In a big win for India, UNESCO has inscribed the Maratha Military Landscapes of India to the World Heritage List at the ongoing 47th Session of the World Heritage Committee in Paris. With this addition, India now has 44 world heritage sites recognised by UNESCO.
The Maratha Military Landscapes includes twelve major fortifications, mostly in Maharashtra State, with one in Tamil Nadu. These forts were built, adapted, or expanded by the Marathas between the late 17th and early 19th centuries. Strategically located on India’s coastal and mountainous terrain, they formed a complex defence system supporting Maratha military dominance, trade protection, and territorial control. It played a key role in the Marathas’ rise as a major political and military force.
This network of forts is a result of integrating the landscape, terrain, and physiographic characteristics, particularly distinctive to the Sahyadri mountain ranges, the Konkan coast, Deccan Plateau and the Eastern Ghats in the Indian peninsula.
Last year, the Moidams of Charaideo in Assam were inscribed on the World Heritage List.
UNESCO World Heritage Committee
UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee meets once a year and is responsible for the implementation of the World Heritage Convention. The Committee has the final say on whether a site is inscribed on the World Heritage List. It also decides on the inscription or deletion of sites on the List of World Heritage in Danger.
