# Battle of Sinhagad

The Battle of Sinhagad, also known as Battle of Kondhana, involved an attack by Marathas during the night of 4 February 1670 on the Mughal fort of Sinhagad (then Kondhana), near the city of Pune, Maharashtra. The Marathas captured the fort.

## Background

In the 1650s, Aurangzeb sent General Shaista Khan to subdue Shivaji. Khan captured Pune and took residence in the Lal Mahal, the childhood residence of Shivaji. In a surprise night attack by Shivaji, Shaista Khan was wounded and one of his sons was killed. However, Khan escaped. In retaliation, Khan looted Pune for 2 years and devastated the Deccan. Shivaji went on to defeat Mughals at the port city of Surat to make up for Shaista Khan's looting of Pune. Aurangzeb then sent Maharaja Jai Singh, one of his vassals, with a large army to subdue Shivaji. In his campaign, Jai Singh besieged Purandar fort. Meanwhile, Diler Khan, another Mughal General defeated the Maratha armies at Vajragad and near Purandar. Villages in the Maratha kingdom were also plundered by the Mughal forces. For the welfare of his subjects and to conserve his strength, Shivaji signed the Treaty of Purandar. According to the treaty, Shivaji was to give 23 forts to the Mughals while retaining control of 12, become a vassal of Aurangzeb.

## Battle

Sinhgad Fort is located on the southwest of Pune, Maharashtra, about 20 km, in a small hilly range at an elevation of 1,320 m above sea level and 700 m from nearby plains. The fort is surrounded by sharply sloping northern and southern hills, providing a defense in the form of a cave-like structure which has a natural rock wall more than 12 meters high. There were additional fortifications in the form of bastions raised on gentler slopes.
The fort is like an axe blade about 3 km long. Access was by one steep, tortuous path leading from the northeast side to Pune Gate, and from the southeast to Kalyan Gate. The western side has a gorge that is very open from the south side for easy access, which was later fortified to offer great strength.
In 1670, a force of 500 Mavala soldiers under the command of Tanaji Malusare stormed the fort at dead of night with great surprise and against 1,200 Rajput soldiers led by Udaybhan Rathod. Mavalas climbed the front cliff of the fort with the aid of rope ladders. Very fierce fighting broke out and a duel ensued in which both Udaybhan and Tanaji were killed. The brother of Tanaji, Suryaji, led the remainder of the Mavalas and finally won the fort. The signal flame was lit on top of the fort to inform Shivaji of the victory from Rajgad.

## Aftermath

When Shivaji was informed about the victory and the loss of Tanaji's life during the battle, he is said to have exclaimed "गड आला पण सिंह गेला" (IAST: Gaḍa ālā paṇa siṃha gela English: The fort has been captured but we lost the lion). A bust of Tanaji Malusare was installed at the fort in memory of his contribution and sacrifice.

## In popular culture

* Tanhaji - a Hindi movie of 2020, starring Ajay Devgan, depicted the battle of Kondhana.
* Raja Shivchatrapati - a Marathi TV serial of Star Pravah had episodes about this battle.
* Subhedar - a Marathi movie of 2023, starring Chinmay Mandlekar, depicted the battle of Kondhana