Golconda Fort-Hyderabad-Telangana-DSC001

Golconda Fort (Telugu: గోల్కొండ,

romanized Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and ...

: ''Gōlkōnḍa'') is a historic fortress and ruined city located in

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

, Telangana, India. It was originally called Mankal. The fort was originally built by

Kakatiya The Kakatiya dynasty (IAST: Kākatīya) was an Indian dynasty that ruled most of eastern Deccan region comprising present day Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, and parts of eastern Karnataka and southern Odisha between 12th and 14th centuries. Th ...

ruler Pratāparudra in the 11th century out of mud walls. It was ceded to the Bahmani Kings by Deo Rai, Rajah of Warangal during the reign of Sultan Muhammad Shah (1358-1375 A.D.) of the

Bahmani Sultanate The Bahmani Sultanate, or Deccan, was a Persianate Sunni Muslim Indian Kingdom located in the Deccan region. It was the first independent Muslim kingdom of the Deccan,

. Following the death of Sultan Mahmood Shah, the Sultanate disintegrated and Sultan Quli, who had been appointed as the Governor of Telangana by the Bahmani Kings, fortified city and made it the capital of the

Golconda Sultanate The Qutb Shahi dynasty also called as Golconda Sultanate (Persian: ''Qutb Shāhiyān'' or ''Sultanat-e Golkonde'') was a Persianate Shia Islam dynasty of Turkoman origin that ruled the sultanate of Golkonda in southern India. After the coll ...

. Because of the vicinity of diamond mines, especially

Kollur Mine Kollur Mine was a series of gravel-clay pits on the south bank of the Krishna River in the Golconda Sultanate of India. It currently falls within the state of Andhra Pradesh. It is thought to have produced many large diamonds, known as Golcond ...

, Golconda flourished as a trade centre of large diamonds known as Golconda Diamonds. Golconda Fort is currently abandoned and in ruins. The complex was put by

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

on its "tentative list" to become a

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

in 2014, with others in the region, under the name Monuments and Forts of the Deccan Sultanate (despite there being a number of different sultanates).UNESCO "tentative list"
/ref>

History

The origins of the Golconda Fort can be traced back to the 11th century. It was originally a small mud fort built by Pratāparudra of the

Kakatiya Empire The Kakatiya dynasty (IAST: Kākatīya) was an Indian dynasty that ruled most of eastern Deccan region comprising present day Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, and parts of eastern Karnataka and southern Odisha between 12th and 14th centuries. Th ...

. The name ''Golconda'' is thought to originate from

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

for "shepherd's hill" (గొల్ల కొండ,

: ''Gullakōnḍa''). It is also thought that Kakatiya ruler Ganapatideva 1199–1262 built a stone hilltop outpost — later known as Golconda Fort — to defend their western region. The fort was later developed into a fortified citadel in 1518 by Sultan Quli of the Qutb Shahi Empire and the city was declared the capital of the

. The Bahmani kings took possession of the fort after it was made over to them by means of a ''sanad'' by the Rajah of

Warangal Warangal () is a city in the Indian state of Telangana and the district headquarters of Warangal district. It is the second largest city in Telangana with a population of 704,570 per 2011 Census of India, and spreading over an . Warangal ser ...

. Under the

Bahmani Sultanate The Bahmani Sultanate, or Deccan, was a Persianate Sunni Muslim Indian Kingdom located in the Deccan region. It was the first independent Muslim kingdom of the Deccan,

, Golconda slowly rose to prominence. Sultan Quli Qutb-ul-Mulk (r. 1487–1543), sent by the Bahmanids as a governor at Golconda, established the city as the seat of his governance around 1501. Bahmani rule gradually weakened during this period, and Sultan Quli (Quli Qutub Shah period) formally became independent in 1518, establishing the Qutb Shahi dynasty based in Golconda. Over a period of 62 years, the mud fort was expanded by the first three Qutb Shahi sultans into the present structure: a massive

fortification A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

of granite extending around in

circumference In geometry, the circumference (from Latin ''circumferens'', meaning "carrying around") is the perimeter of a circle or ellipse. That is, the circumference would be the arc length of the circle, as if it were opened up and straightened out to ...

