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Revision as of 16:03, 1 January 2006 by AMbroodEY (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Tanaji Malusare, also known as Sinha ("the Lion"), was a renowned warrior and military leader in the army of Chhatrapati Shivaji, founder of the maratha empire in 17th century India.
Tanaji was one of Shivaji's closest friends; the two had known each other since childhood. In 1672, Tanaji pledged to recapture the fortress of Kondana near Pune. Shivaji had earlier controlled Kondana between c.1650 and 1660. After strengthening its defences and renaming it "Sinhagadh" ("The Lion's den"), Shivaji had been forced to cede it to the Mughals as part of the treaty of Purandar signed with Raja Jai Singh of Jaipur, an important officer in the mughal army.
Kondana was a well-defended stronghold located atop steep cliffs. It was considered nearly impossible to capture it by force. At that time, Kondana was garrisoned by over a thousand rajput soldiers in the service of the mughals, led by Uday Bhanu Rathod.
Climbing the rocky cliffs at one of their steepest and most improbable sections, under cover of darknesson a moonless night, Tanaji mounted a surprise attack. The Marathas suffered heavy casualties initially and Tanaji was himself killed in the initial part of the battle. After a pitched fight, the Marathas managed to open the gates of the fort from inside, allowing the remainder of their attacking force to enter the fort and capture it.
When Shivaji learned of his friend's death, he remarked "gad ala pan Sinha gela", meaning "the fortress was won, but the Lion was lost".(It is often incorrectly believed that Kondana was renamed Sinhagad in Tanaji's honour. As stated above, it was renamed much earlier than that.)
Today, Sinhagad is a major tourist spot, and a historical attraction. The fort itself is in bad shape but the cliffs are as imposing as they ever were.
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