Coastal Fort

Design aspects of coastal construction of a large

structure
Dr Uday Dokras.PhD Stockholm,SWEDEN
Srishti Dokras Architect
Prof. Dr. Ms Laurence Buzenot, Docteure en Géographie, Géographer

Idea ? : We know very little about the ideasbehind the mechanization of the
process to build the fort- the only record exist shown that the Siddhi General
Ambar was entrusted with this responsibility and he did an admirable job.

Modality of construction, Logistics and movement : The Janjira Fort is not

situated in the middle of the sea. Some say that the Janjira Fort was
constructed by Siddhi Jowar, an Arab General, before the advent of Shivaji
Era, on the shallow continental shelf having the average depth of the coast belt
not more than 15–20 feet. But these author’s feel that written record suggests
what we have said earlier to be true. Though Siddhi Johar as the name
suggests was also of African descent and A roadlink was joined with the
mainland for carrying all Construction Materials and Manforce, Rolling huge
Guns, weighing upto 20 tons (Probably made by the Nizam State), and all
essential necessities.
Stone Walls View from the TOP

Stone was the most important material for building fortifications in medieval
India. Walls were erected by one of the following three construction methods. A
wall could be an earthen rampart faced with stone on both sides. The rampart was
built using the earth excavated while digging the ditch, with three-quarters of it
used for building a rampart and one-quarter for levelling out the surface inside the
fortress and in front of the ditch. Facing the rampart with stone allowed for the
erection of higher and steeper walls than those possible with a purely earthen
rampart. The structure had a substantial shortcoming, however: an earthen core
accumulated water, which could destroy the stone shell. Drainage channels were
therefore installed along the length of the wall from top to bottom. The main
binding material for construction was Lime mortar.
The second method consisted of filling the space between the outer layers with
earth mixed with rubble. This core was considerably harder than simply using
rammed earth. The third and most advanced method involved the use of mortar. A
rubble-built wall fastened with mortar was strong and long lasting. Construction
methods depended, however, on the materials available.
In medieval India, several reports exist of the practice of burying humans either
dead or alive in the foundations of fort walls, to ensure their stability, being widely
followed. It was believed that the ghosts of those sacrificed as such would keep evil
spirits away. During the building of the Sri Qila, Delhi Alauddin Khalji is reported
to have buried 8,000 skulls of Mughals killed by him into the foundation.
During the building of Purandar Fort  not far from Janjira Fort, one its bastions
gave way several times. The king of Berar then ordered his minister an Esaji Naik
Chive to bury a first-born son and his wife into the foundation of the bastion. This
was promptly done and after a further offering of gold and bricks. When the
bastion was finished Esaji Naik was given possession of the fort and the father of
the sacrificed boy was rewarded with two villages. Along with the fortification,
emphasis was also given for construction of rock cut water cistern, ponds, wells
and lakes. To avoid evaporation of water, the water bodies were covered. At times
rooms were built close to water bodies to keep the temperature low.
Many Indian fortifications have parapets with peculiarly shaped merlons and
complicated systems of loopholes, which differ substantially from similar
structures in other countries. Typical Indian merlons were semicircular and
pointed at the top, although they were sometimes fake: the parapet may be solid
and the merlons shown in relief on the outside (as at Chittorgarh). What was
unique is the arrangement and direction of loopholes. Loopholes were made both
in the merlons themselves, and under the crenels. They could either look forward
(to command distant approaches) or downward (to command the foot of the wall).
Sometimes a merion was pierced with two or three loopholes, but more often, one
loophole was divided into two or three slits by horizontal or vertical partitions. The
shape of loopholes, as well as the shape of merlons, need not have been the same
everywhere in the castle, as shown by Kumbhalgarh.
It is said that the rock was not in the middle of the ocean but a leage trench
was dug on completion of the Fort around the site to protect the Fort from any
direct threat from the land.

Drilling Rocks on Janjira: Same ancient techniques coupled with use of

explosives was done to blast the rock for the foundation.

