Bhadra Fort
When it comes to monuments in Ahmedabad, Bhadra Fort is one name that indeed deserves a special mention. Bhadra Fort is situated in the walled city area of Ahmedabad, India. It was built by Ahmad Shah I in 1411. With its well carved royal palaces, mosques, gates and open spaces, it was renovated in 2014 by Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) and Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) as a cultural centre for the city. Consisting of splendid palace and beautiful lush green garden, the charm of Bhadra fort is unbeatable. The fort is well known for the Bhadrakali Temple that was built in the dedication of Hindu Goddess Bhadra, a different form of Goddess Kali. In the present times, the fort more often serves as the venue for conducting flag hoisting ceremony during the occasion of Independence Day & Republic day.
Etymology
It is believed the fort adopted the name Bhadra after a temple of Bhadra Kali, a form of Laxmi which was established during Maratha rule. The palace called the Bhadra after the ancient Rajput citadel of that name at Anhilwada-Patan, which the first three kings of the dynasty of Gujarat Sultans had held before Ahmedabad became the capital. Three inscribed slabs on the walls connecting this gateway with two ancillary gates behind are now almost completely defaced. One of these appears to show a date of the time of Jahangir. People are of the belief that, Goddess Lakshmi had once visited the Bhadra fort and blessed the Sultan that, his city would always remain prosperous. Since times immemorial, people of Ahmedabad have been wealthy and infact, Ahmedabad has throughout been the hub of trade and commerce in the state of Gujarat.
History
Ahmedabad was named after Ahmad Shah I of the Muzaffarid dynasty who captured Karnavati in 1411. He established Ahmedabad as the new capital of Gujarat Sultanate and built Bhadra Fort on the east bank of the Sabarmati River. It wasalso known as Arak Fort as described in Mirat-i-Ahmadi. The foundation stone of fort was laid down at ManekBurj in 1411. Square in form, enclosing an area of about forty-three acres, and containing 162 houses, the Bhadrafort had eight gates, three large (two in the east and one in the south-west corner), three middle-sized (two in the north and one in the south), and two are small gates (in the waste). The area within the fort had become occupied by urban developments by 1525. So a second fortification was built later by Mahmud Begada, the grandson of Ahmed Shah, with an outer wall 10 km in circumference and consisting of 12 gates, 189 bastions and over 6000 battlements as described in Mirat-i-Ahmadi. Almost 60 governors ruled Gujarat during the Mughal period including the future Mughal emperors Jahangir, Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb.
Places to watch in the Bhadra Fort