The fort though its fortifications is impressive and the fort contains some fabulous examples of early Indo-Islamic architecture, it is practically unheard of, even in Maharashtra, or in the surrounding states, which have no shortage of spectacular forts or forgotten histories. Originally, it was called Yeral, and belonged to the Bahmani Sultans, who established a Turkic-Persian Shia Muslim kingdom in South India in the 14th and 15th centuries, long before the Mughal empire came to being. It became a part of the Mughal empire, and was later incorporated into the dominions of the Nizams of Hyderabad. The Nizams were vassals of the Mughals who declared independence at some point. In the early 20th century, the Nizam was reputed to be the richest man on earth. While the fort is no stranger to action over its long and complicated history, its last known strategic use was in 1947 when the Government of India forcibly and controversially occupied the princely state of Hyderabad, using the excuse that overwhelming majority of his subjects were Hindu, when the Nizam refused to accede to the Indian Union or join Pakistan, and declared Independence.