The ruins of the once glorious forts in Nirmal district headquarters town are like a teaser to students of history and archaeology as they hide much more of its civilisational history than they reveal. Every crumbling part of these forts, like the arch of the main entrance of the Shamgarh Fort and the stone cross-bar at the main entrance of Battisgarh Fort, takes away with it some aspect related with the conversion of the desolate rocky hills into a place bustling with human activity, 17th century onwards.
There is hardly any ‘scientific’ study on Nirmal town of yore which can given an insight into resource management especially its water systems which, incidentally can still be made functional. All the forts were built on rocky hills on a higher altitude and around water bodies.
The tanks not only irrigated the lands but provided for some kind of natural protection to the fortifications. All the forts had wells dug inside the ramparts which, curiously, never dried up despite being located on high rocky ground.
Cannon foundries
So far, detailed studies have been made on Nirmal’s cannon foundries by historian S. Jaikishan belonging to the Hyderabad-based NGO, Deccan Archaeological and Cultural Research Institute. On history, retired teacher from Nirmal town, Ankam Ramulu has written a book titled Nirmal Charitra (History of Nirmal) besides several newspaper articles mostly by history enthusiasts.
The need for more information about Nirmal’s history and related aspects was highlighted by Rangu Laxmi Narahari, a goldsmith from the temple town of Dharmapuri in Jagtial district who visited the Battisgarh Fort ruins on New Year day. “More knowledge about the fort and the structures inside would have helped us understand the design and the rationale behind such a design,” he observed standing among the rocks inside the main entrance of the fort.
Need protection
Kadari Ravinder, a government teacher, who had also come to the fort the same day echoed the sentiment and wanted in depth studies to be conducted by the government. “We should learn of our history and protect these monuments,” he asserted.
Despite having written the history of Nirmal town based on his personal researches starting 1977-78 which includes interviews with centenarian retired teacher T. Narayana and referring a Parsi document at Hyderabad’s State Library, Mr. Ramulu also says a proper study on the use of resources is the need of the hour. According to him, the town had 13 tanks supplying water, which can become a subject of a study.
