why were forts built

The ditch was extremely vulnerable to bombardment with explosive shells. [29], The walls of Benin are described as the world's second longest man-made structure, as well as the most extensive earthwork in the world, by the Guinness Book of Records, 1974. In ancient Greece, large stone walls had been built in Mycenaean Greece, such as the ancient site of Mycenae (famous for the huge stone blocks of its 'cyclopean' walls). Instead of a supposedly impenetrable defensive line, such fortifications emphasized defence in depth, so that as defenders were forced to pull back or were overrun, the lines of defenders behind them could take over the defence. In that era people knew the importance of water and had devised a number of techniques to manage and conserve water resources. Castles are fortifications which are regarded as being distinct from the generic fort or fortress in that they are a residence of a monarch or noble and command a specific defensive territory. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Thus such terrain had to be defended at all cost. Wisdom does not mean having lot of knowledge. Castles are fortifications which are regarded as being distinct from the generic fort or fortress in that it describes a residence of a monarch or noble and commands a specific defensive territory. Its name is Kangra Fort and there is Goddess Vajreshwari temple in the fort; you will get to visit it during road journey from Dharamshala to Jammu. Notable Chinese city walls include the city walls of Hangzhou, Nanjing, the Old City of Shanghai, Suzhou, Xi'an and the walled villages of Hong Kong. An example of this is the massive medieval castle of Carcassonne. The guns, however, were often mounted in open emplacements and protected only by a parapet; both in order to keep a lower profile and also because experience with guns in closed casemates had seen them put out of action by rubble as their own casemates were collapsed around them. The Early Middle Ages saw the creation of some towns built around castles. The Igorots built forts made of stone walls that averaged several meters in width and about two to three times the width in height around 2000 BC.[23]. It enhances good reading habit because as... As the world has become more and more vulnerable to pandemic like Covid-19, climate change, natural disasters, wars, water shortage, gender bias, education, and malnutrition and economically weaker sections increasing we can only wish that more and more women come forward and take charge of more and more nations in world as empathetic leadership is need of the hour. After World War II, ICBMs capable of reaching much of the way around the world were developed, and so speed became an essential characteristic of the strongest militaries and defenses. The well-organized defenders, the sinking of confederate morale, and poor weather conditions caused the siege to end in a fiasco. Others, such as The Flat below Fort Griffin, Scabtown near Fort McKavett, and Mobeetie beside Fort Elliott, enjoyed only a brief heyday, eventually losing their populations to other regional centers. The Encyclopedia of World History: ancient, medieval, and modern, chronologically arranged By Peter N. Stearns, William Leonard Langer. For example, in the raid on Surat, then it was a key Mughal power centre, and a wealthy port town which generated a million rupees in taxes. It referred to stockades, palisades, blockhouses, redoubts, redans(v-shaped projections from a fortified line), detached works, rifle and artillery batteries, flèches (detached v-shaped defensive works in an open field), garrisons, outposts or camps, and even castles and fortresses. Fort George. Join now. The castles and forts of Ghana constitute treasures par excellence, a legacy of the historic past as much to modern Ghana and Africa as to the world at large. Prefabricated positions can be made from concrete culvert sections. It isn’t known why it was abandoned but archaeologists are grateful, as it reveals how hillforts were built. Conventionally forts were built to ensure a safe and secure human settlement, to keep the enemy far away and to ensure having an upper hand during war. The construction of the fort was delegated to Moropant Pingale, who later became Shivaji’s Peshwa, and Hiroji Indulkar, the architect. Conventionally forts were built to ensure a safe and secure human settlement, to keep the enemy far away and to ensure having an upper hand during war. Canada boasts a wide variety of forts … Yorubaland for example had several sites surrounded by the full range of earthworks and ramparts seen elsewhere, and sited on ground. Named the "Great Wall of Brodgar" it was four metres thick and four metres tall. Inner defenses were laid out to blunt an enemy penetration with a maze of defensive walls allowing for entrapment and crossfire on opposing forces. Worse, the large open ditches surrounding forts of this type were an integral part of the defensive scheme, as was the covered way at the edge of the counter scarp. In classical era Greece, the city of Athens built two parallel stone walls, called the Long Walls, that reached their fortified seaport at Piraeus a few miles away. Shivaji Maharaj was ahead of his times, he then knew the importance of securing the coastlines, even if the Europeans and their material try to enter from the Eastern coast or the Western coast, they would first have to go through the Maratha check posts. In the Kingdom of Kongo field fortifications were charactarized by trenches and low earthen embankments. The tanks are rock-cut cisterns that accumulate and store rainwater. When a defensive line was too extensive to be entirely bypassed, massive offensive might could be massed against one part of the line allowing a breakthrough, after which the rest of the line could be bypassed. A ditch around the outside of the fort added an extra level of security. It reached its largest extent