Rawat Fort ( ur, ) is an early 16th century fort in the

Pothohar The Pothohar Plateau ( ur, ) is a plateau in north-eastern Pakistan, located between Indus River and the Jhelum River, forming the northern part of Punjab. Geography Potohar Plateau is bounded on the east by the Jhelum River, on the west by the ...

plateau of

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 ...

, near the city of

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi ( or ; Urdu, ) is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad, and third largest in Punjab after Lahore and Faisalabad. Rawalpindi is next to Pakistan ...

in the province of

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi Language, Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also Romanization, romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the I ...

. The fort was built to defend the Pothohar plateau from the forces of the

Pashtun 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 r ...

king

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 ...

Location

It is 17 km east of

Grand Trunk Road The Grand Trunk Road (formerly known as Uttarapath, Sarak-e-Azam, Shah Rah-e-Azam, Badshahi Sarak, and Long Walk) is one of Asia's oldest and longest major roads. For at least 2,500 years it has linked Central Asia to the Indian subcontinent. ...

. The 2nd century

Mankiala stupa The Manikyala Stupa ( ur, ) is a Buddhist stupa near the village of Tope Mankiala, in Pakistan's Punjab province. The stupa was built to commemorate the spot, where according to the Jataka tales, an incarnation of the Buddha called Prince Sat ...

can be seen from the roof of the fort's mosque. The fort is located approximately 50 miles from the vast Rohtas Fort, which had been built by

to establish control of the Potohar region.

Etymology

Rawat Fort derives is named from the Arabic word ''Rabat'' ( ar, رباط), meaning ''

caravanserai A caravanserai (or caravansary; ) was a roadside inn where travelers ( caravaners) could rest and recover from the day's journey. Caravanserais supported the flow of commerce, information and people across the network of trade routes covering ...

'' - an inn for caravans.

History

The fort was founded as a

in the 15th century by the

Delhi Sultanate The Delhi Sultanate was an Islamic empire based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for 320 years (1206–1526).

, though the caravan itself may have been built atop a

Ghaznavid The Ghaznavid dynasty ( fa, غزنویان ''Ġaznaviyān'') was a culturally Persianate, Sunni Muslim dynasty of Turkic ''mamluk'' origin, ruling, at its greatest extent, large parts of Persia, Khorasan, much of Transoxiana and the northwest ...

-era fort that was established in 1036 CE. The caravanserai was then later fortified in the 16th century by the Mughal emperor

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, Northe ...

in order to defend the Pothohar plateau from

's forces. The fort was the scene of a battle between the Mughal Emperor Humayun and

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 Pash ...

king ''

'' in 1546.

Layout

The fort is almost in square form and has two gates. There is also a quadrangular building with a dome in the fort's inner area – an area which also contains many graves. Along the perimeter are several small cells, which may have originally been small rooms rented out to itinerant merchants.The fort also contains a mosque with three domes.

Conservation

The fort is federally protected as a Cultural Heritage Site of Punjab, and is managed by the Ministry of Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage. In November 2016, a conservation plan was commissioned for preservation of the fort. 50 million rupees were allocated in March 2017 towards the first of two phases of conservation of the Rawat Fort.

Gallery

File:Rawat Fort - Eastern Gate from Inside 2.jpg, The fort's eastern gate File:Rawat Fort Gravestone of Sarang Khan Grave.jpg, The tomb of Sarang Khan - a Gakhar chief who fought against

File:Rawat Fort Mosque Facade.jpg, A view of the fort's mosque File:Rawat Fort-Deteriorating structures.JPG, Parts of the fort are in a poor state of conservation

References

{{Castles in Pakistan Forts in Punjab, Pakistan History of Pakistan