Medak Fort is situated in

Medak district Medak district is located in the western region of the Indian state of Telangana. Medak is the district headquarters. The district shares boundaries with Sangareddy, Kamareddy, Siddipet and Medchal-Malkajgiri districts. History Traces of ...

in the

Indian state India is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories, for a total of 36 subnational entities. The states and union territories are further subdivided into 800 districts and smaller administrative divisions by the respe ...

Telangana Telangana is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated in the Southern India, south-central part of the Indian subcontinent on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ele ...

, about 100 kilometres from the state capital, Hyderabad. Medak fort was constructed by the Kakatiya Kings. The fort lies to the north of the city and can be reached by road. It is a citadel built on a hillock that provided as a vantage point for the Kakatiya rulers in medieval India. The fort was built sometime around the 12th century and during the reign of the Kakatiya ruler, Rudra Deva and was called Methuku durgam, meaning cooked rice in

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of South India ** Telugu literature, is the body of works written in the Telugu language. * Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Tel ...

. It was later ruled by another South Indian kingdom kings the Musunuri Kings. It was a command post of the Kakatians and later for Musunuri Kings and Qutb Shahis. It has three main entrances, the "Prathama Dwaram", the "Simha Dwaram" and the "Gaja Dwaram".

History

Medak Fort, originally known as Methuku Durgam, was founded in the 12th century by the Kakatiya ruler

Prataparudra Pratāparudra (r. c. 1289–1323) was the last monarch of the Kakatiya dynasty of India. He ruled the eastern part of Deccan Plateau, Deccan, with his capital at Warangal. Prataparudra succeeded his grandmother Rudramadevi, Rudrama as the Kakat ...

on a prominent granite hillock to oversee trade routes and local administration. After the decline of the Kakatiyas, the fort passed to the

Musunuri Nayakas The Musunuri Nayakas were a prominent Telugu Hindu warrior dynasty that rose to power in the 14th century in the Deccan region following the fall of the Kakatiya Empire to the Delhi Sultanate in 1323 CE. They originated from the region of ...

in the 14th century and was later captured and enhanced by the

Qutb Shahi dynasty The Sultanate of Golconda (; ) was an early modern kingdom in southern India, ruled by the Persianate, Shia Islamic Qutb Shahi dynasty of Turkoman origin. After the decline of the Bahmani Sultanate, the Sultanate of Golconda was established ...

in the 17th century, who added granaries and a mosque within its precincts. Under the

Nizams Nizam of Hyderabad was the title of the ruler of Hyderabad State ( part of the Indian state of Telangana, and the Kalyana-Karnataka region of Karnataka). ''Nizam'' is a shortened form of (; ), and was the title bestowed upon Asaf Jah I ...

, portions of the ramparts and bastions were reinforced, but after independence the structure fell into partial ruin before being declared a protected monument by the

Archaeological Survey of India The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is an Indian government agency that is responsible for archaeological research and the conservation and preservation of cultural historical monuments in the country. It was founded in 1861 by Alexander ...

in 1953. Within the fort is a 17th-century Mosque built by the Qutub Shahis, granaries and remains of grand houses.

Architecture

The fort spans over 100 acres atop a rocky hill rising to 90 m above the surrounding plains, accessed by a 500‑step stone stairway carved into the hillside. Its three principal gateways Prathama Dwaram, Simha Dwaram (adorned with lion motifs), and Gaja Dwaram (with elephant sculptures) exemplify a synthesis of Kakatiya craftsmanship and Qutb Shahi iconography, while a carved

Gandabherunda Gandabherunda () is a two-headed bird and he is a form of the Hindu god Vishnu as Narasimha and he has enormous powers in Hindu scriptures. In Hinduism, Gandabherunda is a form of Vishnu as Narasimha who disemboweled and killed Sharabha, a form ...

(double‑headed eagle) motif crowns the main entrance lintel. Inside the ramparts lie a 3.2 m Dutch‑made cannon, vaulted granaries, soldiers’ barracks, and rock‑cut bastions that exploit the hill’s natural escarpments for defense, providing commanding views over the surrounding countryside. At the fort one can see a 17th-century

cannon A cannon is a large-caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder during th ...

that is 3.2 metres long. The cannon has a

trident A trident (), () is a three- pronged spear. It is used for spear fishing and historically as a polearm. As compared to an ordinary spear, the three tines increase the chance that a fish will be struck and decrease the chance that a fish will b ...

etched on it. This fortress uses the natural topography to the maximum advantage with the rocky face offering it natural defences. The water to the fort was provided via a pipeline.

References

{{Forts in Telangana Forts in Telangana Medak district