Rawat Fort

                           Rawat Fort

Rawat fort is located in Pothohar Pakistan. The fort was built in early 16th century by Gakhars, a tribe of the Pothohar plateau. It is 17 km east of Rawalpindi on Grand Trunk Road.
The fort was the scene of a battle between the Gakhar chief Sultan Sarang Khan and Sher Shah Sari in 1546 AD.
Main Gate of the Fort
The fort is almost in square form and has two gates. It contains a mosque made up of three big dome shaped rooms. There is also a quadrangular building with a dome. Along the wall there are additional small rooms. In the center of the fort there are many graves. Among them is the tomb of Sultan Sarang Khan. His 16 sons, who died there fighting, are also buried inside the fort.
Mankiala stupa can be seen from the roof of the mosque as it is few kilometers from here.

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Muzaffarabad Fort

                    
Muzaffarabad fort


Border skirmishes between the armies of renowned Mughal The Great Akbar and the Chak rulers of Kahsmir were common. To ensure safety of the people, and the land, the Chaks realized to raise defense posts and efficiently countered the offensives.
During the year 1949 the construction of the red fort was undertaken. It was finally completed by Sultan Muzaffar Khan the founder of Muzaffarabad city during 1646. When the Mughals overtook the Kahsmir rule, this fort lost its importance. The Mughals were more interested in Kabul, Bokhara and Badakshan. During the Durrani rule the fort again came into limelight and its importance was rediscovered.
Maharaja Gulab Signh and Ranbir Singh, the Dogra rulers, reconstructed and extended the fort for political and military operations. Towards the end of 1947 the Dogra forces filed away leaving the fort wide open to anybody.
The architectonics of the fort show that great experts in design and structure participated in its construction. It is surrounded on three sides by Neelum river formally known as Kishan Ganga. The northern part had terraces with steps leading to the bank of the river. The Eastern side of the fort was very well protected from the hazards of flood waters but some parts in the north were slightly damaged. There was an inn at the entry of the fort which has traces left now.

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Multan fort

                                  Multan fort



 Multan Fort was built on a mound separating it from the city by the old bed of river Ravi. Its date cannot be fixed with accuracy. When intact, its circumference was 6,600 ft. having 46 bastions, including two towers at each of the four gates i.e., Delhi Gate, Khizri Gate,  Sikhi Gate and Rehri Gate. The fort was ravaged by the British to avenge the murder of one Mr. Agnew in 1848. At present it is survived by some parts of the old rampart and bastions besides the shrines of Hazrat Bahauddin Zakaria and Shah Rukn-e-Alam, an obelisk in memory of Agnew and a Hindu temple. The famous Qasim Bagh and a stadium are located within the walls of the fort. A panoramic view of Multan City can be had from the highest point in the fort.
There is no Fort now as it was destroyed by the British Garrison which was stationed there for a long time but the entire site is known as the Fort. The Fort site now looks as a part of the city because instead of the river it is now separated by a road which looks more like a bazaar and remains crowded throughout the day. Nobody knows when Multan Fort came into being but it was there and it was admired and desired by kings and emperors throughout centuries'.
It was considered as one of the best forts of the sub-continent from the defense as well as architectural points of view.
Description of the Multan Fort as recorded by John Dun top, who visited the city and the Fort on the eve of the British occupation in 1849 is reproduced below: "The Fort stands on the highest part of the mound on which the town is built it is an ancient formed by a hexagonal wall from forty to seventy feet high, the longest side of which faces the north-west and extends for 600 yards, and which isolates it from the town. A ditch twenty-five feet deep and forty feet wide is on the fort side of the wall, behind which is a glass exhibiting a face of some eighteen feet high, and so thick as to present an almost impregnable rocky mound. Within the fort, and on a very considerable elevation, stands the citadel, in itself of very great strength. The walls are flanked by thirty towers, and enclose numerous houses, mosques, a Hindu temple of high antiquity, and a Khan's palace, the beauty of which was severely damaged by the battering it got from the guns of Ranjeet Singh in 1818. This fortification is said to be more regular in construction than any other laid down by native engineers. Mr. Vans Agnew-the unfortunate political agent whose murder ,with that of his companion, Lieutenant Anderson, gave rise to the recent hostilities to the British Resident at Lahore, that he had seen many forts in India, but one that could compare with Moo
ltan the ramparts of which bristled with eighty pieces of ordnance". A correspondent of Bombay Times, who also visited the multan Fort around the same time recorded : "The Fortress was filled with stores to profusion. I think Mooltan is the beauideal of a Buneca's Fort, or rather fortified shop: Never perhaps in India have such depots existed of merchandise and arms, amalgamated as they with avarice. Here opium, indigo, salt, sulphur, and every known drug, are heaped in endless profusion-there apparently ancient in the bowels of the earth disclose their huge hoards of wheat and rice; here stacks of leathern ghee vessels, brimming with the grease, fill the pucka receptacles below ground. The silk and shawls reveal in darkness, bales rise on bales, here some mamoth chest discovering glittering scabbards of gold and gems-there reveals tiers of copper cansters crammed with gold Mohurs: My pen cannot describe the variety of wealth displayed to the inquisitive eyes". Once this was the position of the Multan Fort but during the British occupation everything was lost an finished forever. With the passage of time the British stronghold over India grew stronger and stronger, and the importance of multan was lost gradually. The multan Fort and other important historical places deteriorated slowly and sadly turned into ruins.

