Golkonda (or Golconda), a ruined city of south-central India, is situated west of Hyderabad, capital of ancient Hyderabad state (c. 1364–1512). There is also a town in United States of America named after this fort.
It later became one of the five Muslim kingdoms of the Deccan known as the Deccan sultanates, until it was captured by the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb's forces in 1687. Aurangzeb besieged the fort for nine long months. If it were not for the treachery of a staff who opened a side gate, Golconda would have held out longer.
Three granite walls of megalithic construction surround the Golconda Fort, with the outermost wall having a circumference of about 7 km.
The most important builder of Golconda was Ibrahim Quli Qutb Shah Wali, the fourth Qutb king. Ibrahim was following in the spirit of his ancestors, the Qutub Shahi kings, a great family of builders who had ruled the kingdom of Golconda from 1512. Their first capital, the fortress citadel of Golconda, was rebuilt for defense from invading Mughals from the north. They laid out Golconda's splendid monuments, now in ruins, and designed a perfect acoustical system by which a hand clap sounded at the fort's main gates, the grand portico, was heard at the top of the citadel, situated on a 300-foot (91 m)-high granite hill. This is one of the fascinating features of the fort.
It later became one of the five Muslim kingdoms of the Deccan known as the Deccan sultanates, until it was captured by the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb's forces in 1687. Aurangzeb besieged the fort for nine long months. If it were not for the treachery of a staff who opened a side gate, Golconda would have held out longer.
Three granite walls of megalithic construction surround the Golconda Fort, with the outermost wall having a circumference of about 7 km.
The most important builder of Golconda was Ibrahim Quli Qutb Shah Wali, the fourth Qutb king. Ibrahim was following in the spirit of his ancestors, the Qutub Shahi kings, a great family of builders who had ruled the kingdom of Golconda from 1512. Their first capital, the fortress citadel of Golconda, was rebuilt for defense from invading Mughals from the north. They laid out Golconda's splendid monuments, now in ruins, and designed a perfect acoustical system by which a hand clap sounded at the fort's main gates, the grand portico, was heard at the top of the citadel, situated on a 300-foot (91 m)-high granite hill. This is one of the fascinating features of the fort.
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