Shaniwar Wada in Pune, Maharashtra

Shaniwar Wada History

The fort came into formation in the year 1732 and served as the major point of rule for the Maratha Empire. The prime ministers or the Peshwas of the kingdom sat and dealt with their tasks from the fort. The construction of this grand and majestic fort was commissioned by Peshwa Baji Rao I, prime minister to Chattrapati Shahu, to a contractor from Rajasthan. This person belonged to the Kumhar sub-caste and was called by the name of Kumawat Kshatriya. After the successful construction of the fort and completion of the many architectural intricacies, the contractor was given the name of ‘Naik’ by the Peshwa of the Maratha Empire. The original structure of Shaniwar Wada Palace was of seven storeys, out of which only the base remains. The top 6 storeys were made of bricks and were destroyed after an attack by the Britishers during their rule. The base of the fort which was commissioned in stone material remained immune to the British artillery and remains to the present day. The ruins of the fort can be explored by the public.

Shaniwar Wada Architecture

The architecture of the Shaniwar Wada Fort is quite amazing and interesting. Talking about its structure, the fort had 7 storeys initially which was reduced to a mere 1 at the base. This happened after an attack from the British Army when they defeated the Maratha empire and took over the fort. The base of the fort is made from the stone material. The construction of the remaining fort was done using bricks because of the fact that only the Shahu Kings could sanction the construction of a stone fort, not the Peshwas. The fort had a palace, fortification walls, five gates, nine bastion towers, an interesting lotus-shaped fountain having a thousand jets called the Hazari Karanje, and a lot more other buildings. Only a few areas of the fort still remain intact and some in the form of ruins. The gates, bastion towers, fountains, the garden complex, and the foundation of the original structure of Shaniwar Wada are present to the day.