Sadashivgad
| Author:Laxman Burdak, IFS (R) |
Sadashivgad (सदाशिवगढ़) is a village site of a fort located in Karwar, Uttara Kannada district, in the state of Karnataka in India. It is located on the Kali River.
Origin
Variants
- Sadashivagadha (सदाशिवगढ़) (AS, p.752)
History
The fort was built on an old fortified site on the north bank of Kali River where it meets the sea. It had about 8 meters high ramparts which were about 2 metres wide at the top. There were towers and openings for guns. The citadel was at the highest point. An outwork was on the west, near the sea at the base of the cliff and was appropriately called Pani Killa. There was another outwork on the eastern slope. The citadel had single arched gateway.
Samvargad was a very small fort, about 60 metres by 20 metres on top of a hillock east of Sadashivgad. It was a satellite fort guarding the former on its east & north east. Very few ruins remain.
The fort was named Sadashivgad by Basavlingraj after his father Sadashivlingraj in 1715. They were chieftains of Sonda who assumed the title of 'Raja' after incorporating Chittakula, Simveshwar (Angadi), Kadra, Kadwad, Ankola and some other parts of Canara. The old Karwar fort was pulled down and its material used to build Sadashivgad.
Early history: Cintacora as known to the Portuguese was a very old port and was also known as Chitrakul (Chittakula) and Sindpur. When Sadashivgad was built in this area, the village also came to be known by that name.
A fort existed at Cintacora which was captured and burnt by the Portuguese in 1510. They called it Pir fort due to the Muslim Dargah (Tomb of a Sufi Saint Shahkaramuddin) they found there - & was known in Portuguese language as Forte de Piro or Pito.
The creek at the mouth of the Kali River was a trading center from early days. It came into greater prominence after Sadashivgad was built and the Portuguese realized the advantages of its sheltered harbor.
Early Trade: In 1638 a rival English trading body, the Courteen Association, established a factory at Karwar. Muslin was the chief commodity purchased but Karwar was also a source for pepper, cardamom, cassier and coarse blue cotton cloth. Situated on India's west coast, 50 miles south-east of Goa, Karwar was noted for its safe harbour. In 1649 the Courteen Association united with the Company and Karwar became a Company factory.
मुरला नदी
विजयेन्द्र कुमार माथुर[1] ने लेख किया है .... मुरला नदी (AS, p.752): 3. कुछ विद्वानों के मत में मुरला संभवत: काली नदी है जिसके तट पर सदाशिवगढ़ बसा है।