Gooty, Guntakal, Raichur

The dust in the air makes for riotous sunsets, best viewed from the Kurla Express as it meanders through the land -- the last one I remember of this vividness was in Tucson.

The fortress rock at Gooty is about 2200 ft. above the sea level. The Gooty fortress was a stronghold of the Marathas, but was taken from them by Hyder Ali; in 1789 Tipu Sultan ceded it to the Nizam of Hyderabad. In 1800 the Nizam ceded the district of Anantapur with certain other areas to the East India Company in lieu for protective British forces.