History · Ch 7 — An Imperial Capital: Vijayanagara
Fortifications and roads
Fortifications and roads
The entire city of Vijayanagara was defined by its fortifications — not just walls around a palace, but a layered system that enclosed fields, forests, and hills. Before looking at any individual structure, it is essential to understand how these fortifications shaped the city and its defences.
The outer fortifications
Abdur Razzaq, a Persian ambassador who visited in the fifteenth century, recorded that the city was protected by seven lines of forts. These did not merely surround the urban core; they encircled the agricultural hinterland and forests as well. The outermost wall connected the hills that ringed the city.
The construction technique was distinctive. The walls were built of massive masonry, slightly tapered (wider at the base, narrower at the top) for stability. No mortar or cement was used. Instead, the stone blocks were wedge-shaped, so they locked together under their own weight. The inner portion of the walls was filled with earth packed with rubble. Square or rectangular bastions projected outward at intervals, allowing defenders to fire along the wall's face.
The most significant feature of this fortification was that it enclosed agricultural tracts — fields, gardens, and houses lay between the first, second, and third walls. Abdur Razzaq explicitly noted this, and the Portuguese traveller Paes confirmed it, describing rice fields and gardens watered by two lakes.
Why enclose farmland?
Medieval sieges often aimed to starve a city into surrender. Sieges could last months or even years. Most rulers built large granaries inside the fort to store food. The Vijayanagara rulers adopted a more expensive and elaborate strategy: they protected the agricultural belt itself, so that even under siege, the city could grow its own food. This is why the outermost walls enclosed not just buildings but cultivated land.
Inner lines of defence
- A second line of fortification surrounded the inner core of the urban complex.
- A third line surrounded the royal centre.
- Within the royal centre, each major building or complex had its own high walls.
Gateways and roads
The fort was entered through well-guarded gates, which connected the city to its major roads. Gateways were not just functional; they were distinctive architectural features that often defined the structures they led into. The arch on the gateway and the dome over the gate are regarded as typical features of Indo-Islamic architecture — a style introduced by Turkish Sultans that grew through interaction with local building practices. …
Figure 7.6 shows a photograph of a single gateway built into the fortification wall of Vijayanagara. The gateway is arched and topped with a dome. This combination — an arch for the entrance and a dome above it — is what the textbook identifies as a typical feature of Indo-Islamic architecture, a style introduced by the Turkish Sultans and later adapted in different regions of India.
The photograph is placed in the section on fortifications and roads, right after the text explains that gateways were distinctive architectural features that often defined the structures they regulated access to. The caption directly links the visual to that point: the arch and dome are not just decorative; they are architectural signatures that signal the cultural and historical influences at work in Vijayanagara's construction. …
Figure 7.7 is a straightforward photograph of a single temple gopuram — the towering, elaborately decorated gateway that stands at the entrance of a South Indian temple complex. The caption simply reads "A gopuram", and the image is placed in the textbook to give you a visual reference for this distinctive architectural form.
The photograph shows a multi-storeyed, pyramidal tower that rises high above the temple's entrance. Its sides are covered with rows of stucco figures — gods, goddesses, mythical creatures, and attendants — painted in bright colours. The gopuram narrows as it goes up, ending in a barrel-vaulted roof with a finial (a kalasha or pot-like ornament) at the top. At the base, you can see a large, rectangular doorway with wooden doors, often studded with iron spikes. The structure is built of stone for the lower part and brick and mortar for the upper storeys, which is typical of Vijayanagara gopurams. …