Chunar Fort
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The Chunar Fort (also known as Chandrakanta Chunargarh and Charanadri) is located in Mirzapur district of
Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...
, in
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
. Along with Chunar town, near Mirzapur city, situated below the fort, the two are historic places with common history and legends. It is located North west of
Mirzapur Mirzapur () is a city in Uttar Pradesh, India, 827 km from Delhi and 733 km from Kolkata, almost 91 km from Prayagraj (formally known as Allahabad) and 61 km from Varanasi. It is known for its carpets and brassware industries, and the folk ...
. The southeastern part of the fort is on the rocky bank of the
Ganges River The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...
. The fort's history spans from 56 BC and then between
Afghan Afghan may refer to: *Something of or related to Afghanistan, a country in Southern-Central Asia *Afghans, people or citizens of Afghanistan, typically of any ethnicity ** Afghan (ethnonym), the historic term applied strictly to people of the Pas ...
decedent
Sher Shah Suri Sher Shah Suri ( ps, شیرشاه سوری) (1472, or 1486 – 22 May 1545), born Farīd Khān ( ps, فرید خان) , was the founder of the Sur Empire in India, with its capital in Sasaram in modern-day Bihar. He standardized the silver coin ...
's (1532) rule, 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 ...
rule (
Humayun Nasir-ud-Din Muhammad ( fa, ) (; 6 March 1508 – 27 January 1556), better known by his regnal name, Humāyūn; (), was the second emperor of the Mughal Empire, who ruled over territory in what is now Eastern Afghanistan, Pakistan, Northern ...
,
Akbar Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar (25 October 1542 – 27 October 1605), popularly known as Akbar the Great ( fa, ), and also as Akbar I (), was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Hum ...
and many others including
Nawab of Awadh The Nawab of Awadh or the Nawab of Oudh was the title of the rulers who governed the state of Awadh (anglicised as Oudh) in north India during the 18th and 19th centuries. The Nawabs of Awadh belonged to a dynasty of Persian origin from Nishapu ...
) up to 1772, and Marathas in 1782 to 1804. Lastly, the
British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...
occupied the fort to 1947 when India gained independence. Chunar railway station is on the Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya–Kanpur section of
Howrah–Delhi main line The Howrah–Delhi main line is a railway line connecting Delhi and Kolkata cutting across northern India. The railway line was opened to traffic in 1866 with the introduction of the "1 Down/2 Up Mail" train. Sections The long trunk line, ha ...
.


Geography

Chunar Fort is approached by road from
Mirzapur Mirzapur () is a city in Uttar Pradesh, India, 827 km from Delhi and 733 km from Kolkata, almost 91 km from Prayagraj (formally known as Allahabad) and 61 km from Varanasi. It is known for its carpets and brassware industries, and the folk ...
over a distance of and along the Ganges River by river craft, a journey.
Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
is away and is south west of Varanasi. The structure is located in the Mirzapur district, south west of Varanasi, and lies between Varanasi and Mirzapur. The town of the same name is part of the fort's administration. The fort stands on a rock, a detached part of the
Vindhya Range The Vindhya Range (also known as Vindhyachal) () is a complex, discontinuous chain of mountain ridges, hill ranges, highlands and plateau escarpments in west-central India. Technically, the Vindhyas do not form a single mountain range in the ...
, at an elevation of above sea level. It was built in a commanding position, high above a meander in the
Ganges River The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...
, near the
Kaimur Hills Kaimur Range (also spelt Kymore) is the eastern portion of the Vindhya Range, about long, extending from around Katangi in Jabalpur district of Madhya Pradesh to around Sasaram in Rohtas district of Bihar. It passes through the Rewa division, R ...
. The approach to Chunar Hill is marked by a chain of low hills, running parallel to the river on its right bank, which is covered by plantations and bungalows. The fort is located on a rock which rises abruptly from the plain, and encroaches into the river for some distance. The southeastern part of the fort is on the rocky bank by the Ganges River, which is navigable for 50- to 60-ton boats. The batteries in the fort command the river reach. The rocky bluff rising from the river on which the fort has been built raises to a height of . Another further away, the elevation of the rocky hillock is . The rocky face of the fort is impregnable because of its steep slope. Many crude cylinders were stored in the fort that defenders could roll down onto any enemy soldiers attacking the fort. Most of the enclosed fort area consists of plains overgrown with grass and a few trees.


