02/06/2022
50 km from Hyderabad is a piece of the earth’s crust that is actually inside-out. And atop that natural wonder is a built by the audacious hand of man but humbled by the rock on which it stands. We’re on Bhongir, one of the tallest hills in .
Bhongir is a batholith that formed inside the earth’s crust when lava cooled but did not rise to the surface. The rock formation was exposed by erosion over millennia and, like Rock ( ) in , it is an isolated that towers over a flat expanse.
Bhongir is also one of the earliest forts in the , built in 1076 CE by the Western Chalukyas. It was a dream location - the enemy could be spotted miles away. And while the sheer drop made it tough to build a fort like this, it was an excellent natural defence.
The fort was built by Tribhuvanamalla Vikramaditya IV, and named Tribhuvanagiri, then Bhuvanagiri, and eventually Bhongir. Inscriptions reveal that it passed to the Kakatiyas and played an important role during the reign of Rudramadevi (late 13th CE).
Bhongir Fort was a military outpost for the Musunuri Nayakas (14th CE) and in the 15th CE, it passed to the Bahmani Sultans and then the Qutub Shahis, who used it as a prison. It was finally abandoned.
Now a mystery: It is said an underground tunnel extends all the way from Bhongir to Golconda Fort. Rulers often built secret tunnels from forts as an escape route when under sudden attack, but none has been found at Bhongir. At least, not yet.
https://www.livehistoryindia.com/story/places/bhongir-might-of-nature-man