Daulatabad Fort, also known as Devagiri Fort or Deogiri Fort, is a historic fortified citadel located in Daulatabad village near Aurangabad, Maharashtra, India. It was the capital of the

Yadava dynasty The Seuna, Sevuna, or Yadavas of Devagiri ( IAST: Seuṇa, –1317) was a Medieval Indian dynasty, which at its peak ruled a kingdom stretching from the Narmada river in the north to the Tungabhadra river in the south, in the western part of ...

(9th century–14th century CE), for a brief time the capital of the Delhi Sultanate (1327–1334), and later a secondary capital of the Ahmadnagar Sultanate (1499–1636). Around the 6th century CE, Devagiri emerged as an important uplands town near present-day Aurangabad, along caravan routes going towards western and southern India. The historical triangular fortress in the city was initially built around 1187 by the first Yadava king, Bhillama V. In 1308, the city was annexed by Sultan

Alauddin Khalji Alaud-Dīn Khaljī, also called Alauddin Khilji or Alauddin Ghilji (), born Ali Gurshasp, was an emperor of the Khalji dynasty that ruled the Delhi Sultanate in the Indian subcontinent. Alauddin instituted a number of significant administrativ ...

of the Delhi Sultanate, which ruled over most of the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...

. In 1327, Sultan

Muhammad bin Tughluq Muhammad bin Tughluq (1290 – 20 March 1351) was the eighteenth Sultan of Delhi. He reigned from February 1325 until his death in 1351. The sultan was the eldest son of Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq, founder of the Tughlaq dynasty. In 1321, the youn ...

of the Delhi Sultanate renamed the city from Devagiri to Daulatabad and shifted his imperial capital to the city from

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...

, ordering a mass migration of Delhi's population to Daulatabad. However, Muhammad bin Tughluq reversed his decision in 1334 and the capital of the Delhi Sultanate was shifted back to Delhi. In 1499, Daulatabad became a part of the Ahmadnagar Sultanate, who used it as their secondary capital. In 1610, near Daulatabad Fort, the new city of Aurangabad, then named Khadki, was established to serve as the capital of the Ahmadnagar Sultanate by the

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

n military leader

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, Mali ...

, who was brought to India as a slave but rose to become a popular Prime Minister of the Ahmadnagar Sultanate. Most of the present-day fortifications at Daulatabad Fort were constructed under the Ahmadnagar Sultanate.

Historical origin

Lord Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...

is believed to have stayed on the hills surrounding this region. Hence the fort was originally known as Devagiri, literally "hills of god".

The Fort

The area of the city the hill-fortress of Devagiri (sometimes Latinised to Deogiri). It stands on a conical hill, about 200 meters high. Much of the lower slopes of the hill has been cut away by

rulers to leave 50-meter vertical sides to improve defenses. The fort is a place of extraordinary strength. The only means of access to the summit is by a narrow bridge, with the passage for not more than two people abreast, and a long gallery, excavated in the rock, which has, for the most part, a very gradual upward slope. About midway along this gallery, the access gallery has steep stairs, the top of which is covered by a grating destined in time of war to form the hearth of a huge fire kept burning by the garrison above. At the summit, and at intervals on the slope, are specimens of massive old cannon facing out over the surrounding countryside. Also at the midway, there is a cave entrance meant to confuse the enemies. The fort had the following specialties which are listed along with their advantages : # No separate exit from the fort, only one entrance/exit - This is designed to confuse the enemy soldiers to drive deep into the fort in search of an exit, at their own peril. # No parallel gates - This is designed to break the momentum of the invading army. Also, the flag mast is on the left hill, which the enemy will try to capitulate, thus will always turn left. But the real gates of the fort are on the right & the false ones on the left, thus confusing the enemy. # Spikes on the gates - In the era before gunpowder, intoxicated elephants were used as a battering ram to break open the gates. The presence of spikes ensured that the elephants died of injury. # Complex arrangement of entryways, curved walls, false doors - Designed to confuse the enemy, false, but well-designed gates on the left side lured the enemy soldiers in & trapped them inside, eventually feeding them to crocodiles. # The hill is shaped like a smooth tortoise back - this prevented the use of mountain lizards as climbers, because they cannot stick to it.

