Pratapgad and Kas Plateau

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Pratapgad

   Pratapgad stands on a spur of the Sahyadri, the Western Ghats, about twenty kilometres from the hill station of Mahabaleshwar, guarding the old route between the Deccan plateau and the Konkan coast. Shivaji, founder of the Maratha state, had the fort built in the 1650s, and in 1659 it was the scene of the most famous episode of his life. Afzal Khan, a general of the Bijapur Sultanate, came with a large army to crush him, and the two met for a parley below the fort. Accounts differ on who struck first, but Shivaji, wearing armour under his clothes and the wagh nakh, a claw-shaped weapon, on his hand, killed Afzal Khan, and his troops hidden in the forest routed the Bijapuri army. The story is told across Maharashtra with immense pride, and Afzal Khan's tomb lies below the fort.

   Read the complete Pratapgad write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Pratapgad is where the day begins. Next is Suvarnadurg.

2. 2. Suvarnadurg

   The Konkan coast of Maharashtra is a long green strip between the Sahyadri hills and the Arabian Sea, and every few kilometres a fort stands on a headland or an island. Suvarnadurg, the golden fort, rises from a rocky islet just off Harnai, a fishing port with a morning market that is one of the sights of the coast. The fort was strengthened in the seventeenth century by Shivaji, the founder of the Maratha state, as part of his drive to build a navy, and later it became the base of the admiral Kanhoji Angre, who ruled the sea here for decades and clashed with the British, Portuguese and Dutch. The walls are of black basalt, thick enough to withstand cannon fire, and they stand out against the green water.

   Read the complete Suvarnadurg write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Suvarnadurg comes up 103 km in. Next is Kas Plateau.

3. 3. Kas Plateau

   For most of the year, Kas is a bare, rocky plateau of black basalt, and then the monsoon arrives. Within weeks, from late August into September, the laterite surface is covered in a carpet of tiny wildflowers, in pink, yellow, purple and white, with balsams, orchids, sundews and species found nowhere else on earth. The plateau lies in the Western Ghats, a range with so many endemic plants and animals that it is one of the world's biodiversity hotspots, and it was included in the UNESCO listing in 2012. Locals call it the Valley of Flowers of Maharashtra.

   Read the complete Kas Plateau write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   207 km in you reach Kas Plateau. Next is back through Suvarnadurg.

4. 4. back through Suvarnadurg

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Suvarnadurg write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Suvarnadurg, late in the day. Next is Pratapgad.

5. 5. Pratapgad

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Pratapgad write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at Pratapgad. That is the ride.