The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III: Turks and Afghans v3.c30.s1.49.5

v3.c30.s1.49.5

Of those, like Daulatābād, which possessed an elaborate system of fortification, the most remarkable perhaps and second only to Daulatābād itself, are Bīdar and Parenda¹. The former was mainly constructed by Ahmad Shāh I in 1426-31, at the time when it supplanted Gulbarga as the Bahmanī capital. Its walls, which are some 50 feet in height and 3 miles in circumference, are furnished with battlements, bastions and outworks—all very solidly constructed, and are further protected by a triple ditch (75 feet wide and 45 feet deep) hewn out of the solid rock. The Parenda Fort is traditionally attributed to Mahmūd Gāwān, but whether the tradition has any basis in fact is questionable. Though relatively small in area, its defences are singularly efficient. They comprise an inner and outer wall separated by a covered passage, a moat from 80 to 110 feet in width, a second and broader covered passage outside the counterscarp and a glacis which rises to the height of the faussebraye. The outer or scarp wall is strengthened by 22 bastions and, like the inner, provided with loopholes, battlements and projecting galleries. The only entrance was by way of a drawbridge and gateway at the north-west corner, and thence through a narrow and devious vaulted passage to a second gateway defended by traverses and redoubts.