during the late La Tène period (late 2nd century BC), when it had a size of 380 hectares. These efforts not only met the drinking water needs of the people, but also helped the survival of livestock and agriculture in areas where perennial rivers were absent and the population depended on rains and often faced water scarcity or droughts. And, the general section of articles on my blog relate to my interests in life. While formidable in construction, many of these strongpoints failed because Ashanti guns, gunpowder and bullets were poor, and provided little sustained killing power in defense. Just as people are known by their names, brands also are named. There are also extensive fortifications from this era in the Nordic states and in Britain, the fortifications of Berwick-upon-Tweed and the harbour archipelago of Suomenlinna at Helsinki being fine examples. In the 1930s and 1940s, some fortifications were built with designs taking into consideration the new threat of aerial warfare, for example Fort Campbell in Malta. Because of this it was often easier to go around a fortification and, with the rise of mobile warfare in the beginning of World War II, this became a viable offensive choice. The word fortification can also refer to the practice of improving an area's defense with defensive works. He built forts for three prime reasons: first is to establish the empire in the region, to sustain it and expand it. Great warrior kings spent their riches, and energy in building forts, be it the Romans, be it the Pathans, be it the Marathas, the warriors built forts. Of all the buildings within the 67-acre city, only one building, the San Agustin Church, survived the war. European militaries considered fortifications before the First World War as vital to their strategic planning. Maintaining the forts was crucial; Maharaj and his army would raid on various cities like Surat and raise money. Guard Towers provide increased field of view but a lower level of protection. [32][33] The strength of the defensive line in an area varied according to how rapidly an attacking force could progress in the terrain that was being defended—both the terrain the defensive line was built on and the ground behind it that an attacker might hope to break out into. Their forts tended to consist of large rectangular compounds built from either wood or stone. Missile silos were developed, so missiles could be fired from the middle of a country and hit cities and targets in another country, and airplanes (and air carriers) became major defenses and offensive weapons (leading to an expansion of the use of airports and airstrips as fortifications). Learn how and when to remove this template message, Spanish Colonial Fortifications of the Philippines, Real Fuerza de Nuestra Señora del Pilar de Zaragoza, Venetian Works of Defence between the 16th and 17th centuries: Stato da Terra – western Stato da Mar, "The Defence of Places: Fortifications as Architecture [part 1]", "Bulgaria claims to find Europe's oldest town", "Europe's oldest prehistoric town unearthed in Bulgaria", "Organization of neolithic settlements:house construction", "Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Tourism | Sesklo", "The Ness of Brodgar Excavations – The 'Great Wall of Brodgar, "Die Heuneburg an der oberen Donau: Die Siedlungsstrukturen", "Erforschung und Geschichte der Heuneburg", "Aggressive architecture, Fortifications of the Indus valley in the Mature Harappan phase", "15 Most Intense Archaeological Discoveries in Philippine History", Ancient and Pre-Spanish Era of the Philippines, "Sultan of the River: The Rise and Fall of Datu Uto of Buayan", "Two thousand years of West African history", "Sarzana and Sarzanello – Transitional Design and Renaissance Designers", "Colonial City of Santo Domingo. But the fact is that the diversity in my career has strengthened me as a person and definitely enhanced my skills. The rajas of mahajanapadas build forts due to the following reasons: For protection purposes as people were afraid of attacks from other kings and needed protection. 2,40,000! Steel-and-concrete fortifications were common during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Can you imagine, those days revenue was also generated through import and export? Military airfields offer a fixed "target rich" environment for even relatively small enemy forces, using hit-and-run tactics by ground forces, stand-off attacks (mortars and rockets), air attacks, or ballistic missiles. 1. Some of these fortifications were over a hundred yard long, with heavy parallel tree trunks. Another example are the fortifications of Rhodes which were frozen at 1522 so that Rhodes is the only European walled town that still shows the transition between the classical medieval fortification and the modern ones.[38]. Munition storage follows safety rules which use fortifications (bunkers and bunds) to provide protection against accident and chain reactions (sympathetic detonations). In Britain, this lasted from roughly 2,800 years ago to the Roman invasion 1,900 years ago. I am a creative individual; I write because I have the urge to translate expressions of life. Every job taught me something or the other. rammed earth) walls were built in ancient China since the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1050 BC); the capital at ancient Ao had enormous walls built in this fashion (see siege for more info). [16] Forts also appeared in urban cities of the Gangetic valley during the second urbanisation period between 600–200 BC, and as many as 15 fortification sites have been identified by archaeologists throughout the Gangetic valley, such as Kaushambi, Mahasthangarh, Pataliputra, Mathura, Ahichchhatra, Rajgir, and Lauria Nandangarh. The art of setting out a military camp or constructing a fortification traditionally has been called "castrametation" since the time of the Roman legions. As of now, India has approximately more than 1000 forts. The term "fort" had a broad meaning in the North American colonies. The easiest course to cross the Atlantic from Europe to the Americas was to go south to the coast of Africa; place your ship in the dependable trade winds and sail due west to the Caribbean. These forts have This is a single tower fort which was built originally in 1612 to guard the north shore at … The locals were benefited by employment generation, markets grew and a sense of security prevailed. I truly believe that education is interdisciplinary; therefore I have successfully guided 15 students for their PhD degree across various sectors in business management which includes a broad base of research coursework coupled with an area of specialization. The walls and bastions were constructed only at key places. 