When Jack and Tal became Jagtial

This is the place where Naxalism first took birth in Andhra Pradesh. The farmers movement here during 1978 was the trigger for the rise of  the Naxals. This is also the place where two French engineers built a fort in the form of a European castle.

Though the fort is in ruins now, it is worth a visit for its eccentricity and star-shaped formation.

This is the Jagtial fort in Karimnagar district of  Andhra Pradesh. It closely resembles a European castle since it was constructed in collaboration with French engineers during the reign of Nawab Ibrahim Khan, a Governor of the Mughals.

The two French engineers, Jack and Tal began construction of what would become the only star shaped fort in India and the only structure to be totally modeled on European design.

The name of the fort and the town over years slowly came to be known as Jacktal and then Jagital or Jagityala as is written in Telugu.

The fort was built with stones and lime and it had a moa al round that was filled with water.  The entrance gate which has made with wood was disappeared.

At the entrance of the fort is a big mosque dating back to the time of the Nizam Shahi dynasty of Golconda. It was built during the early years of the 19th century. It is called the Jamia Masjid.

There are several cannons in the fort and in one of them is inscribed in Urdu the name of  Mohammad Khasim. The Burz on the fort had many cannons placed on it and Khasim is credited with building several of them.

He was also the clock repairer of the clock tower in Chowmallah Palace in Hyderabad.

The office of the Tahsildar and the court building in Jagtial also is of historic importance. In the heart of the town is the four-faced clock tower. It was built in earlier part of  the 18th century A.D., by Nizam's minister Khasim Razvi.

The tower has four big clocks on each of its four directions. It is still functioning.
Raikal, which is 22 km from Jagtial, is known for the Thrikutal temple constructed during the Kakatiya period. The small town of Kotilingalu which is 32 kms from Jagtial was the capital of the Kakatiyas before they shifted it to Warangal.

Other places of interest nearby are Vemulawada (35 miles), Dharmapuri (20 miles) and Kondagattu (14 miles). All these places have well-known temples