Satara

Satara, in western Maharashtra, sits at the meeting of the Krishna and Venna rivers and has been important for over a thousand years. The region was once part of ancient Deccan kingdoms ruled at different times by the Rashtrakutas, Chalukyas and Yadavas of Devagiri, with hill forts guarding passes into the Konkan. Later it came under the Bahmani and then Bijapur sultanates. The name “Satara” is popularly linked with the fort of Satara and the ring of surrounding hills and forts that dominate the landscape.

Satara’s decisive historical role begins in the Maratha period. In the 17th century, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj captured key forts in the area from the Adilshahi rulers, making this belt part of the growing Maratha swarajya. After the long Mughal–Maratha wars, Shivaji’s grandson Shahu Maharaj was released from Mughal captivity and, in the early 18th century, made Satara his royal capital. While effective political power gradually shifted to the Peshwas in Pune, Satara remained the seat of the Chhatrapati and an important symbol of Maratha legitimacy.

Following the Anglo–Maratha Wars, Satara became a princely state under a branch of the Bhonsle dynasty, until it was annexed by the British in 1848 under the Doctrine of Lapse. It was then integrated into the Bombay Presidency and, after Independence, into the state of Maharashtra, with Satara town today serving as a district headquarters and a gateway to the Sahyadri hills, Kaas Plateau and surrounding forts.