NEW DELHI: India’s Maratha Military Landscapes — a network of 12 strategic forts — have been added to the UNESCO World Heritage List, becoming the country’s 44th site to receive the designation.

The forts were used by the rulers of the Maratha Empire, who held power across parts of central, western and southern India between the late 17th century and the early 19th century.

Marathas rose to prominence after the decline of the Mughal Empire, following the death of Emperor Aurangzeb in 1707, the last powerful Mughal ruler, who alone had controlled much of India for nearly 50 years.

The proposal to include the Maratha forts on the UNESCO list was submitted by India to the World Heritage Committee in January 2024.

The inscription, which took place during the 47th session of the World Heritage Committee in Paris on Friday, marked “a significant milestone in the global acknowledgment of India’s rich and diverse cultural heritage,” the Ministry of Culture said in a statement.

The Maratha Military Landscapes of India were nominated under the criteria in recognition of “their exceptional testimony to a living cultural tradition, their architectural and technological significance, and their deep associations with historic events and traditions.”

The fortification network covers 11 forts in the state of Maharashtra — Salher, Shivneri, Lohagad, Khanderi, Raigad, Rajgad, Pratapgad, Suvarnadurg, Panhala, Vijaydurg, and Sindhudurg — and one, Gingee Fort, in Tamil Nadu.

With the newest addition, India now ranks sixth globally and second in the Asia-Pacific region for the number of UNESCO World Heritage sites.

“The fact that UNESCO selected 12 forts from the Maratha dynasty as World Heritage Sites is a matter of great pride for the history of the Marathas, Maharashtra and India,” Prof. Santosh Mahadevrao Ghuge, who heads the Department of History at the Fergusson College in Pune, one of the main cities of Maharashtra, told Arab News.

“The war strategy of the Marathas has unique significance in Indian and world history, and forts have an important place in this war strategy. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the Maratha military prowess and the use of forts in warfare enabled the Marathas to defeat the powerful Mughals.”