Legends

There are many legends linking the fort to divine aspects. One such is the story of King Bali. God, known in these parts as '' Bawan Bhagwan'', appeared before Bali, disguised as a
Brahmin Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (guru ...
, and begged for three feet of land. The generous king agreed. God placed his first step on the hill of Chunar Fort and left his foot mark there. Since then it is known as "Charanadri", which over the years took the short form of "Chunar". The second legend is king
Vikramāditya Vikramaditya (IAST: ') was a legendary king who has been featured in hundreds of traditional stories including those in ''Baital Pachisi'' and ''Singhasan Battisi''. Many describe him as ruler with his capital at Ujjain (Pataliputra or Pratis ...
of
Ujjain Ujjain (, Hindustani language, Hindustani pronunciation: Help:IPA/Hindi and Urdu, d͡ːʒɛːn is a city in Ujjain district of the States and territories of India, Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the fifth-largest city in Madhya Prad ...
. His brother Bharthari, who opted to live the life of a hermit, started living near the rockface of Chunar. Realising his brother's situation, Vikramadiathya visited Chunar, and after finding out his brother's whereabouts through the hermit
Goraknath Gorakhnath (also known as Goraksanath, c. early 11th century) was a Hindu yogi, saint who was the influential founder of the Nath Hindu monastic movement in India He is considered one of the two notable disciples of Matsyendranath. His follower ...
, built a house for his brother to live in. The black stone where the saint Bhatinath lived and prayed is worshiped even now, as it is believed that Bhatinath is seated in the fort area in an invisible form. A third legend linked the fort to the well known king of Rajasthan. Prithviraj brought this settlement under his rule and also many neighbouring villages. Subsequent to his demise, his descendants sold the land to Khair-ud-din Subuktagin. An inscription (not very legible) in
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
on the gateway of the fort mentions that the place had been taken over by Swami Raja, who had established a stone tablet recording the event. Later, the fort was acquired by Sahab-ud-din, who in turn appointed a '' sanidi'', an
African African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** Ethn ...
, and a Bahelia, and gave them titles as ''hazari'' (meaning "governors of the fort"), and also conferred a ''
jagir A jagir ( fa, , translit=Jāgir), also spelled as jageer, was a type of feudal land grant in the Indian subcontinent at the foundation of its Jagirdar (Zamindar) system. It developed during the Islamic rule era of the Indian subcontinent, start ...
''. It is said that the Bahelia family were in possession of the land holdings till the fort was finally ceded to the British in 1772.


