Question

How many bastions did the outer wall of Golconda Fort have?
A) 50
B) 30
C) 87
D) 60

Answer 1

Hint: 1) Bastions are strategically constructed platforms on which cannons were placed.
2) They were constructed during the rule of Ibrahim Qutb Shah.

Complete answer:
Bastions are strategically constructed platforms on which cannons were placed. The outer wall of the Fort consists of 87 bastions. In front of the burj, a small protective wall was also built in order to prevent the artillery shells from hitting the soldiers themselves or the cannons placed above it.

The bastions were constructed during the rule of Ibrahim Qutb Shah, with the help of granite stone and lime. During the siege of 1687, the cannons placed above the bastions provided enormous artillery support which prevented the entry of Mughal army in the fort for 8 months. Every bastion had a name and a small room to store cannons. The cannons were of various sizes and fire power capacity. 110 cannons were employed by the Qutb Shah army to repel the Mughal army.

Hence, the correct answer is option (C).

Note: 1) Mughal emperor Aurangzeb’s forces took somewhere around 8 months to capture the Golconda Fort.
2) Later, two of his important cannons, the famous Fateh Rahbar (the guide-to-victory cannon) and the Azhdaha Paikar Gun were placed above the Petla Burj and the Musa Burj respectively.
3) Although he brought several cannons along with him from Delhi but placed only these two at strategic bastions.