FORTS OF INDIA(Gwalior)
GWALIOR, 200 miles south of Delhi, is strategically located on the north- south route. Therefore its possession or hold on it was considered essential by the rulers of Delhi so as to have passage to and control and governance of southern regions. The grandeur and majesty of the Gwalior Fort has to be appreciated even today, but more important than its aesthetic appearance was the defensive objectives it served. It witnessed many sieges and fierce bat- ties but was never obliged to surrender, though it could be gained either by as sault or surrender. The Gwalior Fort was highly impregnable; may be it was for this reason that it was sometimes used as prison to hold important personages who could harm, if freed, the interests of the rulers. But no less important IS the fact that from this fort Rani Mrignaina and subsequently others gave patronage to music. From Gwalior originated a school of music which has continued through centuries and even now Gwalior can boast of a gharana. The tomb of Tansen who was associated with Gwalior is there just below the fort and musicians come to pay their homage to the maestro.
Towering 300 feet above the old town, the Gwalior Fort is situated on a precipitous, flat-topped, isolated sand stone hill. It measures one and three- quarter miles in length and 2,800 feet across at its widest part, its wails above the scarp are about 30 feet high. Whereas a long line of battlements crowning the scarp on the east make it impregnable, its western side suffers from weakness.
Legend has it that the fort was founded by Suraj Sen, a Rajput chief, at the instance of an ascetic named Gwalip, who had cured him of leprosy, and after whom it came to be known as Gwalior, Gopagiri, Gopadri, Gopachala, Gwaliwara. Inscriptions suggest that m the 6th century the Gwalior Fort formed part of the Gupta empire and that it was captured by the Hun adventurers Toramana and his son Mihirakula. Three centuries later, it passed into the hands of Raja Bhoj of Kanauj and in the mid-tenth century it further changed hands and came In possession of the Kachhwahas.
In 1022 Mahmud of Ghazni made an assault on the fort but he was bought off. In 1128 the KachhWahas were ousted by the Parihars who remained in possession of the fort till 1196, when it was acquired by Qutb-ud-din Aibak. In 1210 during his son's rule, the Pariharas recovered it and for the next 22 years it remained in their possession.
In 1232 lltutmish laid a siege which lasted 11 months and it was only after a fierce fight that he succeeded in capturing it. From then on the fort came to be used for imprisoning opponents, many of whom never came out alive. Iltutmish executed 700 prisoners before his tent. In 1316 Qutbuddin Mubarak Khaiji put to death his three brothers living as blinded prisoners in the fort. Two decades later Mohammed bin Tughluq imprisoned all those whom he suspected or feared as ^er Ibn Batuta.
Timur's invasion in 1398 caused disturbance in the country and in the confusion the Tomar Rajputs seized the fort of Gwalior. In their time Gwalior rose to great eminence. They sucessfully threw off the attacks made on the fort in 1404, 1416 and 1429. Raja Mansingh (1486-1517) built a magnificent palace with a great gate which crowns the eastern face of the rock. It was under the directions of his favourite Gujari Queen Mrignaina (fawn-eyed) when music developed and Gwalior became pre-eminent as the home of music, which it has continued to enjoy till date. The Tomars retained their hold till 1518 when after a siege of two years they surrendered it to Ibrahim Lodi. The Lodis held It only for 10 years when Babur Invaded and captured the fort. In 1542 it fell to Sher Shah Suri who treated it as a favourite resort.
