Historical Fort of Bhadra in Ahmedabad, India

Ahmedabad is the biggest city of Gujarat State in India. It has a high historical importance. The famous fort of Bhadra is situated here at Ahmedabad. It is said that the construction of Ahmedabad was started in the year 1411 with the foundation stone of this historical fort. This fort of Bhadra is the most ancient place in the city of Ahmedabad. The old city of Ahmedabad was situated within this fort.

This fort was as big as a city in the earlier years and the entire city was situated inside the fort only. The fort is located in the center of Ahmedabad city. This fort had 14 minars, 8 gates, and two large window openings at the time of its construction. Though, this fort is now in very bad shape, it still shows the glory of old days. This fort was considered as one of the strongest forts of India. The East gate of the fort is called Lal Darwaja. This was the main gate of the fort and there is a famous temple of Bhadrakali Mataji just outside this gate. All the kings of Ahmedabad were visiting this temple prior to going in to any war. The statue of Mataji in this temple has four hands and is made of black stone. This statue was found during the digging of foundation of this Bhadra fort. The Western side of the fort is having Ganesh gate. There is a large public hall near this gate. The king was meeting all the common people here in this hall. The Northern side gate of the fort is called Misufu gate. There was the palace of the king near this gate. The southern side gate is called River gate. This gate opens in the River Sabarmati. In case of defeat or danger to the royal family, this gate was used to run away from the city to save them from the enemy attack.

There were three very big wells near this gate that were used to supply water to the people of city during long enemy attacks. These wells are called Manek wells. These wells were filled with the sand in the year 1866 as the water of these wells got exhausted. There is a lord Shiva temple near these wells, which is called the temple of Sarveshwar Mahadev. There are two large swimming pools in the fort. Though, there are only deep pits present now. But the outside structure of walls clearly indicates the presence of swimming pools here. There is also a dargah of Amirkhan, one of the military leaders of mogul king Aurangzeb. This fort was in the possession of moguls till the year 1870. However, British captain Goddard won this fort in the year 1871 and started ruling the city from this fort. The royal palace of the king was occupied by Britishers. There is a famous Azamgarh palace near the South side of the gate. There are government offices in this palace now. The famous mosque made by King Ahmed shah is also present today. This mosque was the first building constructed in the city of Ahmedabad.

There is a big playground opposite to the fort having the area of around 2 square miles. The royal family was playing games like polo in this ground. There is a large clock on the gate of Bhadra fort. The sound of this clock could be heard throughout the city in those days. However, today it is hardly audible at a distance of 500 meters from the fort. The care of this ancient historical clock is taken by the same family since last 100 years. This clock was installed in the year 1850 after purchasing the same from France at the cost of around Rs.12000 ($300). The mechanism of this clock is still in working condition, even after around 157 years of continuous operation. This fort provides a good opportunity to the archeologists and historians to study about the ancient history of this city. Many foreigners visit this historical fort to get the glimpses of this great historical monument.

This fort remains open all throughout the year for visiting. The fort is in very bad shape at present and it is very unfortunate that government has not been able to take care of such vital historical monument. However, it is still worth visiting this fort to visualize the old history of this city.