Vishalgad Explained

Conventional Long Name:Vishalgad
Common Name:Vishalgad
Nation:Maratha Empire and then British India
Subdivision:Jagir
Year Start:1716[1]
Year End:1956
Event End:Independence of India (abolition of the estate)
S1:India
Stat Area1:608.65
Stat Year1:1901
Stat Pop1:30807
Footnotes:Source: Solomon & Bond (1922)[2]
Vishalgad
Location:Kolhapur district, Maharashtra, India
Map Type:India Maharashtra
Coordinates:16.9064°N 73.7417°W
Ownership:Government of India

Vishalgad (also called Vishalgarh, Khelna or Khilna)[3] was a jagir during the Maratha Empire and then later part of the Deccan States Agency of the British Raj.

Fort

A fort had existed at Vishalgad for a long period. During the Bahmani rule it belonged to the Shirke[4] clan. During that period it was known by the name, khelna. The Maratha emperor Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj had escaped to it after being besieged at Panhala Fort in 1660[5] and in 1844 it was one of the forts of Kolhapur State that initiated a rebellion against a regent called Daji Krishna Pandit who had been installed by the British to govern the state in 1843 at a time when the natural heir to the throne was underage. He took direction from a political agent of the East India Company and among their actions were reforms to the tax of land. These reforms caused much resentment and, despite Kolhapur having refrained from involvement in the previous Anglo-Maratha Wars, a revolt against the British began in 1844. The rebellion began with soldiers locking themselves into hill-forts such as those as Panhala and Vishalgad, and then spread to Kolhapur itself.[6]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Book: Vishalgad Jagir.
  2. Book: Indian States: A Biographical, Historical, and Administrative Survey. Asian Educational Services. 1922. R. V. . Solomon . J. W. . Bond. 110. 9788120619654.
  3. Web site: Vishalgad . Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation . 2017-07-14.
  4. Ali, S. S. (1996). The African Dispersal in the Deccan: From Medieval to Modern Times. Orient Blackswan.|https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=-3CPc22nMqIC&oi=fnd&pg=PR13&dq=vishalgad+shirke&ots=4WyAmVRCXE&sig=HNM7CzUyctG03tIJc3ZceEKnc8E#v=onepage&q=shirke&f=false|page=46
  5. Book: Gordon, Stewart . The Marathas 1600-1818 . Cambridge University Press . 1993 . 68 . 978-0-52126-883-7 .
  6. Book: Gott, Richard . Britain's Empire: Resistance, Repression and Revolt . Verso Books . 2011 . 978-1-84467-738-2 . 343 .