Riwa Fort

Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

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Riwa Fort, also known as Kala Qilla or Black Fort, is located in Dharavi, Mumbai, on the banks of the Mithi River. Built in the late 17th century, it was commissioned by the British East India Company under Governor John Horne to protect the northern frontier of Bombay from threats by the Portuguese and the Marathas, particularly the seafaring Maratha leader Kanhoji Angre.

The fort’s distinctive boomerang-shaped design helped protect the trade routes along the Mahim Creek and guarded the Sion Causeway, which connected the Bombay islands. Constructed primarily from black laterite stone, its thick ramparts and bastions served as defensive structures against invasions. Although the fort is largely in ruins today and surrounded by the Dharavi slums, the remaining bastion and walls evoke the fort’s historical and military significance. It offers a panoramic view of the surrounding landscape, historically overseeing key colonial and regional powers' movements.

The fort is under the jurisdiction of the Maharashtra Directorate of Archaeology and Museums but remains largely neglected.