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Vellore Fort

Vellore Fort

heritage site · Tamil Nadu

Vellore Fort is a granite fortress in the center of Vellore town, Tamil Nadu, spanning about 133 acres and surrounded by a wide moat that once held crocodiles.

State
Tamil Nadu
Type
Heritage Site

Vellore Fort is a granite fortress in the center of Vellore town, Tamil Nadu, spanning about 133 acres and surrounded by a wide moat that once held crocodiles. It is best known as the site of the 1806 Vellore Mutiny, an early rebellion by Indian sepoys against the British East India Company.

Vellore Fort is known for

Vellore Mutiny of 1806Jalakandeswarar Temple within the fortVijayanagara-era granite fortificationcrocodile-moat defensesAravidu dynasty capital

A short history

The fort was built in 1566 by Chinna Bommi Reddy Nayak and Thimma Reddy Nayak under the Vijayanagara emperor Sadasiva Raya, later serving as the imperial capital of the Aravidu dynasty. The fort passed to the Bijapur Sultanate in the 1650s, and the Marathas seized it after a 14-month siege in 1676-1678. The Nawab of Arcot took possession in 1710, and Hyder Ali besieged it during the Second Anglo-Mysore War in 1780. Under British control the fort became notorious as the site of the Vellore Mutiny of 1806, described as the first major military rebellion against the British in India, sparked by new sepoy dress regulations seen as an affront to religious customs. [Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vellore_Fort]

Why Vellore Fort matters

The Vellore Mutiny of 1806 is regarded as one of the earliest organized uprisings by Indian soldiers against British colonial rule, decades before the 1857 revolt.

When to go

November to February

Why visit

A moated granite fort holding one of the finest carved temples of the Vijayanagara age.

How to reach

Vellore Town Railway Station is about 1.5 km away; Katpadi Junction connects to Chennai, Bangalore and Tirupati; Chennai International Airport is about 126 km away.

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