The ancient pyramid builders used a technique for drilling

holes that is commonly known as "trepanning." This technique leaves a central
core and is an efficient means of hole making. For holes that didn't go all the
way through the material, they reached a desired depth and then broke the
core out of the hole. The building blocks for the Egyptian pyramids and
obelisks were obtained by using hammers and wooden wedges to extract large
sections of stone in carefully measured shapes and sizes. The wedges had a
hole in the middle for holding and carrying.

Miners from the time of the Roman Empire though the Middle Ages often
applied a "fire setting" system to break rock. A rock face was exposed to intense
heat followed by a quick dousing with water. The sudden cooling caused the
rock to crack and split along natural seams. Sometimes a suspended wooden
ram with a hard stone ball on its front was used to open a hole in the center of
a rock face, and the face was chipped into it radially.

Gun powder was first used to break rock during the Middle Ages. In 1683 a
Saxon named Hemming Hutman used a drill forged of wrought iron with an
inset bit of tempered steel to hammer holes in the rock at critical points. The
charges placed in the holes broke the rock more effectively than those laid on
or near it.

The early history of construction of Forts and castles contains many accounts
of legendary 'hammer and steel' drillers who were experts at both single and
double jacking. Single jacking involved an individual holding and turning the
steel with one hand while hitting the steel with a small hammer held in the
other hand.
Single jack drilling, circa 1850. (Photo reprinted
courtesy of Compressed Air Magazine.)
Ambidexterity was very helpful for the single jack driller because he could work
longer by shifting the hammer from one hand to the other to distribute the
work. In double jacking one or two drillers hit a drilling steel with large sledge
hammers while a holder turned the steel slightly after each blow. As the hole
deepened, the holder substituted longer steels in a way that did not interrupt
the driller's disciplined rhythm.

Some of the older techniques are not applicable today. For example, we
consider double jacking unsafe for inexperienced drillers. Since most of today's
hand drilling will be done by beginners, we suggest you use either single
jacking or modified double jacking, a technique we developed. Both of these
methods are safe, effective, and readily learned.

'Up hole' double jacking, early 1800's. (Photos

'Down hole' double jacking, early
reprinted courtesy of Compressed Air
1800's.
Magazine.)
Fresh water Ponds and wells on janjira: When Chhatrapati Shivaji, the great
17th century Maratha warrior, died in 1680, he was in command of about 370
big and small forts built over hilltops in the Sahyadri range. Each one had
scores of lakes and tanks that catered to the water needs of the soldiers and
the local population. Many of these are still functional. Locals say the way
these lakes and tanks were constructed and the water-management practices
during the time of Shivaji hold a lesson for today when water has become a
scarce commodity.This is the same time as Janjira Fort.

No special technique wes used. Experts say these lakes are built on watertight
soil and rocks that do not allow much percolation of water. At the hills, the rate
of evaporation is also slower. “Basalt rocks abound in the region. They were
formed after a volcanic eruption 65 million years ago. Since these rocks are
Murud Fresh water Tanks. There are 2 in number

moulded from lava or magma, they are watertight and allow minimal

percolation. The rate of leakages and seepage of water from the lake body at
subsurface is negligible,

It still yields fresh water fit for drinking

Fort architects took the help of nature as it was. The natural lakes are
present in the foothills where they receive continuous water supply from the
surface and subsurface. In addition, these lakes are also fed by natural
springs. That is the reason they never go dry. Some of the best examples of
these all-weather lakes are found on the Raigad fort, one of the biggest and
most important of Shivaji’s forts. Twelve of these, both artificial and natural
ones, are prominent there.The planners during the construction of janjira show
a great application of mind. The lakes were set up where nature blessed them.
The fort tops were the favourite as the temperature there is relatively low.The
Pune region gets plenty of rainfall during the monsoon season, and the forts
have sophisticated arrangements to store and utilise the rainwater. The
artificial lakes are constructed at locations where the water-streams, created
from the rains, meet, on the lower plains of the fort premises. The gullies and
streams originate in the peaks of the hills and mountains, and are united on
the lower flat base — the plateau where large amounts of water could be stored
in natural depressions by shallow digging of the land.

