It is strategically located looking over a pass in the Sahyadri mountain range which was a major trade route from Bijapur in the interior of Maharashtra to the coastal areas.

[1] Due to its strategic location, it was the centre of several skirmishes in the Deccan involving the Marathas, the Mughals and the British the grand son's of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj East India Company, the most notable being the Battle of Pavan Khind.

A copper plate found in Satara shows that Raja Bhoja held court at Panhala from 1191–1192 CE.

[5] In May 1660, to win back the fort from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Adil Shah II (1656–1672) of Bijapur sent his army under the command of Siddi Johar to lay siege to Panhala.

The siege continued for 5 months, at the end of which all provisions in the fort were exhausted and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was on the verge of being captured.

He gathered a small number of soldiers along with his trusted commander Baji Prabhu Deshpande and, on 13 July 1660,[6] they escaped in the dead of night to flee to Vishalgad.

In 1689, when Sambhaji was imprisoned by Aurangzeb's general Mukkarab Khan at Sangameshwar, the Mughals came to possess the fort.

[3] However, it was re-captured in 1692 by Kashi Ranganath Sarpotdar under the guidance of Parshuram Pant Pratinidhi a Maratha garrison commander of the fort of Vishalgad.

[3] On 28 April 1692 the Mughal Emperor famously received the English ambassador Sir William Norris at Panhala fort.

This led to another long siege in which Rajaram escaped disguised as a beggar to Gingee Fort,[12] leaving his 14-year-old wife Tarabai Ranisaheb in Panhala.

As Aurangzeb pursued Rajaram, Tarabai Ranisaheb would stay at Panhala for almost five years before meeting her husband again.

During this formative period of her life, Tarabai Ranisaheb looked after the administration of the fort, resolved disputes, and gained the respect of the people.

The time she spent at Panhala provided her with experience in courtly matters and the support of her officers,[1] which would influence later events.

[13] In 1705, Tarabai asserted her autonomy by founding an independent dynasty in the name of her son Shivaji II and ruling it as regent with Panhala as her headquarters.

Shortly after, in 1709, Tarabai again took Panhala, established a separate state (Kolhapur Rajaram by his second wife Rajasbai Ranisaheb succeeded to the throne.

She came to believe that to prevent the fall of Panhala, the Mahakali shrine at the fort had to be ritually offered human blood for the appeasement of Goddess Kali.

There were reports of Jijabai Ranisaheb bestowing a plot of land to an oilman or Teli in return for the grant of his daughter-in-law to be buried alive under one of the Panhala towers.

A British force under General Delamotte was sent against the rebels and on 1 December 1844 breached the fort wall, took it by storm and dismantled the fortifications.

[14] Most of the architecture is of the Bijapuri style with the peacock motif of the Bahmani Sultanate prominently visible on several structures.

The walls are protected for long sections by steep escarpments, reinforced by a parapet with slit holes.

The remaining sections have 5–9 m (16–30 ft) high ramparts without a parapet, strengthened by round bastions the most notable of which is Rajdindi.

[14] This is a three-storey structure[19] with winding staircases that conceal the well which was the main water source for Panhala fort.

The inner gate from the court is highly decorated with the lintel having finely carved motifs,[25] including one of Ganesh.

All three declare that the gate "was built in the reign of Ibrahim Adil Shah I by Malik Daud Aki son of Minister Ahmed" in 954 AH (1534 CE).

[17] Ramchandra Pant Amatya (who wrote Adnyapatra, a treatise on Maratha policy) was the youngest minister in Shivaji's fort.

[29] The Masai Pathar behind Panhala fort was chosen as an alternative location to shoot Padmaavat film.