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Qila Bala Hisar

                  Qila Bala Hisar

Bala Hisar Fort is one of the most historic places of Peshawar. The word Bala Hisar is from Persian, meaning, “elevated or high fort”. According to Dr. Hussain Khan, the name was given by the Afghan King Timur Shah Durrani (1773–1793). The Sikhs who conquered Peshawar in the early 19th century named it Samir Garh in 1834 but the name did not become popular.
The Fort has been the headquarters of the Frontier Corps since 1949.

    * 1 Design
    * 2 History
    * 3 Sumergarh
    * 4 References
    * 5 External links

 Design

The fort stands on a high mound in the northwestern corner of Peshawar City. Not long ago, the fort used to be conspicuously away from the old city of Peshawar, but now the construction of new buildings has covered space between the old city and the fort. However, the fort's position on a high mound gives a commanding and panoramic view of Peshawar and the entire Peshawar valley. On a clear day, one can see the mountains encircling Peshawar valley and beyond. The area covered by the inner wall of the fort is about 10 acres (40,000 m2) and the outer wall is about 15 acres (61,000 m2). The height of the fort is about 90 feet (27 m) above ground level.

 History

Renowned historian Dr A.H. Dani in his book Peshawar-Historic City of Frontier writes that when Hiuen Tsang, a Chinese traveller, visited Peshawar in 630 AD, he spoke of a "royal residence".
He says that Chinese word "Kung Shing" used for its significance and is explained as fortified or walled portion of the town in which the royal palace stood.
Hiuen Tsang then makes a separate mention of the city, which was not fortified. This shows that the royal residence formed the nucleus of a Citadel, which must have been further protected by a moat.
Dr Dani further says that a channel of old Bara River surrounded by a high spot, which includes the Balahisar and Inder Shahr. The higher area could have been the citadel, which is the present Balahisar.
Peshawar has always been a strategic city and its capturing and ruling over it was of great importance for the invaders and kings.
"In the 11th century AD, the Hindu ruler, Raja Jaipal of the Hindushahi dynasty was defeated in the vicinity of Peshawar and Mehmud Ghaznavi garrisoned the fort with his army," says Dr Taj Ali. The British officers who visited Peshawar in the 19th century mentioned that the fort used to be a royal residence of Afghan rulers, he added.
The Balahisar has seen its construction and destruction by conquerors, warriors, invaders and kings on several occasions. After the overthrow of emperor Humayun by the Afghan King Sher Shah Suri, the Afghans destroyed the fort.
When Hamyun was staying in it he decided to rebuild it before proceeding to Kabul. He wanted to use the fort for his conquest of India at a later stage. As his officers did not want to stay back, Hamayun himself supervised the rebuilding of the fort, which was soon completed.
"The Afghan rulers named it "Balahisar" a Persian name meaning high fort while the Sikhs renamed and rebuilt it calling their fort "Sumergarh" in 1834 but the name did not become popular, says Dr Taj.
The fort was constructed on a mound with commanding view of the surrounding area including Shalimar gardens presently known as Jinnah Park towards its north. This gave more prominence and grandeur to the fort, he said.

Sumergarh

In the early nineteenth century, Peshawar was the summer capital of the Kingdom of Kabul and the Balahisar the residence of Afghan kings. The Sikhs fought and defeated the Kabul Barakzais in the Battle of Nowshera in early 1823. On conclusion of this battle, fought on the right bank river Indus, the Sikhs chased the retreating Afghans past Peshawar through the Khyber Pass.

The Sikhs followed this by the destruction of the Afghan Royal court and the Balahisar fort. In December 1823, the British spy Moorcroft found the fort "a heap of rubbish, and the only use made of it by the rulers of Peshawar was as a quarry from whence to procure materials for dwellings of their own erection".
Archival records show that soon after the occupation of Peshawar by the Sikhs in 1834, Hari Singh Nalwa commenced the reconstruction of the fort.[3] The Sikhs called their fort 'Sumair Ghar' (after 'Sumer' another name for Mount Kailash). The first Guru of the Sikhs, Guru Nanak Dev, had visited Mount Sumer in the course of his travels. Hari Singh Nalwa installed a plaque over the gate of the fort that read:
"This Sumair Garh was built in the city of Peshawar by the exalted Maharaja Ranjit Singh Bahadur in Raja Bikramjit Sambat 1891 with the blessing of Almighty God".

