Shaniwar Wada Fort is situated in Pune, Maharashtra. The foundation of this fort was laid on Saturday, hence its name was Shaniwar Wada. This fort is famous for its grandeur and historicity. It was built by the Peshwas who ruled the Maratha empire in the 18th Century. This fort was the chief seat of Peshwas till 1818. But there is also a black chapter attached to this fort. On the night of August 30, 1773 in the fort, Narayan Rao (18 years old), who became the fifth Peshwa of the Maratha Empire at the age of 16, had been brutally murdered. It is said that the soul of the Narayan Rao wanders in the fort even today. Therefore, this fort is included in India's Top Most haunted Places.
Construction of Shaniwar Wada Fort
Peshwa Bajirao (Peshwa Bajirao Ballal Bhat) himself laid the foundation of his soon-to-be residence on Saturday, January 10, 1730; hence the name ‘Shaniwar Wada’ which was an amalgamation of Marathi words, Shaniwar (Saturday) and Wada (residence). Even after this, there were many buildings built inside the fort. Shaniwar Wada Fort was constructed by contractors of Rajasthan, after the completion of the work, Peshwas awarded them with the title of Naik. The wood used in the fort named Teak was imported from the jungles of Junnar, Stones were brought from Chinchwad, and Limestone from the belts of Jejuri. With a total cost of Rs. 16,110 (an empire’s treasure of those times) and over two years later, it was completed and handover to the Peshwa Bajirao’s family. On February 27, 1828, there was a fierce fire in the palace for unknown reasons. It took seven days to fully extinguish the fire. From this, many buildings built in the fort complex were completely destroyed. Their only remains are now left.
Murder of Narayan Rao
Peshwa Nana Saheb had three sons Vishav Rao, Mahadev Rao and Narayan Rao. The eldest son Vishav Rao was killed in the third battle of Panipat. After the death of Nana Saheb, Mahadev Rao was seated on the throne. In the third battle of Panipat, Mahadev Rao had the sole responsibility of formulating a strategy, but some of his strategies had failed miserably, resulting in the defeat of the Marathas badly. It is said that 70,000 soldiers of the Marathas were killed in this war. Mahadev Rao used to consider himself responsible for the death of his brother in the war and the defeat of the Marathas. Because of which he used to stay in a lot of stress, and that's why he died of his illness only a few days after sitting on the throne. After his death, Narayan Rao became Peshwa only at the age of 16. Nana Saheb had a younger brother Raghunath Rao. He was given a name Raghoba by all people. Kaka (uncle) Raghoba and Kaki (Aunt) Anadibai were not happy with making Narayana Rao a Peshwa. Raghoba wanted to become a Peshwa instead of Narayan Rao. Narayan Rao, on the other hand, did not like his uncle specially because he thought that his uncle once tried to kill his elder brother Mahadev Rao. In this way both of them looked at each other with a suspicion. The situation became even worse when the advisers incited both of them against each other. The result was that Narayan Rao had detained his uncle in the house.
This made Kaki (Aunt) Anadibai even more angry. On the other hand, Raghoba (uncle or kaka) thought of a solution to control Narayan Rao. In their kingdom, there was a hunting tribe of Bheels, which was called Gardi. They were very aggressive. Their relationship with Narayan Rao was bad but they liked Raghoba. Taking advantage of this, Raghoba sent a letter to chief Sumer Singh Gardi (leader of the tribe), in which he wrote 'Narayan Rao la dhara', which meant Capture Narayan Rao. But Anadibai got a beautiful opportunity here and she changed one word of the letter and made 'Narayan Rao la Mara' which means kill Narayan Rao. As soon as the letter was received, the highly trained and fiercest assassins were sent by the Gardi tribe to Shaniwar Wada. In the cover of night, they invaded the inner chambers of the palace and released Raghunath Rao and killed all who intervened. When Narayan Rao saw that Gardi were coming towards him by shedding blood with his weapons, he ran towards his uncle's room and said "Kaka Maala vaachva" (Kaka save me) to seek his help. But before reaching there, he was caught and killed. Some people say that Narayan Rao continued to seeking help for his life in front of his uncle, but his uncle did nothing and Gardi killed Narayan Rao in front of Raghoba's (Uncle) eyes.
It is said that in the fort, the soul of Narayan Rao still wanders, and the last word "Kaka Maala vaachva" spoken by him is still heard in the fort.
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