History

Settlements have been recorded here since 56 BC, from the time of Vikramāditya of Ujjain. Chunar's earliest recorded history is from the sixteenth century, traced to a garrison of
Babar Babar ( ur, ), also variously spelled as Baber, Babur, and Babor is a male given name of Pashto, and Persian language, Persian origin, and a popular male given name in Pakistan. It is generally taken in reference to the Persian language, Persian ...
, when in 1529, many of his soldiers were killed; some of their tombs in Chunar are still venerated. In 1532, Sher Khan (later known as Sher Shah Suri after he captured
Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...
), a highly ambitious
Pathan Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically re ...
of Afghan descent but born in district of
Narnaul Narnaul is a city, a Municipal Council, and location of headquarters of the Mahendragarh district in the Indian state of Haryana. It is located in the National Capital Region of India. History Narnaul is built on a prominent tell, but th ...
in the present day state of
Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land ar ...
in India, took control of the fort with high ambitions of becoming the King in Delhi. He acquired Chunar Fort by strategic marriages to enhance his reputation, first with a childless widow (the wife of the deceased Governor of Chunar), and by marrying another widow, he acquired wealth. With these acquisitions, he became very powerful within four years and established a "state within a state". It is also said that the fort was not vital for Sher Khan as he had moved his harem and treasure to Rohtas (a newly won fort in the upper reaches of
Son River Son River ( hi, सोन नदी, also spelt Sone River) is a perennial river located in central India. It originates near Amarkantak Hill in Gaurela-Pendra-Marwahi district of Chhattisgarh and finally merges with the Ganges River near Pat ...
) during his campaign to win Bengal. When Emperor Humayun attacked the fort and held it in siege for four months, he had proposed to Sher Khan that he would not claim Chunar and Jaunpur and any other place of his choice, provided he gave up
Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...
, which Sher Khan had won. Humayun also demanded from Suri the surrender of his treasure which he had taken to Bengal and a precious ( chattar) umbrella and throne, and also to agree to be under the protection of the Mughal Empire. He finally succumbed to pressure and signed a deal with Humayun. However, Sher Khan recaptured it when he Humayun marched towards Bengal. After Sher Shah's death in 1545 it remained under his son Islam Shah until 1553. The last of Suris dynasty Adil Shah remained confined to the fort till 1556 handing over the entire administration and military powers to the Hindu Prime Minister
Hemu Hemu (; also known as Hemu Vikramaditya and Hemchandra Vikramaditya; died 5 November 1556) was an Indian emperor who previously served as a general and Wazir of Adil Shah Suri of Sur Empire during a period in Indian history when Mughals and A ...
. Hemu launched many attacks from this fort winning several battles across north India and even captured
Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
after the
Battle of Tughlaqabad The Battle of Tughlaqabad (also known as the Battle of Delhi) was a notable battle fought on 7 October 1556 between a Hindu king Hem Chandra Vikramaditya, also known as Hemu and the forces of the Mughal emperor Akbar led by Tardi Beg Khan at ...
in 1556 and declared independence from the
Sur Empire The Sur Empire ( ps, د سرو امپراتورۍ, dë sru amparāturəi; fa, امپراطوری سور, emperâturi sur) was an Afghan dynasty which ruled a large territory in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent for nearly 16 year ...
and crowned himself as king. Adil Shah remained in this fort, who lost life in an attack by king of Bengal in 1557. Fort came under the control of the Mughals in 1575. Akbar, the third Mughal Emperor, had visited Chunar for shikar (hunting) in 1575. He acquired it as he considered the fort strategically located to guard the Ganges and the major land routes to
eastern India East India is a region of India consisting of the Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal and also the union territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The region roughly corresponds to the historical region of Magadha fr ...
. Abul al Fazl described this victory over the fort by Akbar an important event. It is believed that much of the fort as seen now was built during Akbar's reign. During his rule, the west gate was built in the fort entrance, with the date 1586 having been engraved on the stone archway. During the Mughal rule,
Emperor Jahangir Nur-ud-Din Muhammad Salim (30 August 1569 – 28 October 1627), known by his imperial name Jahangir (; ), was the fourth Mughal Emperor, who ruled from 1605 until he died in 1627. He was named after the Indian Sufi saint, Salim Chishti. Ear ...
had nominated Iftikhar Khan as the fort's
nazim Subahdar, also known as Nazim or in English as a "Subah", was one of the designations of a governor of a Subah (province) during the Khalji dynasty of Bengal, Mamluk dynasty (Delhi), Khalji dynasty, Tughlaq dynasty, Mughal era ( of India who w ...
. During the reign of
Emperor Aurangzeb Muhi al-Din Muhammad (; – 3 March 1707), commonly known as ( fa, , lit=Ornament of the Throne) and by his regnal title Alamgir ( fa, , translit=ʿĀlamgīr, lit=Conqueror of the World), was the sixth emperor of the Mughal Empire, ruling ...
, his appointee for Governor of the fort, Mirza Bairam Khan, constructed a mosque here in 1663, near the Bharion Burj. In 1804 Marathas ceded all their territories in Bundelkhand to East India Company following their defeat in the second Anglo-Maratha war. The
British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...
, under Major Munro, attacked the fort; though initially they lost ground, they subsequently breached the south west part of the fort and annexed it. The fort with all its territory was formally ceded under a treaty to the East India Company in 1818. For some years, the fort was the main artillery and ammunition depot of the Northwestern Provinces. Maharaja
Chait Singh Rafa'at wa Awal-i-Martabat Maharaja Sri Chait Singh Sahib Bahadur (died 29 March 1810), commonly known as Chait Singh, was a ruler of Kingdom of Benares in northern India. Maharaja Balwant Singh's elder son, Rafa'at wa Awal-i-Martabat Raja Sri ...
of
Benares Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. * * * * The city has a syncretic tr ...
had taken possession of the fort temporarily but was evicted. In 1857, he raised a rebellion in Varanasi and near the villages around the fort. It is also said that
Warren Hastings Warren Hastings (6 December 1732 – 22 August 1818) was a British colonial administrator, who served as the first Governor of the Presidency of Fort William (Bengal), the head of the Supreme Council of Bengal, and so the first Governor-Genera ...
, the first
Governor-General of India The Governor-General of India (1773–1950, from 1858 to 1947 the Viceroy and Governor-General of India, commonly shortened to Viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom and after Indian independence in 1 ...
(1773 to 1784) took shelter in the Chunar Fort. A small armed force was collected under Major
Home Riggs Popham Rear Admiral Sir Home Riggs Popham, KCB, KCH (12 October 1762 – 20 September 1820), was a Royal Navy commander who saw service against the French during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. He is remembered for his scientific accomplishme ...
and Chait Singh was eventually evicted from his control of neighboring areas. For sometime in 1791, Chunar Fort became the headquarters of an invalid battalion of
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
an and Indian troops serving in India; those officers and men who were considered medically unsuitable for field duty were shifted to this fort and given light duty. From 1815, the fort also housed the state prisoners. In India's first Freedom struggle, also known as
Sepoy Mutiny The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the for ...
of 1857–58, the fort was the safe ground of the artillery and infantry company of the European invalid Battalion and all also to the officers and European residents of the district. The Bhartri Nath's shrine here was also used for some time as the civil treasury. After 1890, troops were withdrawn from the fort. The building's complex within the fort became the property of the civil administration who used this place as a convalescent jail. Subsequently, it became a religious centre. In 1849, Maharaja
Ranjit Singh Ranjit Singh (13 November 1780 – 27 June 1839), popularly known as Sher-e-Punjab or "Lion of Punjab", was the first Maharaja of the Sikh Empire, which ruled the northwest Indian subcontinent in the early half of the 19th century. He s ...
's wife, Rani
Jind Kaur Maharani Jind Kaur ( – 1 August 1863) was regent of the Sikh Empire from 1843 until 1846. She was the youngest wife of the first Maharaja of the Sikh Empire, Ranjit Singh, and the mother of the last Maharaja, Duleep Singh. She was renowned fo ...
was incarcerated in Fort Chunar after the British usurped the Sikh kingdom. She escaped from the fort in the disguise of a maid servant and went to Kathmandu where she was granted political asylum. Chunar Fort was on the hit list of the Naxalites as it was the recruitment training center of the PAC, and has a large amount of arms and ammunition stored in its
armoury An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are most ...
. Hence, the state government has directed the police to give particular care to protect the fort and the facilities within it. There is also a paranormal history connected with Chunar Fort i.e. the King of Chunar had buried his rich treasure because he knew that the British people would take it from them. Also he connected aatma with it. The History of Chunar For is beautifully summarised in Sanjeev Sanyal's book Land of Seven Rivers: History of India's Geography in the following words:Land of Seven Rivers: History of India's Geography, Sanjeev Sanyal "It was once said that he who controlled Chunar fort also controlled the destiny of India. A walk through the fort is a walk through Indian history. The walls resonate with tales of the legendary King Vikramaditya, the Mughals, Sher Shah Suri and Governor-General Warren Hastings. There are remains here from each era including an eighteenth-century sundial. Do not miss the neglected British graves below the walls. Their headstones make for interesting reading. Just south-west of the fort are the quarries that, in the third century BC, supplied the stone used by the Mauyans to carve the lions of Sarnath"


