A History of the Mahrattas v2.c51.58

v2.c51.58

¹ [Asīrgarh (Asseergurh) fort, situated in 21° 28′ N. and 76° 18′ E. and now included in the Nīmār District of the Central Provinces, is mentioned in the Mahābhārata. Its possession lent importance to the Fārūkī dynasty of Khāndesh which was established in 1388, with its seat of government at Burhānpur. The dynasty and independence of the State ended with the surrender of Asīrgarh to Akbar in January 1601. In 1625 Shāh Jahān, who had revolted against his father, the Emperor Jahāngīr, surrendered it as one of his pledges of peace. During the operations against the Pindārīs, organized by the Marquess of Hastings, it finally capitulated to the British after a short siege in April 1819. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries it was reckoned to be one of the wonders of the world, so that it was ‘impossible to conceive a stronger fortress.’ (O.H.I., vi. et passim.)]