Daulatabad Fort - Historical Place In India

Daulatabad (meaning “City of Prosperity”), is a 14th century fort city in Maharashtra, India, about 16 kilometers northwest of Aurangabad. The place, was once as known as Deogiri, (circa the sixth century AD, when it was an important uplands city along caravan routes and is now but a village, based around the former city of the same name.

Starting 1327, it famously remained the capital of Tughlaq dynasty, under Muhammad bin Tughluq (r. 1325-1351), who also changed its name, and forcibily moved the entire population of Delhi here, for two years, before it was abandoned due to lack of water.

Rail Transport : DAULATABAD (Station Code:DLB) is a station located on the Kachiguda-Manmad section of Hyderabad(HYB) Division of South Central Railway(SCR). After Divisional adjustments in 2003, Daulatabad now comes under Nanded(NED) Division of SCR. Aurangabad(AWB) is a major station near to Daulatabad. So not many trains stop at Daulatabad. The trains that halt at Daulatabad are: Dharmabad-manmad Marathwada Express/Passenger, the prestigious Kachiguda-Manmad Passenger, Daund-Nanded Passenger, Nizamabad-Pune Passenger, Nagarsol-Nanded Passenger(erstwhile Manmad-nanded Passenger) and Nanded-Manmad Passenger.

Daulatabad fort has many underground tunnels. Most of them have been closed or sealed. It is believed that one such tunnel stretches from inside the fort to Rajur town where famous Ganapati temple is built. The tunnel's length is approximately 70 km. It is said that Daulatabad Fort's 'deep-mala' (lights tower) can be seen from Rajur temple.

The fort has been considered as the most powerful, puissant fort that offered robust resistance to the enemies. An invincible fort, one of the best preserved in comparison to other forts in the vicinity of the same period. Its sound and sturdy quality exists due to the powerful wall about three miles in perimeter and defended by a moat and gacis that runs round the hill at its foot and between this outer curtain and the citadel, also known as Dharagir and Duwagir. These details have been extracted from Professor Dulari Qureshi's book Fort of Daulatabad. "

The outer wall, 2.75 miles (4.43 km) in circumference, once enclosed the ancient city of Deogiri (Devagiri), and between this and the base of the upper fort are three lines of defences.

Besides the fortifications Daulatabad contains several notable monuments, of which the chief are the Chand Minar and the Chini Mahal. The Chand Minar is a tower 210 ft (64 m). high and 70 ft (21 m). in circumference at the base, and was originally covered with beautiful Persian glazed tiles. It was erected in 1445 by Ala-ud-din Bahmani to commemorate his capture of the fort. The Chini Mahal, or China Palace, is the ruin of a building once of great beauty. In it Abul Hasan Tana Shah, the last of the Qutb Shahi kings of Golconda, was imprisoned by Aurangzeb in 1687.

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