Bankot fort

First record evidence about this fort is found in the records of Greek geographer Ptolemy in first century AD. It was then called as Mandargiri or Mandagora. The Chinese traveller Hieun Tsang is supposed to have embarked in Bankot in 640 AD. This fort was captured by the Portuguese from Mohammed Adil Shah of Bijapur in 1548. It was won by Maratha Koli Admiral^[1] Kanhoji Angre in 1700 and named "Himmatgad". With Tulaji Angre raiding territories belonging to Chhatrapati Shahu and his noblemen, a rivalry between Tulaji Angre and the Peshwas ensued. After Tulaji ignored several warnings handed out to him to fall into line, the Peshwas allied with British and waged a war against Tulaji.

In 1755, this fort surrendered to Commodore James of British fleet after the fall of Suvarnadurg.^[2] British forces captured the fort and named it as Fort Victoria. Later it was revealed by the British that it was not an economically viable deal to maintain the fort and it was handed over to Peshwas.^[3] In 1837 the Mamlatdars office was moved from Bankot to Mandangad.

The nearest town is Harihareshwar which is 201 km from Mumbai and 194 km from Pune by road. The base village of the fort is Bankot which is 47 km from Dapoli and 21 km from Shrivardhan. To reach from Harihareshwar one has to avail the Bagmandala to Bankot base village ferry service to cross the Savitri river. There are good hotels at Dapoli and Shrivardhan. Now tea and snacks are also available in small hotels along the coastal road. The trekking path starts from the hillock west of the Bankot village. Now there is very safe and wide road up to the fort. It takes about half an hour to reach the entrance gate of the fort.