Rohtas Fort, Rajouri
About Rohtas Fort
History
Sur period
The origin of the fort goes back to the Sur dynasty, where emperor Sher Shah Suri ordered the fort to be constructed after his victory over the Mughal emperor Humayun. Construction of the fort began in 1541. It was made primarily as a defense against the Mughals .
Mughal period
The fort was soon ceded to Mughal emperor Humayun in 1555, after the local governor, Tatar Khan Khasi, deserted the fort ahead of the Mughal army's advances.The fort lost much of its significance as the fort's purpose of subduing pro-Mughal Gakhar tribesmen, as well as the preventing the return of Emperor Humayun, was no longer required. Further, the construction of the nearby Attock Fort in the 1580s by the Emperor Akbar better served Mughal interests. Rohtas Fort, ironically, came to serve as capital of the Gakhar tribes that it had initially been designed to subdue, and was not required as a military garrison as the local Gakhar tribes remained loyal to the Mughal crown.
Sikh Empire period
The fort remained in use during the Mughal era, and was used almost continuously until 1707, though it was not popular with the Mughal rulers. The Afsharid ruler Nadir Shah camped at the fort during his attack on the Mughal Empire. Also the Afghan chieftain Ahmed Shah Abdali had used the fort in his expeditions in the Punjab during the waning days of the Mughal empire.In 1825, the Sikh forces of Gurmukh Singh Lamba conquered the fort from the Gakhar chieftain Nur Khan. Rohtas was also thereafter used for administrative purposes by the Sikh Empire until its collapse by the British in 1849.
Architecture
This fort was built in a style that draws from Turkish, Middle Eastern, and South Asian artistic traditions.