Chaubara, Bidar

Chaubara, also spelt Choubara, is a watchtower in Bidar dating from the Bahmani period, probably built by Ahmad Shah along with the city's other fortifications. It stands where Bidar's two main streets cross, one running north–south and the other east–west. From the top it commands a view over the plateau and the surrounding lowlands for miles, and it may also have served as a tribunal where criminals were punished and royal decrees announced.

The cylindrical tower tapers as it rises and is built entirely of black trap stone laid in lime, about 71 feet high. Its circular base, about 180 feet round and nearly 17 feet high, is lined with arched niches that may have held guards or sheltered passers-by. A stair on the east climbs to the top of the base, and from a door on the north a winding staircase of eighty steps leads to the summit and its 3.5-foot parapet. A police station built against the tower in British times was later removed. It is a state protected monument.