Forts constructed by the British

With the advent of the East India Company, the British established trading posts along the coast. The need for security against local rajas as well as other European rival nations led to the construction of forts at each post.

Mumbai fort, Fort William in Kolkata, Fort St George in Chennai were the main bastions constructed. These cities developed from the small townships outside the forts.

 Parsimony of the East India Company, non-availability of trained engineers and use of local materials and artisans resulted in the simple design and construction initially.

The vulnerability of these earlier forts, hostilities with the French and the growing might of the Company resulted in stronger and more complex designs for the second round of construction, the design of Fort St George reflecting the influences of the French engineer Vauban

Current state

Although no Indian forts were destroyed by sudden disasters, there are several which were abandoned due to the ambitions of their rulers and have consequently deteriorated over time.

Very few castles have survived unchanged since the early Middle Ages or even since the 14th-15th centuries: most of those built in the 10th-15th centuries were later rebuilt and altered.

Castles were still used as living quarters until the 19th-20th centuries, and so were continually modified. Even now, some of them are private property.