Sangagiri Fort (also spelt Sankagiri Fort; historically Sankari Drug, Sankrydroog and similar forms) is a hill fort at Sangagiri in Salem district, Tamil Nadu, India. The fort occupies a steep rocky hill overlooking the town and is a centrally protected monument maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). The protected complex is officially recorded by the ASI as the Fort and Temples on the hill at Chinnakavandanur in Sankagiri taluk.
The fortification complex is associated with the Vijayanagara Empire, although modern government sources differ slightly in its dating. The Salem district administration dates its construction to the 15th century, while a directory published by the Government Museum, Chennai, assigns it to the 16th century. It was subsequently strengthened under the rulers of Mysore, particularly during the period of Tipu Sultan, and was later occupied and altered by the British East India Company.
The fort contains successive defensive walls and gateways distributed along the ascent, together with surviving religious, military and administrative structures. It was used as an important military station and, under British rule, as a revenue-storage centre for the surrounding Kongu Nadu region. The Kongu chieftain Dheeran Chinnamalai, who resisted East India Company rule, was executed at the fort on 31 July 1805.
Name The fort has appeared under several forms of its name in historical English records. Nineteenth-century sources used spellings including Sankaridrug, Sankrydroog and Sankerrydroog.
The 1885 Manual of the Administration of the Madras Presidency derived Sankaridrug from Sanskrit shankha ("conch"), giri ("hill") and durga ("fort"), associating the name with the pale appearance of the hill when viewed from a distance.
An alternative interpretation was recorded by British officer James Welsh, who visited the fort in 1824 and referred to it as Sunkul Droog, which he translated as "Chain Mountain". Both explanations have therefore appeared in historical descriptions of the place.
History Vijayanagara period The wider Salem region came under Vijayanagara authority during the 14th century. The Salem district administration attributes the construction of Sangagiri Fort to the Vijayanagara rulers in the 15th century.
A study published in the proceedings of the South Indian History Congress records Sangagiri as an administrative and military centre under successive Vijayanagara, Madurai Nayak, Mysore and Tipu Sultan administrations.
Kongu Chettiar tradition and Kopineshwar temple A local tradition associated with the Sangagiri region concerns a group remembered as the Five Hundred Kongu Chettiars. According to the tradition, during political disturbances connected with the Thanjavur kingdom and the establishment of Maratha rule in the late 17th century, members of the Chettiar community faced persecution. Community elders are said to have gathered about 500 children and moved them secretly to the Sangagiri region in order to preserve the community's lineage.
The settlers were traditionally regarded as devotees of Shiva and are said to have established a shrine at Sunnambu Kuttai ("Limestone Pond"), near Sangagiri on the route towards Edappadi. The principal deities of the shrine were known as Kopineshwar and Angayarkanni.
According to local accounts, the temple subsequently fell into ruin. In 1982, Viswanathan Chettiar of Coimbatore is said to have identified remains associated with the former temple, including the boundaries of the site, the original sanctum, and several damaged granite images. He subsequently initiated reconstruction of the shrine and is reported to have completed the sanctum before his death.
The tradition also associates the name Kopineshwar with the Kopineshwar Temple at Thane, although the historical relationship between the two traditions has not been independently established.
Mysore and Tipu Sultan Following the decline of Vijayanagara authority, the region eventually passed under the Kingdom of Mysore. By the 18th century Salem and its surrounding country were controlled successively by Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan.
Sangagiri became an important fortified position under Mysore. The Government Museum directory records that the fort was strengthened during Tipu Sultan's rule, particularly in the period 1784–1786. The steep topography of the hill allowed access principally from one side, where the approach was protected by successive defensive works.
An aquatint made by Thomas and William Daniell in 1804 depicts the fortified hill from the north-west. Their description presented the summit as being protected by successive walls and gateways and recorded reservoirs and stores intended to sustain a substantial garrison.
British period Following the Third Anglo-Mysore War, the Salem region was ceded by Tipu Sultan to the East India Company under the Treaty of Seringapatam in 1792. Sangagiri subsequently became an important Company military station.
The fort also served as a storage centre for revenue collected in the Kongu region. Military and administrative buildings were established below and within the fortified hill, while existing defences were retained and modified.
When James Welsh visited in February 1824, he described Sankrydroog as having formerly been a large military station and a place of importance in the region. He recorded surviving tombstones, deteriorating barracks and fortifications. According to his account, the lower fort still contained about twenty guns with ammunition, while about twelve more guns remained on the hill.
Welsh also noted the succession of defensive works ascending towards the summit. By this period, however, the station had already declined considerably from its earlier military importance.
The 1885 Manual of the Administration of the Madras Presidency described the hill as being extensively terraced with fortifications, some associated with Tipu Sultan and others attributed to subsequent British construction.
Dheeran Chinnamalai
Sangagiri Fort is closely associated with Dheeran Chinnamalai, a Kongu chieftain who opposed East India Company rule at the beginning of the 19th century. After his capture, he was imprisoned at Sangagiri and was executed at the fort on 31 July 1805.
A memorial pillar commemorating Chinnamalai was subsequently established at Sangagiri and opened to the public in 2013.
Fortifications and structures
The fort was laid out to make use of the steep natural terrain of Sangagiri hill. The upper slopes were difficult to approach except along the principal ascent, which was defended by a succession of walls, gateways and fortified terraces.
Historical and modern descriptions differ in the manner in which these defences are counted. The Salem district administration describes twelve fort walls, while other historical descriptions divide the ascent into a series of approximately ten principal defensive lines and gateways. The fortification is therefore more accurately understood as a succession of defensive works constructed and altered during different periods rather than as a single uniform enclosure.
The surviving and historically recorded structures include:
defensive walls and gateways along the ascent; a granary and other storage structures; reservoirs and rock-cut or naturally formed water-storage areas; two mosques; Hindu temples, including temples dedicated to Varadaraja Perumal; former military and administrative buildings; cemeteries associated with the former garrison; and a deep pit or subterranean cell traditionally described as a "death well".
The 1885 administrative manual additionally recorded an ancient Shiva temple, a cave near a mosque, a Roman Catholic chapel and an unused cemetery on or around the fortified hill.
Water supply The summit forms a small plateau where natural depressions and reservoirs provided a dependable supply of water. Nineteenth-century descriptions emphasised this water storage as an important element in the ability of the fort to support a garrison during prolonged occupation.
Historical descriptions Welsh's 1824 account provides one of the more detailed contemporary descriptions of the fort after the establishment of British rule. Although the station was already declining, substantial artillery, barracks, defensive walls and other traces of its former garrison remained.
Robert Baikie's 1834 account of routes to the Nilgiri Mountains also listed Sankerrydroog as an established stage on the route from Salem through Sangagiri and Erode towards the western districts.
By 1885 the Manual of the Administration of the Madras Presidency described the fortifications as a conspicuous terraced complex above the railway and recorded the religious structures, water supply and surviving remains still present on the hill.
Protection and conservation The fort and temples on the hill were notified for protection on 28 February 1921 under Government Order No. 76. The protected site is recorded by the Archaeological Survey of India at Chinnakavandanur in Sankagiri taluk, Salem district.
The Government of India confirmed in the Lok Sabha in 2000 that Sankagiri Fort was an ASI-protected monument and that funds had been allocated for its preservation and protection.
The fort continues to be maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India.
Gallery
See also Sangagiri Dheeran Chinnamalai Namakkal Fort Attur Fort Krishnagiri Fort List of forts in India
References
External links
Sangagiri Fort – Salem District Administration List of forts in the ASI Chennai Circle