engineering

Shaniwar Wada

Shaniwar Wada is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Shaniwar Wada rather than just read about it. In short: Shaniwar Wada is a historical fortification in the city of Pune, India. Built in 1732, it was the seat of the Peshwas of the Maratha Confederacy until 1818.

Key takeaways

Shaniwar Wada belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Shaniwar Wada to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Shaniwar Wada from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Shaniwar Wada is a historical fortification in the city of Pune, India. Built in 1732, it was the seat of the Peshwas of the Maratha Confederacy until 1818. The fort itself was largely destroyed in 1828 by an unexplained fire, but the surviving structures are now maintained as a tourist site.

History

The Shaniwar Wada was normally the seven-story capital building of the Peshwas of the Maratha Empire. It was supposed to be made entirely of stone. However, after the completion of the base floor or the first story, the people of Satara (the national capital) complained to the Chhatrapati Shahu saying that a stone monument can be sanctioned and built only by the Chhatrapati himself and not the Peshwas. Following this, an official letter was written to the Peshwas stating that the remaining building had to be made of brick and not stone. By 1758, at least a thousand people lived in the fort. In 1773, Narayanrao, who was the tenth and ruling Peshwa then, was murdered by guards on orders of his uncle Raghunathrao and aunt Anandibai. A popular legend has it that Narayanrao's ghost still calls for help on full moon nights. Various people, working around the area, have allegedly reported the cries of "Kaka mala vachava" (Uncle, save me) by Narayanrao Peshwa after his death. The book, Assassination of the Peshwa, written in English and Marathi, covers this incident in detail. In June 1818, the Peshwa, Bajirao II, abdicated his Gaadi (throne) to Sir John Malcolm of the British East India Company and went into political exile at Bithoor, near Kanpur in present-day Uttar Pradesh, India. On 27 February 1828, a great fire started inside the palace complex. The conflagration raged for seven days. Only the heavy granite ramparts, strong teak gateways and deep foundations and ruins of the buildings within the fort survived. According to Haricharitramrutsagar, a biographical text of Bhagwan Swaminarayan, he had visited Shaniwarwada on the insistence of Bajirao II in 1799.

Construction

Peshwa Baji Rao I, prime minister to Chattrapati Shahu, laid the ceremonial foundation of his own residence on Saturday, 10 January 1730. It was named Shaniwar Wada from the Marathi words Shaniwar (Saturday) and Wada (a general term for any residence complex). Teak was imported from the jungles of Junnar, stone was brought from the nearby quarries of Chinchwad, and Lime (mineral) was brought from the lime-belts of Jejuri. Shaniwarwada was completed in 1732, at a total cost of Rs. 16,110, a very large sum at that time. The opening ceremony was performed according to religious customs, on 22 January 1732, another Saturday chosen for being a particularly auspicious day. Later the Peshwas made several additions, including the fortification walls, with bastions and gates; court halls and other buildings; fountains and reservoirs. Currently, the perimeter fortification wall has five gateways and nine bastion towers, enclosing a garden complex with the foundations of the original buildings. It is situated near the Mula-Mutha River, in Kasba Peth.

Fort complex

Gates

Shaniwar Wada has five gates:

Delhi Darwaza The Delhi Darwaza is the main gate of the complex, and faces north towards Delhi. In fact, Shaniwar Wada is the only fort structure in India to have its main gate facing Delhi, the medieval imperial capital of Mughal Empire. Even Chhatrapati Shahu is said to have considered the north-facing fort an indication of Baji Rao's ambitions against the Mughal Empire, and suggested that the main gate should be made of chhaatiiche, maatiche naahi! (Marathi for "of the chests of brave soldiers, not made of mud"). The strongly built Delhi Darwaza gatehouse has massive doors, large enough to admit elephants outfitted with howdahs (seating canopies). To discourage elephants charging the gates, each pane of the gate has seventy-two sharp twelve-inch steel spikes arranged in a nine by eight grid, at approximately the height of the forehead of a battle-elephant. Each pane was also fortified with steel cross members, and borders were bolted with steel bolts having sharpened cone heads. The bastions flanking the gatehouse has arrow-loops and machicolation chutes through which boiling oil could be poured onto offending raiders. The right pane has a small man-sized door for usual entries and exits, too small to allow an army to enter rapidly. Shaniwar Wada was built by a contractor from Rajasthan known as 'Kumawat' of the Rajput Sub-caste, after completing construction they were given the name 'Naik' by the Peshwa. Even if the main gates were to be forced open, a charging army would need to turn sharply right, then sharply left, to pass through the gateway and into the central complex. This would provide a defending army with another chance to attack the incoming army, and to launch a counterattack to recapture the gateway. As the ceremonial gate of the fort, military campaigns would set out from and be received back here, with appropriate religious ceremonies. Mastani Darwaza (Mastani's Gate) or Aliibahadur Darwaja, facing north This gate was the entrance leading to Bajirao I's wife Mastani's palace and was used by her while travelling out of the palace's perimeter wall. Khidki Darwaza (Window Gate), facing east The Khidki Darwaja is named for an armoured window it contains. Ganesh Darwaza (Ganesh Gate), facing south-east Named for the Ganesh Rang Mahal, which used to stand near this door. It was used by ladies at the fort to visit the nearby Kasba Ganapati temple. Jambhul Darwaza or Narayan Darwaja (Narayan's Gate), facing south This gate was used by concubines to enter and leave the fort. It obtained its second name after Narayanrao Peshwa's corpse was removed from the fort for cremation through this gate. He is said to have been assassinated at this gate.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Shaniwar Wada

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Shaniwar Wada claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Shaniwar Wada before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Shaniwar Wada ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Shaniwar Wada

In research: Shaniwar Wada appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Shaniwar Wada in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Shaniwar Wada is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Buildings and structures completed in 1732, Buildings and structures in Pune, Buildings and structures of the Maratha Empire, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Shaniwar Wada outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Shaniwar Wada in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Shaniwar Wada means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Shaniwar Wada out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Shaniwar Wada in simple terms?

Shaniwar Wada is a historical fortification in the city of Pune, India. Built in 1732, it was the seat of the Peshwas of the Maratha Confederacy until 1818.

Why does Shaniwar Wada matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Shaniwar Wada?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Shaniwar Wada.