Motorcycling to Malthone,Khimlasa and Barodiya Fort

    Hi once again
        A beautiful Sunday morning to start my ride  of almost 381 km.I started from Jhansi at 0705h since it was a long distance. Following details may help a rider,who would like to explore these places in future,

•        Route                    Jhansi-Lalitpur-Malthone-Khimlasa-Barodiya-Jhansi.

•        Road Condition           Excellent ,however the forts are located inside town.Town                                               roads  are narrow,but good .
•       Traffic density              Medium-near villages/towns.Light on balance stretch.
•        Road side assistance Available ,also it has a lot of good petrol pumps.
•         Eating Joints              A number of dhabas on both side of road,some of them are                                            super clean.

  Malthone

    It is located  on junction of  Lalitpur - Sagar  and Lalitpur- Bina highway.As I have mentioned in my previous blog,about three battles which Maharaja Mardan Singh fought with Hugh Rose,Malthone is the last battle ground before Hugh Rose marched towards Banpur-Talbehat .

   The Malthone fort was build by Bharat Shah primarily to check the Malwa Sultans. It was located on border with the Malwa region.Subsequently it was captured by Scindias however the resurgent Mardan Singh recaptured the fort along with capture of Talbehat and Chanderi from Scindias. The fort is located inside the town and one has to pass through narrow lane of the town.

   Intoxicated with the easy fall of Sagar,Hugh Rose was in jubilant mood and had increased his marching pace ,as he wanted to rapidly close on Jhansi the rallying point of 1857-58.However the Irish man ,hero of Crimean war never gauged the staunch resistance put up by Mardan Singh.It was in month of March 1858 when the first battle of Malthone was fought,in which the British were defeated.

    Thereafter,Hugh Rose got the heavy guns moving from Sagar,re planned his attack  and within days of defeat he once again attacked Malthone,this time he was able to capture the small village near the fort.To capture the fort he blasted the fort walls so much so that he even damaged  the centuries old temple inside the fort.After the capture of fort a small garrison of troops were stationed .In the battle complete fort was destroyed and rendered useless-typical style of British destruction.

   At present only some portion of fort wall,few bastions,a Mahadev temple and an important tank which never dries are present in the fort .Restoration of the fort is in progress.

Mahadev temple in the fort

The water tank with inscription which says it has been restored by Mardan Singh

Restoration work in progress water used is from the above water tank 

Khimlasa

      It is located on Malthone -Bina road.Khimlasa fort was constructed by Gond King Anup Singh,there after it changed hands went  to  Bundelas again to Gonds ,than was captured by Malwa Sultans,recaptured by Bundelas again.After its capture by  British it was ceded to Scindias along with Chanderi fort.

                                                      Kimlasa town road to fort

                                                              Entry to the fort 

     The Khimlasa fort was the administrative headquarters of Mardan singh ,it is located on Border with Sagar State which at that time had a British garrison. As the stalemate continued with Mardan Singhs staunch defence at Malthone ,the troops located in Sagar garrison  along with troops of Gwalior state marched on to capture Khimlasa. What seemed to be an easy operation turned into a full fledged battle resulting in to the defeat of Combined force .

      As Battle plans were redrawn for capture of malthone,capture of Khimlasa was also planned.In the renewed attack khimlasa fell very easily as most of the troops had been with drawn for battle of Malthone and further protection of Banpur-Talbehat Area by Mardan Singh.Not much damaged happened to the fort in the battle .On handing over the fort to Scindias a British police lines were constructed and remained in the fort,till late 80s.

      The fort has two water tanks and both are being used by the locals for drinking as well as washing purpose.The water tanks are huge and still have  unbroken steps to reach the bottom.

Largest of the two tank

     The fort has a  Panch Pyare Mazar.As per legend 5 Brothers were told to construct a Masjid before the rooster wakes up in the morning,ie about 0400 am,however they were not able to complete the task and all of them died,they were buried at the  place were Mazar now stands.The Mazar has intricately carved stone walls, in Persian style and are still intact. 

    Another important place is Nagina Mahal ,as per the locals it was studded with pearls and diamonds. It is a four storey building,with only three storeys visible,with one being underground.It was used by the queen to sit and watch the subjects from the top.

     The old British police lines are now abondened ,however an inscription on the wall in honour of superintendent of police still remains.

    Some other beautiful carvings

   

Barodiya Fort

    Its located 10 kms from Malthone on Sagar Road.It was basically a guard fort,just to keep watch on the surrounding areas,at present it is in ruins and there is a prominent temple in the fort.

     The journey back home on the beautiful highway was exhilarating,the beauty of motorcycle riding is the feeling of freedom,you can stop any where,no zipping on the highway visit small places .My experience with small towns has been tremendous,people are extremely nice  ,always ready to lead to place of interest and appreciative of my Bull with its glistening metal,few want to click photos with you.We have so much history and diversity ,one life time is not enough to see it .

    So keep riding keep exploring the interiors of our beautiful Country and yes off course ride safe.