Bandra Fort

Written By Admin Sunday, September 11, 2022 Add Comment Edit

At the "end of the country" in Bandra is the old Portuguese fort Castella de Aguada (Portuguese: "Fort of the Water Drop"), also known as Fort Badra.

The name refers to the source of the source, where fresh water is found in the form of a spring.

("Aguada") for Portuguese ships traveling on the coast at the beginning of the presence of Portugal. It was built as a guard tower in 1640.

After defeating Bahadur Shah in Gujarat in 1534, the Portuguese, who established military bases in the area, built several sea forts along the western coast of India.

Castella de Aguada is one of the strategically placed forts overlooking Mahim Bay to the south, the Arabian Sea to the west, the Worli Islands to the south, and the town of Mahim to the southwest. The fort guards the northern sea route to the port of Mumbai.

The fort's strategic importance increased in 1661 after the Portuguese ceded the Bombay Islands south of Bandra to England.

After the fall of the Portuguese in the early 18th century, the Marathas became the biggest threat to British possessions. Part of the British felt the defeat of the Portuguese

Demolishing the fort as a precaution. Its demolition would eliminate the possibility of the fort being taken over by the Marathas as a military base for future attacks on British Bombay.

In the year In 2003, the Bandra Band Trust Board started a conservation program to save the fort. The local DPRD(MP) member Shabana Azmi contributed part of the allocated funds. The brick arch of one of the gates was nearly destroyed, and the foundation walls of the fort, eroded by the waves, were repaired.

The nearby Taj Land's End Hotel is responsible for maintaining the fort.

The fort is owned by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). The reconstruction of the fort includes the preservation of natural rock formations, the creation of roads and the construction of a fort.