The City

Daulatabad (19°57’N 75°15’E) is located at a distance of 16 km northwest of Aurangabad, the district headquarters and midway to Ellora group of caves. The original widespread capital city is now mostly unoccupied and has been reduced to a village. Much of its survival depends on the tourists to the old city and the adjacent fort.

History

The siege of Daulatabad (April-June 1633)

Shah Jahan watches the assault on Daulatabad Fort in 1633

The site had been occupied since at least 100 BC, and now has remains of Hindu & Jain temples similar to those at Ajanta and Ellora. A series of niches carved with

Jain Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle being ...

Tirthankara in cave 32. The city is said to have been founded c. 1187 by Bhillama V, a

Yadava The Yadava (literally, descended from Yadu) were an ancient Indian people who believed to be descended from Yadu, a legendary king of Chandravamsha lineage. The community was formed of various clans, being the Abhira, Andhaka, Vrishni, and ...

prince who renounced his allegiance to the

Chalukya The Chalukya dynasty () was a Classical Indian dynasty that ruled large parts of southern and central India between the 6th and the 12th centuries. During this period, they ruled as three related yet individual dynasties. The earliest dynasty ...

s and established the power of the Yadava dynasty in the west. During the rule of the Yadava king Ramachandra,

of Delhi Sultanate raided Devagiri in 1296, forcing the Yadavas to pay a hefty tribute. When the tribute payments stopped, Alauddin sent a second expedition to Devagiri in 1308, forcing Ramachandra to become his vassal. In 1328,

of Delhi Sultanate transferred the capital of his kingdom to Devagiri, and renamed it Daulatabad. The sultan made Daulatabad (Devagiri) his second capital in 1327. Some scholars argue that the idea behind transferring the capital was rational, because it lay more or less in the centre of the kingdom, and geographically secured the capital from the north-west frontier attacks. In the Daulatabad fort, he found the area arid & dry.His capital-shift strategy failed miserably. Hence he shifted back to Delhi & earned him the moniker "Mad King". The next important event in the Daulatabad fort time-line was the construction of the Chand Minar by the Bahmani ruler Hasan Gangu Bahmani, also known as Ala-ud-Din Bahman Shah (r. 3 August 1347 – 11 February 1358). Hasan Gangu built the Chand Minar as a replica of the Qutb Minar of Delhi, of which he was a great fan of. He employed Iranian architects to built the Minar who used Lapis Lazuli & Red Ocher for coloring. Currently, the Minar is out of bounds for the tourists, because of a suicide case. As we move further into the fort, we can see the Chini Mahal, a VIP prison built by Aurangzeb. In this prison, he kept Abul Hasan Tana Shah of the Qutb Shahi Dynasty of Hyderabad. The antecedents of Abul Hasan Tana Shah, the last Qutub Shahi king are shrouded in mystery. Although a kinsman of the Golconda royals, he spent his formative years as a disciple of renowned Sufi saint Shah Raju Qattal, leading a spartan existence away from the pomp and grandeur of royalty. Shah Raziuddin Hussaini, popularly known as Shah Raju, was held in high esteem by both the nobility and commoners of Hyderabad. Abdullah Qutub Shah, the seventh king of Golconda was among his most ardent devotees. He died in prison leaving no male heir to the throne. Most of the present-day fortification was constructed under the Bahmanis and the Nizam Shahs of Ahmadnagar. The Mughal Governor of the Deccan under Shah Jahan, captured the fortress in 1632 and imprisoned the

Nizam Shahi 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 J ...

prince Hussain Shah. It was recaptured by the Marathas in 1760.