Besides lakes, water tanks also abound on the forts. These water tanks were
meant for specific purposes. They stored water collected from rain. The water
was used as reserve. The best examples of water tanks are in the Sinhagad fort
in Pune where 48 of them stand tall. The tanks were apparently built from the
rocks brought for the construction of the fort and had the capacity to store
enough water to last a few months. Dressed stone walls can be seen wrapping
these water tanks which seem to have been used to increase the storing
capacity of the tanks. The water tanks are present all over the fort, but seem to
be most prominent on the slopes where it was easier to divert the run-off water
into these tanks.

There is evidence to suggest that the population during that time cared for
water wastage. The fort is oval shaped, had 5-storey palace and lot of storage
supported by 2 big fresh water ponds.

Secret passages drilled through rock: Also, there is a secret underground

passage in the water leading to the mainland town of Murud.

Stone arches are generally used in both stone and brick structures, over

door and window openings, for porches, etc. They are also erected over streams
and roads for highway and railway bridges and aqueducts. Stone arches of long
span are not as frequently built now as formerly, iron and steel haying been
very largely substituted for stone. In some ways, a stone arch is not as
satisfactory as a brick one. Being composed of a few large pieces, instead of
many small ones - as is a brick arch - the bond is not so perfect; and
consequently, of the two, the stone arch is somewhat more liable to settle and
crack.
The amount of masonry in heavy piers, etc., can, without injuring the stability
of the structure, often be considerably diminished by the use of arches,
provided the stone and the footings are capable of carrying the increased load.
The pressure on the soil may, if necessary, be decreased by using inverted
arches. 

The principal parts of an arch are as follows: The abutments are the piers from
which the arch springs,. The inner edge of the top of the abutment is called the
springing line; the stones resting on the abutments, shown at b, are
called skewbacks. The arch itself consists of wedge-shaped stones,
called voussoirs, or ring stones. These are sometimes of varying sizes, but for
the same arch are generally made as nearly uniform as possible; the depth
(back into the wall), however, may vary as much as may be necessary for
proper bonding. The voussoirs are shown at c. The ring stones between the
keystone and the skewbacks are collectively known as the haunches of the
arch. The masonry resting on the arch ring, from the piers to a horizontal line
touching the highest point of the upper curve, form the spandrels. The under
surface of the arch is called the soffit, and a line representing the curve of the
soffit is the intrados; the one parallel to it at the outer end of the voussoirs is
called the extrados. The span of an arch is the distance between the
abutments; and the rise is the extreme vertical height from the springing line to
the intrados.
In building construction, it is not customary to determine the proportions of
arches of small span by calculation. The appearance is often the controlling
factor in designing such arches. But when the arches are of considerable span,
the position of the line of resistance should be determined. As that is somewhat
beyond the scope of this section, merely the conditions necessary for stability
will be here mentioned.
Having fixed the depth of the keystone, the voussoirs are all made the same
height, in arches of small span, while in longer ones the ring stones vary in
depth, increasing gradually from the crown to the skewbacks, so as to preserve
a uniform pressure on the stones as the load becomes greater. The resistance
to crushing of any kind of stone may be readily determined, and a large margin
of safety must be allowed over the greatest pressure to which it will be
subjected in the arch.

Janjira

To insure the stability of an arch, there are two conditions, besides the one just
mentioned, which must be satisfied. One is that the pressure shall not cause
the opening of the joints; the other, that the direction of the pressure shall not
be such as to cause one ring stone to slide on another.
In order to prevent rotation on the edge of any stone, the line of pressure -
through which the load is assumed to act - must not be above or below the
arch ring at any point, but must cut the abutting surfaces of the stones as
near as possible to the center of the joint, and always within the middle third of
the arch, so as to prevent the opening of the joints. To obviate the liability of
sliding at any joint, the pressure tending to move one stone on another must
not be sufficient, nor in such direction as to overcome the friction between the
surfaces.
These requirements are met by making the arch ring of proper depth, and
generally do not need to be determined theoretically for small arches.

