JOIN USAs I enter its verdant precincts vibrant with picnickers, I am struck by the savage charm of the mammoth, snaking structure of Golconda Fort. There is a beehive of activity near the ticket counter as tourists wrangle and bargain with guides who insist that you need their services if you truly want to understand this enigma that was once an impregnable stronghold of the Qutub Shahi emperors.
My guide Nizamuddin begins his narration with a flourish. As if the fort was his own conception and creation, he emphasises that had it not been for the treachery engineered by Emperor Abul Hasan Tana Shah’s general, this fort with its superb military architecture would not have fallen prey to the destructive designs of Aurangzeb.
The fort provides a majestic backdrop to Hyderabad or Bhagyanagar, as the city was once called, honouring the Qutub Shahi court dancer Bhagmati who later became the emperor’s queen. However, once he married her, he renamed her Hyder Begum, and hence Hyderabad got its present name!
Built at a height of 400 feet atop rugged boulder-ridden terrain, Golconda is surrounded by gargantuan crenellated ramparts, and boasts architectural acoustics that bespeaks the exemplary technical skills of the times. I am greeted by a wild cacophony of shouts and claps as I approach the Fateh Darwaza or Victory Gate, so named after Aurangzeb’s triumphant march through it. The doorway is sculpted with twin peacocks and lions on stucco panels of the spandrels, revealing a fine blend of Hindu-Islamic architecture.
Structural ingenuity
Nizamuddin brings to my notice the diamond-shaped motifs high up on the ceiling of the domed structure, an engineering marvel that carries sound high up the citadel. A hand clap at a certain point below the dome reverberates a kilometre away and at a height of 480 feet, at Bala Hisar pavilion, the highest point of Golconda.
Golconda is really four distinct forts linked together, the lowest being the outermost enclosure entered through the Fateh Darwaza. The story of Golconda goes back to 1143, when the Kakatiya rulers originally built it as a mud fort called Mangalawaram or Mankal. It gained prominence and became a strong fortress when Quli Qutub Shah established his supremacy in 1507. According to some, Golconda derives its name from a fusion of Urdu and Telugu words gol meaning round and konda meaning hill in Telugu.
I walk through a long corridor flanked by barracks on one side and a cobbled wall on the other, to reach a row of open rooms. I am told a magical tale as I spot a mundane-looking square stone with a chain loop. The 240-kg stone held great powers. All one had to do to get employment in the emperor’s court, was to simply lift this stone. In 1518 alone, 11,000 people thus got jobs in the court, reveals Nizamuddin.
There are no doors or windows in Golconda. Nizamuddin explains that architectural prowess of the times ensured ample cross ventilation and light in every region of the fort. Stone loops built into the walls served as loops for drapes that doubled up as doors or windows. Golconda is truly an architectural masterpiece full of surprises. I am spellbound by the ingenuity of the architects of the times who created this splendorous fort with technical and engineering precision belying the times. The maze of well-laid clay pipes is just one point in example. They weave their way throughout the fort and channelled water to every building within its precincts. Four huge water tanks at different levels in the fort were fed by the Durga Sagar Lake, eight km away in Banjara Hills.
From the first level of the ramparts, I survey the lush gardens of Nagina Park, once called Nagina Bazaar, the diamond and gems market. The fort was once home to some of the most famous and finest diamonds ever known.
I walk over 380 steps to get to the fort’s topmost level, also considered to be the highest vantage point in Hyderabad. Enroute, I take a peek into the Ramdasgarh, the three-tiered jail precinct where Tana Shah’s revenue officer Kancharla Gopanna, popularly known as Bhakt or Bhadrachala Ramadas, was imprisoned for 12 years. An ardent devotee of Lord Rama, he sold temple jewellery and diverted state funds to build a temple for Rama in his native town, Bhadrachalam. Walking a few steps from here, I come upon the Amber Khana, the granary built in 1642 by Khairat Khan, a servant in the court of Abdulla Qutub Shah, and the mosque built by Ibrahim Quli Qutub Shah.
The Kali Mandir below a huge boulder that naturally assumes the shape of a Nandi, bears testimony to the secular beliefs of the Qutub Shahi rulers. During the annual festival of Bonali that falls between June-July, the temple witnesses a flurry of celebrations that lasts for 40 days.
Other imposing structures within the fortress are the zenana quarters or Rani Mahal and Taramati Mosque. “Rani Mahal once had decorative niches in Persian style,” Nizamuddin reveals. Faded glimpses of this are visible in slight measure. The Rani Mahal was the seat of the final drama — a bitter eight-month battle that resulted in Aurangzeb’s victory over the Qutub Shahi rulers.