Daulatabad fort -- Defence at its Best

Hi,

I, Shridhar Purandare ,am back with one more trekking and admiring destination for travelers and that place is Daulatabad fort in Aurangabad. This was special as my parents joined me.

Daulatabad (Marathi दौलताबाद; Persian دولت‌آباد meaning “City of Prosperity”), is a 14th century fort city in Maharashtra, India, about 16 kilometers northwest of Aurangabad. The place, was once as known as Deogiri, (circa the sixth century AD, when it was an important uplands city along caravan routes and is now but a village, based around the former city of the same name.

Starting 1327, it famously remained the capital of Tughlaq dynasty, under Muhammad bin Tughluq (r. 1325-1351), who also changed its name, and forcibly moved the entire population of Delhi here, for two years, before it was abandoned due to lack of water. (Source: Wikipedia)



Fort is easily reachable with public or private transport. Do take a guide book which will help
you explore through it. Fun is more in understanding why they built it like that rather that how they built it.

Three layer fortifications make it tough to access.

Humans have constructed defensive works for many thousands of years, in a variety of increasingly complex designs. But I haven't see such a fine defense mechanism ever before. Most of the sculptures are still in good condition. Its finest defense system is accompanied by exquisite carvings and metallic cannons. Different types and levels of barriers, tunnels ,traps,narrow access bridges,draw bridges and heavy cannons made it invincible.

Here is some history about the fort.

The fort's sculptures are being preserved and exhibited for visitors.


An invincible fort, one of the best preserved in comparison to other forts in the vicinity of the same period. Its sound and sturdy quality exists due to the powerful wall about three miles in perimeter and defended by a moat and gacis that runs round the hill at its foot and between this outer curtain and the citadel, also known as Dharagir and Duwagir. These details have been extracted from Professor Dulari Qureshi's book Fort of Daulatabad.
The Chand Minar is a tower 210 ft (64 m). high and 70 ft (21 m). in circumference at the base, and was originally covered with beautiful Persian glazed tiles. It was erected in 1445 by Ala-ud-din Bahmani to commemorate his capture of the fort. The Chini Mahal, or China Palace, is the ruin of a building once of great beauty. In it Abul Hasan Tana Shah, the last of the Qutb Shahi kings of Golconda, was imprisoned by Aurangzeb in 1687.

All the cannons are massive and neatly built. Some of them are made from metal and are still intact.


Old temple is marvelous with more than 100 polls standing tall.

This trap is built with perfection. Impossible to climb from both sides. Filled with dangerous reptiles at times.
Finally it was moment to conquer the peak of Deogiri fort.

As always you can contact me for queries and information. Comments/Suggestions are expected. :)

Regards
Shridhar Purandare