Javlya Fort

Javlya Fort lies some 43 km from Nashik and shares a single hill plateau with its twin, Ravlya, which holds the western end while Javlya holds the east. Known together as the Rola-Jola forts, they were placed to watch the trade route between Khandesh and Nashik.

Alivardi Khan took the fort for Shah Jahan in 1636, and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj won it in 1670. Diler Khan besieged it with a Mughal army in 1671 and was beaten off, though Mahabat Khan later captured it. The Peshwas held it for many years until the British took it in 1818, and in 1819 Captain William Mackintosh wrecked its steps, bastion and walls to make the climb impracticable. Most of the fort is still walled, with a single gate bearing a Ganesh idol and an inscription, and there are rock-cut cisterns. Buses run from Nashik to Wani, and seeing both forts takes about five hours.