Category: Madhya Pradesh

Forts around Dholpur

The Maps

Forts around Dholpur
Original map courtesy of the University of Texas Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin.(Click to enlarge)

The Forts

  1. Shergarh, Dholpur – 26.6697707,77.9032159
  2. Dholpur Old Fort – 26.6610483,77.9050827
  3. Fort near Bari – 26.6156947,77.6427734
  4. Mandrayal/Mandrael – 26.2969547,77.2352386
  5. Unidentified fort near Utgir – 26.1017757,76.9208461
  6. Utgir/Deogarh Udgir – 26.1167181,76.8759298
  7. Baler/Barel – 26.0759231,76.761893
  8. Khandar/Khandhar – 26.0232174,76.6091037
  9. Unknown fort near Gwalior – 26.3434797,77.9476494
  10. Bayana – 26.8851771,77.2430277
  11. Hatori/Hathori/Hathodi – 26.997738,77.1108699
  12. Tamangarh – 26.709446,77.2643781
  13. Sabalgarh – 26.2422991,77.4052262
  14. Jagner/Jagnair – 26.8610027,77.5991392
  15. Sahar – 26.6071168,76.7285156
  16. Shankerpur – 26.8619407,76.8674916
  17. Machhkund – 26.6831012,77.8648013
  18. Ramathra/Raontra/Raonthra – 26.2736563,76.7599618
  19. Sapotra – 26.2918856,76.7495012
  20. Fort ruins near Toda Bhim – 26.9106714,76.8100628
  21. Naraoli/Narouli – 26.3286962,76.6367787
  22. Ghudha/Guda – 26.7844283,76.670875
  23. Fort ruins near Patoli – 26.9833312,76.8084294
  24. Gijgarh/Geejgarh – 26.8819355,76.6388253
  25. Garh Padampura/Kilankot – 26.8543313,76.771903
  26. Kila Ghat Bhandari – 26.8403365,76.8447089
  27. Torda – 26.832046,76.5754634
  28. Karauli – 26.4950608,77.0279789
  29. Smaller fortification outside Karauli – 26.4928283,77.0335579
  30. Smaller fortification outside Karauli II – 26.4913351,77.0392442

    31. Update: More forts on this map.

  31. Sikri – 26.9253893,76.638962

    32. Huge thanks to Sandeep Paranjape for pointing out the following forts:

  32. Taalchidi/Talchiri – 26.9062943,77.0233011
  33. Khedi Merada – 26.8852536,76.8920231
  34. Fort ruins near Dorawali – 26.9180138,76.9287184
  35. First fort near Tudavali – 26.9664382,76.8447357
  36. Second fort near Tudavali – 26.969895,76.848287
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Forts around Shivpuri

The Maps

Forts around Shivpuri
Courtesy of the University of Texas Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin.

Link to original map.

The Forts

  1. Paragarh – 25.2230925,77.7046573
  2. Unidentified – 25.1402245,77.4479324
  3. Shahabad – 25.2365442,77.1378636
  4. Ramgarh – 25.3321573,76.6245747
  5. Narwar – 25.6472329,77.9049325
  6. Dhoda – 25.939358,77.6028138
  7. Sheopur – 25.6567592,76.6960019
  8. Surwaya/Surwaja – 25.4195603,77.8316519

Forts around Banda

The Maps

Forts around Banda
Original map courtesy of the University of Texas Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin.(Click to enlarge).

Click here for the original map

  1. Bhuragarh – 25.4759874,80.3100801
  2. Hajipur – 25.2160556,80.4126692
  3. Kalinjar – 24.9993996,80.4846811
  4. Unknown near Karwi – 25.0206975,80.9106052
  5. Ghazipur – 25.8021635,80.7537764
  6. Mangalgarh, Charkhari – 25.3998925,79.7560537
  7. Bijanagar – 25.299534,79.9184266
  8. Beri – 25.9031629,79.8883832

Forts around Jhansi – Part 2

The last few weeks of work on the Jhansi AMS map has finally paid off. I’ve managed to locate almost all the forts that were marked on that grid as well as locate a few others that were not on that map.

