Kothaligad’s history is written in its name changes. A fort that has been called Murumdev, Peth, Kothaligad and Miftah-ul-Fateh across six centuries has a story of hands changing, armies arriving, and the same rock outlasting all of them. Understanding the layers makes the climb feel less like exercise and more like a conversation with time.
The Bhairoba cave’s carved pillars and flat tiled floor date to roughly the 13th century, predating the fort’s known military history. The rock-cut staircase inside the pinnacle is an engineering feat in its own right — each step carved from a single rock formation, wide enough for one person at a time, the entire passage designed to be defended from above. The kothalī — granary — that gives the fort its name refers to the grain storage function these caves served before and during the Maratha era.
In 1684, Mughal emperor Aurangzeb sent Abdul Kadir to capture the fort. After a skirmish it fell, and Aurangzeb honoured his general by renaming it Miftah-ul-Fateh — “Key to Success.” The Maratha army made repeated attempts to recapture it over the following decades but failed — the pinnacle’s single, narrow staircase entrance made it extraordinarily difficult to storm. The British briefly held it in 1716. It was finally recaptured by the Marathas on 2 November 1817, just before the fall of the Maratha Empire to the British in 1818.
Scattered cannonballs on the fort, the three caves, the water cisterns, the carved staircase, and the temple at the summit all testify to a place that was garrisoned, worshipped in, and fought over for at least six centuries. The fort’s primary role was surveillance — its position commands the approaches from the Mawal region, making it a watchtower for the surrounding forts.
Six centuries of contested history, all reachable by local train. Climb the story with GoRaahi.