Golconda Fort

Golconda began as a mud fort and was rebuilt in granite by the Qutb Shahis from the sixteenth century, with an outer wall of about eleven kilometres, eight gates and a citadel on a hill inside. Its wealth came from diamonds: the mines of the region supplied the Koh-i-Noor, the Hope and other famous stones, and Golconda was the market where they were cut and traded, which is why the name became a byword for wealth. Its acoustics are the other feature: a hand clapped under the dome at the Fateh Darwaza can be heard at the Bala Hisar pavilion on the summit, a kilometre away, and was used as a warning system.

History

Golconda began as a small mud fort of the Kakatiya dynasty, its name probably from the Telugu Gollakonda, "shepherd's hill", and it later passed to the Bahmani kingdom by a grant from the Raja of Warangal. Quli Qutb Shah, sent by the Bahmanis as governor, made it the seat of his rule around 1501, and the Qutb Shahi kingdom grew rich here, with a strong cotton-weaving industry in the early seventeenth century; in 1687, after an eight-month siege, Aurangzeb took the fort, ended the Qutb Shahi dynasty and captured its last king, Abul Hasan Qutb Shah (Wikipedia, Golconda).

What to look for

• The acoustic clap - a sound at the gate audible at the summit pavilion.
• The granite walls - eleven kilometres of outer circuit with eight gates.
• The Bala Hisar - the citadel pavilion at the top of the hill.
• The diamond history - the trade that made Golconda a byword for wealth.

When to go

October to March; the climb is exposed and Hyderabad summers are severe. Mornings are best. The evening sound and light show runs in two or three languages.

Things to know

The climb to the summit is around four hundred steps with no shade. The acoustic demonstration is crowded and often drowned out by other visitors clapping. Much of the interior is ruined.

Nearby

The Qutb Shahi tombs lie north; the Charminar is east.

Key facts