Prachandagad

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Image:Torna Fort.jpg

Prachandagad - bird's-eye view

Prachandagad, also called Torna Fort, is a fort situated near Pune, Maharashtra in India. The word "Prachanda" means "huge" and "gad" means fort in Marathi, which undoubtedly means that this fort is vast and stretches on for many miles.

The Torna is located at a very high altitude and it takes an average of three hours to get to the top from the foothills of the Sahyadri mountains on which the fort is situated. The Torna fort is considered to be built by followers of the Hindu Lord Shiva called the Shaiva Panth in the 1400s. A Menghai Devi temple, also known as Tornaji temple is situated near the entrance of the fort.

A bahamani ruler named Malik Ahmed conquered this fort during the reign of Al-a-uddin khilji during the late 1470s. Then, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj conquered the Torna Fort in 1643 when he was sixteen, and renamed it Prachandagad. Shivaji Maharaj, the most prominent rulers of the Maratha kingdom conquered this as one of his first forts. Shivaji Maharaj was born in 1627 AD. He was the son of Jijamata and Shahaji Raje,a regent at the court of Adilshah of Bijapur. During his rule, he constructed his palace, many monuments and towers in the fort and made renovations to it.

Also, many battles have been fought in this fort. In 1700s, Aurangzeb, a Mughal ruler, took control of Prachandagad by defeating Shivaji's son, Sambhaji in a war. Aurangzeb renamed this fort "Futulgaib" or "Divine victory" as this was the only fort he had ever won in a war against the Marathas. The powerful Marathas, however, quickly regained control with the treaty of Purandar.