Forts around Jhansi(Click to enlarge map)
Original map courtesy of the University of Texas Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin.(Click to enlarge)

To start with, the red marks are forts that are on the map but could not be found through the satellite images. That, as always, does not mean that there are no forts at those locations or that the forts do not exist anymore. It simply means that unless someone checks those locations out on the ground, nothing can be said about those forts with certainty. The blue marks are the forts that were found through the satellite.

In all, I found 30 forts and fortifications. To help load the page faster, I am excluding the embedded maps for all of these. The links will take you conveniently to the forts on Wikimapia.

  1. Jhansi – 25.4577771,78.5758924
  2. Barua/Barwa Sagar – 25.3751954,78.7412667
  3. Orchha – 25.3502315, 78.6445892
    Orchha deserves a complete post by itself because of the unique placement of the fort and the massive outer fortification towards the west.
  4. Shakurpura – 25.2470443, 78.5505885
  5. Larwari – 25.2083484, 78.7146163
  6. Kuraoni – 25.0597299, 78.6731064
    The fort is barely visible because of the low res image.
  7. Kumheri – 25.026341, 78.7141764
  8. Fort near Bachera – 25.0011013, 78.5718799
    Another low res image but the structure is discernible.
  9. Ganj Dinara – 25.4627803, 78.3234859
  10. Damron Kalan – 25.4148459, 78.2802916
  11. Pichor/Pichhore – 25.1746359, 78.186425
  12. Baghari – 25.073909, 78.0735737
  13. Unknown fortification near previous fort – 25.0762704, 78.033056
  14. Bhitarwar – 25.7889466, 78.1101322
  15. Datia, main fort and outer fortifications – 25.6740691, 78.4544635
  16. Bamori/Bamhori Kalan – 25.1349116, 79.0875453
  17. Bonda – 25.1498201, 79.0490556
  18. Jatara – 25.0094243, 79.0454721
  19. Patha Ram – 25.4088764, 78.937135
  20. Bijaigarh – 25.4191048, 79.0009099
  21. Bijna – 25.4624316, 79.0173063
  22. Tori Fatehpur – 25.458523, 79.1106606
  23. Gursarai – 25.6165718, 79.1725793
  24. Garvai/Garhvai – 25.6886983, 79.2145318
  25. Samthar – 25.8445477, 78.9011693
  26. Garh Kundan – 25.4815129, 78.8986963
  27. Tahrauli – 25.5364831, 78.9927453
  28. Chirgaon – 25.573424, 78.8109291
  29. Fort near Sihor – 25.6713132, 78.0995965
  30. Dhaura – 25.1282193, 79.156183

The map of princely states in Central India provides a better context for studying them further.

As an aside, while researching other forts in the area, I found a mention of a fort in Niwari where a fort was demolished by the Marathas.

These forts are not the only ones in the area but only those that I’ve managed to locate. There could be others.

The Gap in Kaimur

While reading about Rohtasgarh, the Wikipedia page on Kaimur range threw up an interesting fact.

At Jhukehi, the strike of the Kaimurs is displaced, producing the only gap in the whole length of the Vindhyas. Advantage of the gap is taken in the construction of the Mirzapur road and the Jabalpur-Allahabad railway line.

The need to guard the approaches to such a gap is a first sign that there may be fortifications in the area.

The forts of Vijayraghavgarh and Kanhwara are for exactly that purpose.

Kanhwara

Vijayraghavgarh

Neither are directly on the Jabalpur-Allahabad road but then fortifications do not have to be precisely next to the feature they protect.

Kanhwara and Vijayraghavgarh(Click to enlarge)
Original map courtesy of the University of Texas Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin.(Click to enlarge)