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Tourism-Hyderabad |
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| The Golconda Fort on the Western outskirts of Hyderabad city, is located about 11 Kms away. It is located on a granite hill having a height of 120m. |
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| Ibrahim Quli Qutb Shah Wali, the fourth Qutb king are the most important builder of Golconda. In the spirit of his ancestors Ibrahim followed, the Qutub Shahi kings, a great family of builders who had ruled the kingdom of Golkonda from 1512. |
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| Golkonda, was rebuilt for defense from invading Mughals from the north. The infrastructure Golkonda's splendid monuments, 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 now in ruins. It is noted as one of the fascinating features of the fort. |
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| Qutb kings ruled over the Telangana region and some parts of present day Karnataka and Maharashtra. |
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| Golkonda was the capital and fortress city of the Qutb Shahi kingdom, near Hyderabad in the 16th century. |
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| According to a legend, the fort derives its name from Golla Konda, which is a Telugu word for Shepherd's Hill. It is believed that a shepherd boy came across an idol on the hill. This led to the construction of a mud fort by the then Kakatiya dynasty ruler of the kingdom around the site. |
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| Surrounded by massive crenelated ramparts the city and fortress are built on a granite hill that is 120 meters (400ft) high. The Hindu Kakatiya dynasty ruled the area in 1143 is the beginnings of the fort date. The Islamic Bahmani Sultanat conquered the Kakatiya dynasty were followed by the state of Warangal. In the Sultanate and after its collapse the capital of the Qutb Shahi kings the fort became the capital of a major province. The fort finally fell into ruins after a siege and its fall to Mughal emperor Aurangazeb. |
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| Golkonda rose to prominence as the seat of the Qutb Shahi dynasty around 1507, after the collapse of the Bahmani Sultanat. Extending around 5 km in circumference, over a period of 62 years the mud fort was expanded by the first three Qutb Shahi kings into a massive fort of granite. When the capital was shifted to Hyderabad, till the peroid 1590 Golkonda remained the capital of the Qutb Shahi dynasty. |
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| The Qutb Shahis expanded the fort, whose 10 km outer wall enclosed the city. The state became a focal point for Shia Islam in India, for instance in the seventeenth century Bahraini clerics, Sheikh Ja`far bin Kamal al-Din and Sheikh Salih Al-Karzakani both emigrated to Golkonda. |
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| Conquest by Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in 1687, the Qutb Shahi sultanate lasted. Falling to the Mughals through treachery, the fortress held out against Aurangzeb for nine months. |
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| A devout of lord RAMA Kancharla Gopanna, popularly known as Bhaktha Ramadaasu, was kept in a jail located inside the fort, who constructed Bhadrachalm temple without informing the sultan at that time [Tana Shah]. |
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| India, at that time, had the only known diamond mines in the world. Golkonda was once renowned for the diamonds found on the southeast and cut in the city. |
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| The fortress city within the walls was famous for diamond trade. Themselves yielded diamonds of trifling quantity in the Mines of Golkonda, was world famous. Europeans knew that diamonds were found only in these fabled mines. Golkonda in fact, the market city of the diamond trade, and gems sold there came from a number of mines. |
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| The largest and finest diamond of the crown jewels of Iran, Darya-e Nur, meaning sea of light, at 185 carats was one of the magnificent diamonds were taken from the mines in the region surrounding Golkonda. |
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| Darya-e Nur , Nur-Ul-Ain Diamond, The Koh-i-noor , The Hope Diamond , The Regent Diamond are some of the diamonds many famed diamonds are believed to have been excavated in the mines of Golkonda. |
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| The mines brought riches to the ruling Qutb Shahis of Hyderabad State, who ruled after the independence from the Mughals in 1724, until 1948, when Hyderabad was annexed, to become an Indian state. The name "Golkonda" acquired a legendary aura and became synonymous for vast wealth, during the Renaissance and the early modern eras. |
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| A 10 km long outer wall with 87 semi circular bastions, Golkonda consists of four distinct forts, some still mounted with cannons. Eight gateways, four drawbridges and number of royal apartments & halls, temples, mosques, magazines, stables etc, inside fort is sight of seeing |
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| The lowest of these is the outermost enclosure the "Fateh Darwaza" (Victory gate, so called after Aurangzeb’s triumphant army marched in through this gate). |
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| The Huge gates of the fort are decorated with large pointed iron spikes. These spikes prevented Elephants from damaging the fort. The fort of Golconda is encircled by a 11-km long outer wall. This was build in order to fortify the fort. near the south-eastern corner. The fantastic acoustic effects, characteristic of the engineering marvels at Golkonda can be expirenced at Fateh Darwaza. |
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| The main entrance to the fort located on the eastern side is Bala Hissar Gate. It has a pointed arch bordered by rows of scroll work. |
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| The two individual pavilions on the outer side of Golconda are also major attractions of fort. It is built on a point which is quite rocky. The 'Kala Mandir' is also located in the fort. It can be seen from the king's durbar (king's court) which was on top of the Golconda Fort. |
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| Reach Golconda Fort by local transport as Fort is around 11-km from Hyderabad. Auto rickshaws and Taxis are available apart from luxury/semi-luxury buses, for local transportation. |
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