Walls and gates

The impregnable citadel is built with huge
rampart Rampart may refer to: * Rampart (fortification), a defensive wall or bank around a castle, fort or settlement Rampart may also refer to: * "O'er the Ramparts We Watched" is a key line from "The Star-Spangled Banner", the national anthem of the ...
s overlooking the river and built in tiers. They were built of local sandstone quarried in the area. Chunar's quarries, notable since the
Maurya period The Maurya Empire, or the Mauryan Empire, was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in the Indian subcontinent based in Magadha, having been founded by Chandragupta Maurya in 322 BCE, and existing in loose-knit fashion until 1 ...
, were used in building the fort, and skilled masons were available locally. The external walls of the fort were not strong and hence it was breached when British forces attacked the fort with a battering train. The area bounded by the fort covers a length of in the north–south direction, with a maximum width of on the northern face, close to the river bank. The peripheral length of the fort is . The ramparts of the fort have towers built at regular intervals with heights varying from . Of all the gates, only the fort's west gate has inscriptions, which ascribe to its construction during Akabar's period by Muhammad Sharif Khan, who is presumed to be the son of an artist. He is said to have served under Munim Khan who was granted the fort and the surrounding lands since it yielded a lot of revenue, in 1567. Munim Khan died here in 1575. The west gate has the least ornamentation but has
calligraphy Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...
engraved slabs. Other gates of the fort have carved panels and brackets.