Ranjit Singh was greatly pleased when he visited the newly constructed fort for the first time on 16 May 1835.
The British reconstructed the outer walls of the Balahisar after the annexation of the Kingdom of the Sikhs in 1849. This Sikh fort continues to dominate the city of Peshawar in the twenty-first century.

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Bala Hisar Fort

                Bala Hisar Fort

Bala Hisar is a heavily-guarded fort that is located now centrally (in Old Peshawar it would have been in the north-western corner). It was built in the 16th century and has seen a long history through Mughal Emperors, the Sikhs and the British and has been destroyed and rebuilt again at least once. It is used today by Frontier Corps, or "fauji" as the locals call them.
All you need to do is look at Bala Hisar from afar to appreciate its beauty. Visually you can tell it has been around for centuries, and provides a majestic view over Peshawar and surrounding valley.
I had the privilege of being granted permission to enter Bala Hisar Fort and have a guide appointed - but I did this with a huge risk - they did NOT know that I was a foreigner.
Bala Hisar is only open to foreigners from a special letter of entry granted from the Ministry of Interior from Islamabad. My husband has a family member involved with the Government of NWFP and we were granted permission to enter due to the family contact. This is a very rare occurrence to be allowed in.
Beyond the gates is a steep road that winds up to the top. It is lush and green in there, with several buildings and what seem like rooms for the FC members to live in. There are multiple cannon look-out points that have an excellent view of the Fly-Over, Lady Reading Hospital and the city itself. It is pristinely quite on Bala Hisar, it makes you forget that 92 feet below is the constant hum of auto-rickshaws, horns, and pedestrians crossing the streets unwarily.
Our guide (who wishes to not be mentioned as it was a risk to his employment by allowing me take pictures and even be there) showed us the gallows room where criminals were hung - having being last used I believe in 1960 or so. The basement is the old "doctors room" where it is said the doctor would remove the recently hanged criminal and pronounce them dead and issue a certificate. This room is eerily cold and many guards say they hear sounds now and again.
In the center of the grassy area, stands a moderate sized exquisite mosque. It has a massive slab of marble situated outside and used for prayer when the mosque fills capacity inside. It was beautiful to watch a man pray so peacefully knowing that not far below us, was a bustling city on the old Silk Road.
A great end to my trip to Bala Hisar was the "Museum" they have. It is several rooms along a corridor. Each room has its own theme, some being "Generals of Pakistan", "recovered weapons", "Frontier Corps uniforms", etc. They finally have a Souvenir Room with some neat gift-type collectibles. I recommend the oldest picture of Bala Hisar taken, which you can purchase framed for 1000 Rs.

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Attock Fort

                 Attock Fort
Attock Khurd during the reign of Akbar the Great from 1581 to 1583 under the supervision of Khawaja Shamsuddin Khawafi to protect the passage of the Indus.
Attock (Attock Khurd) is a fort and small town in the Punjab  on the left or east bank of the Indus, 942 miles from the sea, and close below the place where it receives the water of the Kabol river, and first becomes navigable. The name, signifying obstacle, is supposed to have been given to it under the presumption that no scrupulous Hindo would proceed westward of it; but this strict principle, like many others of similar nature, is little acted on. Some state that the name was given by the Emperor Akbar, because he here found much difficulty in crossing the river. The river itself is at this place frequently by the natives called Attock. Here is a bridge, formed usually of from twenty to thirty boats, across the stream, at a spot where it is 537 feet wide. In summer, when the melting of the snows in the lofty mountains to the north raises the stream so that the bridge becomes endangered, it is withdrawn, and the communication is then effected by means of a ferry.
The banks of the river are very high, so that the enormous accession which the volume of water receives during inundation scarcely affects the breadth, but merely increases the depth. The rock forming the banks is of a dark-coloured slate, polished by the force of the stream, so as to shine like black marble. Between these, "one clear blue stream shot past." The depth of the Indus here is thirty feet in the lowest state, and between sixty and seventy in the highest, and runs at the rate of six miles an hour. There is a ford at some distance above the confluence of the river of Khabol; but the extreme coldness and rapidity of the water render it at all times very dangerous, and on the slightest inundation quite impracticable. The bridge is supported by an association of boatmen, who receive the revenue of a village allotted for this purpose by the Emperor Akbar, and a small daily pay as long as the bridge stands, and also levy a toll on all passengers.
On the right bank, opposite Attock, is Khyrabad—a fort built, according to some, by the Emperor Akbar, according to others by Nadir Shah. This locality is, in a military and commercial point of view, of much importance, as the Indus is here crossed by the great route which, proceeding from Kabol eastward through the Khyber Pass into the Punjab, forms the main line of communication between Afghanistan and Northern India. The river was here repeatedly crossed by the British armies, during the late military operations in Afghanistan; and here, according to the general opinion, Alexander, subsequently Timur, the Tartar conqueror, and, still later, Nadir Shah, crossed; but there is much uncertainty on these points.
The fortress was erected by the Emperor Akbar, in 1581 to command the passage; but, though strongly built of stone on the high and steep bank of the river, it could offer no effectual resistance to a regular attack, being commanded by the neighbouring heights. Its form is that of a parallelogram: it is 800 yards long and 400 wide. The population of the town, which is enclosed within the walls of the fort, is estimated at 2000.
It featured a prominent role in Afghan-Sikh Wars during the Battle of Attock. Today it is sandwiched between Peshawar Road on one side and the River Indus on the other.

