When you travel westward eleven kilometers from the city center of Hyderabad you will be reaching the ruins of Golkonda Forte. This fort originally belonged to the Kakatiyas of Warangal. Subsequently it became the capital of Qutb Shahi kings between 1518 and 1687 AD. Golkonda Forte was fortified by these kings with massive walls having bastions and battlements. In 1687 AD Aurangazeb annexed it to the Moghal Empire and appointed Asaf Jha as the Subedar of the Deccan province. Twnety six years later in 1713 AD Asaf Jah declared independence as Nizam-ul-Mulk and the Nizams held sway over Hyderabad until 1948 AD. This is the short history of this fort.
Today the fort is in ruins and we can see only few structures in intact condition. This fort is on a hill and it has three lines of massive fortification walls. Overtime these walls were broken at various places due to bad maintenance, vagaries of weather and encroachments of modern civilization.
Like in any other place of tourist importance when you visit Golkonda the guides will tell you lot of stories some of which are genuine and some fictitious! I guess the most authentic story would be that of the Light & Sound show. There is a very good Light & Sound show in the evenings with a voice over by Amitabh Bachchan. Both English & Hindi versions are available. This is done wonderfully and definitely worth seeing to know about the history of Golkonda Forte.
Most disappointing thing for my daughter and me in Golkonda is that there is NO tea shop around Golkonda which serves Hyderabadi Irani Chai! All the available space is occupied by modern tea joints like Café Coffee Day and others!
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