. It remained the capital of the Qutb Shahi dynasty until 1590 when the capital was shifted to

. The Qutb Shahis expanded the fort, whose outer wall enclosed the city. During the early seventeenth century a strong cotton-weaving industry existed in Golconda. Large quantities of cotton were produced for domestic and exports consumption. High quality plain or patterned cloth made of muslin and calico was produced. Plain cloth was available as white or brown colour, in bleached or dyed variety. Exports of this cloth was to Persia and European countries. Patterned cloth was made of prints which were made indigenously with indigo for blue, chay-root for red coloured prints and vegetable yellow. Patterned cloth exports were mainly to Java, Sumatra and other eastern countries. THE GOLCONDA FORT

The fort finally fell into ruin in 1687 after an eight-month-long siege led to its fall at the hands of the Mughal emperor

Aurangzeb Muhi al-Din Muhammad (; – 3 March 1707), commonly known as ( fa, , lit=Ornament of the Throne) and by his regnal title Alamgir ( fa, , translit=ʿĀlamgīr, lit=Conqueror of the World), was the sixth emperor of the Mughal Empire, ruling ...

, who ended the Qutb Shahi reign and took the last Golconda king, Abul Hassan Tana Shah, captive.

Diamonds

The Golconda Fort used to have a vault where the famous

Koh-i-Noor The Koh-i-Noor ( ; from ), also spelled Kohinoor and Koh-i-Nur, is one of the largest cut diamonds in the world, weighing . It is part of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom. The diamond is currently set in the Crown of Queen Elizabeth The ...

and Hope diamonds were once stored along with other diamonds. Golconda is renowned for the diamonds found on the south-east at

near

Kollur, Guntur district Kollur is a village in Bapatla district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is the headquarters of Kollur mandal in Repalle revenue division. Geography Kollur is situated near the banks of Krishna river, at . It is spread over an area ...

Paritala Paritala is a village in the NTR district of the state of Andhra Pradesh, South India. It is located in Kanchikacherla mandal of Vijayawada revenue division. History When the British achieved paramountcy over India, the Nizams were allowe ...

and Atkur in

Krishna district Krishna district is district in the coastal Andhra Region in Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, with Machilipatnam as its administrative headquarters. It is the coastal district of Andhra Pradesh. Machilipatnam is the most populated city in the di ...

and cut in the city during the Kakatiya reign. At that

time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

, India had the only known diamond mines in the world. Golkonda was the market city of the diamond trade, and gems sold there came from a number of mines. The fortress-city within the walls was famous for diamond trade. Its name has taken a generic meaning and has come to be associated with great wealth.

Gemologist Gemology or gemmology is the science dealing with natural and artificial gemstone materials. It is a geoscience and a branch of mineralogy. Some jewelers (and many non-jewelers) are academically trained gemologists and are qualified to identif ...

s use this classification to denote a diamond with a complete (or almost-complete) lack of

nitrogen Nitrogen is the chemical element with the symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a nonmetal and the lightest member of group 15 of the periodic table, often called the pnictogens. It is a common element in the universe, estimated at se ...

; "Golconda" material is also referred to as "2A". Many famed diamonds are believed to have been excavated from the mines of Golconda, such as: *

Daria-i-Noor The Daria-i-Noor ( fa, , lit=Sea of light), also spelled ''Darya-ye Noor'', is one of the largest cut diamonds in the world, weighing an estimated 182 carats (36 g). Its colour, pale pink, is one of the rarest to be found in diamonds. The diamond ...

Noor-ul-Ain The Noor-ul-Ain ( fa, نور العين, lit=the light of the eye) is one of the largest pink diamonds in the world, and the centre piece of the tiara of the same name. History The diamond is believed to have been recovered from the mines of Go ...

Hope Diamond The Hope Diamond is a diamond originally extracted in the 17th century from the Kollur Mine in Guntur, India. It is blue in color due to trace amounts of boron. Its exceptional size has revealed new information about the formation of diamonds. ...

* Princie Diamond *

Regent Diamond The Regent Diamond is a diamond owned by the French state and on display in the Louvre, worth £48,000,000. History Discovery According to legend, the diamond was discovered by an enslaved man in the Kollur Mine near the Krishna River a ...

