Sindhudurg (Marathi सिंधुदुर्ग) is a fortress which occupies an islet in the Arabian Sea, just off the coast of Maharashtra in western India. The fortress lies on the shore of Malwan town of Sindhudurg District in the Konkan region of Maharashtra, south of Mumbai. It is a protected monument.

Sindhudurg (sindhu = sea, durg = fort) was built by the great Maratha warrior King Shivaji in 1664. Shivaji selected the strategic rocky island location, then known as 'Kurte' for the fort ,himself - to counter foreign forces, and to keep the nearby Siddis of Murud-Janjira in check.

One of the best preserved forts of the Marathas, Sindhudurg fort has zigzag rampart with 42 bastions. Apart from the huge stones, the building material involved 2000 khandis (72,576 kg) of iron erecting the massive curtain wall and bastions. A notable feature is that the foundation stones were laid down firmly with 5 khandis (181.5 kg) of molten lead.

Over 4000 mounds of iron were used in the casting and foundation stones were firmly laid down. Construction started on 25 November 1664. Built over a period of three years (1664–67), the sea fort is spread over 48 acres (190,000 m²) with a two-mile (3 km) long rampart, and walls that are 30 feet (9.1 m) high and 12 feet (3.7 m) thick. The massive walls were designed to serve as a deterrent to approaching enemies and to the waves and tides of the Arabian Sea. The main entrance is concealed in such a way that no one can pinpoint it from outside.

Nilesh Narayan Rane is a member of the 15th Lok Sabha of India. He represents the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg constituency of Maharashtra and is a member of the Indian National Congress (INC) political party.

Nilesh Rane was born in Mumbai to Narayan Rane, a leading Politician from Maharashtra.

Nilesh Rane was elected to the 15th Lok Sabha at the age of 28.

Narayan Rane (Marathi: नारायण राणे, b. 10 April 1952) is an Indian politician from the state of Maharashtra and former Chief Minister of Maharashtra. He is currently the Minister for Industry, Port, Employment and Self-employment in the Government of Maharashtra. He was a member of Shiv Sena and also opposition leader of Vidhan Sabha until July 2005 and also, then he joined Indian National Congress party.

Narayan Rane joined Shivsena in his early twenties,and started his political journey as local Shakha Pramukh and then Councillar of Mumbai and then later went on to become chief minister of Maharashtra. Due to dispute between him and Shivsena working president Uddhav Thackeray, Narayan Rane left Shiv Sena on 3 July 2005 and also resigned from the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly soon. He later joined the Indian National Congress and was made the Revenue Minister of Maharashtra, often perceived as a powerful ministry. Rane sought re-election from his Malvan seat in the Konkan region on a Congress ticket and won with a lead of over 50,000 votes despite a well-fought and organised campaign by the Shiv Sena. Shiv Sena candidate Parshuram Uparkar even lost his deposit. It was first time in the history of Shivsena that the rebel had won. There is considerable rift between him and their allies from nationalist congress party on various issues. These were more apparent during local body elections in 2011.