Buildings

The Citadel which is the main structure of the fort, in its northeastern part, was mounted with many
cannon A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...
s and also had a gunpowder magazine. The "S"-shaped brackets on the
oriel window An oriel window is a form of bay window which protrudes from the main wall of a building but does not reach to the ground. Supported by corbels, bracket (architecture), brackets, or similar cantilevers, an oriel window is most commonly found pro ...
s have more similarity with the windows in the
Agra Fort The Agra Fort is a historical fort in the city of Agra in India also known as the Red Fort. Rebuilt by the Mughal emperor Akbar in 1565 and completed in 1573, it served as the main residence of the rulers of the Mughal Dynasty until 1638, when t ...
than other pre-Moghul monuments in eastern India. But some designs such as the knot motif are attributed to the Sur period architecture as seen in Chainpur and Shergarh, both of the Sur period, which attests to the fact that local artisans have contributed to the continuation of the regional traditions in architecture. A number of
bungalows A bungalow is a small house or cottage that is either single-story or has a second story built into a sloping roof (usually with dormer windows), and may be surrounded by wide verandas. The first house in England that was classified as a bu ...
(mansions) are located between the trees, which were used as offices and residences of officers during British rule. The Governor's house, a hospital and the state prison are also located here. At the highest point of the rocky bluff within the fort, there is an old Hindu palace, a very large vaulted structure. A well within this area is in diameter and sunk deep; its water is commonly not
potable Drinking water is water that is used in drink or food preparation; potable water is water that is safe to be used as drinking water. The amount of drinking water required to maintain good health varies, and depends on physical activity level, a ...
. There is an underground
dungeon A dungeon is a room or cell in which prisoners are held, especially underground. Dungeons are generally associated with medieval castles, though their association with torture probably belongs more to the Renaissance period. An oubliette (from ...
, which is used as a storeroom now. A pavilion, dating to 1538, was used as the gatehouse. The Sonwa Mandap open pavilion has 28 pillars and is built in the Hindu style of architecture. An engraving on its
mehrab Mihrab ( ar, محراب, ', pl. ') is a niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the ''qibla'', the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca towards which Muslims should face when praying. The wall in which a ''mihrab'' appears is thus the "qibla ...
is believed to be filled with gold. Bhartri Nath's
samadhi ''Samadhi'' (Pali and sa, समाधि), in Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism and yogic schools, is a state of meditative consciousness. In Buddhism, it is the last of the eight elements of the Noble Eightfold Path. In the Ashtanga Yoga ...
is located at the back of this monument where religious ceremonies are conducted. Sonwa Mandap has four gates and a tunnel at the front yard of the building. It is mentioned that in 1333 AD, princess Sonwa, daughter of Sandeva, a
Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...
i king, came here frequently to take baths in the Ganga River through this tunnel. The access is from the fort. A ''bawdi'' measuring diameter and of nearly depth contains perennial water, its source connection to the Ganga River. It is also mentioned that princess Sonwa used this well for her ablutions. There is also a square stone slab with shade provided by a
peepal tree ''Ficus religiosa'' or sacred fig is a species of fig native to the Indian subcontinent and Indochina that belongs to Moraceae, the fig or mulberry family. It is also known as the bodhi tree, pippala tree, peepul tree, peepal tree, pipal tree, ...
, where according to the local legend, God is seated for 9 hours during the day and the rest of 3 hours of the day shifts to Varanasi, and further mentions that during the absence of God, the fort can be captured only between 6 AM and 9 AM.


In popular culture

Anurag Kashyap Anurag Kashyap (born 10 September 1972) is an Indian filmmaker and actor known for his works in Hindi cinema. He is the recipient of several accolades, including four Filmfare Awards. For his contributions to film, the Government of France a ...
's 2012 film, ''
Gangs of Wasseypur ''Gangs of Wasseypur'' is a 2012 Indian Hindi-language two-part crime film produced and directed by Anurag Kashyap, and written by Kashyap and Zeishan Quadri. Centered on the coal mafia (Mafia Raj) of Dhanbad, and the underlying power struggle ...
'', was shot in Chunar.


See also

*
List of forts in Uttar Pradesh This is a list of forts in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most popul ...


References

{{Forts in India Forts in Uttar Pradesh Mirzapur district