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Mandvi Fort Walls

Mandvi Fort Walls

heritage site · Gujarat

State
Gujarat
Type
Heritage Site

Mandvi's old fort walls and bastions still trace parts of the port town Rao Khengarji I founded on the Rukmavati river — a harbour that once launched a fleet of roughly 400 trading vessels to East Africa, the Malabar coast and the Persian Gulf. Traditional Kachchhi dhow shipyards still work the riverbank today, the same craft that built Mandvi's original fleet.

Mandvi Fort Walls is known for

Surviving 16th-century wall sectionsKachchhi dhow shipyards on the RukmavatiHistoric Indian Ocean trading port

A short history

The town and its fortifications were established in 1574 by Rao Khengarji I of Kutch; parts of the original wall and bastion structures survive today. [Source: Incredible India, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India]

Why Mandvi Fort Walls matters

Once home to a nearly 400-vessel merchant fleet trading as far as East Africa and the Persian Gulf — among the largest indigenous trading fleets on India's west coast.

When to go

October to March

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