Monuments

The outer wall, in circumference, once enclosed the ancient city of Devagiri and between this and the base of the upper fort are three lines of defenses. Along with the fortifications, Daulatabad contains several notable monuments, of which the chief are the Chand Minar and the Chini Mahal. The Chand Minar is a tower . high and . in circumference at the base, and was originally covered with beautiful

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

glazed tiles. It was erected in 1445 by Ala-ud-din

Bahmani 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,

to commemorate his capture of the fort. The Chini Mahal (literally: China Palace), is the ruin of a building once of great beauty. In it, Abul Hasan Tana Shah, the last of the Qutb Shahi kings of Golconda, was imprisoned by Aurangzeb in 1687.

Transport

Road Transport

Daulatabad is in the outskirts of

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 the ...

, and is on the Aurangabad - Ellora road (National Highway 2003). Aurangabad is well connected by road and 20 km away from Devagiri.

Rail Transport

Daulatabad railway station is located on the Manmad-Purna section of South Central Railways and also on the Mudkhed-Manmad section of the Nanded Division of

South Central Railway The South Central Railway (abbreviated SCR) is one of the 19 zones of Indian Railways. The jurisdiction of the zone is spread over the states of Telangana, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh. It has three divisions under its administrati ...

. Until reorganisation in 2005, it was a part of the

Hyderabad Division Hyderabad Division ( sd, حيدرآباد ڊويزن) is an administrative division of the Sindh Province of Pakistan. It was abolished in 2000 but restored again on 11 July 2011. Hyderabad is the divisional headquarters of Hyderabad Divisi ...

Aurangabad is a major station near Daulatabad. The

Devagiri Express The 17057 / 17058 Devagiri Express is an Express train service operated by the South Central Railway zone of Indian Railways. The train runs between Mumbai and Secunderabad, Hyderabad, primarily running on Secunderabad–Manmad section via ...

regularly operates between

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

and Secunderabad,

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, in the northern part of Southern India ...

, via the city of

Gallery

File:Daulatabad fort21.jpeg, Front view of Daulatabad fort File:Chand minar21.jpeg, Chand Minar File:Daulatabad, Aurangabad - panoramio (106).jpg, Jain relics File:Daulatabad, Aurangabad - panoramio (76).jpg, Jain Relics File:Aurangabad - Daulatabad Fort (75).JPG, Daulatabad Fort File:Daulatabad Fort 1.jpg, Daulatabad Fort File:Daulatabad, Maharashtra.jpg, Daulatabad, Aurangabad File:DaulatabadPrison.JPG, Daulatabad Prison File:Gateway to Daulatabad Fort - Daulatabad - Maharashtra - 1.jpg, Gateway to Daulatabad Fort File:Daulatabad fort entrance.JPG, Daulatabad fort entrance File:Aurangabad - Daulatabad Fort (69).JPG, Aurangabad-Daulatabad Fort File:DaulatabadFort.JPG, Dualatabad Fort File:DaulatabadFORT Khandak.jpg, Daulatabad Fort File:Aurangabad - Daulatabad Fort (95).JPG, Aurangabad - Daulatabad Fort File:Aurangabad - Daulatabad Fort (30).JPG, Aurangabad - Daulatabad Fort File:DautlatabadFortGate.JPG, Daulatabad Fort Gate File:Daulatabad Fort Aurangabad.jpg, Daulatabad Fort -Aurangabad File:Daulatabad Fort - Exterior of Inner Fort.JPG, Daulatabad Fort File:Daulatabad Fort, Aurangabad, Maharashtra.jpg, Daulatabad Fort, Aurangabad File:Daulatabad Fort-51.jpg, Daulatabad Fort

References

External links

Daulatabad at the Islamic Monuments of India Photographic Database

{{Authority control Forts in Maharashtra Buildings and structures in Aurangabad, Maharashtra Former capital cities in India 1203 establishments in Asia 13th-century establishments in India