“Murud-Janjira”, Built by Malik Ambar, the fort of Siddis, the once most powerful ruling dynasty of this region. situated on an island just off the coastal village of Murud, in the Raigad district of Maharashtra, India. The fort has its reputation of being invincible till the end of British reign though it has witnessed the rage of Marathas, Nizamshahis, Adilshahis, Portuguese and British. The fort itself is a miracle as it houses two fresh water lakes and many wonders of architecture and metallurgy. The Siddis were originally slave turned trader turned rulers from Abyssinia (Ethiopia). They established this fort in the 15th century The word Janjira is not native to India, and may have originated after the Arabic word Jazeera, which means Island. Murud was once known in Marathi as Habsan ("of Habshi" or Abyssinian). The name of the fort is a concatenation of the Konkani and Arabic words for Island, "morod" and "jazeera". The fort has 26 rounded ...