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| view of the Golkonda fort |
With great surprise, I was looking at the Fateh Darwaja or the Victory Gate of the Golconda Fort, Hyderabad. The gate of Fateh or Victory was named after Aurangzeb`s army made an entry into the fort through this gate, and achieved their much awaited win. Huge in size, studded with giant spikes, and strong like a shield to meet any challenges, the door was strong enough to repulse the attack of even war elephants. A hole at the center of arch of the gate was kept, to pour boiling liquids on the elephants of the enemies in order to repulse an attack outside the gate. But, in reality the gate was opened from inside, before it could face the challenge of being battered down, and Mughal army under the leadership of Emperor Aurangzeb smoothly entered into the Golkonda Fort.
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| Fateh Darwaja |
The guide was showing us the engineering marvels of Golkonda, sound of a hand clap under the dome at the entrance could be heard clearly at the highest point of the pavilion of the fort and which was a kilometre away. It acted for conveying a warning note to the residents in case of danger. I was asking myself, did anybody clap to alert the residents on the night of 16-th May 1687 when Mughals were attempting to escalade the fort with ladders for a silent entry into the fort? Or the dog which was wandering round the rampart of the fort?In different forts lots of architectural and engineering marvels could be seen,were built to protect the King from the enemies,but,in how many cases they prevented the King from attacks of enemies may be subject of research. It was said that on noticing the Mughal intruders,the dog started barking and alerted the soldiers of Golkonda. The incident delayed the win of the Mughals over the Golkonda fort for few months.
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| view of Nagina Bagh |
The colour of the Sun light in the evening started to create magical web with the Sun set and my visions started filling with silhouette of life that passed through the decades of war and peace.The sound of life of the ages gone by could be felt,it was like a communion with the history. At the Nagina Bagh of the fort the Commander Abdur Razzaq Lari of King Abul Hasan was resqued with innumerable wounds. The true saviour fought to resist the Mughal attack with just twelve of his followers with a sword and sitting on a bare horseback. The valiant warrior had such an envious loyalty to his master that he refused Aurangzeb`s proposal of joining his force with a very high rank. It was said that conquest of Golkonda would have been more difficult if the King Abul Hasan had possessed more Commanders like Abdur Razzaq Lari in his army. Another Commander of the King Abul Hasan,Abdullah Khan Pani of Golkonda guided the Mughal soldiers of Aurangzeb into the fort and the gate was opened from inside on 21-st September 1687 A.D.
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| layers of the rampart |
The place once filled with echoes of peals coming out of the harem, reverberated the sound of anklet of the court dancers, new buds of hope bloomed with exuberance or where the whispers of conspiracy ended with bloodshed. The offices of Akanna and Madanna, the two efficient Ministers in the Qutb Shah-i court were further up. On the 16-th March 1686 may be through this road the two Ministers were on their way to home from the fort, were brutally slaughtered and their heads were presented before Aurangzeb, and crushed under elephant leg. It may be first possible conspiracy that Aurangzeb made in the fort that was successful before his conquest of the fort.
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| Ministers Office |
The Golkonda fort,where the art and architecture found a modern direction towards prosperity, the place that silently felt the heart beats of different colours of life. With the exit of the last tourist of the evening the place will be in dark solitude. The evening was approaching, I looked back again with surprise,the Sun of the Qutb-Shahi dynasty was set on that day when the King was arrested by the soldier`s of Aurangzeb. Three line of ramparts of the fort were built one within the other to provide a three layer of defence but, could not protect the King Abul Hasan of Golkonda to surrender before Aurangzeb and could not prevent to be sent to Daulatabad as a prisoner. The witness of one of the greatest struggles of Indian History will be alone once again, as it was when the King was taken under Aurangzeb`s custody.
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| the Golkonda fort |
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