Tattva

Tanaji Malusare (तानाजी मालुसरे), also known as Simha (Lion), was a renowned warrior and military leader in the army of Chatrapati Shivaji Raje Bhonslé, founder of the Maratha Empire in 17th century India.Tanaji was one of Shivaji’s closest friends; the two had known each other since childhood. In 1670, at Shivaji’s request, he pledged to recapture the fortress of Kondana near Pune. According to many accounts, he received the summons at his son’s wedding, and immediately left the festivities.

Capture of Kondana / Sinhagad fort:

Kondana was a well-defended stronghold located atop steep cliffs. It was strategically placed in the middle of three forts, Rajgad, Purandar, and Torana. It was considered nearly impossible to capture it by force. The Mughal army was having a roaring party on top of the overhanging cliff when Tanaji mounted a surprise attack. With a band of about three hundred men, Tanaji approached the fort at night from the base of its highest and sheerest cliff - this part of the fort was considered so impregnable that it was lightly guarded.

Tanaji Malusare used Shivaji’s famous pet monitor lizard which is locally known as ghorpad named “Yeshwanti” with a rope tied around its shoulder for climbing up the walls of the Sinhagad fort from it’s steepest and the least guarded side in the dead of a moonless night during the Battle of Sinhagad. Once he had scaled up himself after the giant lizard up the sheer steep cliff unnoticed, he threw down rope ladders for others to climb. Using the dropped rope ladders, an advance guard climbed to the fort and lowered rope ladders. Tanaji and some of his men scaled the walls. Tanaji was in the vanguard, and his hand was cut off. The Marathas suffered heavy casualties initially and Tanaji was himself killed in the initial part of the battle. After a pitched fight, the Marathas managed to open the gates of the fort from inside, allowing the remainder of their attacking force to enter the fort.

Once inside, all his comrades mercilessly fell upon their enemies. They started slaughtering the surprised and ill-prepared and drunk Muslim soldiers. When Shivaji learned of his friend’s death, he remarked “Gad ala pan Sinha gela“, meaning “We have gained the fort, but lost the lion.”Following the victory, Kondana fort was renamed Sinhagad.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanaji

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