Doulatabad Fort

by Grace Muth

On our second day in Aurangabad after visiting the Ellora caves we were all super tired.  It was just our luck that had us going to the Daulatabad Fort after lunch that day. After a restful bus ride over to the fort, we started our tour.  The Daulatabad Fort was built to make conquering it impossible.  First we went through a gate with big brass spikes on it and we were told that the spikes were supposed to be elephant proof, but the enemies would put a camel up against the spikes so that the camel would die but the elephant would be saved.  

A gate

elephant-proof, spiky door

After walking for about 10-20 meters we came to a building that had been a temple, and then was turned into a mosque, then was turned back into a temple.  We went inside and everyone, who wanted to, got a chalked red dot between their eyes on their forehead.  The dot is a part of the Hindi culture; you get the dot after you ring a bell to let the gods know you have arrived, and show devotion to the god that is worshiped in the temple.  The dot is like a third eye that lets you see inside someone’s soul. 

the temple/mosque/temple

James' third eye

After leaving the temple we went through a second gate and arrived in a courtyard.  The courtyard had about 10 cannons and 2 gates.  One gate was big and real, and the other was small and fake.  

fake gate to the right, real gate to the left

We went through the real gate and up some slanted stairs and arrived at the next gate.  The slanted stairs made this gate harder for the elephants to ram into so the enemies had to break it down by hand.  

another elephant proof gate

The gate led to 2 more gates.  There was a small gate, which was real but no one would make noise behind it so the enemies would think it was fake.  There was a big fake gate where people would hide and make noise.  The enemies, in hopes of a fight, would break down the fake gate.  Unfortunately for the enemy all of the people hiding behind the fake gate would escape through a hole in the wall.  Like I said before, this fort was built to make conquering it impossible.  After going through what must have been our 8^th or 9^th gate and climbing up a flight of stairs, we left the building we had been in through another gate and were left on a ledge that was over hanging the moat.  From here we saw the castle that all of the gates were protecting.

the moat

Now the story doesn’t end there.  While we could see the castle there was still a moat, more gates, and a “dark passage” to go through.  The moat was 45 feet wide, about 50 feet deep, and was full of snakes and alligators.  There was a sketchy bridge that we had to cross just to arrive at yet another gate.  Through the gate is a hallway with a set of stairs that led to, wait for it, a gate.  That gate led to a small rock cut courtyard, which had a small opening to the “dark passage”.  

courtyard outside the "dark passage"

The “dark passage” was a twisting turning maze of steps, drop offs, darkness, and bats, lots of bats.  When we got to the end of the passage there was one final gate.  When enemies would come and try to break down this final gate the people in the fort would pump sulfur gasses into the passage and the enemies would have to escape.  There was a small hole in the wall that the enemies went through, as a way out, but after 2 steps there was an oily slide that sent them straight into the moat.  There we each had the choice whether to go up to the castle or to end the tour.  I chose to go to the castle.  About 400 stairs later James, Sydney, Will, and I arrived at the castle.  It was amazing!  There was a man up in the castle that pointed out a doorway that led up to a tower.  At the top of the tower it felt like you were on top of the world.  We had a party where we played “I’m on top of the world” by Imagine Dragons, took tons of pictures and rested for the hike down.

View from the top

I'm on top of the world!!

It is best to end on a high note and when you feel like you are on top of the world, I think that’s pretty close to a high note.  The total amount of stairs was 457, and the experience was 100% amazing.  I hope I described the fort well enough to put a somewhat accurate picture in y