Malegaon Fort

Built by Nareshankar. Key events: Chatursingh (younger brother of Chhatrapati Shahu II of Satara) declared war on the Peshwas and took shelter here. On Jan 10, 1810, Peshwa commander Trimbakji Dengle captured Chatursingh inside. The fort was later controlled by Arabs. On May 16, 1818, the British attacked 300-350 Arabs, who defended the fort for a month. The Arab defense weakened when a British canon exploded the ammunition pile (June 10, 1818), leading to their surrender on June 13, 1818.

Malegaon Fort Highlights **Defense & Walls:** The fort was secured by a trench on all four sides (one remains today, water diverted from the river via a partition). It originally had three fortified walls. The outer layer is gone due to colonization, and only one riverside bastion stands. **Main Entrance:** Access is through a cut in the west fortified wall, serving the **Kankni Vidyalala School**. Inside, you'll see the school building and **3 canons**. **The Inner Wall:** The inner fort wall is **20' high** with **9 bastions**, featuring narrow windows and standing spots. A school-access door has been cut between two bastions. **The Second Wall:** The outside layer of the second wall is **15' high** with narrow windows. Below it are small, purpose-unknown rooms (**2' X 2' X 3'**). Circumventing between the walls takes about **15 minutes**. **The Grand Door:** Proceed past the school and the left bastion to find a huge entrance with the original, locked **wooden door** (**20' high**). It has two adjacent bastions carved with **lotus on the arcs** and a **10' high brick construction** above, featuring **3 windows** on each. **Right-Side Structure:** To the right was a two-story building. The ground floor now hosts the school. The top floor, once for entertainment, is inaccessible as the slab has collapsed.