Ballarpur Fort: The Lost Gond Stronghold on the Wardha River

thenewsdirt
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In a quiet corner of Maharashtra’s Vidarbha region, the ancient walls of Ballarpur Fort rise from the banks of the Wardha River.

This centuries-old stronghold was once the nerve centre of a tribal kingdom, bearing witness to the rise of Gond rulers and the founding of nearby Chandrapur city.

Today, its black stone ramparts stand battered by time and neglect. The fort’s saga, from a 15th-century Gond capital to a crumbling heritage site, offers a vivid window into local history and the challenges of preserving it.

Gond-Era Origins and a King’s Legend

Ballarpur Fort was established under the reign of Gond King Khandkya Ballal Shah, a ruler of the Chanda (Chandrapur) kingdom in the mid-15th century.

At that time, Ballarpur (historically known as Ballarshah, after King Ballal) served as the capital of the Gond realm, strategically located on the eastern bank of the Wardha River.

The choice of site was no accident, the river provided natural defence and access to trade routes across Vidarbha. Under Khandkya Ballal Shah’s leadership, the fort became the administrative and military heart of a burgeoning Gond dynasty.

Local lore adds a poignant twist to the fort’s history. According to legend, King Khandkya suffered from a painful skin disease and found no cure in conventional medicine. Acting on his queen’s advice, he moved out of his old capital, Sirpur and took up residence at Ballarpur Fort on the Wardha’s banks. One day during a hunt, the ailing king discovered a spring trickling in the dry bed of a nearby stream (the Zarpat River).

After washing in its waters, his tumours miraculously healed. Interpreting this as a divine sign, the king declared the spring a holy site and built the Achaleshwar (Anchaleshwar) temple there in gratitude. He soon decided to establish a new city at the sacred spot, thus, Chandrapur was founded a few miles away, destined to eclipse Ballarpur as the kingdom’s capital. The supernatural tale of healing became a cornerstone of local folklore, linking Ballarpur Fort to the very origins of Chandrapur’s most revered shrine.

For several generations, Ballarpur Fort remained a seat of Gond power even as Chandrapur grew in prominence. The town of Ballarpur itself, literally “city of Ballal”, sprang up around the fort and took its name from the king.

Gond rulers would shuttle between the old fort and the new Chandrapur city until eventually Chandrapur fully took over as the administrative hub.

The last days of Gond rule, however, brought Ballarpur back into focus in dramatic fashion. In 1751, King Nilkanth Shah, a descendant of Khandkya Ballal, rebelled against rising Maratha power but was defeated by the Maratha leader Raghuji Bhonsle.

Nilkanth was captured and permanently imprisoned within Ballarpur Fort, where he died in captivity. This incident marked the fall of the Gond dynasty in Vidarbha. In a symbolic full circle, the fortress that heralded Gond ascendancy also became the site of its final collapse.

Fort Architecture and Features

Even in ruins, Ballarpur Fort’s architecture speaks to its past stature. The fort was constructed from large blocks of black basalt stone, giving its walls a forbidding strength. Its layout is roughly rectangular, spanning the riverbank, with high curtain walls and rounded bastions at intervals.

There were two main gateways. The primary entrance faces east toward the town, and a secondary gate opens westward directly toward the Wardha River.

This perpendicular gate arrangement, with two portals set at right angles, forced any invaders to make a defenceless turn, a clever defensive design. Historical accounts note additional small entrances and postern gates near the water’s edge, likely used for quick escape or bringing in supplies by boat.

Inside the fort’s perimeter, time has erased most traces of buildings and palaces. What likely stood there were administrative offices, royal quarters, and granaries that served the Gond court. Notably, the fort is believed to contain a hidden subterranean feature. Local lore and surveys hint at underground chambers and tunnels built into the walls.

These chambers may have been used to store treasures and food, or to shelter the garrison during sieges. Generations of Ballarpur residents have whispered about secret passages, perhaps escape routes, snaking beneath the fort, though these remain largely unexplored.

The fort’s defensive features were formidable for their time.

Tall ramparts were reinforced by bastions, and the walls were thick enough to withstand cannon fire introduced in later centuries. A portion of the fort extended right up to the river, suggesting that one side was protected by water. It is said that moats or ditches may have complemented the river defence on the landward sides.

At its height, Ballarpur Fort would have presented a daunting obstacle: soldiers manning the bastions, archers positioned along the ramparts, and heavy wooden gates barring entry. The design reflects how Gond engineers adapted to the region’s terrain, using the river as a moat and incorporating local stone that endures the tropical climate.

Remarkably, parts of Ballarpur Fort’s outer structure have survived into the present. Sections of the main stone walls still stand erect, having defied monsoon rains and wind for over five hundred years.

The most visually striking remnant is the old entrance gateway, which endures almost intact. This arched gateway, now weathered and partly overgrown, greets visitors with a silent grandeur, a “picturesque” portal that has outlived the halls and courtyards it once guarded.

Walk through it, and you find fragments of interior passageways and staircases amid the rubble.

Many segments of the fort have indeed collapsed or lie buried, but what remains offers a tangible sense of its original layout. The sturdy construction is a testament to Gond craftsmanship.

Apart from a few standing walls and the main gate, the fort has fallen into ruins after centuries of wear, yet those surviving elements still evoke its past might.

From Maratha Rule to Modern Neglect

The Ruins of the Ballarpur Fort at Chandrapur

After the Gond power waned in the 18th century, Ballarpur Fort changed hands and purposes.

The Marathas, who took control of the Chandrapur region in 1751, recognised the fort’s strategic and symbolic value. In 1790, the Maratha governor ordered repairs to the ageing fortification.

