Bidar Fort

En un regard

Le château en bref

Bidar Fort occupies the end of a plateau of red laterite, east of the town of the same name, in northern Karnataka. Becoming the capital of the Bahmanid sultans in the fifteenth century, it forms one of the largest fortified complexes in the Deccan. Its laterite walls, in places some fifteen metres thick, are flanked by 37 octagonal bastions and preceded by a triple moat cut into the rock. One enters through a zigzag passage commanded by several gateways, including the Gumbad Darwaza, crowned by a tall dome once painted in bright colours. Inside, more than thirty Islamic monuments survive: the Solah Khamba mosque, the Rangin Mahal with its ceramic and mother-of-pearl decoration, the Takht Mahal, the Gagan Mahal and the Tarkash Mahal, as well as the remains of the halls of public and private audience. Beneath the Gagan Mahal extends a maze of underground chambers. The site, protected by the Archaeological Survey of India, has also served as a backdrop for several Indian film shoots.