Shivner, 1908

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Shivner

This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS.

Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.

Hill fort of the town of Junnar, in the Junnar taluka of Poona District, Bombay, situated in 19 12' N. and 73 52' E., not far from Harischandragarh, and about 56 miles north of Poona city. The hill of Shivner rises over 1,000 feet, and stretches about a mile across the plain. It is triangular in shape, narrowing from a southern base of about 800 yards to a point of rock in the north. Near the south, the lower slopes of its eastern face are crossed by a belt of rock 40 or 50 feet high. The south-west of the hill is broken, and about half-way up is strengthened by outworks and bastioned walls. During the first and second and probably the third centuries after Christ, the hill seems to have been a great Buddhist centre. About 50 cells and chapels remain. They are found on three sides of the hill, but most of them are cut in its eastern face. Shivner was granted in 1599 to Sivaji's grandfather, Maloji Bhonsla; and here in 1627 Sivaji was born. It was often taken and retaken; and once, in 1670, the forces of Sivaji himself were beaten back by its Mughal garrison. Besides its five gates and solid fortifications, it is celebrated for its deep springs. They rise in pillared tanks of great depth, supposed to be coeval with the series of Buddhist caves which pierce the lower portion of the scarp. The fort commands the road leading to the Nanaghat and Malsejghat, formerly the chief line of communication between this part of the Deccan and the coast.

[For further information respecting Shivner fort and caves, see the Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency ', vol. xviii, part iii, pp. 153-63, 184-201 (Bombay, 1885).]