Gates in Aurangabad, Maharashtra

One of the things that made Aurangabad stand out from several other medieval cities in India was its 52 "gates", each of which had a local history or had individuals linked with it. Aurangabad is known as the "City of Gates".

Out of the 52, only four main and nine subordinate gates have survived, the most famous, oldest and biggest of them being the Bhadkal Gate near the Naukhanda Palace of Nizams.

Aurangabad city walls

When Aurangzeb made Aurangabad his capital, there were 54 suburbs which were walled in the city itself, the chief of these were Begumpura and Aurangpura.

During Khan Jahan's second viceroyalty, Aurangzeb built a wall round the city in 1682, to protect it from the incursions of the Marathas; and in 1696 he erected a similar fortified wall for Begumpura. The city wall is terraced, and is of solid masonry, but of no great height, being in many parts not more than fourteen feet. The battlements are loop-holed, and the merlins over the gateways and at certain places along the wall, are machicolated; while semi-circular bastions surmounted by towers, occur at each flanking angle, and at regular intervals along the works. The wall is pierced with thirteen gateways, exclusive of a small postern wicket, and its total length is a little over six miles. All gates barring one are associated with Aurangzeb.

The four principal entrances face the cardinal points, and consist of the Delhi gate in the north, the Jalna gate in the east, the Paithan gate in the south, and the Mecca gate in the west.

Besides these, there are the Jaffar, Khirki, Barapul, Mahmud and Roshan gates; as well as four others, now closed, the Khizri, Khadgar, Mada, and Kumhar. The Barapul had also been walled up for some time.

Bhadkal Gate is a building in Aurangabad City, India. This gate is the biggest gate of city. It was built by Ahmadnagar's, Murtaza Nizamshah's Vazir Malik Ambar. It was built in memory of victory against Mughal in 1612. It is also known as victory gate. Bhadkal Gate has unique architectural style. It is India's first column structural Building.

The largest and the most stately, it was built by Aurangzeb. It is situated to the north of the city facing Delhi. It is similar to Lahore gate of Delhi’s Lal Quila (Red Fort).

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