Unfortunately, there is dearth of authentic source material dealing with forts and fortifications reflecting the military architecture of India. Inspite of its abundant wealth, save few reports here and there in the Memoirs of Archaeological Survey of India and District Gazzetteers and few publications on the subject (viz) Forts of India by Verma, Amrit (1985); Forts of India by Fass, Virginia (1986) and Defence Architecture of Early Karnataka by S.K. Joshi (1985), which appeared in recent years. However, in the case of A.P., inspite of its being rich in the remains of forts--on the plains, river banks and hill tops, no such work appeared till now. In this context comes the book Forts of Andhra Pradesh, which emphasises on this much neglected aspect in the architectural and historical studies of Andhra Pradesh. It attempts to critically examine the rise and evolution of forts coupled with the concept of defence and classification of forts based mainly on the data available in archaeological excavations, extant remains, literary texts both Sanskrit and Telugu and local records from pre-state to state societies in Andhra Desa. The book also examines the nature and functional role of the forts in ancient and medieval periods in the context of contemporary trends of warfare and the way how the forts evolved themselves taking into account, the methods of attack and defence and the different kinds of weapons and strategies employed in warfare.

The book also furnishes an interesting account of the system of organizing and maintenance of forts during different periods, i.e. the different officers employed, the taxes levied etc.