Tanaji Malusare

Tanaji Malusare

Tanaji Malusare, also known as Simha ("the Lion"), was a renowned warrior and military leader in the army of Shivaji, a maharaja of Maharashtra in 17th century India.
Tanaji was one of the very close friends of Maharaja Shivaji, and the two had known each other since childhood. In 1672, Tanaji pledged to recapture the fortress of Kondhana (near Pune) at Shivaji's request.
Kondhana was a well-defended stronghold located at the top of steep cliffs, and was considered to be nearly impossible to capture by force.
Eventually, however, Tanaji's forces managed to scale the cliffs during the night, and were able to take the fortress.
Tanaji himself, however, was killed in the attack. When Shivaji learned of his friend's death, he remarked "gad ala pan Simha gela", meaning "the fortress was won, but the Lion was lost". The fortress of Kondhana was renamed Simhagad in Tanaji's honour.

Simhagad

Simhagad (formally know as Kondhana) one of the stratergic fortresses which were captured by Shivaji during the expansion of his Kingdom.
The seige was laid by one of his chieftains know as Tanaji Malusare who was killed during the course of the battle. The Fort was renamed in his honour.