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DAULATABAD

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Originally appearing in Volume V07, Page 849 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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DAULATABAD , a See also:

hill-fortress in See also:Hyderabad See also:state, See also:India, about to m. N.W. of the See also:city of See also:Aurangabad. The former city of Daulatabad (Deogiri) has shrunk into a See also:mere See also:village, though to its earlier greatness See also:witness is still See also:borne by its magnificent fortress, and by remains of public buildings See also:noble even in their decay. The fortress stands on a conical See also:rock crowning a hill that rises almost perpendicularly from the See also:plain to a height of some . boo ft. The See also:outer See also:wall, 24 M. in circumference, once enclosed the See also:ancient city of Deogiri (Devagiri), and between this and the See also:base of the upper fort are three lines of defences. The fort is a See also:place of extraordinary strength. The only means of See also:access to the See also:summit is afforded by a narrow See also:bridge, with passage for not more than two men abreast, and a See also:long See also:gallery, excavated in the rock, which has for the most See also:part a very See also:gradual upward slope, but about midway is intercepted by a steep See also:stair, the See also:top of which is covered by a grating destined in See also:time of See also:war to See also:form the See also:hearth of a huge See also:fire kept burning by the See also:garrison above. Besides the fortifications Daulatabad contains several notable monuments, of which the See also:chief are the Chand Minar and the Chini Mahal. The Chand Minar, considered one of the most remarkable specimens of See also:Mahommedan See also:architecture in See also:southern India, is a See also:tower 210 ft. high and 70 ft. in circumference at the base, and was originally covered with beautiful See also:Persian glazed tiles. It was erected in 1445 by See also:Ala-ud-din Bahmani to commemorate his See also:capture 'of the fort. The Chini Mahal, or See also:China See also:Palace, is the ruin of a See also:building once of See also:great beauty. In it Abul See also:Hasan, the last of the Kutb Shahi See also:kings of See also:Golconda, was imprisoned by See also:Aurangzeb in 1687.

Deogiri is said to have been founded c. A.D. 1187 by Bhillama I. the See also:

prince who renounced his See also:allegiance to the Chalukyas and established the See also:power of the Yadava See also:dynasty in the See also:west. In 1294 the fort was captured by Ala-ud-din Khilji, and the rajas, so powerful that they were held by the Mussulmans at See also:Delhi to be the rulers of all the See also:Deccan, were reduced to pay See also:tribute. The tribute falling into arrear, Deogiri was again occupied by the Mahommedans under Malik Kafur, in 1307 and 1310, and in 1318 the last See also:raja, Harpal, was flayed alive. Deogiri now became an important base for the operations of the Mussulman conquering expeditions southwards, and in 1339 Mahommed See also:ben Tughlak Shah determined to make it his See also:capital, changed its name to Daulatabad (" See also:Abode of Prosperity "), and made arrangements for transferring to it the whole See also:population of Delhi. The project was interrupted by troubles which summoned him to the See also:north; during his See also:absence the Mussulman See also:governors of the Deccan revolted; and Daulatabad itself See also:fell into the hands of Zafar See also:Khan, the See also:governor of See also:Gulbarga. It remained in the hands of the Bahmanis till 1526, when it was taken by the See also:Nizam Shahis. It was captured by the See also:emperor See also:Akbar, but in 1595 it again surrendered to Ahmad Nizam Shah of See also:Ahmednagar, on the fall of whose dynasty in 1607 it passed into the hands of the usurper, the Nizam Shahi See also:minister Malik See also:Amber, originally an Abyssinian slave, who was the founder of Kharki (the See also:present Aurangabad. His successors held it until their overthrow by Shah Jahan, the See also:Mogul emperor, in 1633; after which it remained in the See also:possession of the Delhi emperors until, after the See also:death of Aurangzeb, it fell to the first nizam of Hyderabad. Its See also:glory, however, had already decayed owing to the removal of the seat of See also:government by the emperors to Aurangabad.

End of Article: DAULATABAD

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