01The fort given away
Under the Treaty of Purandar in 1665 Shivaji had to hand twenty-three forts to the Mughals. Kondhana, on a high ridge a short ride south-west of Pune, was among them, and it was given a Rajput qiladar, Udaybhan Rathod, with a strong garrison. After Shivaji came back from Agra, he began to take the forts back. Kondhana mattered most; it watched over Pune and the road to Purandar. Maratha tradition says Tanaji was arranging his son Rayba’s wedding when the call came, and he left the preparations to go.
02The night on the cliff
On the night of 4 February 1670 Tanaji took a few hundred Mavalas up the steep western face, where the garrison kept a thin watch. The powada tradition tells of ropes and a climbing monitor lizard; the climb itself was real enough. Once inside, the Marathas fought the garrison hand to hand in the dark. Tanaji met Udaybhan, and both men were killed. His brother Suryaji Malusare and the old Shelar Mama rallied the Mavalas and took the fort.
When the news reached Shivaji, the powada puts on his lips the line Marathi children still learn: the fort is won, but the lion is gone.
