01The Nayaka citadel
The Gingee Nayakas held this country for Vijayanagara and turned three bare hills into one citadel, with walls running across the plain between them, granaries, a kalyana mahal with a tall pyramidal tower, and a temple to Venkataramana with fine gopuras. Rajagiri, the highest, rises about 240 metres; the only way up crosses a ravine by a small bridge. After Vijayanagara broke, Bijapur took Gingee in 1649. Shivaji marched south and took it in 1677, and his engineers rebuilt much of the walling.
02Rajaram’s eight years
When Sambhaji was captured and killed in 1689 and Raigad fell, his younger brother Rajaram escaped south in disguise and reached Gingee in November 1689. From here he gave out grants and titles, and his commanders Santaji Ghorpade and Dhanaji Jadhav raided the Mughal camps across the Deccan. Zulfiqar Khan besieged Gingee from 1690. The siege dragged on for years, and Rajaram slipped out in December 1697; the Mughals entered in January 1698. In 1714 the young Raja Desingh of Gingee died fighting the Nawab of Arcot, and Tamil ballads still sing of him. The French held the fort from 1750, the British from 1761.
The life of this place
- 16th centuryThe Gingee Nayakas under Vijayanagara build up the three-hill citadel.
- 1649The Bijapur Sultanate takes Gingee.
- 1677Shivaji takes Gingee in his southern campaign and refortifies it.
- November 1689Chhatrapati Rajaram reaches Gingee and makes it the Maratha seat.
- 1690 – January 1698Zulfiqar Khan’s Mughal siege; the fort falls after Rajaram has escaped.
- 1714Raja Desingh of Gingee dies fighting the Nawab of Arcot.
- 1750The French under Bussy take the fort; the British take it in 1761.
On the Tindivanam–Tiruvannamalai road, about 160 km from Chennai. The climb up Rajagiri takes over an hour; start early, before the rock heats up.