Wittelsbach-Graff Diamond The Wittelsbach-Graff Diamond is a deep-blue diamond with internally flawless clarity, originating in the Kollur Mine, India. Laurence Graff purchased the Wittelsbach Diamond in 2008 for £16.4 million. In 2010, Graff revealed he had ha ...

Darya-e Noor Diamond of Iran.png, The

Diamond Hope Diamond.jpg, The

Koh-i-Noor_old_version_copy.jpg, The

Diamond Wittelsbach Graff Diamond.JPG, The

By the 1880s, "Golconda" was being used generically by English speakers to refer to any particularly rich mine, and later to any source of great wealth. During

the Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

and the early modern eras, the name "Golconda" acquired a legendary aura and became synonymous for vast wealth. The mines brought riches to the

Qutb Shahis The Qutb Shahi dynasty also called as Golconda Sultanate ( Persian: ''Qutb Shāhiyān'' or ''Sultanat-e Golkonde'') was a Persianate Shia Islam dynasty of Turkoman origin that ruled the sultanate of Golkonda in southern India. After the coll ...

Hyderabad State Hyderabad State () was a princely state located in the south-central Deccan region of India with its capital at the city of Hyderabad. It is now divided into the present-day state of Telangana, the Kalyana-Karnataka region of Karnataka, and t ...

, who ruled Golconda up to 1687, then to the

Nizam of Hyderabad The Nizams were the rulers of Hyderabad from the 18th through the 20th century. Nizam of Hyderabad (Niẓām ul-Mulk, also known as Asaf Jah) was the title of the monarch of the Hyderabad State ( divided between the state of Telangana, Mar ...

, who ruled after the independence from the

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

in 1724 until 1948, when the

Indian integration of Hyderabad Operation Polo was the code name of the Hyderabad "police action" in September 1948, by the then newly independent Dominion of India against Hyderabad State. It was a military operation in which the Indian Armed Forces invaded the Nizam-ruled ...

occurred. The siege of Golconda occurred in January 1687, when Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb led his forces to besiege the Qutb Shahi dynasty at Golconda Fort (also known as the Diamond Capitol of its time) and was home to the Kollur Mine. The ruler of Golconda was the well entrenched

Abul Hasan Qutb Shah Abul Hasan Qutb Shah, also known as Abul Hasan Tana Shah was the eighth and last ruler of the Qutb Shahi dynasty, sovereign of the Kingdom of Golconda in South India. He ruled from 1672 to 1686. The last Sultan of this Shia Islamic dynasty, Tana ...

The Fort

Golconda Fort is listed as an archaeological treasure on the official "List of Monuments" prepared by the

Archaeological Survey of India The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is an Indian government agency that is responsible for archaeological research and the conservation and preservation of cultural historical monuments in the country. It was founded in 1861 by Alexande ...

under The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act. Golconda consists of four distinct

fort A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

s with a long outer wall with 87 semicircular bastions (some still mounted with

cannon A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...

s), eight gateways, and four

drawbridge A drawbridge or draw-bridge is a type of moveable bridge typically at the entrance to a castle or tower surrounded by a moat. In some forms of English, including American English, the word ''drawbridge'' commonly refers to all types of moveable ...

s, with a number of royal apartments and halls,

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

s, magazines, stables, etc. inside. The lowest of these is the outermost

enclosure Enclosure or Inclosure is a term, used in English landownership, that refers to the appropriation of "waste" or " common land" enclosing it and by doing so depriving commoners of their rights of access and privilege. Agreements to enclose land ...

entered by the "Fateh Darwaza" (Victory gate, so called after

’s triumphant

army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

marched in through this gate) studded with giant

iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...

spikes (to prevent

elephant Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae an ...

s from battering them down) near the south-eastern corner. An acoustic effect can be experienced at Fateh Darwazaan, a hand clap at a certain point below the

dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...

at the entrance reverberates and can be heard clearly at the 'Bala Hisar'

pavilion In architecture, ''pavilion'' has several meanings: * It may be a subsidiary building that is either positioned separately or as an attachment to a main building. Often it is associated with pleasure. In palaces and traditional mansions of Asia ...

