Fort Aguada (Bombay)

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Fort Aguada was a fort constructed by the Portuguese on the tip of the Bandra promontory where it juts south into the Mahim Bay.

The name indicates its origin as a place where fresh water was available in the form of a fountain ("Aguada") for Portuguese ships cruising the coasts in the initial period of Portuguese presence.

The fort was substantially demolished by the English with the reluctant consent of the Portuguese when it became obvious that the Portuguese would not be able to withstand the Maratha Conquests, and to obviate it as a threat to the British possessions of Bombay (now Mumbai). About eighty years later, the English gained these lands by cession from the Marathas by the Treaty of Bassein.

Some of the fort's walls, however, still stand, as does an original plaque bearing a legend in Portuguese.

The place has been partially developed into a verdant and picturesque park, which is frequented by lovers starved of public places in Bombay. Beneath the fort's walls are sheer drops from the cliff's edge with narrow tracks precariously wending down to the shore.

Constructions of the Searock Hotel, the Taj Land's End Hotel and the Western Sealink have further damaged the remains of the fort.