Red Fort (), also known as Muzaffarabad Fort, is a 17th-century

fortification A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

located in

Muzaffarabad Muzaffarabad (; ur, ) is the capital and largest city of Azad Kashmir, and the 60th largest in Pakistan. The city is located in Muzaffarabad District, near the confluence of the Jhelum and Neelum rivers. The district is bounded by the Pak ...

Azad Jammu and Kashmir Azad Jammu and Kashmir (; ), abbreviated as AJK and colloquially referred to as simply Azad Kashmir, is a region administered by Pakistan as a nominally self-governing entitySee: * * * and constituting the western portion of the larger Ka ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. It was built by the

Chak dynasty The Chak dynasty was a dynasty that ruled the region of Kashmir after the Shah Mir dynasty. The origins of the Chaks are unclear, they are said to be native Kashmiris of Dardic origin. The Chak dynasty ruled from 1561 to 1586. Ghazi Chak is refe ...

Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...

. The fort is locally referred to as the 'Rutta Qila' or just 'qila'.

Construction

Chak rulers of Kashmir anticipated a threat to the city from the Mughals. Construction was initiated in 1559 at a strategic location. The

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

annexed Kashmir in 1587, and the fort lost its importance. Finally, the construction of the fort was completed in 1646 in the reign of

Sultan Muzaffar Khan Sultan Muhammad Muzaffar Khan () was a chief of the Bomba Tribe. He is the namesake for the city of Muzaffarabad in present-day Azad Kashmir. Khan united various hill tribes near the Kashmir– Hazara border region and convinced them to settle ...

of the Bomba Dynasty — the founder of Muzaffarabad.

Architecture

The architecture of the fort shows that great experts in design and structure participated in its construction. It is surrounded on three sides by the Neelum River formerly known as the Kishenganga River. The northern part of the fort had terraces with steps leading to the bank of the river. The eastern side was very well protected from the hazards of flood waters, but some parts on the north side have suffered damage. There used to be an inn at the entrance to the fort, but only traces of that structure remain now.

Abandonment

In 1846, Maharaja

Gulab Singh Gulab Singh Jamwal (1792–1857) was the founder of Dogra dynasty and the first Maharaja of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, the largest princely state under the British Raj, which was created after the defeat of the Sikh Empire in t ...

of the

Dogra dynasty The Dogra dynasty of Dogra Rajputs from the Shiwalik Himalayas created Jammu and Kashmir when all dynastic kingdoms in India were being absorbed by the East India Company. Events led the Sikh Empire to recognise Jammu as a vassal state in 1820 ...

began reconstruction and extension of the fort for political and military operations and his successor Maharaja Ranbeer Singh completed the work. The Dogra military then used the fort till 1926, after which a new cantonment was built, leaving the red fort abandoned once again. Towards the middle of 1947, the

Dogra The Dogras or Dogra people, are an Indo-Aryan ethno-linguistic group in India and Pakistan consisting of the Dogri language speakers. They live predominantly in the Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir, and in adjoining areas of Punjab, Himachal ...

forces left, leaving the fort abandoned. The fort is now located in Muzaffarabad, Pakistani-administered Kashmir.

Damage

Most of the fort's relics were stolen and a large portion was destroyed during the

2005 Kashmir earthquake The 2005 Kashmir earthquake occurred at on 8 October in Pakistani-administered Azad Kashmir. It was centred near the city of Muzaffarabad, and also affected nearby Balakot in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and some areas of Indian-administered Jammu and ...

References

{{Castles in Pakistan Archaeological sites in Azad Kashmir Forts in Azad Kashmir 1646 establishments in Asia

Construction

Architecture

Abandonment

Damage

See also

References