6 pics Janjira Arches( ABOVE)

Flat arches - those having but little rise - give way by breaking the four parts,
opening at the crown of the intrados and at some joint on the extrados. When a
flat arch breaks, the two upper parts fall inwards and press the lower parts
outwards. In pointed arches, the reverse is the case, the lower portions tending
to fall into the opening, and to force the upper parts outwards.
A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from
a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly
common on more ancient buildings, as a means of providing support to act
against the lateral (sideways) forces arising out of the roof structures that lack
adequate bracing.
The term counterfort can be synonymous with buttress and is often used
when referring to dams, retaining walls and other structures holding back
earth. In addition to flying and ordinary buttresses, brick and masonry
buttresses that support wall corners can be classified according to their ground
plan. A clasping or clamped buttress has an L shaped ground plan
surrounding the corner, an angled buttress has two buttresses meeting at the
corner, a setback buttress is similar to an angled buttress but the buttresses
are set back from the corner, and a diagonal (or 'French') buttress is at 135° to
the walls (45° off of where a regular buttress would be).
The gallery below shows top-down views of various types of buttress (dark grey)
supporting the corner wall of a structure (light grey).
Buttress ground plans
 Bastion
A bastion or bulwark is a structure projecting outward from the curtain wall of
a fortification, most commonly angular in shape and positioned at the corners
of the fort. The fully developed bastion consists of two faces and two flanks,
with fire from the flanks being able to protect the curtain wall and the adjacent
bastions. Compared with the medieval fortifications they replaced, bastion
fortifications offered a greater degree of passive resistance and more scope for
ranged defence in the age of gunpowder artillery. As military architecture, the
bastion is one element in the style of fortification dominant from the mid 16th
to mid 19th centuries.
Nave and Aisle in Janjira main building
The main body of the building, is called the nave. In this case it is presumed
that the Nave was not the residential uarters but constructed for military
purposes. The term Nave is from the Latin word for ship. It was first used to
build cathedral which is symbolically a ship.The nave is braced on either side
by lower aisles, separated from the main space by a row of piers or columns.
The aisles facilitate the movement of people, even when the nave is full of
worshippers. They also strengthen the structure by buttressing the inner walls
that carry the roof, which in the case of many forts and other large Palaces is
made of stone. Above the roof of the aisle are the clerestory windows which
light the nave.There are no windows here.
Some forts have a single aisle. In Janjira there are multiole aisles as picture
below shows.
Crossing and transept
The crossing is the point in a building at which the transept intersects the
nave. This point is often marked externally by a tower or dome and internally
by the piers and arches that are required to bear the weight of such a
structure.The transept is in the form of the arms of the Cross, but also
provides space. Like a military store or office.
BASTIONS (left pic) also shows Hidden Door not easily seen from the enemy ships sailing
for a attack

ARMAMENTS_CANNONS
Not much is known of the armaments of the fort. Suffice it to assume that it was similar to
other forts.Tejas Garge of the Archeological Sruvey of India in his article on Artillary and
Architecture of the Daulatabad Fort – a profusely illustrated piece points out to 20 different
types of cannons and muskets that were found on this fort which co-incidentally also belonged
to Siddhi Ambar in Aurangabad which was his home State.

CANNONS: At one poinbt the fort had more than 150 cannons-though now 3
remain.So all these claims and counter-claims form part of the legend of the
Castle and is not the gispel truth. However considering the 35 turrets, one can
guess that more than 50 may have been there.
 Guns in medieval India were essentially muzzle loading guns
 Gunpowder and cannonball is loaded from front in muzzle loading
gun
th
 Second half of 18 century witnessed introduction of breech loading
guns
The wrought-iron cannons found in different parts of India were
manufactured from individual iron rings that were forge- welded together.
Medieval blacksmiths continued to use this technique in the fabrication of
small and large iron objects, such as the Delhi and Dhar iron pillars.

