Khanderi Fort

En un regard

Le château en bref

Khanderi is an island fort set on an islet in the Arabian Sea, at the entrance to Mumbai harbour, a few kilometres north of Alibag and facing the village of Thal. Built on Shivaji's orders in the late 1670s, it was meant to watch the sea routes leading to the English trading posts of Bombay and to keep the Siddis of Janjira in check, who occupied the neighbouring islet of Underi. A continuous belt of ramparts, reinforced by some fifteen bastions, follows the island's contour; visitors can walk the whole circuit along the rampart walk. Several iron cannons, some still mounted on wheeled carriages, recall its military purpose. A small shrine to Vetal, near the jetty, remains a local place of worship, and a British-era lighthouse overlooks the whole site. Inscribed in 2025 on the World Heritage List among the twelve Maratha military landscapes, Khanderi falls under the Archaeology Directorate of Maharashtra; the Indian Navy is also present there.