Sher Garhi Palace is a former

palace A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome which ...

Srinagar Srinagar (English: , ) is the largest city and the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It lies in the Kashmir Valley on the banks of the Jhelum River, a tributary of the Indus, and Dal and Anchar lakes. The city is known for its natu ...

Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to: * Kashmir, the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent * Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory * Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered ...

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 ...

. The complex is located in the south of the

Old City Old City often refers to old town, the historic or original core of a city or town. Old City may refer to several places: Historical cities or regions of cities ''(by country)'' *Old City (Baku), Azerbaijan * Old City (Dhaka), Bangladesh, also ca ...

at the banks of the

Jhelum river The Jhelum River (/dʒʰeːləm/) is a river in the northern Indian subcontinent. It originates at Verinag and flows through the Indian administered territory of Jammu and Kashmir, to the Pakistani-administered territory of Kashmir, and then ...

. It was the residence of the Afghan rulers and

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 ...

Maharajas of Jammu and Kashmir Mahārāja (; also spelled Maharajah, Maharaj) is a Sanskrit title for a "great ruler", "great king" or " high king". A few ruled states informally called empires, including ruler raja Sri Gupta, founder of the ancient Indian Gupta Empire, an ...

. The name Sher Garhi means 'tiger fortress'.

History

Construction of a

fortress 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'' ...

and palace started in 1772 under the Afghan governor Amir Khan Jawansher. As location the governor chose the (former) site where the Lohara king Ananta built his royal palace in 1062–63. It is said that stones for the construction came from the "Pathar Masjid". Under all Amir Khan Jawansher's successors, both Afghan and Dogra and including the current Indian government, the palace remained the main power center in Kashmir. During the 19th century, the palace was expanded several times. Around 1900, the Jhelum river front of the palace was reconstructed in neoclassical style with corinthian columns. The complex was a good example of blending English and Kashmir architecture. The buildings in the complex are quadrangular in plan and built entirely in stone with wooden doors, ceilings and roofs. After the accession of Kashmir to India, the palace obtained the name the "Old Secretariat" and initially housed various administrative departments of the government of

. As

chief minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...

Sheikh Abdullah Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah (5 December 1905 – 8 September 1982) was an Indian politician who played a central role in the politics of Jammu and Kashmir Abdullah was the founding leader of the All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference (later rena ...

apparently saw the palace as symbol of Dogra rule, the complex was slowly abandoned. In the 1970s and at the start of the 21st century, the palace was gutted by fire destroying major parts. In 2015, chief minister

Mufti Mohammad Sayeed A Mufti (; ar, مفتي) is an Islamic jurist qualified to issue a nonbinding opinion (''fatwa'') on a point of Islamic law (''sharia''). The act of issuing fatwas is called ''iftāʾ''. Muftis and their ''fatwas'' played an important role ...

announced that the complex would be restored to its original glory in order to conserve heritage monuments and attract heritage loving tourists to Kashmir.

References

External links

Royal residences in India Tourist attractions in Srinagar Palaces in Jammu and Kashmir 1772 establishments in India History of Kashmir {{India-palace-stub