In an article in Heritage India-“A marvel of medieval Indian black smithy-Kalal

1
Bangadi cannon at Janjira”, it is said that a cannon is a tubular device designed
to fire a heavy projectile over a long distance. The introduction of cannons in
warfare enlarged the canvass of traditional battles and played, number of
times, a decisive role. India has a glorious tradition in cannon technology.
The cannons used in India were either forge welded iron cannons or cast
bronze cannons. While bronze casting practice for manufacturing cannons was
adopted from the Ottoman Turks, the forge welded canon technology seems to
have been developed in India.
 Heritage India Article

_________________________________________________________________________

1. https://heritage-india.com/a-marvel-of-medieval-indian-black-smithy/ Author and

Photographs: P. P. Deshpande(Source: Vol 3 Issue 2 (2010)

Landakasam TO RIGHT _Kalal

Although medieval Indian black smiths successfully used casting in the
manufacture of intricate bronze objects, available evidence indicates that few
practiced iron casting techniques. The black smith’s lack of interest in casting
was likely due not only to the high temperatures required for casting, but also
to their mastery over the forge welding technique to produce large wrought iron
products. Huge and massive forge welded iron cannons found at Nurwar
Mushirabad, Bishnupur, Bijapur, Gulbarga and Thanjavur exemplify the
medieval Indian blacksmith’s skill in the design engineering and construction
of large forge welded iron products. Western Maharashtra is littered with a
number of forts each having several forge welded cannons. Janjira, an excellent
marine fort of western Maharashtra, is located on an oval shaped rock near the
port town of Murud, 165kms south of Mumbai. Even today around fifty-five
cannons are lying in different locations of this fort. Out of these, three are forge
welded iron cannons: Kalal Bangadi, Chavari and Landa Kasam which attract
immediate attention of all tourists. It is certain that these three massive
cannons were not cast, implying that these cannons were made of wrought
iron.

There is no specific recorded history of all these cannons, however it is said

that, the largest cannon – Kalal Bangadi, 5.4 m in length and 14 tons in
weight, was brought by Peshwa’s Army in 1735. This cannon is a muzzle
loading type where in the gun powder and the projectile object are loaded from
the muzzle i.e. front end. The barrel must have been fabricated separately from
the chamber. The outer appearance of the cannon indicates that individual
pre-fabricated iron rings were forge welded in order to create the complete
cannon structure.The rings exhibit good continuity and the skill of the
medieval blacksmith must be appreciated because these rings have been so
skilfully forge welded that the entire surface of the cannon appears smooth due
to the excellent closure of gaps between the individual iron rings However,
pitting corrosion is seen on the surface. It appears that iron rings were forge
welded over a solid cylindrical shaft that made the rear portion. The rear end of
the cannon is not flat but consists of successively smaller diameter rings
presumably to provide impact resistance to the rear section of the cannon. Also
near the trunion and front end extra rings are observed. These additional ring
assemblies would have provided further strengthening to the cannon. These
outer rings appear to have been forge welded over the layers of rings. The total
number of rings that make up the thickness of the barrel cannot be easily
distinguished by visual observations alone.

It is reasonable to assume that there are layers of rings building the thickness
of the barrel, based on the design of other similar cannons at Thanjavur and
Bishnupur. Thus it appears that the medieval engineers were familiar with the
idea of structural design for improved fracture toughness because the solid
structure created with successively larger rings would have possessed a better
impact resistance compared to a single solid piece of wrought iron. Although
handling clamps are visible on the cannon, it is difficult to visualize how this
massive cannon was transported.