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Muree hill station

              Muree hill station

Murree in the Punjab and its adjoining hill stations, mostly situated in the Frontier Province, provide a cool retreat in summer to the people of the Punjab and the Frontier Province, particularly to those living in Rawalpindi and Islamabad.Murree is the most developed of these hill stations and has cool climate in summer and crisply cold in winter. It was developed by the British as a summer resort of the Punjab which it continued to be up to 1876 when the name was transferred to Simia. It is therefore a developed town with good hotels and roads and excellent shopping where products and handicrafts of the entire region are available.Situated at an altitude of 2,100 meters, Murree is considered the most beautiful hill station in northern Punjab. The winding drive from Islamabad passes through Sarannab woodland, rocky shrubs and cedar, birch and at precisely 1,000 meters lofty pine forests.
As in the other hill stations the British tried to build a little England, with a mall for promenading, parks, churches, schools, not to mention clubs and cafes. Hence scruffy houses with names like ''Primrose Cottage" or "Goodland Walk". "Hotel Cecil' or those times still remain a colonial atmosphere in huge, high, ceilinged rooms with roaring log fires.
At the north end of the Mall, a good landmark of the city is the Post Office from where one may wander down through the bazaar below having stalls and souvenir shops all along the way. Walking down the Mall is perhaps the main amusement of Murree. You can also take horse or donkey rides. Going north and leaving Post Office on the left one finds the Murree Club. From the Post Office to Kashmir Point is the area where many embassies have their summer residence.
Murree lies at about two hours journey from Rawalpindi and a little less from Islamabad, especially so if you are driving in a car. There is a toll of a few rupees on the way and for the first few miles you pass through the flat country. Then, the climb starts which becomes pretty steep as you approach Murree.

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Rawalakot/Poonch Azad Kashmir

                  Rawalakot/Poonch Azad Kashmir


Rawalakot  is a city in Azad Kashmir, and is the capital of Poonch Division and Poonch District. It is in a saucer-shaped valley at an elevation of 1615 metres (5300 ft), also popular summer hill station.
Rawalakot is situated 76 kilometres (47 miles) from Kohala, Pakistan and about 120 kilometres (84 miles) from the city of Rawalpindi. It is linked with Rawalpindi and Islamabad via Goyain Nala(shortest and fastest link) and Tayeen roads. It is also linked with Rawalpindi via Sudhnuti.
Location
Bagh District lies to the north and Sudhnuti District lies to the south. The road passing through (Jalooth) Paniola connects Rawalakot to Bagh and Muzaffarabad. Toward the west are Murree, Islamabad and Rawalpindi regions of Pakistan.
Climate
Average temperature during the summer varies from 60 °F (16 °C) to 75 °F (24 °C). During the winter snowfall starts during the month of December and lasts through January.
Before the partition of the subcontinent, the Rawalakot trade route was the only road link between Poonch and Sudhnati, now called Rawalakot. The Line of Control (LoC) is 15 kilometres from Hajira and 43 kilometres from Rawalakot.
Transportation
Construction of the Guoien Nalla road between Rawalakot and Azad Pattan has considerably reduced travel times between Islamabad/Rawalpindi and Rawalakot. Buses, vans and taxis are available for long and short route travel.
Rawalakot Airport is non-operational, as there is no demand for the air service provided by Pakistan International Airlines. The airport has been closed since 1998.
Tourism
Rawalakot region is most visited and popular for tourism in Azad Kashmir, and its well-known spots are Banjosa and Toli Pir. Lodges, government-owned and private guest houses, and hotels are available in different parts of Rawalakot(Poonch district).
Attractions include: mountain-based adventure tourism, rock climbing, mountaineering, trekking, summer camping and hiking, water-based adventure tourism, and paragliding. Rawalakot has a downtown area, which consists of shops selling everything from groceries to electronic goods.

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