Alibag

Alibag (also spelled as Alibaug) is a coastal town and a municipal council in Raigad District in the Konkan region of Maharashtra, India. It is the headquarters of the Raigad district.

History

Alibag was developed in the 17th century by Sarkhel Kanhoji Aangre the naval chief of King Shivaji's Kingdom. Alibag is a coastal town and municipal council in Raigad district in Konkan region of Maharashtra, India. It is the headquarters of the Raigad district. Raigad's first name was "Kulaba". Today's Ramnath was the main village. A Bene Israelite named Ali used to live there at that time. He was a rich man and owned many plantations of mangoes and coconuts in his gardens. Hence the locals used to call the place "Alichi Bagh" (Marathi for "Gardens of Ali"), or simply "Alibag", and the name stuck.

Rewdanda, Chaul, Nagaon, Akshi, Varsoli, Thal, Kihim and Aawas villages were known as "Ashtagare".

A naval battle was fought at Varsoli between Kanhoji Aangre and Siddi of Janjira in 1706. In 1722 English and Portuguese jointly attacked on Kulaba fort, and they lost this war. At Chaul there was a battle between the English and Sakhoji in 1730. Sakhoji won and brought down the losing party along with their captain at Kulaba. Kanhoji even issued his own currency in the form of a silver coin called the Alibagi rupaiya.

Kolaba Fort

Kolaba Fort (sometimes Kulaba Fort or Alibag Fort) is an old military fortification in India. It is situated in the sea at a distance of 1–2 km from the shores of Alibag, 35 km south of Mumbai, in the Konkan region of Maharashtra, India. It is a popular tourist destination and a protected monument.

History

The first mention of Kolaba fort is when it was chosen by Shivaji to be fortified after the whole of South Konkan became free. In 1662, he strengthened and fortified Kolaba fort to make it one of his chief naval stations. The command of the fort was given to Darya Sagar and Manik Bhandari under whom Kolaba fort became the centre of Maratha attacks on British ships.

In 1713 under a treaty with Peshwa Balaji Vishwanath, Kolaba along with several other forts was given over to Kanhoji Angre. He used it as his main base from which to launch raids on British ships. In 1722, the British incensed at Angre's activities, joined the Portuguese in an expedition against Kolaba. A Portuguese land force and three English ships of the line under Commodore Mathews co-operated but the attempt failed. The British blamed the failure to the "cowardice of the Portuguese". About this time Kolaba is described by Hamilton as a fort built on a rock, a little way from the mainland and at high water an island.

Fortification

Fortifications are military constructions or buildings designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and also used to solidify rule in a region during peace time. Humans have constructed defensive works for many thousands of years, in a variety of increasingly complex designs. The term is derived from the Latin fortis ("strong") and facere ("to make").

From very early history to modern times, walls have been a necessity for cities to survive in an ever changing world of invasion and conquest. Some settlements in the Indus Valley Civilization were the first small cities to be fortified. In ancient Greece, large stone walls had been built in Mycenaean Greece, such as the ancient site of Mycenae (famous for the huge stone blocks of its 'cyclopean' walls). A Greek Phrourion was a fortified collection of buildings used as a military garrison, and is the equivalent of the Roman castellum or English fortress. These construction mainly served the purpose of a watch tower, to guard certain roads, passes, and lands that might threaten the kingdom. Though smaller than a real fortress, they acted as a border guard rather than a real strongpoint to watch and maintain the border.

Raigad district

Raigad District is a district in the state of Maharashtra, India. It is located in the Konkan region. The district was renamed after Raigad, the fort that was the former capital of the Maratha leader Shivaji Maharaj, and is located in the interior regions of the district, in dense forests on a west-facing spur of the Western Ghats of Sahyadri range. In 2011 the district had a population of 2,635,394, compared to 2,207,929 in 2001. In 2011 urban dwellers had increased to 36.91% from 24.22% in 2001.

The district is bounded by Mumbai Harbour to the northwest, Thane District to the north, Pune District to the east, Ratnagiri district to the south, and the Arabian Sea to the west. It includes the large natural harbor of Pen-Mandwa, which is immediately south of Mumbai harbour, and forming a single landform with it. The northern part of the district is included in the planned metropolis of Navi Mumbai, and its port, the Jawaharlal Nehru Port.

The district includes towns/cities of Panvel, Alibag, Mangaon, Roha, Pen, Khopoli, Kharghar, Taloja, Khalapur, Uran, Patalganga, Rasayani, Nagothana, Poladpur, Alibag, Karjat and Mahad. The largest city both in area and population is Panvel. The district also includes the isle of Gharapuri or Elephanta, located in Uran which has ancient Hindu and Buddhist caves.