Seige of Golconda : end of an era

Siege of Golconda : end of an era

  The last ruling sultan of Golconda was Abul Hasan Tana Shah. By 1687 the Mughal forces had already conquered two Deccani kingdoms the Adil Shahi and Nizam Shahi sultanates with their capitals at Bijapur and Ahmadnagar respectively. in January,1687, Emperor Aurangzeb led the Mughal forces to capture the Golconda Fort. The siege lasted eight months. Golconda Fort was very strong fort with many bastions. The walls were made of granite.There was an excellent acoustic system in place for communication. The front gate had spikes to stop the elephants. Golconda was the only centre for diamonds at that time with the Kollur mine under them which has given the world many famous gems !

Golconda Fort.

By Thariqmirza94 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

   The painting below shows Aurangzeb with attendants supervising cavalry and artillery as they attack the fortified city in the background. A breach has been made in the sandstone walls which the Mughal troops are traversing. The painting is from the Anne S.K. Brown Military Collection at the Brown University Library, Rhode Island, USA. The Mughals had finally entered the fort by bribing a Qutub Shahi official, Abdullah Panni, who opened a khirki in the Fateh Darwaza at the fort.

Aurangzeb at the siege of Golconda,painting,18th century.

See page for author [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

     The Mughal forces were driven by Ghaziuddin Khan Firuz Jung who was to bombard the fort's strong wall with cannons. The Fateh rahbar and Azhad-e-paikar were used. The cannon balls were heavy and used to shoot, during the siege. Kilich Khan, father of Ghaziuddin also took part in the siege. He was an experienced commnader of the Mughals. Munawwar Khan, the Mughal admiral ensured food and supply of weapons to the invading forces. Shaista Khan, Murshid Quli Khan and Ibrahim Khan were commanders in the Mughal army who positioned soldiers all around. Abdul Razzak Lari, also called Mustafa Khan from the Golconda front was a brave soldier who defended the fort during the siege and fell down seriously wounded at Nagina Bagh. He was later nursed back to health on the orders of Emperor Aurangzeb. He is well-remembered for his loyalty to Sultan Abul Hasan Qutub Shah.

Kilich Khan, Mughal commander,painting.

By Mughal dynasty - http://www.asia.si.edu/collections/singleObject.cfm?ObjectNumber=S1986.441, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18230169

Elephant with mahout, Mughal, painting, 18th century.

By Unknown (production) - http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O73158/painting/, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17701060



Shaista Khan,Mughal commander,painting.

By Mughal Style - http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/search_the_collection_database/search_object_details.aspx?objectid=231822&partid=1&searchText=mughal&fromADBC=ad&toADBC=ad&numpages=10&images=on&orig=%2fresearch%2fsearch_the_collection_database.aspx&currentPage=34, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17774211

  The siege lasted for eight months. The Qutub Shahis defended their fort to the maximum. Sultan Abul Hasan Tana Shah was in no mood to surrender, even though one of his commanders Muqarrab Khan changed loyalties. High intensity rockets were fired on the Mughal camps around the fort, from inside. The Mughals face many difficulties in capturing the fort. Cannon fire from the Golconda fort deterred the Mughal forces. Kilich Khan,long time commander and father of Ghaziuddin Firuz Jung, died during the siege.  

    However they did not give up. When supplies arrived they would start fresh attacks. Finally they could enter the fort when they could bribe a Qutub Shahi official Sarandaz Khan to open a gate by which the soldiers entered the fort, lead by Ghaziuddin Firuz Jung. The Sultan was captured and so was the Kollur mine by the Mughals. The Sultan was taken to Daulatabad fort. Some important diamonds were handed over to Emperor Aurangzeb which included the Noor-ul-Ain, Kara Diamond, Hope diamond, Dariya-e-noor and the Regent diamond. Mir Qamaruddin Khan, son of Ghaziuddin Firuz Jung became the viceroy, also called Asaf Jah I as Ghaziuddin Firuz Jung had died of natural causes. He was the viceroy of the Deccan appointed by the Mughals. He was given the title Chin Kilich Khan by emperor Aurangzeb in 1690, Nizam-ul-mulk by Farukhshiyar in 1713 and Asaf Jah by Muhammad Shah in 1725. He  started the line of Asaf Jahis or the Nizam rule in the Hyderabad-Deccan.

Mir Qamaruddin Khan, Asaf Jah I, Viceroy of the Deccan,painting, 1800.

By Unknown - 1, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=40816594

References :

• History of the Qutub Shahi dynasty/Sherwani,H.K,New Delhi : Munshiram Manoharlal,1974.
• M.A.Nayeem/The heritage of the Qutub Shahis of Golconda and Hyderabad,Hyderabad: Hyderabad Publishers,2006.
• wikipedia.org

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Soma Ghosh

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