The Maratha Military Landscapes of India | UNESCO Entry 2024-2025

Celebrating a grand legacy, the Maratha Military Landscapes of India will be India’s nomination for recognition in UNESCO World Heritage List for the year 2024-25. Team IAnD revisits some interesting cultural titbits…

World Heritage Sites represent collective and preservative interests of humanity, signifying remarkable accomplishments and intellectual history.

Maharashtra boasts more than 390 forts, with only twelve chosen for the Maratha Military Landscapes. Among them, eight are protected by the Archaeological Survey of India, and four are safeguarded by the Directorate of Archaeology and Museums, Government of Maharashtra.

Enduring Legacy: The Maratha armies had to navigate difficult terrain and strike swiftly using guerilla tactics, agile hit-and-run strategies and swift cavalry movements. Their mobility, flexibility, and decentralised structure made them a unique formidable force in medieval and early modern India. The network of their forts across difficult terrain – hills, plateaus, forests, and coastline… was the Maratha’s superpower.

Nominated Forts: The twelve forts nominated for the UNESCO World Heritage list include Salher (highest fort in the Sahyadris), Shivneri (Shivaji Maharaj was born here), Lohgad (one of the many hill forts of Maharashtra), Khanderi (the fort is still intact), Raigad (one of the strongest fortresses on the Deccan Plateau), Rajgad (first capital of the Maratha Empire), Pratapgad (this mountain fort is now a popular tourist destination), Suvarnadurg (an island fort with a shipbuilding facility; was considered the pride of the Marathas), Panhala (largest of all the Deccan forts and last capital of the Marathas), Vijaydurg (oldest island fort), and Sindhudurg (sea fort) in Maharashtra, and Gingee Fort (historically considered the most impregnable fort) in Tamil Nadu. Distributed across diverse geographic and physiographic regions, this network of forts represented the strategic military might of the Maratha rule.

The Maratha Military Landscapes of India are nominated in the category of cultural criteria, specifically under the following:
Criterion (iii): Bearing exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or civilization.
Criterion (iv): Exemplifying outstanding architectural or technological ensembles representing significant stages in human history.
Criterion (vi): Tangibly associated with events, traditions, beliefs, and works of universal significance.

Intriguing Titbits: Forts played a crucial role in 17th century India. An invading army would have to take control of a fort along its route in order to protect its communication and supplies. So, forts were built on or near crucial routes. While some were built to facilitate attacks on the enemy who might have besieged an important fort nearby (Lohgad is one such supporting fort in the Maval taluka of Pune district), others like Pavangad were supporting forts built on hills to prevent the enemy from attacking the main fort. Very small forts were built to secure treasury and stores of grains.

Hills were ideal locations for forts. With the sides cut to render them steep and inaccessible, one could climb the fort using fortified ledges or terraces called machi. Rajgad has this feature. Some forts had plateaus large enough for crop cultivation as in Panhala fort.

Shivaji Maharaja’s birthplace, Shivneri was the earliest fort. Rajgad followed with its Torana fortifications that included three pachis which effectively make it a four-fort complex. Raigad with its Lingana fortifications, included palaces, water bodies and bazaars.

Historical Significance: This is the largest concentration of forts in a single network in the world. Scattered across varied geographical and physiographic regions, these forts exemplify the Maratha rulers’ exceptional fortification and military strategies.

Research by: Rita Roy Choudhury with inputs from a conversation with Shikha Jain, Founder Director, Dronah and references from “Shivaji His Life & Times” by Gajanan Bhaskar Mehendale.
Photography: as credited on the respective images.
Opening photograph courtesy of UNESCO