Golconda Fort: 500 years for the Acoustic Marvel

Golconda Fort,one of the ancient and biggest citadels completes 500 years this January. Older than Delhi’s Red Fort,it is undoubtedly one of most magnificent fortress complexes in India. Even today after these many centuries, the fort stands as not only Hyderabad's greatest architectural wonders, but of whole India too.

It has it’s name derived from “Golla konda” meaning Shepherds hill. A shepherd boy once came across an idol of a God and informed about it to the then Kakatiya ruler.Initially built as a mud fort,it was later used as a part of their defense.Rani Rudramadevi and Prataparudra were essential in strengthening the fort which was finally ceded to the Bahmani Sultanate as a part of the 1364 treaty. Then came Sultan Quli Qutb-ul-Mulk.Initially sent as a governor of Telangana,he established it as his seat of governance. This period saw the downfall of Bahmani sultans and when Quli Qutb became independent in 1518 he established his own dynasty “Qutb Shahi dynasty”. 1518-1580 saw an epic transformation of the mudfort by the Qutb sultans eventually resulting in the masterpiece we see now. The founder of Hyderabad, Mohd Quli Qutb Shah, was believed to have taken birth within the fort.It was also their capital until 1590, when the capital was shifted to Hyderabad. 

The fort finally fell into ruin in 1687, after an eight month siege by the Mughals,leading to its fall at the hands of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.

Golconda Fort took the initiative of making the surrounding area its own well planned township in Deccan Plateau. Fortunately, the township actively took part in gems and diamond trade. Golconda established itself as a diamond trading center and, until the end of the 19th century, was the primary source of the finest and largest diamonds in the world.The Kohinoor and Hope diamond being the most prominent among all.

Golconda boasts of mounted cannons, four drawbridges, eight imposing gateways,as many as 87 bastions rising up to 15 to 18 metres,the double wall that follows the foot of the hill on which the bastion stands,majestic halls, magazines, stables and the East Gate, one of the biggest entrances of the fort and a three- storeyed armoury building.

The outermost gateway is called the Fateh Darwaza meaning Victory Gate..named after Aurangzeb’s conquer.Here one can witness fantastic acoustical effects, which is one among the many famous engineering marvels at Golconda.Clapping your hand at a certain point near the dome entrance reverberates which is heard clearly at the hill top pavilion, almost one kilometer away. This served as a warning note to the inhabitants of the fort of any impending danger and now used to amuse audience.

From the Kakatiyas of Warangal to the Bahmanis and from Qutb Shahis kings to Aurangzeb, the fort served all the dynasties that ruled Hyderabad during the past.Now it falls up on the Telangana Government and Archaelogical survey of India to conserve and protect its structures to the fullest and also hope this testimony to Hyderabad’s past gets it well deserved UNESCO World Heritage site tag soon.