to the road as there are security forces buildings around the road. On the way to the bastion, there is a large underground cistern with six circular walls to draw water. Stairs are built in two places to descend into this cistern. Straight ahead along the way you come to the gate that leads to the exit of the fort. Stairs are built on the upper part of this door as well as on the inside to go to the top of the wall. When you get out of the door, your fort round is complete. Two hours is enough to see the fort from the foothills. Nagpur is believed to have been named after the river Nag, a tributary of the Kanhan River. Nagpur is first mentioned in a 10th-century copper plate found at Deoli in the Wardha district. At the end of the third century, Wakataka king Vidyashakti ruled over Nagpur. Nagardhan (Nandivardhan) near Nagpur was the capital of Wakataka king Prithvi Sen (I). After Wakataka, the province came under the control of Chalukya, Rashtrakut of Badami. In the year 862, during the reign of Rashtrakuta king Krishna (III), the villages of Nagpur and Visaya of Nandivardhana are mentioned. After the defeat of the Yadavs in 1296, Alauddin Khilji took possession of Devgiri and came to power in this area. The Tughlaq Empire came here in 1317. Although the area was ruled by the Mughals in the seventeenth century, it was under the control of the Gond kings. The city of Nagpur is believed to have been founded by the Gond king Bakhtabuland Shah. Later, King Chand Sultan Shah made Nagpur his capital and built a fort around the city. After the death of Chand Sultanshah in 1739, his illegitimate son Valisha became king but Chand Sultan's wife got her two sons Akbar Shah and Burhanshah to the throne from Maratha Sardar Raghuji Bhosale and in 1743 Raghuji Bhosale entered politics on behalf of Marathas in Nagpur. He ruled over Devgad, Chanda, and Chhattisgarh till 1751. In 1803, Raghoji joined the Peshwas in the Second English Maratha War. After Raghoji II died in 1816, his son Parsaji was deported and killed by Mudhoji II. In 1817, Mudhoji joined the Peshwas against the British. When Mudhoji Raje Bhosale took over as the Commander-in-Chief on 24th November 1817, the British attacked Nagpur with 3000 troops and cannons. The Marathas were defeated in this battle and on 28th November 1817, both the hills of Sitabardi came under the control of the British. The British expelled Mudhoji and gave the throne to Raghoji III, the grandson of Raghoji II, but the power was still under their control. Until his reign in 1840, the governmental affairs were handled by an English resident. After Raghoji's death, Nagpur was taken over by the British in 1853, and Nagpur was declared as the capital of Central Provinces and Berar. Nagpur was made the second capital of Maharashtra after the linguistic division. Nagpur is in the center of India and the zero mile marker is present here.
© Suresh Nimbalkar