Ahivant Fort


Ahivant Fort / अहिवंत किल्ला is a fort located 55km from Nashik, in Nashik district, of Maharashtra. This fort is an important fort in Nashik district. The three forts Achala, Ahivant, and Mohandar are very close by. The other two forts were constructed to guard the Ahivant fort. Captain Briggs has described it as a large and shapeless hill, remarkably bleak and unhealthy

History

In 1636 this fort was under the control of Adilshah. The Moghul Emperor Shahjahan send one of his General Shaista Khan and entrusted to win all the forts in Nashik region. Alivardikhan was cavalier of Shaista Khan who won the Fort. In 1670 king Shivaji won the fort from Moghuls. The Moghul Emperor Aurangzeb sent his chieftain Mahabat Khan to win the fort. Mahabat Khan and DilerKhan opened battle front from either side of the fort. The attack was so fierce that the fort was surrendered to Moghuls. In 1818 the fort was captured by British Colonel Prother.

How to reach

The nearest town is Vani which is 44 km from Nashik. The base village of the fort is Daregaonwani which is 13km from Vani. There are good hotels at Vani. The trekking path starts from the hillock north of the Daregoanwani. The route is very safe and wide. There are no trees on the trekking route. It takes about two hours to reach the entrance gate of the fort. The night stay on the fort cannot be made due to lack of potable water on the fort. The villagers from the local village make night stay and food arrangements at a reasonable cost. The other route is from Village ahiwantwadi. This route is the shortest and safe. The motorable road from Daregaon towards Bilawadi helps to reach the col easily and from there a small climb for 1hr can reach the top of the fort.

Places to see

The Ahivant fort is occupied on a large flat plateau. All the structures are in ruined state. The ruins of store houses and arches can be seen on the fort. There are some bastions and water cisterns on the fort to be seen. There is a large pond in the middle of the fort. It takes about one hour to encircle the fort.