Golkonda Fort

Origins of the Golkonda Fort

The fort stands upon the eponymous hill, and was built by the Hindu Kakatiya dynasty in the 13th century. Its origins are obscure but stories indicate that the name comes from Golla Konda (Grazer’s Hill in the local Telugu language), as it was used by local cowherds to graze their livestock. It is believed a young shepherd once found a holy idol upon this hill, marking it as an auspicious place where the king saw fit to build his new palace and fort.

The original fort was a modest affair made out of mud and reflective of the relatively small empire it represented. Its rise began only under the subsequent Bahmani dynasty, at which point it was expanded and reinforced and the settlement around it began to grow.

Rise and Fall of the Golkonda Fort

In 1518, the Bahmani empire broke up into five independent states, one of which became the state  of Golkonda, so named after the Golkonda fort. The ruler of this  new empire was Sultan Quli Qutb Shah (ruled 1518-43) who, along with his first three descendants, enhanced the fortifications by replacing the mud walls with granite and giving it the status of a capital city. Under them Golkonda flourished, eventually becoming a major global centre for diamond trade.

By the time of the fifth emperor, Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah (ruled 1580-1612) the city was bursting at the seams, prompting him to build a new capital city, Hyderabad, just a few kilometres to the east, to meet the demands of the increasing population. The sudden demotion in status from capital to second city of the empire checked any further expansion of Golkonda city. Its fate was finally sealed when the fort fell in 1687 to the Mughal ruler, Aurangzeb, after a nine-month siege. The vengeful victor imprisoned the Qutub Shahi emperor and had his soldiers destroy the fort and palaces, leaving it  only a shell of its glorious past.