Last Sunday, the 18th of July was an awesome trek and ride to Karnala. Have added a few snaps and a lil info about the place.. Enjoy the reading.

Karnala fort(also called Funnel Hill) is a hill fort in Raigad district about 10 km from Panvel city. Currently it is a protected place lying within the Karnala Bird Sanctuary. It was a fort of strategic importance as it overlooked the Bor pass which connected the Konkan coast to the interior of Maharashtra and was the main trade route between these areas.

The Sanctuary

The sanctuary is quite small with an area of 4.27 square kilometres but is one of the sanctuaries except the Sanjay Gandhi National Park to be within reach of the Mumbai city.The sanctuary is very rich in avifauna and harbours 147 species of resident and 37 species of migratory birds who visit the sanctuary during winters. Two rare birds i.e. Ashy Minimet and Spotted heart woodpeckers have been sighted here.

History

Its exact date of formation is not known but likely it predates 1400 CE as under the Devagiri Yadavs(1248–1318) and under the Tughlaq rulers(1318–1347), Karnala was the capital of the north Konkan districts of their respective empires. It later fell under the command of the Gujarat Sultanate but in 1540 was taken over by Nizam Shah of Ahmednagar. The Gujarat sultans then requested the help of the Dom Francisco de Menenzes the commanding officer of the Portuguese at Bassien (modern day Vasai) to win it back. He ordered 500 of his soldiers to Karnala fort and they were able to capture it. The fort was left in charge of the Gujarat Sultanate but with Portuguese garrisons.
Shivaji conquered it from the Portuguese in 1670 by building breastworks as he advanced. After his death in 1680 it was taken over by Aurangzeb. After this the Mughals occupied it for some time after which it in 1740 with the rise of the Peshwas of Pune it went to them. It remained under the command of killedar (garrison commander) Anantrao until a colonel Prother won the fort and established the rule of the British East India Company there in 1818.

Major features

Karnala fort actually consists of two forts one at a higher level and other lower. At the centre of the higher level is a 125 feet high basalt pillar. It is also called Pandu’s tower. This structure was used as watchtower when the fort was occupied however now it is in a ruined condition. The presence of bee hives also makes it difficult to climb and have resulted in at least one casualty in recent times. There is a water cistern which provides fresh water all year long. From the top the forts of Prabalgad and Rajmachi are clearly visible.

The fort has two inscriptions one in Marathi and the other in Persian. The Marathi inscription which has no date is seen on the lower gate on the inner side. Its words are indecipherable. The Persian writing is on upper gate reads “Syed Nuruddin Muhammad Khan, Hijri, 1147 AH (1735 CE) and probably dates from the Mughal occupation of the fort.

My road trip to Murud with Milan is one of my favorite road trips till date, not only because the ride and destination was not planned until we were already on the bike but also because of the various experiences we faced on the way..attacked by locusts,getting lost in the mountains at Roha,riding in the night through swarms of insects and having an hour long baffling conversation with a koli woman for our accommodation for the night..just to name a few.

Murud is famous for the impregnable fort of Janjira and beautiful beach, situated in Raigad district of Maharashtra.It is famous for being the only fort along India’s western coast that remained undefeated despite Maratha, Dutch and English East India Company attacks.The word Janjira is not native to India, and may have originated after the Arabic word Jazeera, which means an island. Murud was once known in Marathi as Habsan, or Abyssinian’s land. Some of the people also split the name as “JAL JEERA” meaning fort in the water.

To Reach the Janjira Fort, sailboats are available from Murud Port (which is behind Ekdara Village) and Rajpuri port.
Murud doesn’t just have a Beach & the fort. It also has a Temple over the hill next to the New Bus Depot (known as Datta cha Dongar) Hill of Lord Dattatray. One can have a paranormic view of Murud & both the islands together from the hill.
Further ahead of the hill is an Idga Mosque, the walk though the dense jungle is a experience in itself.
The fort also boasts of a sweet water lake inside it. It is considered to be a miracle that the Fort surrounded by the salty water of the sea has a lake full of sweet water. Also the cannons in the fort are quite unique. The biggest cannon boasts a range of around 18 km. It is said that since the entire cannon could not have been transported at once they had to be brought in pieces and they were then assembled inside the fort.

A short history of the fort
The fort was built by the Koli (Fishermen) kings of Konkan and repelled all the attacks of Muslim rulers for almost two hundred years (till 1490). The subedar of Junnar, Mallik Ambar also tried to capture the fort in vain in 1485-86. Finally around 1490, he secretly sent a warship disguised as a merchant ship with 147 Habashi soldiers. The ship’s crew asked for refuge in the fort. The officer at the time, Etbatrao, agreed and took the ship in. The Habashi general, pretending to be a merchant gave liquor to the Koli soldiers. Habashi soldiers hiding in the goods containers attacked and defeated the intoxicated Koli soldiers.