Kakatiya Castles: Ancient Architecture

I've had a question about the castle architecture shown in the Throne of Orugallu poster I shared recently. I used a fairly generic castle style in the background, which is closer to German designs. For the game itself I intend to show Indian castle architecture.

Throne of Orugallu game poster

There aren't many examples of South Indian castles remaining from that period. One is Mudgal Fort, built by the Seuna kingdom and used by the Kakatiyas, Padmanayakas and even the Vijayanagar kingdom. It was mostly destroyed in their wars with the Delhi Sultanate, however there are some remarkable structures still remaining.

Mudgal fort. Photo credit: Kumar Buradikatti

Another example is Warangal Fort, located in Orugallu (now called Warangal) itself. Some gateways and building fragments of an inner temple remain, as do the stone walls around the fort perimeter. But the buildings within have long since been destroyed.

Warangal Fort temple. Photo credit: Manish Makwana

Warangal Fort perimeter wall. Photo credit: Manish Makwana

Forts and castles of this period seem to have served a similar role to European castles of the same period. They were bastions of defense, allowing a handful of soldiers to last against much larger armies that lacked heavy seige weapons. Narrow windows and crenellated battlements allowed archers to fire on attackers. Walls were surrounded by wide and deep moats. Gatehouses were complex, funnelling any attackers through easily defended passageways.

Warangal Fort was continuously expanded by Kakatiya rulers with higher stone walls, and an outer earthen wall with a large moat. However we must use our imaginations to understand what this would have looked like, at the peak of the Kakatiya kingdom.

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