Life is Beautiful, Live it the fullest
Enroute from Aurangabad to Paithan in Maharashtra State, India. This is quite a common site when driving around rural India. Because such long trains of bullock carts hamper other vehicular traffic and cause backups, our first impression is to curse them out, “why can’t they just stay off the road?” Continue reading “Transporting Sugarcane by Bullock Carts”
These pics continue from my previous post on visiting the Daulatabad Fort at Deogiri and the related post on the beautiful bullock cartstransporting sugarcane to the mills. I loved them so much, they had to get their own post. You can see larger versions of these on my photo-blog Arun Eyes … this wondrous life just to showcase my favorite pics. Continue reading “School Girls at Daulatabad Fort, Deogiri”
Daulatabad, previously known as Deogiri (Hill of Gods), was founded by Raja Bhillama of the Yadava dynasty in the 11th century of the current era. Raja Bhillama renounced his allegiance to the Chalukyas, and after victorious campaigns against neighbors, retained control of the strategic Deccan with his capital at Deogiri.
Having heard of the wealth of the land, Alauddin Khilji marched down, destroyed the town and laid siege to the fort in 1294. After a 3-week stand-off, Raja Ramachandra Deva surrendered on payment of a record tribute which had to be carted off on elephants and camels. The tribute was believed to include 54,000 lbs of gold, 560 lbs of pearls, 160 lbs of precious stones, silver, silk and adjacent towns. This was the first time Muslims had penetrated as far south as the Deccan. Fresh with booty, Alauddin schemed and murdered his uncle Jalauddin Khilji and ascended the throne in Delhi in 1296. And a few years later Alauddin would lust after Padmini, ending tragically in the massacre at Chittor. Continue reading “Visiting the Daulatabad Fort at Deogiri”
Arun Shanbhag 