New Delhi, July 9 -- At its peak, the Maratha empire extended from India's Northwest to the deep South, with a network of forts across this swathe. In January 2024, India said it would seek Unesco World Heritage status for a network of 12 forts associated with Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the founder of the empire. But that plan has hit a hurdle with the advisory body vetting applications pointing to gaps in "management, documentation, and impact assessment" in India's submission, highlighting a problem that isn't new to a country that has a rich history, but which hasn't done a great job of documenting this or preserving historical structures. ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Sites), the Paris-based advisory body to Unseco which vets all the nominees, has recommended deferring India's entry, titled "Maratha Military Landscapes" because "it fails to convincingly demonstrate how the dozen geographically scattered forts ... functioned as an integrated military defense system." HT has seen a copy of the assessment. ICOMOS assessment is advisory and the World Heritage Committee, comprising representatives from 21 Unesco member states elected on a rotating basis, has to take a final call on the matter. ICOMOS serves as the principal advisory body to Unesco on cultural aspects of the World Heritage Convention. When a country nominates a cultural site (or a mixed site's cultural value) for inscription on the World Heritage List, ICOMOS provides expert technical evaluations (charging Unesco around $28,000 to evaluate a single nomination), conducting rigorous on-site assessments and making recommendations to the committee. HT reached out to the Union culture ministry which did not respond to queries. Officials from the cultural affairs department of Maharashtra said they were in touch with the central government, adding that the deferment is not final. "We are doing everything possible with the help of the central government. The deferment is not final and we are still hopeful of getting the Unesco nod after all the efforts we are putting in," said a top official from the cultural affairs department, asking not to be named. The development comes amid the ongoing 47th session of the World Heritage Committee in Paris, where final decisions on nominations will be taken. While a deferment is not a rejection, it is a procedural setback, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be named. They explained that this implies that Unesco's advisory body believes that the current dossier does not sufficiently establish what Unseco calls "Outstanding Universal Value (OUV)" of the property-a key criterion for the World Heritage tag. The news will be especially disappointing to the Maharashtra government which has seen chief minister Devendra Fadnavis take personal interest in this mission. HT reached out to Jain but did not receive a response immediately. The World Heritage Tag means that the site possesses OUV and has exceptional importance to humanity. The tag also signifies that the site must be protected and preserved. Once a site is included on the list, it is placed under protection of the World Heritage Convention 1972. All eyes are now on July 11 when the Indian delegation, led by Ambassador to the Unesco Vishal Sharma, will have an opportunity to challenge this deferral by arguing about the "technical inaccuracies" in the ICOMOS report. There is a lot at stake for the government as Maratha Military Landscapes is the only official entry for India this year....