Tathavade or Santoshgad, hill fort lies in the north-west corner
of the Phaltan taluka, about 12 miles south-west of Phaltan, the taluka
headquarters! The fort is roughly triangular in shape. The local tradition is
that this fort was built by Shivaji the Great (1630-80). In 1666 it was in the
hands of Bajaji Naik Nimbalkar. In the same year Chhatrapati Shivaji after the
treaty of Purandhar served under Jaysing, the Rajput general of Aurangzeb's
army, against Bijapur and with his Mavlas escaladed Tathavade. [Grant Duffs
Marathas, Vol. I, 165.] The Bijapur Government again apparently got it back
from the Moghals probably by treaty. Chhatrapati Shivaji retook it for himself
in 1673 [Grant Duffs Marathas, Vol. I, 202.] And in 1676 he had to retake the
open country in its neighborhood, the estate-holders of which were always ready
to rebel against him.[ Grant Duffs Marathas, Vol. I, 209.] The fort was taken
by the Moghals in 1689. [Grant Duffs Marathas, Vol. I, 273.]. But was ceded to
Shahu in 1720 in the imperial grants made to him in that year. [Grant Duffs
Marathas, Vol. I, 339] in a revenue statement of about 1790 Tathora appears as
the head of a sub-division in the Nahisdurg sarkar with revenue of Rs. 1,120.
[Warring's Marathas, 244.] The fort remained in the hands of the Marathas till
1818 when it was shelled by a detachment of General Pritzler's army from the
plateau and a spur pointed out about half a mile to the west. A good many of
the buildings and part of the walls are said to have been injured by the
shelling. The commandant fled at the first few shots, the garrison followed,
and the fort was taken. Its elaborate design and considerable strength for the
times in which it was built may be explained by the fact that it was close to the
Nizam Shahi frontier and of some importance therefore to the Bijapur
government, while the constant disturbances in the neighborhood in Chhatrapati
Shivajis time would amply account for any additions he made to it.
A story is told that the famous dacoit Umaji Naik (1827) was
resting at a spring in the ravine which leads down to the fort from the plateau
and that a Brahman on his way to Tathavad passed by with a little grain given
him in charity. Umaji called on him to stand and give up what he had. But when
he learnt that it was only grain sent him off in peace, entreated his
blessings, and gave him Rs. 25
Before visiting to Santoshgad, I visited a place called Nimbhalkar
wada in Wathar, a similar pace like Shaniwar wada in Pune and then we moved
towards Santoshgad. Santoshgad is around 120kms from Pune. The fort is easy to
climb. It takes less than 45 mins to climb the fort. Route to climb the fort is
easy and there are no difficult patches in between. This fort can be done in
one day.
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