PLACES OF INTEREST

KUDAL

Kudal (Kudal Peta, 16° 00' 73° 40' E; p. 5852), is head- quarters of Kudal peta. It is on the Karli river, thirteen miles north of Savantvadi. Every Wednesday, a market is held chiefly for cattle, fish, pottery and vegetables. It is connected with Vadi, Malvan and Vengurle by a good road, and with Kolhapur by the Phonda Ghat and has a post office, a primary school, a high school and a general library. As far back as the sixth century (about 578), Kudal was the head-quarters of a branch of Chalukyas. [Ind. Ant. VII. 161.] In the twelfth century, it was the seat of a Maratha baron, Paligar, [Jervis' Konkan, 81.] and continued to be the chief town of the district up to the Musalman conquest (1500). [Iervis' Konkan, 81.] Under the Bijapur kings its ruler was, with the title of Desai of Kudal continued as the head of twelve subdivisions, each governed by a naik. [Bom. Gov. Sel. X. 154.] In modern times (1748), Kudal was the scene of a severe defeat of Tulaji Angre by Jayaram Savant. And a few years later, Jayaram, quarrelling with his nephew Ramchandra Savant (1737-1755), the Vadi chief, retired here and exercised independent authority. In 1804, in the dispute between Phond Savant III, and Shriram Savant, the Kolhapur chief coming to Phond Savant's help, seized Kudal and laid the country waste.

Fort.

On rising ground to the west of the town is a ruined fort of loose stone and mud, with bastions and connecting curtains. It is said to have been built or repaired by the Bijapur kings. Irregular in shape, it covers an area of about 160 square yards, and is encircled by a ditch. In the south-east corner, are three gateways of no great strength, and on the west is a sallyport with a narrow ruined gateway. Its few guns of different sizes are all unserviceable. Within the fort are a ruined mosque, still sometimes used, and a fine cut masonry well called ghoda bav, forty feet deep and 100 round. It is called the horse's well, ghoda bav, because the path to the water is broad and slanting enough to allow a ridden horse to go down and drink. Though ruined, some of the walls of the fort are still standing (1960). The Mahalkari's office is housed inside the fort. The civic affairs of the town are looked after by a village panchayat.

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