(Photos) Plate 9. Elevation of a Capital of a Column in Temple of Nilkanth

Plate 9. Elevation of a Capital of a Column in Temple of Nilkanth

Pencil drawing by Frederick Charles Maisey, of the capital of a column in the temple of Nilkanth in the fort of Kalinjar. This drawing is taken from an album of 60 drawings, dated 1847-1854.Kalinjar, one of the oldest hill forts in India, occupies a remote site on the last spur of the Vindhya Mountains above the Gangetic Valley, a plateau 375 metres high. The site was originally a revered hill shrine later fortified and occupied by successive generations of invaders.

From the 9th to the 12th centuries it was a stronghold of the Chandellas. In 1023 Mahmud of Ghazni attempted to seize the fortress but failed. In 1203 Kalinjar fell to the Muslims under Qutub-ud-Din Aybak who defeated the last of the Chandella rajas, Parmadideva.

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