Narnala Narnala ( Marathi नरनाळा ) also known as " Shahanur Fort " is an Indian hill fortress in Maharashtra , India . The name Narnala was given after the Rajput Ruler Narnal Singh or Narnal Swami . The fort was built in 10 A . D . by Gond Kings . In 15th Century Mughals have occupied and rebuild the fort and hence it has been called Shahnoor Fort . Narnala was one of the thirteen sarkar of Berar Subah . Narnala consists of three small forts named Zafarabad fort ( or Jafarabad ) on the east , Narnala in the centre and Teliagarh on the west . Location . It is a historical place since the Khilji Dynasty , and it was one of the Sarkar Subah Berar in the medieval period . The fort is known for the great Muslim saint Hazrat Burhanuddin " BAGH SAWAR WALI " and it is said that many white tigers were seen with the hazrat at that time . ADLI BEG or ATALU BEG erected many Arabic Scripts and the " TUP " named " KADAK BIJLI " . It is also the birthplace of Aurangzeb ' s great grand son . Sardar Beg Mirza and Qader Beg Mirza were the hereditary descendant of Mughal Dynasty in the 18th century . They to stay near Argaon 9 km away from Hiwarkhed because Shah Beg Subedar of Berar was holding the fort . It is located in the Akot Taluka , Akola District , Berar ( also called Amravati Division ) at coordinates of 21o 15 ' N and 77o 4 ' E . The closest city is Akot which is 18 km away . It is at the southernmost tip of the Satpura Hills at an elevation of 3161 feet ( 912 m ) above sea level . Currently , this area falls within the Melghat Tiger Reserve . History . After his expedition across the Gangetic plains in 1017 , of Al - Biruni to compose his Tarikh Al - Hind in order to understand the Indians and their beliefs . The Narnala fort / Shahnoor fort built by the Sultan Mahmoud Gazhnavi because he is a follower of Bagh - sawar wali Hazrat Burhanuddin the maintain after Imad shahi dynesty and after this Akbar invaded Berar maintained by Mughals . Mughals recreated the Narnala Fort with Mughal architecture and built mosque at the fort . By his killedar , Shah Dulha Rehman Ghazi of Ellichpur ( now Achalpur ) was maternal cusion of sultan Mehmoud Ghaznavi and maternal grand son of sultan Nasiruddin Alaptagueen he was marched for battle against rajah Eil . Through the route of Shahnoor fort he was stay here threefold night and pray . Ahmad Shah Bahamani got the fort repaired around 1425 when he constructed Gavilgad with a view to obstructing the invaders from the north frontier of his kingdom . Nearly all the present buildings seem to be of Muhammedan origin . The fort passed on to Fatehulla Imad - ul - mulk when he became an independent ruler by 1490 as he was the Subhedar of Berar under the Bahamanis . Gavilgad also passed on to him . Burhan Imad Shah was imprisoned on this fort by one of his Amirs Tufalkhan who crowned himself . In the battle that was fought between Tufalkhan and Murtaza Nizam Shah in 1572 Tufalkhan was defeated and had to flee and took asylum with Muhammad Shah of Khandesh . On being threatened by Murtaza Nizam Shah of dire consequences if the asylum was continued , Muhammad Shah of Khandesh , refused to give refuge to Tufalkhan who was forced to return to Narnala fort and stay there . The fort was invested by the army of Murtaza . The fort surrendered and Tufalkhan and also Burhan Imad Shah were imprisoned along with 40 others . They were confined in the fort of Lohagad where they died while in captivity . Some historians say that all of them were poisoned under the orders of Murtaza Nizam Shah . After the battle that was fought between the armies of the Ahmadnagar kingdom and the Emperor Akbar on January 26 , 1597 in which the armies of the Adilshahi Emperor who along with the Kutub Shah of Golconda was an ally of Nizamshah emerged successful . The fort can now ho ascended by a motorable road . About halfway up it crosses first one and then another piece of level ground , each thickly sprinkled with Muhammedan tombs . The path passes two other strong gateways and one slighter one before entering the heart of the fort , and climbs meanwhile to the uppermost glials . Between the last two gateways are the domed tombs of Bagh Savar Wali and Gaz Badshah . Wali , the former not only rode a tiger in his life but the old Gazetteer slates " even now a tiny white tiger may be seen at night going to and from his tomb . " Passing the last gateway one comes almost at once before the Ambar Bangala , the kacheri of former days The exact date of construction is not known . The first fortifications , according to local legend , were made by Naryendrapun , a descendant of the Pandavas and at the time Emperor of Hastinapur ( Delhi ) . It likely predates 1400 CE as Firishta - the Persian historian - records that Ninth Badshaha Shahbudeen Ahmad Shah I Wali ( 1422 CE to 1436 CE ) during construction of the Gawilgarh fort , made repairs to Narnala fort when he camped at Achalpur ( Elichpur ) from 1425 to 1428 . This would mean that the Narnala fort was constructed before Bahmani rule . In 1437 , when Nashir Khan the subhedar of Khandesh invaded Berar , the governor of the province ( also called Khan - i - Jahan ) , remained loyal to his master , Ala - ud - din Ahmad Shah II ( son of Ahmad Shah I Wali ) and retreated to Narnala . He was besieged by disaffected nobles and Nashir Khan , but managed to break through the besieging force with help of Khalaf Hasan Basri who was sent by Ala - ud - din Ahmed Shah II . Nasir Khan was defeated . In 1487 CE Narnala along with Gawilgarh came under the control of Fateh - ullah Imad - ul - Mulk , the founder of Imad shahi dynasty at Ellichpur ( or Achalpur ) . In 1572 Burhan Imad Shah ( also of the Imad Shahi dynasty ) was confined in Narnala by his minister Tufal Khan . This gave Murtaza Nizam Shah of Ahmadnagar a pretext to lay siege to the fortress . He captured both king and minister , subsequently putting them to death . Thus the fort passed into the hands of the Ahmednagar kings . In 1597 - 8 , the fort was captured by Akbar ' s officers , Saiyid Yusuf Khan Mashhad and Shaikh Abul Fazl , from the officer who held it for the Sultan of Ahmadnagar . During Akbar ’ s rule , Narnala was one of the Sarkars of Berar Subah ( see Berar Subah ) . Narnala was captured by Parsoji Bhosale in 1701 CE and remained with the Marathas till it was taken over by the British in 1803 CE . Major features . The fort covers an area of . It has 360 watchtowers , six large and twenty one small gates . The large gates are called the Delhi darvaza , the Sirpur darvaza , the Akot darvaza , and the Shahanur darvaza . The innermost of the three gate - ways is the Shahnur or Mahakali gate . It is built of white sandstone and is highly ornate . It is decorated with conventional lotus flowers , a rich cornice , and Arabic inscriptions , and flanked by projecting balconies with panels of stone lattice - work displaying considerable variety of design . It is considered an example of Sultanate style of architecture . An inscription records the fact that the gate was built in the reign of Shahab - ud - din Mahmud Shah ( Bahmani ) by Fataullah Imad - ul - Mulk in 1486 . A short verse from the Quran is also inscribed . The fort still display " Ashtakamal " eight petals Lotus which was the symbol of Narnal Singh ' s dynasty . These lotuses are visible on the mosques and many other places . Hence it is evident that Islamic rulers made changes in Narnal Singh ' s original architectural construction and converted the place in Moghul form . It was impossible for any ruler to rebuild entire fort considering the geographical location of the fort . It has an aqueduct and drains to catch rainwater . Along with 19 tanks , four of which are full throughout the year , this ensured a plentiful water supply to the fort residents . The Medviel Period of Mughal era THE REVENUE of Narnala sarkar As per Ain - e - Akbari Sarkár of Narnálah . Containing 34 Parganahs . Revenue 130 , 954 , 476 Dáms . Suyúrghál 11 , 038 , 422 Dáms . Ankót , 6 , 470 , 066 70 , 066 Dhárór , 1 , 200 , 000 . A´dgáoṇ , Dogar , Gond , 50 horse , 2000 foot , 8 , 000 , 000 . Dhéndá , 5 , 600 , 000 . Rohankhér , 2 , 000 , 000 . Rájór , 1 , 000 , 000 520 , 000 Amner and Jalpi , 2 mahals , 4 , 800 , 000 . Sheolá , * 640 , 000 . Shérpúr , 48 , 000 . A´ngólah , 11 , 200 , 000 . Karankhér , 2 , 400 , 000 800 , 040 Bálapúr , 22 , 000 , 000 3 , 300 , 000 Kothal , 1 , 409 , 000 209 , 000 Panjar , 2 , 000 , 000 . Kóthli , 640 , 000 . Bársi Tánkli , * 2 , 864 , 000 . Mangáoṇ , * 4 , 800 , 000 . Pígalgáoṇ , 2 , 400 , 000 . Mahén , * 600 , 000 280 , 000 Pátar Shaíkh Bábú 3 , 700 , 000 500 , 000 Malkápúr , 11 , 200 , 000 . Ḳaṣbah Bárigáoṇ , 1 , 600 , 000 640 , 000 Mélgaṛh , ( from procedes of road tolls or safe - conduct passports , 94 , 360 . Pátarrah , 3 , 342 , 500 1 , 262 , 500 Bánbahar , 1 , 568 , 000 608 , 000 Badnér Bhúli , 2 , 764 , 450 364 , 452 Badner Kánka , * 4 , 813 , 700 13 , 800 Karyát Rájór , 400 , 000 170 , 356 Jalgáoṇ , 10 , 000 , 000 2 , 000 , 000 Nádúrah , ( Nándúrah ) , * 1 , 200 , 000 . Jaipúr , 400 , 000 . Chándór , 4 , 887 , 000 87 , 000 Ḳaṣbah Hatgoáṇ , * 1 , 500 , 000 300 , 000