Mumbai: The Ministry of Culture, on Monday, announced that India is nominating the ‘Maratha Military Landscape’ for inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage List for the 2024-25 cycle, with a total of 12 components in this nomination.
The parts of this nomination are Salher Fort, Shivneri Fort, Lohgad, Khanderi Fort, Raigad, Rajgad, Pratapgad, Suvarnadurg, Panhala Fort, Vijaydurg, Sindhudurg in Maharashtra and Gingee Fort in Tamil Nadu. These components, distributed across diverse geographical and physiographic regions, showcase the strategic military powers of the Maratha rule.
The Maratha Military Landscapes Of India
“The Maratha Military Landscapes of India, which developed between the 17th and 19th centuries, represent an extraordinary fortification and military system envisioned by the Maratha rulers,” the Culture Ministry said in a release.
This extraordinary network of forts, varying in hierarchies, scales and typological features, is a result of integrating the landscape, terrain and physiographic characteristics distinctive to the Sahyadri mountain ranges, the Konkan Coast, Deccan Plateau and the Eastern Ghats in the Indian Peninsula,” it said.
There are more than 390 forts in Maharashtra, out of which only 12 forts have been selected under the Maratha Military Landscapes of India, and eight of these forts are protected by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
The inception of the Maratha military ideology dates back to the 17th century during the reign of Maratha King Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj until 1670 and continued through subsequent rules until the Peshwa rule till 1818. The Maratha Military Landscapes nomination is in the category of cultural property, the ministry said.
At present, there are 42 World Heritage Sites in India, out of which 34 are cultural sites, seven are natural sites and one is mixed site.
6 sites have UNESCO tag
In Maharashtra, six sites have the UNESCO tag – five cultural and one natural. These are Ajanta Caves (inscribed in 1983), Ellora Caves (1983), Elephanta Caves (1987), Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (formerly Victoria Terminus) (2004), Victorian Gothic and Art Deco Ensembles of Mumbai (2018), and Western Ghats of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala is serial property in natural category (2012).
The Maratha Military Landscapes of India included in the Tentative List of World Heritage sites in 2021 is the sixth cultural property nominated for inclusion in the World Heritage List from the state.
