PLACES OF INTEREST

ANJANVEL

Anjanvel (Guhagar T., 17° 30' N, 73° 05' E; p. 1,847), a village  With an old fort in a ruinous state stands on the south shore of the entrance to the Vasishthi or Dabhol river, to which also it gives the name Anjanvel. The nearest railway station is Karad, 110 miles to the south-east. Under the Marathas, Anjanvel was the headquarters of a district administered by a subhedar. [Nairne's MS.] In 1819, as a consequence of the British annexation of Maratha. territory, the headquarters were removed to Guhagar and Anjanvel fell into insignificance thereafter. The river mouth, about a mile broad, is narrowed by a sandbank, [Before the commencement of the South-West monsoon winds, the river bed at the mouth of the river has a depth enough to allow big vessels up the river. But during rainy season due to powerful winds sand in the river-bed accumulates to form a sand bar across the mouth of the river. Rushing waves make the water rise over the bund and a roaring sound is made.] that from the north runs within two cables length of the south shore, where on the edge of a plateau 300 feet high is the ancient temple of Talakeshvar. On the bar at low tide are ten feet of water with, at springs, a rise of ten feet. From its exposed position there is generally a swell. [Taylor's Sailing Directory, 387.] There is a lighthouse at the entrance of the harbour. The port gives good anchorage during the fair weather to vessels passing to and from Chiplun. The custom house at the entrance to the harbour, and a rest-house are the only public buildings. Coasting steamers used to call at Anjanvel, but the place of call for them is now the more sheltered port of Dabhol, two miles higher up the river on the north bank. Weaving is the only industry.

Anjanvel fort, called Gopalgad, was built by the Bijapur kings in the sixteenth century, strengthened by Shivaji about 1660, [Some Persian verses on a flat oblong stone give the date 1707 and the Builder's name Sidi Saat. The verses are: Whoever built a new mansion, when he was called away, did it not belong to another? God is immortal and all else subject to death. When the kind king, the light of the world, gave the order, the fort was made, which he could not live to see. Sidi Seat (built) the fort. Written on the 10th of Zil Hajj, the first year of the reign, Hijri 1119 (A.D. 1707).] and improved by his son Sambhaji (1681-89). In 1699, the fort was attacked and captured by Khairat Khan, Habshi of Janjira (1680-1708), who added the lower fort, Padkot. [Jervis' Konkan, 92.] In 1744 (December), Tulaji Angre Sarkhel took it from the Habshi, and naming it Gopalgad, added the upper fort, Balekot. From him, in 1755, it passed to the Peshva, [Nairne's Konkan, 92.] and on the Peshva's overthrow, fell to British forces on the 17th May 1818. [Nairne's Konkan, 116; Service Record of H.M's XXIst Regiment N.I. (Marine Battalion).] The fort stands on a prominent and commanding point on the south shore of the creek entrance half a mile from Anjanvel. It covers seven acres, and is surrounded on three sides by the sea, and on the fourth by a deep ditch now partly filled. There is no complete line of outworks, only one or two covered ways leading down to batteries. The fort walls, built of stone and mortar, are very strong, about twenty feet high and eight feet thick, with, at some distance from each other, twelve bastions, were armed with cannon. The fort is still in good condition. South of the fort is a deep trench eighteen feet broad. There are two doors, one to the east, the other to the west. On either side of the west door was a guardroom. The interior of the fort, once full of buildings, still has traces of small houses. There are also three wells with a plentiful supply of water. Near the wells is a building said to have been the store-room, close to it, a granary, and at a little distance, the Governor's palace.

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