The ‘Maratha Military Landscape of India‘ has become the 44th property of India to be inscribed on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation(UNESCO) World Heritage List.

In 2024 ,‘Moidams of Assam, the Mound-Burial System of the Ahom Dynasty’ was inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List as the 43rd property of India.

The 47th annual session of the World Heritage Committee of UNESCO, which is being held in Paris, France, from 6-16 July, accepted India’s nomination of ‘Maratha Military Landscape of India to be inscribed in the World Heritage List.

About the Maratha Military Landscapes of India

The Maratha Military landscape is a network of twelve forts built by the Maratha Empire during the 17th to 19th centuries CE(Common Era, which was earlier known as AD).

It includes 11 forts in Maharashtra and one in Tamil Nadu.
Forts located in Maharashtra - Salher, Lohagad, Shivneri, Khanderi, Raigad, Pratapgad, Suvarnadurg, Rajgad,Panhala, Vijaydurg, and Sindhudurg.
Forts located in Tamil Nadu - Gingee Fort.

Classification of the Twelve Forts

Based on the location, the forts have been classified as hilly(situated on a hill), hilly forest(located in a densely forested hilly area), hill-plateau fort (located on hill-plateau),coastal (along the shorelines)and island forts (surrounded by sea).

Fort situated in Hilly areas- Lohagad, Salher, Raigad ,Shivneri, Rajgad, and Gingee
Hilly forest area- Pratapgad
Hill-plateau fort-Panhala
Coastal fort- Vijaydurg
Island fort- Khanderi, Sindhudurg and Suvarnadurg

Protected monuments

All these forts are protected heritage sites in the country.

Sites under Archaeological Survey India (ASI)- Shivneri, Raigad, Suvarnadurg, Panhalat, Lohagad, Vijaydurg, Sindhudurg and Gingee fort.
Sites under Directorate of Archaeology and Museums, Government of Maharashtra- Salhert, Rajgad, Khanderi and Pratapgarh fort.

UNESCO World Heritage Sites

The UNESCO World Heritage Sites categorise heritage into three categories: Cultural, Natural, and Mixed.

Italy and China have the most sites on the UNESCO World Heritage List, with 60 each.

India is sixth in the world and second in Asia with 44 sites.

First Indian Sites to be inscribed - Ajanta Cave, Ellora Cave (both Maharashtra), the Taj Mahal and the Agra Fort in Uttar Pradesh in 1983.

List of Indian Heritage Sites in UNESCO’s World Heritage List

The following is a list of Indian heritage sites, categorised by type (Cultural, Natural, and Mixed), along with the year they were inscribed and their respective locations.

Serial Number	Heritage Site	Year of Inclusion	State	Category
1	Ajanta Caves	1983	Maharashtra	Cultural
2	Ellora Caves	1983	Maharashtra	Cultural
3	Agra Fort	1983	Uttar Pradesh	Cultural
4	Taj Mahal	1983	Uttar Pradesh	Cultural
5	Sun Temple	1984	Orissa	Cultural
6	Mahabalipuram Monuments	1984	Tamil Nadu	Cultural
7	Kaziranga National Park	1985	Assam	Natural
8	Keoladeo National Park	1985	Rajasthan	Natural
9	Manas Wildlife Sanctuary	1985	Assam	Natural
10	Churches and Convents of Goa	1986	Goa	Cultural
11	Monuments of Khajuraho	1986	Madhya Pradesh	Cultural
12	Monuments of Hampi	1986	Karnataka	Cultural
13	Fatehpur Sikri	1986	Uttar Pradesh	Cultural
14	Elephanta Caves	1987	Maharashtra	Cultural
15	Great Living Chola Temples. It includes (a) Brihadisvara Temple at Thanjavur, (b) Brihadisvara Temple at Gangaikondacholisvaram and (c) Airavatesvara Temple at Darasuram.	1987	Tamil Nadu	Cultural
16	Pattadakal Monuments	1987	Karnataka	Cultural
17	Sundarbans National Park	1987	West Bengal	Natural
18	Nanda Devi & Valley of Flowers National Park	1988	Uttarakhand	Natural
19	Monuments of Buddha	1989	Sanchi, Madhya Pradesh	Cultural
20	Humayun’s Tomb	1993	Delhi	Cultural
21	Qutub Minar and its Monuments	1993	Delhi	Cultural
22	Mountain Railways of Darjeeling, Kalka- Shimla & Nilgiri	1999	West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu	Cultural
23	Mahabodhi Temple	2002	Bodh Gaya, Bihar	Cultural
24	Bhimbetka Rock Shelters	2003	Madhya Pradesh	Cultural
25	Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus	2004	Maharashtra	Cultural
26	Champaner Pavagadh Archaeological Park	2004	Gujarat	Cultural
27	Red Fort	2007	Delhi	Cultural
28	Jantar Mantar	2010	Delhi	Cultural
29	Western Ghats	2012	Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra	Natural
30	Hill Forts of Rajasthan in Chittorgarh, Kumbhalgarh Sawai Madhopur Jhalawar, Jaipur, and Jaisalmer.	2013	Rajasthan	Culture
31	Rani Ki Vav	2014	Patan, Gujarat	Cultural
32	Great Himalayan National Park	2014	Himachal Pradesh	Natural
33	Nalanda	2016	Bihar	Cultural
34	Khangchendzonga National Park	2016	Sikkim	Mixed
35	Architectural Work of Le Corbusier (Capitol Complex)	2016	Chandigarh	Cultural
36	The Historic City of Ahmedabad	2017	Gujarat	Cultural
37	Victorian Gothic and Art Deco Ensembles of Mumbai	2018	Maharashtra	Cultural
38	The Pink City	2019	Jaipur, Rajasthan	Cultural
39	Kakatiya Rudreshwara (Ramappa) Temple	2021	Telangana	Cultural
40	Dholavira	2021	Gujarat	Cultural
41	Santiniketan	2023	West Bengal	Cultural
42	Hoysala temples of Belur, Halebid and Somanathapura	2023	Karnataka	Cultural
43	Moidams – the Mound-Burial System of the Ahom Dynasty	2024	Assam	Cultural
44	Maratha Military Landscapes of India	2025	Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu	Cultural

UNESCO( United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation)

Founded on 16 November 1945 as a specialised agency of the United Nations.

Focus areas of UNESCO - Promote education, natural sciences, ocean sciences, social and human sciences, culture, and communication and information in the world.

Members: It has 194 Members and 12 Associate Members (as per the UNESCO site).

Headquarters: Paris, France

Director General: Audrey Azoulay (France)

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