, the highest point almost a kilometer away. This worked as a warning in case of an attack. Bala Hissar Gate is the main entrance to the fort located on the eastern side. It has a pointed arch bordered by rows of scroll work. The spandrels have yalis and decorated roundels. The area above the door has peacocks with ornate tails flanking an ornamental arched niche. The granite block lintel below has sculpted yalis flanking a disc. The design of peacocks and lions is typical of Hindu architecture and underlies this fort's Hindu origins.

Toli Masjid Toli Masjid (1671 AD), also known as Damri Masjid, is a mosque in Karwan, Hyderabad, India. It is 2 km from the Golconda fort on the way to Charminar. Built by Mir Musa Khan Mahaldar during the reign of Abdullah Qutb Shah in (1082 AH). Th ...

, situated at

Karwan Karwan is one of the major suburb in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. It is a part of the old city of Hyderabad. It is 10 km from the IT hubs like Gachibowli, HITECH City, etc. It had major importance in the trade which happened during the tim ...

, about from the Golconda Fort, was built in 1671 by Mir Musa Khan Mahaldar, royal architect of Abdullah Qutb Shah. The facade consists of five arches, each with lotus medallions in the spandrels. The central arch is slightly wider and more ornate. The mosque inside is divided into two halls, a transverse outer hall and an inner hall entered through triple arches. The fort also contains the tombs of the Qutub Shahi kings. These tombs have Islamic architecture and are located about north of the outer wall of Golconda. They are encircled by gardens and numerous carved stones. The two individual pavilions on the outer side of Golconda are 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. The other buildings found inside the fort are: : Habshi Kamans (Abyssian arches), Ashlah Khana, Taramati mosque, Ramadas Bandikhana, Camel stable, private chambers (kilwat), Mortuary bath, Nagina bagh, Ramasasa's kotha, Durbar hall, Ambar khana etc. File:Golconda_Fort-Hyderabad-Telangana-DSC002.jpg, A view of the ruins of the fort File:Golconda 091.JPG, Fort overlooking the city of

File:Golkonda 05.jpg, Mosque of Ibrahim File:Golconda Fort 002 - Baradari.jpg, The Baradari located at the top of the citadel File:Golconda Fort 017.jpg, View from the Baradari File:Architect in golconda fort.jpg, Design inside the Golconda fort File:Streets in golconda.jpg, Pathway in Golconda fort File:The Baradari.jpg, The Baradari fort

Golconda ruling dynasties

Musunuri Nayakas The Musunuri Nayakas were warrior kings of 14th-century South India who were briefly significant in the region of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Musunuri Kapaya Nayaka is said to have taken a leadership role among the Andhra chieftains and driv ...

* Bahamani Sultans * Qutb Shahi dynasty *

Naya Qila (New Fort)

Naya Qila Naya Qila ("New Fort", also spelled ''Naya Quila'') is an extended portion of Golkonda Fort in Hyderabad, India. It was built in 1656 by Sultan Abdullah Qutb Shah as further defence for the Mughal armies. This integral part of the Golkonda fo ...

is an extension of Golconda Fort which was turned into the Hyderabad Golf Club despite resistance from farmers who owned the land and various NGOs within the city. The ramparts of the new fort start after the residential area with many towers and the ''Hatiyan ka Jhad'' ("Elephant-sized tree")—an ancient

baobab ''Adansonia'' is a genus made up of eight species of medium-to-large deciduous trees known as baobabs ( or ). They are placed in the Malvaceae family, subfamily Bombacoideae. They are native to Madagascar, mainland Africa, and Australia.Trop ...

tree with an enormous girth. It also includes a war mosque. These sites are under restrictive access to the public because of the Golf Course.

Qutub Shahi Tombs

The tombs of the Qutub Shahi sultans lie about one kilometre north of Golconda's outer wall. These structures are made of beautifully carved stonework, and surrounded by landscaped

garden A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate both ...

s. They are open to the public and receive many visitors. It is one of the famous sight seeing places in Hyderabad.

UNESCO World Heritage

The Golconda fort, and other Qutb Shahi dynasty Monuments of Hyderabad (the

Charminar The Charminar () is a mosque and monument located in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. Constructed in 1591, the landmark is a symbol of Hyderabad and officially incorporated in the emblem of Telangana The Charminar's long history includes the existe ...

, and the Qutb Shahi Tombs) were submitted by the Permanent Delegation of India to

in 2010 for consideration as

World Heritage Sites A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the UNESCO, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNES ...

