Gulbarga Fort

Gulbarga Fort stands in the heart of Kalaburagi, the city formerly called Gulbarga, in northern Karnataka. A first fort was built in the 12th century by Raja Gulchand, a feudatory of the Kakatiyas of Warangal, but the site rose to prominence in the 14th century, when it became the capital and seat of power of the Bahmani Sultanate, among the strongest Muslim kingdoms of the Deccan.

The defences are laid out as rings of walls with massive bastions and decorated gateways, planned to hold out against siege. Within them are mosques, palaces, tombs and other buildings of granite and limestone that combine Hindu and Islamic elements in their carving and form. The Jama Masjid, the Khwaja Bande Nawaz Dargah and the Haft Gumbaz tombs of the Bahmani rulers are within easy reach.