Golconda: Stories Through Time
The monsoon rains misted down on us during a late July day. Our fearless driver, Assad, guided my family and I through a river of traffic: motorcycles, rickshaws, taxis. All of us under the thick blanket of clouds and moisture as droplets hit our windshield. We drove twenty minutes out of the main city of Hyderabad – over the Musi River, through dense streets and shops and sights – until we arrived at the strong fortress gates of Golconda fort. Inside the external gates, markets and activity lined the outer edges of the fort. The first impressions of the site are of grandeur, history, elegance, and intimidation. Its location on its 400 foot granite hill shows its power and advantage for defence on strategic high ground.
The vast history of this fort is tactile and omnipresent. It is a landscape site that has been through many evolutions, passing through many rulers. Once a thriving citadel, now its ruins serve as their own landscape attraction, drawing visitors from far and wide to revel in the stories of the past. Full of sensorial experiences – Golconda stands the test of time as a monument. This site’s landscape directly contributes to its ability to hold mythological power. Golkonda is a significant historical landmark – as a site of mining, a site of royalty, a site of beauty, and a site of protection. This paper aims to entangle the mythology and sensorial beauty of the site with its geological positionality.
Geology, Mining, and Myth
Golconda fort is geologically located on the diamondiferous region of the Southern Indian peninsular shield. The landscape consists of wide expanses of the Deccan Plateau punctuated by rocky terrain and hills that rise up creating clear delineations in land use and form. Standing 400 feet above the plateau, Golconda stands with an heir of royalty and importance, there is no doubt to why it historically served as a fortress and ruling capital of dynasties. The surrounding land is proliferated with large rocking stones. Legends say that "after the creator had finished his work of creation, he rolled up the superfluous material in his hands and dropped it haphazardly on the earth. The Gods of mythology amused themselves by piling up the fragments and balancing them on top of the other" Main rock formations that are found in the area are kimberlite and lamproite. Most of the region's diamonds are found within conglomerate rock and placer deposits.
Golconda’s unique geological positionality contributes to its history of mythological beauty. The site’s incredible proliferation of diamonds is a key reason for its continual development and significance throughout history. In 1292 AD, Marco Polo described the district with illustrative detail. He wrote that "the flower of the diamonds and other large gems, as well as the largest pearls, are all carried to the Koos and other kings and princes of those regions. In truth they possess all the treasures of the world.”
In the stories of the Arabian nights, Sinbad the sailor embarks on a series of seven voyages full of fantastical adventures. His second voyage, based on his journey to the valley of the diamonds guarded by the serpents, is said to be based off of Golconda
Historically, much of the fortress was encrusted with jewels in elaborate extravagance. There are indentations in the canons, the walls, and the hallways where diamonds once were. The diamonds from Golconda are some of the most famous diamonds in the world (See appendix a). The Koh-i-Noor diamond which lives on the crown of British royalty was found in this specific region. There is extensive documentation from European visitors and travellers at this time because of the Indian diamond trade. Golconda diamonds are still sought out today, and their existence maintains this site's international fame. This image on the right is a drawing from 1725CE of a diamond mine in Golconda. Diamonds were mined prolifically and the mines were exhausted because by 1830.
Site Origins
The name Golconda translates from the Telugu words “Golla Konda” as Shepherd’s Hill. This name comes from a story of a shepherd boy named Ram Dev Rao who discovered an idol at the base of the hill during the construction of the site during the Kakatiya dynasty in 1080CE. The shepherd boy is said to have found an idol of the Hindu goddess Mangala Devi. He is said to have given the idol to the king of the Katikaya dynasty. The King then built a mud structure around the idol as a symbol of protection of the fort. This became a site of informal and formal worship of this goddess over time. She is a goddess that represents female strength and the power of transforming grief into a divine blessing. This piece of history is repeated countless times throughout sources with slightly different variations. There seems to be a poetic symbolism about a poor shepherd boy having found something of spiritual significance at a site that has been a symbol of power and exclusivity.
History of Rulers
Golconda was originally a mud fort under the reign of Rajah of Warangal in the Kakatiya dynasty. The site was taken over by the Bahaminis in 1363 AD, where it was continuously fortified. After their downfall it was made capital of the famed Qutb Shahi Kingdom in 1518 AD. The Qutub Shahi kings were the rulers from Persia who converted the site into its current form, with its extensive granite fortifications. Their rule ended in 1687, when the fort was annexed by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. The site was intentionally left in ruins by the Mughal dynasty.
Quli Qutub Shah was the founder of the Golconda dynasty, and the ruler who contributed extensively to the expansion of the site. He replaced the mud fort with a substantial fortress of stone extending 5km. Its position on its hill directly contributed to its success as a strong center of power for centuries and different rulers. There is an incredible feeling of importance at the site, reinforced by its mythology and origin stories. He beautified the fort with mosques, palaces, and gardens and created many of the features that make the fortress significant today. He was murdered by his son Jamshed. 8 kings continued to rule in the Qutub Shah dynasty after his death. The Fifth King Muhammad Quli Qutub Shah brought the kingdom to its zenith and was the founder of the nearby city Hyderabad.
