Curious case of 2 forts, a tower

This is the story of the mystery surrounding the name of a fort that is also called a watch-tower by some. It is a historical 17th century fortification built by the Portuguese and upgraded by the British. Located at Sion, Central Mumbai, the location of the exact Riwa Fort is a mystery to historians and experts even today.

There are three fortifications almost in a row, one along the Eastern Express Highway, the other along the Sion railway lines and the third behind the bus depot at Dharavi with a 1737 plaque.

Traditionally, these forts were the guardians of the island city. Old images show cannons and guarded draw-bridges. Water flowed between these islands and as the city was reclaimed with the Sion causeway — one of Mumbai’s very first tolled roads — coming up in 1805, the fortifications became redundant and fell to disuse.

The causeway became a part of the eastern express highway and the fort along it is popularly known as the Sion Fort, the fort at Dharavi near the bus depot has been known as Kala Qila or the Riwa Fort. The small watchtower near the rail line did not have a name.

The mix-up started when a senior expert from the Maharashtra archaeology department published an official book on the city’s forts, where he mentioned the small watchtower as an independent Fort. The book claimed it was a fort built by the Portuguese at the base of which was a small lake. The book also added details to the remains of the architecture that is still around and presented a picture of how the fort would have looked in its full glory. Many historians supported this theory, backed the claim that this indeed was the original Riwa Fort and the one at Sion was the Kala Qila, and was used as an ammunition depot.

This led to doubts as most of the documents, old maps and records in public domain have been showing the location of the Riwa Fort as being the same as that of the Dharavi Fort. A year later, another detailed study by a different set of experts led to the conclusion as the Riwa Fort was the same as the Black Fort and the lonely watchtower was originally just a part of the old Sion Fort. It quoted historical references, maps and construction details, though the first group of experts remained unconvinced.

The claims and counter-claims continue. The fight is probably endless, but the need of the hour is to save them. The two forts and the watchtower are in a very bad shape, with buildings being developed around them, and hillocks being dug up.

Their conservation needs more attention and research than anything else because only if they survive will they pass on the story of the city’s glory to the coming generations and become an important piece of debate among young archaeologists, leading to more finds, studies and unravelling the mysteries of this city.