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The capital of each raja or chieftain was a fort around which a township grew and developed; this pattern can be seen in many South Asian cities such as Delhi, Agra, Rajasthan, Lahore, Pune, Kolkata and Mumbai. Two forts in India are UNESCO World Heritage sites: the Agra Fort and the Red Fort. The oldest surviving fort in India is the Qila Mubarak at Bathinda which had it origins in 100 AD during the Kushan empire. The Kangra Fort in Kangra believed to have been built by the still surviving Katoch dynasty after the battle of kurukshetra. The fort was written about by the scribes of Alexander the Great, thus making it the oldest fort in India. Medieval Delhi developed around Chandni Chowk, the township adjoining the Red Fort while Kolkata came about Fort William built by the British. Many small towns ranging from Jhansi to Chandragiri grew around forts. Some towns even acquired the names from the forts. Durg is fort in Hindi. Satara was so named because of the seventeen walls of the fort. The conquest of, or battles for the forts of India have been significant occasions in Indian history. The capture of Qila Mubarak (Bathinda) in 1004 AD by Mahmud of Ghazni heralded the advent of Islamic rule in India. The struggle of Shivaji against the Mughals in the seventeenth century and his reign occur against the backdrop of forts in the Deccan. The capture of Seringapatam and death of Tippu Sultan in 1799 cemented British rule in South India. The capture of Gawilghur by Arthur Wellesley, later Duke of Wellington, ended the Maratha threat to British rule in Central India at the time of the Second Anglo-Maratha War. The flag of independent India was first unfurled from the ramparts of the Red Fort by Jawahar Lal Nehru, first Prime Minister of India on the morning of 15 August 1947. This practice of unfurling of flag followed by a speech by the prime minister continues each year on Independence Day. Just after World War II, the Red Fort had been the scene of the famous trial of the Indian National Army. == Etymology == Most of the forts in India are actually castles or fortresses. But when the British Government in India were cataloging them in the 17th–19th century they used the word forts as it was common in Britain then. All fortifications whether European or Indian were termed forts. Thereafter this became the common usage in India. In local languages the fort names are suffixed by local word for fort thus usage of the Sanskrit word ''durga'', or Hindi word ''qila'' or the word ''garh'' or ''gad'' in Rajasthan, Assam and Maharashtra is common.〔Nossov(2006),p. 8〕 For example, Suvarnadurg, Mehrangarh, Sudhagad etc. == Forts in ancient India== Three major methods were used for the construction of ancient Indian forts. The first consisted of earthen ramparts. Often they were constructed of the sand which was dug out of the ditch surrounding the fort. The second of rubble with earth on the outside which was more sturdy. The third type of construction was with stone and masonry work. The last was the strongest. Often materials from demolished forts were reused in the building of new forts.〔Nossov (2006), p. 12〕 By 4 BCE, fortified cities were common in India. The largest ones were between the city of Mathura (on the Yamuna river) and Magadha (on the Ganges). Another series of forts in the south, was on the Ujjain(on the Narmada) leading into the Deccan. These are inferred by the remains of fort walls and bastions seen on excavation at Rajagriha and at several sites in the Gangetic plain notably Kaushambi. At the latter site huge walls of burnt brick, which look like they have been battered. There does not seem to be any formal planning of these forts.〔Fass (1986) p. 13〕 There are few descriptions of these ancient structures. The most noted is the one by Megasthenes, an ambassador of Seleucus I Nicator to the court of Chandragupta Maurya. He describes Pataliputra as being guarded by a ditch with wooden walls. The fort had 570 towers and 54 gates with colonnaded halls decorated with gold and silver. One such hall has been excavated and is one of the oldest stone structures in India.〔Fass (1986) p. 14〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Forts in India」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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