1996 Architectural Press. At … Gone were citadels surrounding towns: forts were to be moved to the outside of the cities some 12 km to keep the enemy at a distance so their artillery could not bombard the city center. The art/science of laying siege to a fortification and of destroying it is commonly called siegecraft or siege warfare and is formally known as poliorcetics. The geographical location of his forts had an additional advantage. I write on various management topics, research, news and higher education for students. Architecture. The ample lumber, fishing, and farmland lured more and more people to the mild climate of the Northwest. The Muslim Filipinos of the south built strong fortresses called kota or moong to protect their communities. This was employed in later wars against the British to block British advances. The ditch became deep and vertically sided, cut directly into the native rock or soil, laid out as a series of straight lines creating the central fortified area that gives this style of fortification its name. Join now. The Ivatan people of the northern islands of Batanes built their so-called idjang on hills and elevated areas[22] to protect themselves during times of war. They built forts to use as trading outposts and provide supplies for fur traders. Key targets – aircraft, munitions, fuel, and vital technical personnel – can be protected by fortifications. I love meeting people, reading, travelling, listening to music, cooking, gardening, teaching, writing. Even a small town – for instance, Kotada Bhadli, exhibiting sophisticated fortification-like bastions – shows that nearly all major and minor towns of the Indus Valley Civilization were fortified. These kotas were usually made of stone and bamboo or other light materials and surrounded by trench networks. Rural Retail Promises Growth Roman strongholds were built by a specialist corp that included a chief engineer; much of the manual work was undertaken by soldiers. One of the key challenges is the dowry practice; the bride’s family giving gifts of cash and kind to the groom and his family. Blogging has been a recent addition and am loving it. It is interesting to note that in medieval India, the practice of burying humans either dead or alive in the foundations of fort walls was carried on; this was to ensure stability of the fort. The Sinhagad literally in English known as the Lion’s Fort was strategically built to provide natural protection due to its very steep slopes. Star forts did not fare well against the effects of high explosive, and the intricate arrangements of bastions, flanking batteries and the carefully constructed lines of fire for the defending cannon could be rapidly disrupted by explosive shells. Sinhagad was previously known as Kondhana, the fort had been the site of many battles, most notably the 1670 battle. On the ground itself, minefields have been used as hidden defences in modern warfare, often remaining long after the wars that produced them have ended. For example, the battle of the Hurtgen Forest in Germany during the closing stages of World War II is an excellent example of how difficult terrain could be used to the defenders' advantage. Because the mobile offensives practised by both sides usually focused on avoiding the strongest points of a defensive line, these defences were usually relatively thin and spread along the length of a line. Thus the defensive line could be relatively thin because the bulk of the fighting power of the defenders was not concentrated in the line itself but rather in the mobile reserves. At Bien Hoa South Vietnam on the morning of 16 May 1965, as aircraft were being re-fuelled and armed, a chain reaction explosion destroyed 13 aircraft, killed 34 personnel, and injured over 100; this, along with damage and losses of aircraft to enemy attack (by both infiltration and stand off attacks), led to the construction of revetments and shelters to protect aircraft throughout South Vietnam. Defending tanks and tank destroyers would be concentrated in mobile brigades behind the defensive line. In 1652 the Swedes built a lodge in Accra and in 1660 it was seized by the Dutch. The smoke from musket shot and canon fire had barely cleared on the Culloden battlefield when plans for the greatest fortress in Britain were … When I look back at my career, in some jobs I excelled, in some I continued with odds. When the bastion was finished Esaji Naik was given possession of the fort and the father of the sacrificed boy was rewarded with two villages. "Fort" is the word used in India for all old fortifications. Aircraft can be protected by revetments, Hesco barriers, or hardened aircraft shelters which will protect from many types of attack. The first homes were built along the east side of the fort … Advancements in weapons technology after the mid-19 th century caused engineers to upgrade their forts or face obsolescence. Be stored in small fortified expense stores closer to the aircraft always.! Sun dried bricks became well-known for Sam Peltzman 's supposition about mandating the use seatbelts... 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