. They are currently included on India's " tentative list".

Influences

In popular culture

Russell Conwell Russell Herman Conwell (February 15, 1843 – December 6, 1925) was an American Baptist minister, orator, philanthropist, author, lawyer, and writer. He is best remembered as the founder and first president of Temple University in Philadelphi ...

's book ''Acres of Diamonds'' tells a story of the discovery of the Golconda mines. *

René Magritte René François Ghislain Magritte (; 21 November 1898 – 15 August 1967) was a Belgian surrealist artist known for his depictions of familiar objects in unfamiliar, unexpected contexts, which often provoked questions about the nature and bounda ...

's painting

Golconda Fort (Telugu: గోల్కొండ, romanized: ''Gōlkōnḍa'') is a historic fortress and ruined city located in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. It was originally called Mankal. The fort was originally built by Kakatiya ruler Pratāparu ...

was named after the city. *

John Keats John Keats (31 October 1795 – 23 February 1821) was an English poet of the second generation of Romantic poets, with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley. His poems had been in publication for less than four years when he died of tuberculo ...

' early poem "On receiving a curious Shell" opens with the lines: "Hast thou from the caves of Golkonda, a gem / pure as the ice-drop that froze on the mountain?" * Referenced in the classical Russian ballet,

La Bayadère ''La Bayadère'' ("the temple dancer") ( ru. «Баядерка», ''Bayaderka'') is a ballet, originally staged in four acts and seven tableaux by French choreographer Marius Petipa to the music of Ludwig Minkus. The ballet was staged especiall ...

Anthony Doerr Anthony Doerr (born October 27, 1973) is an American author of novels and short stories. He gained widespread recognition for his 2014 novel ''All the Light We Cannot See'', which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Early life and education Rais ...

's Pulitzer Prize–winning novel ''

All the Light We Cannot See ''All the Light We Cannot See'' is a 2014 war novel that was written by American author Anthony Doerr. The novel is set during World War II and centers around the characters Marie-Laure Leblanc, a blind French girl who takes refuge in her uncl ...

'' references the Golconda Mines as the discovery place of the "Sea of Flames" diamond * In

Patrick O'Brian Patrick O'Brian, CBE (12 December 1914 – 2 January 2000), born Richard Patrick Russ, was an English novelist and translator, best known for his Aubrey–Maturin series of sea novels set in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, and cent ...

's novel ''

The Surgeon's Mate ''The Surgeon's Mate'' is the seventh historical novel in the Aubrey–Maturin series written by Patrick O'Brian, first published in 1980. The story is set during the War of 1812 and the Napoleonic Wars. Buoyed by victory over an American ...

'', a character describes a particularly valuable diamond as being worth "half Golconda".

Places named after Golconda

* A

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

, United States is named after Golconda. * A

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

, United States is named after Golconda. * A village located in the southern part of

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

had given the name in the 19th century to a rich tract of land which was once a sugar-cane estate. Currently, mostly descendants of East Indian indentured servants occupy the village of Golconda.

Gallery

Golkonda Fort Large View.jpg Golconda Fort no 1.jpg, Golconda 102.JPG, Golconda 057.JPG, Golconda 033.JPG, Golconda Fort 012 - Ambar Khana.jpg, Golconda Fort - Rani Mahal 03.jpg, Golconda Fort - Taramati Mosque 02.jpg, Golkonda Fort Hyderabad, India.jpg, Balahissar entrance top.JPG, Golconda fort from inside.jpg, Golconda, fortress wall in foreground and fort at a distance.JPG, Golkunda_fort_(from_backside).jpg,

Citations

General bibliography

* * *

External links

Qutb Shahi Architecture at Golkonda
* {{Authority control Tourist attractions in Hyderabad, India Tourist attractions in Telangana History of Telangana Forts in Telangana Medieval India Buildings and structures in Hyderabad, India Hyderabad State Cultural heritage of India Qutb Shahi architecture Former populated places in India Archaeological sites in Telangana Former capital cities in India Populated places established in the 10th century Buildings on the Indian Archaeological Register hi:गोलकोण्डा mr:गोवळकोंडा sa:गोल्कोण्डदुर्गम्