Stone of the Month: 

September 2022 

"Mahuli Hill Fort"

By Sudhir Jadhav

The multiple peak mountain stone was collected in central India in a river basin. The stone is very hard and has heavy limestone with some basaltic granules over the surface. It measures 20 cm wide, 19 cm high, and 10 cm deep, and is owned by Sudhir Jadhav. It is named after a historical mountain range in central India near Mumbai.

The builder of Mahuli Hill Fort is unknown. In 1485 it came under the rule of Malik Ahmed who was the founder of Nijamshahi. Maratha King Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj took this fort from Mughals on January 8, 1658. In 1661 it was given back and was won again by Shivaji Maharaj. In the treaty of Purandar, in 1665, Marathas lost these forts again. In February 1670, Shivaji Maharaj tried to conquer Mahuli, but failed. It was a big blow to Marathas. On 16 June 1670, after two months of battle, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s Maratha warriors conquered this fort, and Mahuli became part of the Maratha kingdom.