Defence Architecture in Early North Karnataka c13.s1.6

c13.s1.6

As mentioned above, the plan of the fort (Fig.35) is so peculiar, that it leaves roughly rectangular open spaces at the north-western and south-western corners enclosed by the rivulet, the moat and the river on the other sides. Superficially leaving so much space between the fort and the rivulet/moat/river looks as though purposeless and even perhaps unwise. But, the builders with accumulated experience in war-fare would not be so innocent and casual. Of course, the idea, behind leaving the spaces, of the builders is not evident from the remains, but a careful observation of the relative positions of the rivulets, river and the fort would make one to surmise reasonably thus. It is probably to entice the enemies attacking the fort to get into these spaces, where they could plan to scale the fort without difficulty. Once they get into the narrow spaces, soldiers from the fort can incessantly attack them, taking them by surprise and creating confusion among the enemy soldiers. The latter cannot quickly escape from incessant attack by the soldiers on the fort, for they are obstructed by the river, rivulets and the moat. Perhaps, there does not seem to be any other explanation for the peculiar feature under study. Thus, here probably we find a new way of successfully attacking the enemy.