Defence Architecture in Early North Karnataka c18.s2.t3.15

c18.s2.t3.15

The last but not the least is the fort of ‘Ādil Shāhis of Bījāpur. The curtain wall (10.00 m. both wide and high) around the city fort of Bījāpur runs about 10½ kilometres in almost a circular manner, interconnected with high bastions (30 m) and massive watch towers altogether numbering 84, with six main gates together with a deep and wide moat (18-20 m) on the outside. From the citadel almost in the centre of the fort, six roads run in radial way connecting the six city gates in the fag end, which remind partly of the concept of Kharvata (Fig.83) type of fort by Mānasāra. Basically the fort is a Sthaladurga (i.e. ground fort), as it is situated on a plain ground. The dimensions of the architectural members of the fort such as, the wall, the bastions, the wall-walk, the moat etc. are more or less similar to those enunciated by Kautilya.