The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III: Turks and Afghans v3.c30.s1.49.4

v3.c30.s1.49.4

On the north, the *taraf* of Berar was defended by its capital Ellichpur as well as by the two strongholds of Gāwīlgarh and Narnāla, the former of which was built and the latter extensively repaired by Ahmad Shāh Walī I between the years 1425–28. Māhūr, in the modern district of Adilābād, served to keep in check the highland chiefs of the Sātpuras and the wild tribes beyond the Wardha. On the west, besides Daulatābād, there were the powerful fortresses of Parenda, Naldrug and Panhāla and, a little farther south, the capital Gulbarga itself. Nearer the centre of their dominions stood Bīdar to which the capital was subsequently transferred; and, towards the east, Warangal and Golconda; while in the south-west corner, watching the ever-dangerous Vijayanagar border, were Mudgal and Rāichūr. Some of these fortresses (and there are many more of lesser note that might be added to their number) had been taken over from the conquered Hindu states but so transformed by the Muhammadans as to retain little of their original character. Such were Rāichūr built in 1294 by Gore Gungāya Ruddivāru; Mudgal, once the seat of local Yādava governors; Warangal, Gulbarga and Bīdar captured by Muhammad bin Tughluq, and Golconda ceded to Muhammad Shāh I in 1364. Some, again, stood in the open; others like Māhūr and Naldrug, were built on precipitous rocks or among the hills, and relied as much on their natural as on their artificial defences.