Tughlaqabad Fort

Tughlaqabad: Though it is widely believed that the fort city named Tughlaqabad was constructed in six years between 1321 and 1327, anyone who visited the 7 sq.km wide magnificent ruins.

The fort stretches across nearly 7km on Qutab-Badarpur road. Initially built by Ghiyas-ud-Din Tughlaq, the father of the dynasty, the structure was primarily conceived to serve both as a defense mechanism and an imposing capital synchronously. Octagonal in shape and divided into three sections, the fort’s ramparts are almost 15 meters in height. Records say that the citadel had 52 gates in the past though only 13 are seen now.

The city of Thughlakabad spread in an area of about 300 acres (121.40 hectares) and enclosed within a fortification wall is interspersed with bastions at regular intervals and gateways. The gate way complexes are quite elaborate since group of four, six or eight circular chambers about 8m (26.24 ft) in diameter and about 10 m (32.81 ft) in depth were provided to store grains for emergency. These grain silos are specific to Tughlakabad fort. The city had well-laid grid plan of roads which connected the gateways from one end to another. The housing blocks were planned along the roads. Entry to the citadel was through the city. The city was also connected with Adilabad fort, which was later made by Muhammad Bin Tughlak, son of Giyasuddin.