By Shobha Rao Smilemaker

Jun 8: When visiting Kumta in North Karnataka, I learnt for the first time about the Nawayat Muslim community (meaning newcomers) who originated here in ancient times when spice traders, coming in from Arab, Yemen and Persian regions, married the local Indians.

We travelled towards the Mirjan fort which is supposed to have been initially founded in the 13th century by the Nawayat Sultanate and had been visited by the famous 14th century international traveller Ibn Batuta and mentioned in his travel chronicles too.

This fort then became a part of the Vijaynagar Kingdom. One of their subordinate Queens called Rani Chennabhairadevi of the Keladi dynasty, is credited to having built this fort to its majestic glory in the late 16th century.

As I entered this sprawling Fort, made of local laterite I could imagine its glorious history with this so called 'Pepper Queen' as she was nicknamed because of the flourishing spice trade. This fort must have stored commodities like pepper, betelnut, nutmeg, cassia and saltpeter. This strategic fort location by the river and ocean made it an important port for spice trade with the Dutch, the Portuguese and the British.

After the fall of the Vijaynagar empire the fort was controlled by the Bijapur dynasty and upgraded by the local governor called, Sherif ul Mulk in the 17th century.

In the18th century after many battles this fort was first seized by the Marathas and then, by the British empire to be used for their armoury. Situated on the banks of the Aganashini River, on the Mirjan village, this place is now called Mirjan fort.

It looked like a quaint castle as we walked across what must have been a deep protective moat around the fort. The moat is supposed to be connected to a network of canals which was spread across the surrounding ares.

As we entered the main gates i stopped to admire the wonderful architecture of the ancient era! The doubled walled structure was made of laterite stones. We walked along the external ramparts around the main walls.

As we entered the fort, the first thing I noticed was the number of steps at different places leading to many underground secret passageways. Also there were a number of wells, capable of storing a large amounts of water. Next to the large stepwell was was a huge tree below which was a kind of a temple with ancient idols of local dieties . These were some of the objects that had been excavated by the ASI in the adjacent areas. They have also dug up a 1652 gold coin. clay tablets with Islamic inscriptions, cannon balls, bullets and earthen pots from the area. There used to be hidden treasure here, which was taken away by the invaders.

The ASI have used laterite stones to restore the damaged portions and fort walls. I sat on a laterite bench in silence to just soak up in the amazing ancient glory and pure energy of the place.

The high fort ceilings and bastions across the sprawling12 acres must have made this, a very secure fortification place for the ancient inhabitants.

We saw the watchtowers which offered a bird’s eye view of the surrounding area. I climbed a high point searching for a distant view of the Aganashini River. The different courtyards led to three side entrances which must have also been used as escape gates.

Mirjan Fort really makes me smile as my travels across India continue to be a learning and humbling experience!

Shobha Rao Smilemaker has a vision of living in a world where people use their ability to find and make smiles in any situation. She is a lawyer by qualification, a soft skills trainer by passion, a motivational speaker, a freelance journalist, a bestselling author, an avid traveler and founder of 'Smilemakers Trainings'. She can be contacted at www.shobhasmilemaker.com.