Qila-e-Ark is a 17th-century palace/citadel complex in

Aurangabad Aurangabad ( is a city in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the administrative headquarters of Aurangabad district and is the largest city in the Marathwada region. Located on a hilly upland terrain in the Deccan Traps, Aurangabad is th ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

. Built by

Mughal emperor The Mughal emperors ( fa, , Pādishāhān) were the supreme heads of state of the Mughal Empire on the Indian subcontinent, mainly corresponding to the modern countries of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. The Mughal rulers styled t ...

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 ...

when he was a prince, it served as his royal residence during his subsequent reign as emperor. The site is currently ruined, and has no legal protected status; several modern-day buildings also encroach the complex. Notable surviving structures include a royal mosque (today known as the

Shahi mosque Shahi Mosque ( ur, جامع مسجد شاہی) is a historic 17th century mosque located in Chiniot, Punjab, Pakistan. It was built under supervision of Mughal Grand Vizier Saadullah Khan. See also * Islam in Pakistan Islam is the large ...

), and a palatial building.

History

The Qila-e-Ark was constructed by

around 1656, during his second princely stint as governor of the Deccan (1653-1658). The palace was constructed on the northern edge of

, Mughal capital of the

Deccan The large Deccan Plateau in South India, southern India is located between the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats, and is loosely defined as the peninsular region between these ranges that is south of the Narmada river. To the north, it is bou ...

, past an older palace complex called Qila Naukhanda (built by

Malik Ambar Malik Ambar (1548 – 13 May 1626) was a Siddi military leader and prime minister who became a kingmaker and de facto ruler of the Ahmadnagar Sultanate in the Deccan region of India. Born in the Adal Sultunate, in present-day Ethiopia, Malik ...

of the

Ahmadnagar Sultanate The Ahmadnagar Sultanate was a late medieval Indian Muslim kingdom located in the northwestern Deccan, between the sultanates of Gujarat and Bijapur. Malik Ahmed, the Bahmani governor of Junnar after defeating the Bahmani army led by general Ja ...

). In 1683, Aurangzeb (now emperor) permanently shifted to the Deccan to oversee campaigns in the region. The Qila-e-Ark served as the imperial residence when Aurangzeb was in Aurangabad, which acted as the de-facto capital of the empire during this period. The palace is an example of Aurangzeb's preference to build new palaces in the Deccan, rather than occupy pre-existing ones of the conquered Deccan Sultans. Scholar

Pushkar Sohoni Pushkar Sohoni is an architect, an architectural and cultural historian. He is an Associate Professor and the Chair of the department of Humanities and Social Sciences at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune. Education ...

has used the palace to argue that Aurangzeb's patronage of architecture diminished with his age; Sohoni notes that the Qila-e-Ark dates to his time as a prince, but there is no comparable imperial residence dating to his actual reign as emperor. The palace was used as a government college during the

Nizam 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 ...

period; later the college was shifted. It was a notified monument of the state archaeology department, but was denotified in 1971. Local organisations and experts have suggested that the palace be restored and be opened to the public, in order to revive the site as a tourist hub. Some organisations in Aurangabad conduct heritage walks in the Qila-e-Ark to spread awareness about the monument.

Architecture

The fragmentary nature of the citadel complex has made its original structure and layout difficult to identify. Some gates associated with the palace site include Aurangabad's Naubat Darwaza, Makkai Darwaza, and the Dilli Darwaza. Michell & Zebrowsi consider the Naubat Darwaza to be the southern entrance portal. Sohoni theorises that the maximum extent of the palace complex may be marked by the Makkai Darwaza. Very few of the palace-fort's original structures survive, as many have fallen into ruin or have been converted for use by modern institutions. One surviving monument is today known as the

, built by Aurangzeb in 1693 for his private use; this is situated in the eastern flank of the complex. The site also contains remnants of a terraced palace building, which Michell and Zebrowski describe as Aurangzeb's private pavilion. Its extant central chamber features a bangla-vaulted roof. The structure has been converted for use by Milind Arts College. Another structure of note is the remnants of a water channel and ''chadar'' (water ramp), found around the center of the terraces. The Qila-e-Ark once contained a Subahdari, a mansion used for hosting suboordinate officials.

Gallery

File:Delhigate1.jpg, Delhi Gate,

File:Naubat.jpg, Naubat Gate,

File:Makai gate.jpg, Makai Gate,

File:Alamgir mosque.jpg, link=, View of the Alamgiri mosque within the Qila-e-Ark site, 1880s photograph by

Lala Deen Dayal Raja Lala Deen Dayal (; 1844–1905; also written as 'Din Dyal' and 'Diyal' in his early years), famously known as Raja Deen Dayal) was an Indian photographer. His career began in the mid-1870s as a commissioned photographer; eventually he set u ...

References

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