Sultanate of Golconda
The Qutub Shah dynasty was the most influential ruling dynasty of Golconda in terms of its landscape and architectural form. The Sultanate of Golconda was established at the fort in 1518 by Quli Qutub Shah. This was a significant shift of power for the region from Hindu reign to Muslim reign. The Qutub Shah dynasty brought their Persian Shia Muslim culture to Golconda. This dynasty was extremely wealthy and lived extravagantly. They profited from land taxes, the famed diamond mines, as well as control over local deltas. With their culture, the Qutub Shah dynasty brought with them new architectural standards that combined Persian, Islamic, and local Deccan styles to create the structured fort we see today. Key developments of this dynasty include the addition of mosques, expansive use of granite, and ornamental arching stucco designs. There is a distinct Islamic feel to the architecture of Golconda. Golconda is one of the first forms of Qutub Shah architecture in the region. It is followed by very significant monuments including the Charminar and the Qutub Shah tombs.
The Fort of Golconda
In every account of Golconda fort, both past and present, there is a feeling in awe and extravagance. There are memories of a city bursting with life. Of “painted balconies, fretted windows, and glistening minerettes” There are gardens that can only be planted with the power of imagination: to dream of the scents of night blooms and cooling waters. Many gardens of the inner fort are still intact. A rooftop garden with a stone throne once served as a vantage point where kings could enjoy the cool evening breeze with a vantage point of the surrounding countryside for thirty miles.
The fort itself is an irregular rhombus. It is surrounded by glacis. The crenellated wall is of granite, more than three miles in circumference, broken by 87 bastions each with its own specific name.” Engravings from the Qutub Shah kings can be found on external stones of the fort. A feeling of attention and purpose in each stone.
Amongst the scars of the cannon balls from the Mughal Invasion, there are opportunities to envision what this fort truly was at its zenith. The higher area of the citadel is covered with the remains of armouries, magazines, mosques, harems, gardens, reservoirs, granaries, and audience chambers.
The oldest part of the fort has both a Hindu temple and a small mosque, both which are visited today. Carvings of griffins, lions, and other hindu mythological creatures reveal a storied past of both religions' leadership and the importance of symbology. This landscape, like many others in this region of India, exists in the cultural context of the Deccan region and the influence of rulers from Central Asia, who brought Islam with them. The combined architecture and landscape styles of ancient Persia and India cannot be ignored through the landscape forms of the area.
Site Specific Landscape Features
Nagina Bagh translates to jewel garden. It is located at the front of the fort and serves as a grand entry point with a beautiful picturesque view of the rest of the hill in the background. It was said to be a site for parties during the Qutub Shah era of the fort. As it exists today, it is very simple. This garden features formal garden features with a very clear designation of pathways and rectilinear geometry. The planting of the time may have included pleasurable additions, including jasmine and roses. There may have been pavilions in the spaces as well as water features for cooling effects, as described by our tour guide. We can imagine a mixture of Persian and Mughal garden features in this garden. The influence of the Qutub Shah dynasty brought the favored architectural and land elements of Persia into this region.
Baoli Several Baolis exist on site at Golconda fort. Baolis are stepped wells that were used to collect water at the site. Because of the site’s distance from the river, this is a necessary landscape feature to support the local residents and workers of Golconda. They are beautiful features to find in the landscape.
Outdoor plazas surrounded by the hillside for performance, poetry, dance, and theatre. It seems like there is a strong quality of the borrowed landscape. In present days, there are light shows at the Golconda fort at night, revealing beautiful colors and scenes on the landscape of the hill. These light shows share the history of the fort in elaborate extravagance to tourists.
Wells throughout the fort were told to be filled with perfumed water for when the queen would arrive into town.
Sacred features of Golconda Fort
Currently, both Mosques and Hindu temples are active at Golconda. Sultan Quli built the famed Jami Masjid in 1518. It is surrounded by hills with beautifully landscaped gardens. It services the local community for prayers and events.
The Hindu temple at the top of the hill is very active. When my family and I visited, there was a large festival called Bonalu taking place at the temple on top of the hill. Hundreds of people, barefoot, walked up the steps to the very top of the hill bringing with them food and offerings, and leaving turmeric and chili powder on the steps. This event was a very beautiful activation of the site bringing new dimensions of colors and life. The whole time we were on the site, the loud speakers announced a rhythmic and repetitive mantra to the crowds around us. Mohammed told us that one of the rulers of the Qutub Shah dynasty had a Hindu wife who he loved very dearly. This was one of the reasons that there is an equal presence of Hindu and Muslim architecture at the site.
Conclusion
“Monuments embody national memories. They make the past real, stirring generous emotion and arousing vivid interest without artifice or effort. They are more sure of their effect than scenery. We may forget that famous persons or events are associated with certain features of a landscape...but where the hand of man is visible the idea of struggle, development, change, is forced upon us and the effort of the imagination to give the past a place beside the present is more real and spontaneous....Such relics of ancient civilizations bring at least a dim sense of vast changes that have been and dreams of other things that may be”
Golconda stands the test of time as a continually storied site because of its specific landscape. Golconda could not have ever been what it is today without the landscape that it lays upon. Its soils were once sprinkled with diamonds. The landscape of the site is the key reason for its significance and longevity. Its granite hill still stands as a symbol of active spiritual significance. As seen in the journey of a pilgrimage, spiritual fulfillment is often found after a long journey that pushes the physical body. This is true for Golconda, as it serves as a site for religious pilgrimage. Golconda as a landscape feature in the present day, even in the ruins of its former glory, still holds the long term power of a place of spiritual fulfillment, with the sites of worship at the top of the hill. Even today, there are further myths being created about Golconda. There is a present myth that there is a tunnel that connects Golconda with the Charminar. It has not been found yet, and serves to be an issue, as it causes damage to people trying to find it underground. Only time will tell what future myths this powerful site holds.
Appendix A: Diamonds of Golconda
Submitted for LDA170:Landscape History Course, UC Berkeley
4/25/25
Comments
Post a Comment