BHONGIR, THE MAGNIFICIENT HILL FORT OF TELUGU PEOPLE… A PEEP INTO HISTORY

BHONGIR, THE MAGNIFICIENT HILL FORT OF TELUGU
PEOPLE… A PEEP INTO HISTORY

Dr K Prabhakar Rao

Andhra Pradesh has a distinguished past and has played great part in the cultural and political history of India. The distant region of Telangana which once formed part of Nizams dominion has rich historical past and Telangana is dotted with many forts ( Now mostly in neglected state) . These remind us about the valor of Telugu people in bye gone days. In Telangana ancient forts exist at Warangal, Golconda, Tatikonda, Ramgiri, Ghanapur, Pangal, Medak, Shhpur Zafar gadh, Devarkonda, Rachkonda, Khammam, Nirmal ( French forts and Battis garh), Jagityal, Koilakonda, Nizamabad, Gadwal, Bhongir occupies a special place among them. Some of these forts are awesome and visitors are wonder struck at their grandeur, structural skills, planning and in execution by our past craftsmen. Bhongir is one such fort that is awesome and inspiring to all. It stands next only to Golconda and Warangal.

Bhongir town is at a distance of 40 km from state capital Hyderabad and the main railway line passes through the town, all trains proceeding to Calcutta, Delhi, Madras ( Chennai) pass through the town It is Mandal( Taluq) Head quarters and is an important revenue Mandal. Many engineering colleges have come up around Bhongir and the town is rapidly growing as the suburb of Hyderabad city. The fort is now located in the heart of town due to al round development. It is built over a large egg shaped rock towering to an height of … meters. The entire rock appears as a single piece in a plain ground. Surrounding areas are at height and the fort appears low from a distance. But as one goes closer the fort rapidly rises into sky. The fort walls are very massive and the ramparts and walls at the lower level appear to be not very ancient while the fort walls at the top are no doubt very old. The lower fort is well built with neatly chiseled granite stones with ports for using muskets. Obviously the fort was modified over the centuries of occupation. The fort has seen many ups and downs and passed through many hands. Kakateeya kings, Naika kings, Rachakonda kings and Muslims ruled over the fort in its long history
No historical records are available about the fort. People claim that it is about 300o years old and this can not be believed The fort was built by ancient Hindu king Bhuvaniaka Malludu a Chalukya king from Kalyani. It is evident by a Ganesh idol on fort. As per locals, Malik Kafir the general of Allauddin Khilji, the Sultan of Delhi ( 13-14 century) conquered this fort with very great difficulty. There are interesting legends over origin of the fort. During the ancient times a dynamic Hindu king wanted to construct a fort and was in search of a suitable place. He selected hills of Rayagiri and took up construction over the hills. Some of the remains of the walls can be seen on these hills. A local shepherd approached the officials who were supervising the construction and mocked at their wisdom for choosing the site and he felt that it would be impossible to defend the fort in case the enemy occupied neighboring greater heights. The officials were greatly impressed and surprised at his wisdom and took him to the king. The King was too impressed and said to the shepherd that he would be greatly rewarded if a suitable site was shown to him. The shepherd put a condition that the new fort should be named after him and his wife and the king agreed. The shepherds name was Bhoniah and his wife was Giremma
The shepherds usually have very good knowledge of the hills and forests, terrain ad plants and animals as they wander in these areas. Bhoniah left after taking some time from the king. At this time the rocky hill at Bhongir at present was completely covered by a very large wildreeper ad the rock was not seen from outside. The root of the creeper was in a village away from the hill. Entire area was completely surrounded by thick forests and it was not visible. The shepherd promptly cut off the large root of the creeper and soon it dried up.. In few days it was put to fire by the shepherd and the creeper was reduced to ashes and the imposing rocky hill was exposed in all its glory. He went to the king and brought him to the site and the king was immensely thrilled at the site and soon he ordered the officials to plan and build a fort covering the rocky hill. It was soon completed and was named after the shepherd couple as Bhonagiri. He also constructed a town near the bae of the fort with a temple dedicated to Bhoneswara and some runs of the templecanbe seen at the village outskirts.. The town is also called Bhuvana giri . Some peopleclaim that the fort and the town are named after the king Bhuvanika Malludu ( A Kalyani Chalukya) who built themi the past. Bhongir fort that isplayes magnificent construction much before the onstruction of Rajasthani hil forts. Its steep sides are impregnable.

The fort has seen many battles, fall and rise of dynasties. . It has seen fluctuating fortunes, defeats and victories in its long history and was a witness to the flourishing and falling of man dynasties. It formed the eastern border for Bahmani sultans at the time of Alauddin Bahman Shah the founder of Bahmani kingdom. They ruled at Gulbarga and later at Bidar. Kappayya naika the dare devil Hindu king at Warangal rued over Bhongir province too when he controlled entire Telangana after Pratapa Rudra II of Kakateeya dynasty. It was later controlled by Velama kings of Rachakonda who fought relentless wars with Kapayya, Redy Kings at Kondaveedu and with Vijayanagar Rays with the help of Bahmani sultans. Finally Velama kings lost everything to Bahmani sultans after 100 years of rule. The fort then passed over to Kutubshahi kings of Golconda. It went over to Mughals during the reign of Aurangzeb and then came under Asafia rulers at Hyderabad till Nizam 7 acceded to Indian union in 1948 after police action and defeat of Hyderabad army and blood thirsty and rapist Razakars . It was mostly under some Qiladar The fort is not famous for any sculptural splendor. It was mostly of military importance. Once it was captured by Muslims it literally lost all its Hindu orientation and these effects can be seen today. There are few buildings on top of the hill that have lost all Hindu orientation. At present, the office of a Govt TV and communication department with it's tower is located at the top of hill. A pond of fresh water exists on top that is always full of water. Wild life such as snakes, monitor lizards, monkeys, Boa constrictors and Hyenas, are found on the hill apart from occasional Panthers and bears too.

Bhongir fort is also mentioned in the daring acts of chivalry of Sarvai Papadu who rose during the later days of Mughal EmperorAurangzeb. Although he was born a Goud, a toddy tapper ,he soon became ambitious and collected arms, horses and men and attacked Mughal provinces in Telangana and defeated the chieftains. He controlled major portion of Telangana and ruled. He built forts at shahpuram, Tatikonda and controlled areas of Karimnagar,Warangal, Jangaon, Kolanupaka and other areas He was terror to Muslim chieftains.. He grew very bold and conquered Bhongir and Warangal and it is also said that for a short while he occupied Golconda too. However he was betrayed by some of his men while asleep to the Mughal army and he committed suicide and he preferred death to dishonor. Some state that he was beheaded and his head was hung to Golconda fort gate. He deeds are sung as ballads in Telangana.

The fort is neglected as usual by the state govt and people watch with despair as the ancient fort slowly gets rotten. The Govt claims it has no funds to spend. It is high time they do something and preserve Telugu heritage. The Fort should be developed as tourist attraction. We may not construct ( being incapable) such forts and therefore we must preserve them for future generations. Sadly the governments have no time for these things and they are busy in never ending politicking and misrule while the leaders are busy in money making activities and indulging in various scams.