Ghodbunder Fort

Ghodbunder Fort is a located in Ghodbunder Village, Thane, Maharashtra, India. on the hill.

In 1530 the Portuguese came to Thane but they only began building the Ghodbunder fort in 1730. The Portuguese name for the fort was Cacabe de Tanna. The British captured the fort and made it their headquarters of the district administration with a district collector stationed in Thane.[1] It which was under Portuguese rule till 1737 when it was also the site of a Portuguese church.[2] This Church is now a hotel. 2 angels engraved on the inside wall of the Church still remains. The old Church can be seen clearly in the background of the Courtyard photo.

There are many old maps and texts which mention continual attempts by the Marathas to capture this fort. The Portuguese were able to defend Ghodbunder fort from these attacks successfully.[3] However, later the Marathas successfully besieged the fort and took it over from the Portuguese in 1737.[3][4]

Currently the fort is in ruins but there has been some renovation work started by the Government to preserve it.

References

  1. ^ Rao, Shilpa (May 17, 2007). "History becomes mystery". http://www.cybernoon.com/DisplayArticle.asp?section=xtras&subsection=bombayfirst&xfile=May2007_extraspecial_standard806&child=extraspecial. Retrieved 2009-03-30. 
  2. ^ Karkari, R.P. (2008). The Charm of Bombay. READ BOOKS. pp. 423. ISBN 1409792943. http://books.google.com/books?id=S7NRZidhAnEC&pg=PA423&dq=Ghodbunder+fort&as_brr=3&client=firefox-a#PPA423,M1. Retrieved 27 March, 2009. 
  3. ^ a b Ashar, Hemal (2007-12-03). "Mid-day". http://www.mid-day.com/news/2007/dec/799975.htm. Retrieved 2009-03-30. 
  4. ^ "Incredible India". http://www.incredibleindia.org/newsite/cms_page.asp?pageid=1321. Retrieved 2009-03-30. 

The old Church can be seen in the background of the Courtyard photo. The place was called as Ghodbunder because the Portugese used to trade for Ghode(horses) with the Arabs. Hence the name Ghodbunder: Ghode(horses) & bunder(port).