GOLCONDA, a fortress and ruined city of India, in the Nizam's Dominions, 5 m. W. of Hyderabad city. Golconda was the capital of a large and powerful kingdom of the Deccan, ruled by the Kutb Shahi dynasty, founded in 1512 by a Turkoman adventurer on the downfall of the Bahmani dynasty, but the city was subdued by Aurangzeb in 1687, and annexed to the Delhi empire. The fortress of Golconda, on a granite ridge, is ex tensive and strong, and contains many enclosures, but is com manded by the summits of the enormous and massive mausolea of the ancient kings about 600 yd. distant. These buildings form a vast group in an arid, rocky desert. Time and man have damaged them, but they have recently been repaired. Golconda has given its name in English literature to the diamonds which were found in other parts of the dominions of the Kutb Shahi dynasty, and cut at Golconda.