Bidar Fort Karnataka History and Interesting Facts

Bidar Fort Quick Facts

Bidar Fort Overview

Karnataka state, located in the south of the Indian subcontinent, is one of the most prominent states of India, this state is not only famous for its unique culture but it is also world famous for its historical monuments. The Bidar Fort located in Karnataka has the potential to revive Indian history, the architectural style of this fort and its history makes it quite different and prominent from other forts in India.

Bidar Fort History

It is believed that this Fort was first constructed by Ahmad Shah Wali Bahman. After that Fort was taken over by Prince Ulugh Khan of the Tughlaq dynasty in the 13th century, who later became the Sultan of the Delhi Sultanate. Soon after the establishment of the Bahmani Sultanate in the year 1347, Sultan Ala-ud-din Bahman captured Bidar.

Bidar was developed as the capital of the Bahmani kingdom during the reign of Ahmad Shah I. During the reign of Ahmed Shah, the reconstruction of this fort started in the year 1429 and by 1432 it was completely completed. The Fort has been ruled by many empires and sultanates, including the Bijapur Sultanate and the Mughal Empire.

In the 17th century, this fort became part of the "Asaf Jahi Empire" Nizam of Bidar. After the death of Asaf Jah, his third son Nawab Mir Saeed Muhammad Khan started running this fort and the empire, but he could not rule this fort for long because after some time his brother Mir Nizam Ali Khan (Asaf Jah) Where II) imprisoned them and killed them.

Bidar Fort Interesting Facts

1. The present form of this fort was built around 1428 AD by the famous Bahmani ruler Ahmad Shah.
2. It took about 6 years to rebuild this fort, its construction was started in the year 1428 AD, which was later completed by the year 1432 AD.
3. This fort was built on a plateau for protection, whose height is about 670 meters.
4. Kalyani, the ancient capital of the Western Chalukya Empire, is situated at a distance of about 40 miles (64 km) from this fort.
5. The structure of this fort was done in Islamic style, there are more than 30 monuments inside this fort.
6. This fort is considered one of the most dangerous forts in India, as the structure inside has a rhombus shaped layout.
7. This Fort is one of the largest forts in India, whose total length is 1.21 km. and the width is about 800 meters.
8. The outer security wall of this fort is about 2.5 km. long, within which the fort includes several major buildings, arches, pavilions, mosques, gates and gardens.
9. There are about 7 entrances in this fort, the most prominent of which are Mandu Gate, Kalmadgi Gate, Delhi Gate, Kalyani Gate and Karnataka Gate.
10. There are about 37 bastions on the wall of this fort, whose bars are joined together by metal cannons.
11. The biggest turret in this fort is Munda Burj, in which the heaviest guns and cannons were kept from the point of view of security.
12. The water facility in this fort was met by the Karez water supply system, there were about 21 vertical shafts in this fort which was about 2 km. At present only 17 of the 21 shafts have survived.
13. A Persian scholar Firishta (1560-1620 AD) in his book Tarakh-e Firishta wrote about the most famous historical site of this fort, Darul Imara (Takht Mahal), that it was built on top of the ruins of the old fort.
14. Between the year 1619-20 AD, this fort and empire was captured by the independent Bijapur Sultanate, but in 1657, the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb took it under his control and formally declared it a part of the Mughal Empire in 1686.
15. In the year 1724 AD, Bidar became a part of the "Asaf Jahi Empire". After the death of Asaf Jah I, his son Nawab Mir Saeed Muhammad Khan Karna began to rule in 1751, but in 1762 AD his brother Mir Nizam Ali Khan (Asaf Jaha II) attacked him and imprisoned him. He was killed inside the fort on 16 September 1763.
16. The old name of Bidar was "Mohammedabad" which means "The reign of Salabath Jung".
17. In the year 1956 AD, when the Hyderabad State was partitioned, the Bidar Fort was part of the newly formed Mysore State (Karnataka).