Koilkonda Fort - An Inspired Visit

Was reading Serish Nanisetty's book on Hyderabad (Golconda/Bagnagar/Hyderabad) and found an interesting detail - that in the Koilkonda fort of the 14th century, some 20 oddd kms from Mahbubnagar, there is an inscription of loyalty or proof from the people of Koilkonda pledging their undying support to Ibrahim Quli Qutb Shah, the fourth Qutb Shah Sultan who escaped to Hampi or the Vijayanagara kingdom to avoid an ugly confrontation with his brother Jamshed (who had already killed his father, Sultan Quli Qutb Shah, for the throne and blinded one other brother). 

The stile with the inscription

Having spent his time in Vijayanagara learning Telugu (and also marrying a Telugu lady) Ibrahim heard that Lady Luck was smiling in his direction and that Jamshed was unwell and returned to claim his stake to the throne.

Vinod, tree and the stile

On the way back, on the border of the Golconda kingdom at Koilkonda he stopped and spoke to the people who promised that they would be by his side. 

Entering the fort

Impressive and well hidden entrance

Ibrahim apparently asked them how they can trust them and they decided that this untrusting chap needed something in writing so they pledged their allegiance in stone - 'written in stone'.The people were led by two leaders Sayyed Ali Miyan and Pir Miyan and the inscription addresses them as their leaders.

One of those things to shoot arrows or pour boiling oil

As per the book the inscription says - 

'We shall not break the promise made to Pir Miyan as well as Sayyed Ali Miyan. If anyone of us does, it will be a low act. It will be like the sin of killing cows and Brahmins in Varanasi. If someone violates the trust, then, his moustache  is equal to the pubic hair of a woman. If they still violate it, they will be considered to have given their wives to low class people. And if they still violate it, they will be considered to have given their wives to asses.

If a Muslim violates the trust of Ibrahim, then he will incur the sin of killing pigs at Mecca and having killed Hussain,'

Main entrance

Anyway this particular inscription lies there outside the fort and somehow (like how Namita Devidayal's book 'The Music Room' inspired me to visit Kolhapur and the Mahalakshni temple) I asked Vinod who frequents Mahbubmnagar on official business (like collecting his pensions papers now that he's retired). He said he had an upcoming visit and I asked him if I could join. So off we went.

Another gate - at right angles

Near the Ashoorkhana

The Mahbubnagar  area is full if hillocks and Koilkonda is one such. A cement road leads you off to the fort, its a tiny town, and the road leads almost to the steps. You see little of the fort but as you climb the steps, smooth granite that's slippery, you come to a clearing and the famous inscription is very much there. 

The Ashoorkhana

Then we looked at the gate which was strategically placed at an angle and had some amount of influence from Golconda certainly and another gate, this one small and at right angles so any slightly bigger bunch of people or animals would have to play that game of bending themselves into difficult contortions to get in - Twister.

Picnickers

We walked up a bit, saw an Ashoorkhana, some water bodies and came back. Did not dare go all the way up in the heat. Apparently it had seven gates, many bastions, a watch tower and overlooks the Koil Sagar lake on the other side.

Some people were sitting under a tree and picnicking. I love how they do that. Why don't we do it anymore?    

Anjali - Couple of Articles for DU Beat

 Here are a couple of articles Anjali wrote for DU Beat recently - one co-authored.

Anjali - A Prefect!

This is an old blog, a few years ago...

...

I could see from the smile on her face when she got off the school van that something had happened. Then she shyly pointed to the badge on her shirt. 'Prefect' it said. I made a song and dance about it but she was like - no big deal, almost everyone in 6th and 7th are Prefects.


So what?

After a short and uncomfortable stint as class monitor in class IV and then classs VI where the unruly Lloyd and his pals ended all further dreams of monitoring the class, I never was in for leadership positions until I led college, University and club side. So I have great respect for Prefects.

Thought for the Day - Perfection is the enemy of Self-Esteem

We are never perfect, so we will never be enough.

When we are never enough in our eyes, our self-esteem falls.

The idea is to know that we are always striving for something greater, something closer to perfection and in that, we are perfect as we are.

Keep self-esteem high!

Anjali - Miranda House Wins Second Prize

So the Miranda House Western Music Society of which A is now a member, won the second prize at the St Stephen's music festival. Here's a video of their Acapella group in action. 

Thought for the Day - Dealing With Our Pain

Quite clearly we are the ones who are creating pain for ourselves - by giving others too much importance and control over us with their words and actions. Can we ignore them and move on, happily? Yes we can. But we choose to suffer, bound by their words and actions. 

So, we are the ones who are are creating the pain so we are the ones who can rid ourselves of our pain as well. When there's pain, look within. And drop it. 

Find something more interesting to do. Nobody's watching you suffer and nobody's interested either.

Hyderabad by Walk - Golconda Remains

Deccan Archives announced this walk on their website so I decided to go. I don't think I'll ever have enough of Golconda so I took off in Carlos at 715 to get there by 8. I parked near the fort and walked to Fateh Darwaza.

Fateh Darwaza - Machilipatnam Darwaza  

Gajnarsimha from Kakatiyas

Interestingly a large group joined up today - close to 30 they said. Sibgat gave an intro in the little cricket ground which is probably the only one to have two cannons in it.

The idea was to climb up the Fateh Darwaza which is a bit dicey because there were so many of us. 

Up there we saw the motifs of Gajnarasimha which were part of Kakatiya lore, another of a fish with three bodies, an old Kota Maisamma temple, couple of cannons - one Qutb Shahi era over and another newer (green).

Then we slowly climbed down and saw a plaque which named the person who built the shops on Bada Bazaar. This street was the one where diamonds were heaped - the diamond market of Golconda. Parts of it can still be seen.

Fish head with three bodies

Diamond market

 Then we passed Shamsheer Kothi or something like that.

 

The plaque

Shamsheer Kothi - Manjit watching me

On to the place called Khazana where we saw a well kept Yali, some Telugu and Urdu inscriptions, hero stones with self sacrifice depicted. 

Yali from the side

Mahavira statue found near Patancheru

And then onwards to the Habshi Gates near the fort - Habshi for Abissinian with very intricate designs that we do not notice unless we zoom in.

Self sacrifice 

Habshi gate

Detailed inscriptions

It was a long walk in terms of time and energy and I headed back with my young pal who has an incredible knowledge of cricket history, more so Hyderabad cricket history. Caught a late breakfast with Ehtesham at Taj and headed home. Good fun.