Bahamani sultans built walls on the current site of the Purandar fort as far back as the 14th century, and Bahamani's King Hasan Gangu built the earliest fortifications in 1350. The Nizamshahi rulers held the fort for about 100 years beginning in 1484. Maloji Bhosale was given the fort in 1596, and he passed it to his grandson Shivaji in 1646. During this time, the fort was the capital of the Maratha Empire.
Shivaji had to fight hard against the Mughal Empire to hold on to the Purandar fort. The Mughal army, commanded by Dilir Khan and the Rajput general Jai Singh, besieged the fort in 1665. Murar Baji Prabhu, the fort's commander, was killed in the battle. Shivaji surrendered all 23 of his forts, including Purandar, under the Treaty of Purandar. He recaptured Purandar in 1670.
The British East India Company signed a treaty with the Peshwa Empire in 1776 at the Purandar fort, and the Peshaws at this time used the fort as a place to retreat in the event of an emergency. The British captured Purandar on March 16, 1818. During World War II, the British housed German prisoners of war at Purandar. During the British occupation of the fort, it fell into disrepair.
