Rajmata Jijabai

                Sinhgadh (Kondhana Fort)

The Sinhgadh fort, which was previously known as Kondhana. Sinhgadh was one of the first forts which recapture by Shivaji Maharaj from Mughals. The capture was made possible by scaling the walls at night with rope ladders..
The Battle of Sinhagad was a night battle that took place on 4 Feb 1670, in the fort of Sinhagad, near the city of Pune, Maharashtra, India. It was fought between Tanaji Malusare, a Maratha Sardar of Shivaji Maharaj and Udaybhan Rathod,  under Jai Singh I. In this battle  Tanaji and Udaybhan Rathore were killed, but the fort was captured by the Maratha .  Tanaji's army won the war to hand over control of the fort to the Marathas with casualties 300 from Mughal side and 50 from Marathas as well as around 4000 Mughal troops imprisoned by mere 500 Marathas.

The Mughals in their continued pursuit to expand the territories wanted to win Bijapur and Golconda, at the same time recognizing the Maratha to be a force to take notice of.
In 1665, as Mughal forces led by the Rajput commander Jai Sinh I besieged Shivaji at the Purandar fort in Deccan, the latter was forced to sign the Treaty of Purandar.
This treaty was not a surrender of Shivaji to Mughal imperial might, but the result of extended negotiation which reflected the power realities of Maharashtra and Jai Singh’s overall strategy for the conquest of Bijapur and Golconda.Under the agreement, Shivaji had to hand over important forts to the Mughals, including Purandar, Lohagad, Tung, Tikona, and the strategically important  Sinhagad , except 12 of his forts.

Tanaji, with the help of Shivaji's pet, a Monitor Lizard  giant reptile named Yashwanti (also called Ghorpad in Marathi), succeeded in climbing the cliff with the help of a rope with the soldiers and attacked the  5000 Mughals silently. Udaybhan and Mughal soldiers were unaware of this attack. Tanaji and his Mavala infantrymen climbed by Kalyan Darwaza one of the main gate of Fort.The Mughal fought desperatley, but Maratha Mavala with their war cry "Hara Hara Mahadev", wreaked havoc in their ranks.

                             

 Tanajiand  and Udaybhan fought against each other intensely. Tanaji lost one hand during the fight. Tanaji and Udaybhan challenged each other, and the chiefs fought and fell dead after this combat.During this Tanaji's shield broke, and he tied his turban's cloth around his arm to defend himself from the Udaybhan strokes.The battle was fought fiercely because of  Tanaji sacrifice his life and killed Udaybhan, Finally the Fort was captured by the Marathas.and hoisted the saffron flag on the Kondhana Fort. Mavala set fire to the huts of cavalrylines, and the blaze informed Shivaji Maharaj at Raigad that Kondhana has been captured.

Despite the victory , when Shivaji Maharaj got the information about the victory and the loss of Tanaji's life, Shivaji was deeply hurt by the loss of his most capable commander and friend and he  said – “Gad ala pan Sinha gela.” (“The fort has come, but the lion is gone.”). In the honour of Tanaji, he changed the name of the Kondhana Fort to Sinhagad Fort as he used to refer to Tanaji as 'Sinha'  (Lion).

Tanaji Malusare is remembered as a brave warrior who was devoted to Shivaji and fought the epic Battle of Sinhagad Fort and won it without thinking about his son's impending marriage or his family.