The Golconda Fort, located on the outskirts of Hyderabad is one of the most splendid fortress in India. It was initially constructed as a mud fort around the holy spot by the Kakatiya rulers who came to know about a shepherd boy who found an idol on the rocky hills of Mangalavaram in 1143. Couple of centuries later (1364), the Bahamini dynasty acquired the possession of the fort. However, in 1518, Quli Qutub Shad broke away from the Bahmani Sultanate and formed the Qutub Shahi Dynasty and declared Golconda his capital. Since then, for a period of around 60 years, the first three Qutub Shahi kings reconstructed the fort into a huge granite fortress and expanded it to around 5 km in circumference.
During the 16th century, a huge outer wall was constructed around the fort which extended the circumference of the fort to 11 km. In 1590, the Qutub Shahi rulers shifted their capital to Hyderabad. In 1686, the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb attacked the Golconda Fort with an intention to seize Hyderabad. The fortress was invulnerable, and held out against Aurangzeb for nine months, before falling to the Mughals through treachery. In 1687, a traitor betrayed the Qutub Shahi Dynasty and Aurangzeb's army managed to breach the defenses of the fort. Aurangzeb looted and destroyed the fort and left it in a heap of ruins.
The Golconda Fort is an exquisite blend of Hindu and Islamic styles. The fortress which consists of four distinct forts is build on a 400 ft elevated granite hill, surrounded by a wall, which is interspersed by 87 semi-circular bastions. Some of the bastions are still mounted with canons while a few of them are as high as 60 feet high. The fort has eight gateways, and four lift-bridges, and a countless number of royal buildings & lobbies, temples, mosques, magazines, stables, etc. inside.
