Hyderabad: A fire broke out in the premises of the Golconda Fort on Wednesday, However, no casualties were reported as the fire was immediately brought under control.
An official of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) informed Siasat.com that the fire started after visitors disposed of a lit cigarette butt in a patch of shrubs at the protected monument. However, no major damage was reported.
The fire occurred in a thicket along the stairway towards the top of the fort.
Videos of the incident surfaced on Twitter after locals spotted the smoke and raging fire from a distance.
“The incident took place around 6 pm, as a patch of dry grass caught fire. It was brought under control in a span of 15 minutes,” said the official, who did not want to be named.
A police complaint was also filed over the incident following which police officials visited the site to investigate the source of the fire.
The historic Golconda Fort:
The Golconda Fort’s origins are traced back to the 14th century when the Rajah of Warangal Deo Rai (under the Kakatiya Kingdom which ruled from Warangal) built a mud fort. It was later taken over by the Bahmani Empire between 1358 and 1375. It was later developed into a full-fledged citadel by Sultan Quli who founded the Qutb Shahi kingdom in 1518 following the death of the last sovereign Bahamani emperor Mahmud Shah Bahamani.
Earlier, Sultan Quli was a commander and later governor of Tilang (Telangana), under the Bahamani Empire (1347-1518), when its second capital was at Bidar. Sultan Quli, who was originally from Hamadan, rose to the level of Governor under the Bahamani empire. At this point in time, he was given the fort, which he began developing into a walled city. It eventually came to be called Golconda Fort (name derived from Telugu Golla-conda, or shepherds hill).
The fort has 87 bastions, and eight gates, of which a few are not accessible to the general public as they are under army control. It is believed to be one of the Deccan’s most impregnable forts and had kept Mughal emperor Aurangzeb’s army at bay for eight months when he laid siege to Hyderabad in 1687. Aurangzeb succeeded and ended the Qutb Shahi reign that year and took Abul Hassan Tana Shah, the last Golconda king, captive.