One of the remarkable observations concerning this cannon is that it is almost

devoid of significant rusting. The surface possesses a reddish golden hue and
the surface is reflective indicating the relatively thin layer present on the
surface. This might be attributed to the high phosphorus present in the
wrought iron used for making the cannon. It must  be noted that no special
maintenance procedures are currently applied to this cannon. Despite this, the
cannon reveals only pitting corrosion. Under similar conditions, modern mild
steel would have corroded severely in a marine environment. Thus the
atmospheric corrosion resistance of the cannon is excellent and can be
compared with the iron pillar at Delhi. Therefore, it can be concluded that Kalal
Bangadi cannon constitutes a marvel of medieval Indian metallurgical skill.
Hidden Door TOP PIC
Cannon ball lobbying. The enemy would not see the door to the fort but from the encampments
/Towers cannons would be fired at the enemy ships sinking them

Spread over a vast land of more than 45 acres, Siddi Palace, also known as
Nawab Palace, is one of most visited destinations of Raigad District in the state
of Maharashtra. With a distinct architectural style representing a mix of Gothic
as well as Mughal approaches, the Siddi Palace is one of a kind.

Though not open for public as it is still owned by the descendants of the Nawab
of Janjira, many tourists still stop by the place to take photographs of this
architectural marvel. Siddi Palace is located to the left of Revdanda-Murd road
and can be encountered just before entering Murud. It was actually built by
the Nawab of Janjira and was intended for administration purposes.

The palace is historic of architectural importance, however, it is not owned by

the government and is still under the control of Nawab’s heirs and is
considered as a private property. As a result, public is not allowed to enter the
palace without seeking appropriate permissions of the owners of the property.

The palace was vacated in the year 1885 as the Nawab of Janjira decided to
move into his Ahmedganj palace. Standing tall in its own unique style, Siddi
Palace is built on the edge of a mountain and offers breath taking views of the
great Arabian Sea as well as the entire Murud village.People who have visited
the palace in good olden days remember that there is an artistic Mosque along
with several tombs of the previous rulers of Janjira in the premises of the
palace.

There are a number of auto-rickshaws, taxis and private buses available to

reach the Nawab Palace or Murud's Durbar Road from Roha railway
station. Tourists that come to Murud to visit places like Murud Janjira Fort,
Padmadurga (Kasa) Fort, Garambi Dam, Korlai Fort, and Kude Caves, often
stop by the Siddi palace to click a few frames of the exotic Arabian Sea and the
stunning aerial views of the Murud village.

Spread over a vast land of more than 45 acres, Siddi Palace, also known as
Nawab Palace, is one of most visited destinations of Raigad District in the state
of Maharashtra. With a distinct architectural style representing a mix of Gothic
as well as Mughal approaches, the Siddi Palace is one of a kind.

Though not open for public as it is still owned by the descendants of the Nawab
of Janjira, many tourists still stop by the place to take photographs of this
architectural marvel. Siddi Palace is located to the left of Revdanda-Murd road
and can be encountered just before entering Murud. It was actually built by
the Nawab of Janjira and was intended for administration purposes.

The palace is historic of architectural importance, however, it is not owned by

the government and is still under the control of Nawab’s heirs and is
considered as a private property. As a result, public is not allowed to enter the
palace without seeking appropriate permissions of the owners of the property.

The palace was vacated in the year 1885 as the Nawab of Janjira decided to
move into his Ahmedganj palace. Standing tall in its own unique style, Siddi
Palace is built on the edge of a mountain and offers breath taking views of the
great Arabian Sea as well as the entire Murud village.People who have visited
the palace in good olden days remember that there is an artistic Mosque along
with several tombs of the previous rulers of Janjira in the premises of the
palace.
There are a number of auto-rickshaws, taxis and private buses available to
reach the Nawab Palace or Murud's Durbar Road from Roha railway
station. Tourists that come to Murud to visit places like Murud Janjira Fort,
Padmadurga (Kasa) Fort, Garambi Dam, Korlai Fort, and Kude Caves, often
stop by the Siddi palace to click a few frames of the exotic Arabian Sea and the
stunning aerial views of the Murud village.