Vishalgad
{{Short description|Feudal Land of the Maratha Empire}}
{{Infobox former subdivision
|conventional_long_name = Vishalgad
|common_name=Vishalgad
|nation = Maratha Empire and then British India
|subdivision = Jagir
|era =
|year_start = 1716{{cite book|title=Vishalgad Jagir|url=http://members.iinet.net.au/~royalty/ips/v/vishalgadh.html}}
|date_start =
|event_start=
|date_end =
|event_end= Independence of India (abolition of the estate)
|event1 =
|date_event1 =
|p1 =
|s1 = India
|flag_p1 =
|flag_s1 =
|image_flag =
|image_coat =
|image_map =
|image_map_caption =
|stat_area1 = 608.65
|stat_year1 = 1901
|stat_pop1 = 30807
|footnotes = Source: Solomon & Bond (1922){{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=47sfj8DUwNgC&pg=PA110|title=Indian States: A Biographical, Historical, and Administrative Survey|publisher=Asian Educational Services|year=1922|first1=R. V. |last1=Solomon |first2=J. W. |last2=Bond|page=110|isbn=9788120619654}}
}}
{{Infobox military installation
|name = Vishalgad
|native_name =
|partof =
|location = Kolhapur district, Maharashtra, India
|image = Surviving Structure on Vishalgad.jpg
|image_size = 220px
|caption = One of the few surviving structures on Vishalgad
|map_type = India Maharashtra
|map_size =
|map_alt =
|map_caption = Vishalgad in Maharashtra
|type =
|coordinates = {{coord|16.906419|73.741683|type:landmark|display=inline}}
|code =
|built =
|builder =
|materials =
|height =
|used =
|demolished =
|condition =
|ownership = Government of India
|open_to_public =
|controlledby =
|garrison =
|current_commander =
|commanders =
|occupants =
|battles =
|events =
|image2 =
|caption2 =
}}
Vishalgad (also called Vishalgarh, Khelna or Khilna){{cite web |url=https://www.maharashtratourism.gov.in/treasures/fort/vishalgad |publisher=Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation |title=Vishalgad |access-date=2017-07-14}} was a jagir during the Maratha Empire and then later part of the Deccan States Agency of the British Raj.
Fort
A fort had existed at Vishalgad for a long period. During the Bahmani rule it belonged to the ShirkeAli, S. S. (1996). The African Dispersal in the Deccan: From Medieval to Modern Times. Orient Blackswan.|https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=-3CPc22nMqIC&oi=fnd&pg=PR13&dq=vishalgad+shirke&ots=4WyAmVRCXE&sig=HNM7CzUyctG03tIJc3ZceEKnc8E#v=onepage&q=shirke&f=false|page=46 clan. During that period it was known by the name , khelna. The Maratha emperor Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj had escaped to it after being besieged at Panhala Fort in 1660{{cite book |title=The Marathas 1600-1818 |first=Stewart |last=Gordon |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1993 |page=68 |isbn=978-0-52126-883-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iHK-BhVXOU4C&pg=PA68}} and in 1844 it was one of the forts of Kolhapur State that initiated a rebellion against a regent called Daji Krishna Pandit who had been installed by the British to govern the state in 1843 at a time when the natural heir to the throne was underage. He took direction from a political agent of the East India Company and among their actions were reforms to the tax of land. These reforms caused much resentment and, despite Kolhapur having refrained from involvement in the previous Anglo-Maratha Wars, a revolt against the British began in 1844. The rebellion began with soldiers locking themselves into hill-forts such as those as Panhala and Vishalgad, and then spread to Kolhapur itself.{{cite book |title=Britain's Empire: Resistance, Repression and Revolt |first=Richard |last=Gott |publisher=Verso Books |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-84467-738-2 |page=343 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sNoz_F_wQPkC&pg=PA343}}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Commons category}}
{{Princely states of the Deccan States Agency}}
{{Forts in Maharashtra}}