Records suggest that the Marathas maintained Ballarpur Fort as an outpost and perhaps as a local administrative centre during their rule. However, as Chandrapur town flourished, Ballarpur’s political importance diminished. The fort gradually transitioned from a royal seat to a relic of the past, even as it remained a landmark for locals.

British colonial rule further sidelined Ballarpur Fort. By the mid-19th century, when the East India Company and later the British Raj governed the region, the fort had no military role in the new administration. Chandrapur (then called Chanda) became part of the Central Provinces, and the British built their own cantonments elsewhere.

Ballarpur Fort was effectively left to age quietly. Colonial records occasionally mention it as a surveying point or a curiosity, but it saw no major action. With the passage of time, the fort’s stonework began to crumble. Villages expanded in and around the fort’s vicinity, and a railway line was laid nearby (Ballarshah Junction, which still bears the old name, lies within a kilometre).

By the 20th century, the fort’s decline was well advanced. The once-imperious stronghold had become an overgrown ruin, albeit one steeped in history. In independent India, Ballarpur developed into an industrial town (famed for its paper mill) while its medieval namesake fort largely languished.

One might expect such a site to be carefully preserved as a link to the region’s heritage. Indeed, the fort was eventually recognised as a protected monument under law. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) lists Ballarpur Fort as an Ancient Monument of national importance.

This status, in theory, should have ensured regular maintenance and guarding of the site. In practice, however, the fort received minimal conservation attention for decades, a fate not uncommon for heritage structures in the eastern part of Maharashtra.

Encroachment and apathy took their toll. Parts of the fort’s land were gradually hemmed in by private houses and small farms in Ballarpur town. Without active oversight, locals scavenged stones and bricks from the ruins over the years.

The fort’s surviving walls also endured natural onslaughts. Thick vegetation dug roots into the masonry, and monsoonal downpours weakened the foundations. Visitors who toured Ballarpur Fort in recent years often encountered piles of litter and graffiti on the old stones, signs of neglect that contrast with the site’s historical significance.

Present Challenges and Preservation Efforts

In recent times, Ballarpur Fort has come to symbolise the broader challenge of conserving Vidarbha’s forgotten monuments.

The fort is still standing, open to the public and occasionally visited by history enthusiasts, but its condition is precarious.

A stark reminder came in July 2021, when two of the fort’s ancient bastions collapsed after days of torrential rain. The northeast bastion and another section by an old temple gave way, sending heaps of stone crashing down. Luckily, no injuries were reported, but the cave-in left gaping breaches in the fort’s profile.

Large cracks appeared in other ramparts, threatening both the structure and a cluster of houses built close to the fort’s base. For local residents living in the fort’s shadow, it was a frightening wake-up call, the medieval walls that had stood for centuries could literally fall apart at any moment.

The 2021 incident spurred calls for urgent action. Community leaders and heritage advocates in Chandrapur district pressed authorities to shore up the damaged fortifications. A local legislator demanded immediate restoration and even cosmetic beautification of the Gond-era fort to prevent further damage.

There was talk of developing the site as a tourist attraction if it could be made safe. In response, proposals were sent to state and central agencies for funding emergency repairs. However, bureaucratic hurdles and jurisdictional confusion have hampered concrete progress.

Ballarpur Fort, like many historic sites in Vidarbha, sits at the crossroads of central and state oversight, the ASI’s Nagpur circle is responsible for it, but resource allocation often skews towards more famous forts elsewhere.

Heritage experts note that Ballarpur Fort’s plight is far from unique. Vidarbha houses over 40 significant forts dating from various dynasties, yet these eastern Maharashtra sites have long been overshadowed by the marquee forts of western Maharashtra.

The state’s fort conservation committee concentrates primarily on western forts while neglecting those in the eastern region. Indeed, funding and focused preservation drives have largely bypassed places like Ballarpur. Until recently, even basic security was lacking, a 2022 review found many protected monuments in the region had no guards on site, leaving them vulnerable to vandalism. In Ballarpur, the fort’s crumbling remains have often been left to fend for themselves amid heavy rains and occasional treasure hunters’ digs.

Despite these challenges, there are glimmers of hope. Local history lovers and volunteers have started conducting clean-up drives and guided tours, attempting to spark public interest in Ballarpur Fort’s rich past. The fort’s dramatic story, from the Gond era of Vidarbha to Maratha and British dominion, is being retold through articles and social media, slowly pulling it out of obscurity.

The site’s ASI protection has also not been entirely in vain; periodic minor repairs have been done over the years (for instance, records show fort wall restorations as early as the 1950s). Officials claim that new conservation plans are under review, aiming to make the fort structurally stable and encroachment-free. There is talk of installing informational signage and lighting to encourage cultural tourism. As matters stand, however, progress is incremental.

Walking through Ballarpur Fort today, one feels a mix of awe and urgency. The remaining arches and bastions still exude the aura of Gond power, and the view from the riverside walls, looking out over the Wardha’s flow, hints at why this spot was chosen to guard a kingdom. Yet the scars of neglect are evident in every cracked stone and overgrown courtyard. Each monsoon that passes without proper conservation increases the risk that more of this heritage will be lost. For the people of Ballarpur and Chandrapur, the fort is a tangible link to a proud regional history that is rarely celebrated on the national stage.

Ballarpur Fort stands at a crossroads of time. Its story, stretching from medieval Gond legends to the struggles of modern preservation, encapsulates the journey of Vidarbha itself, a region rich in culture and history, often overlooked in the shadow of larger powers.

Saving this fort is about respecting that legacy and learning from it. As the black basalt walls continue to weather the elements, they remind us that heritage endures only as long as we care for it.

Ballarpur’s ancient stronghold has endured wars and empires; whether it survives the present era of apathy will depend on the value we place on the lessons of the past.