Attock Fort (

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

, ) is a 16th century fortress in

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

, Pakistan. It was built at

Attock Khurd Attock Khurd (; ''"''Little Attock''"'') is a small town located beside the Indus River in the Attock District of Punjab Province in Pakistan. Khurd and Kalan are Persian words, meaning small and big, respectively. The words are themselves de ...

during the reign of

Akbar Akbar (Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, – ), popularly known as Akbar the Great, was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Humayun, under a regent, Bairam Khan, who helped the young emperor expa ...

from 1581 to 1583 under the supervision of Khawaja Shamsuddin to protect the passage of the River Indus.

Location

It is sandwiched between Peshawar Road on one side and the River

Indus The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans- Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in the Western Tibet region of China, flows northwest through the dis ...

on the other. It is located at a distance of 80km from the capital city of Islamabad. As it is a military base, visitors are not allowed inside the fort.

History

The fort was constructed in 1581 on the orders of the

Mughal Mughal or Moghul may refer to: Related to the Mughal Empire * Mughal Empire of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries * Mughal dynasty * Mughal emperors * Mughal people, a social group of Central and South Asia * Mughal architecture * Mug ...

emperor Akbar. Construction was completed in two years after which the fort was used as a key defense line against the Afghan invaders. The fort was captured in 1758 by the

Marathas The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern India, early modern polity in the Indian subcontinent. It comprised the realms of the Peshwa and four major independent List of Maratha dynasties and states, Ma ...

under Tukojirao Holkar and Sabaji Shinde Sidhojiraje. Ahmad Shah, the

Durrani The Durrānī (, ), formerly known as Abdālī (), are one of the largest Pashtun tribes, tribal confederation of Pashtuns. Their traditional homeland is in southern Afghanistan (Loy Kandahar region), straddling into Toba Achakzai in Balochistan, ...

ruler, captured Attock and halted the Maratha advance in the north after the battle of Panipat in 1761. It was later conquered from the Afghans by the

Sikh Empire The Sikh Empire was a regional power based in the Punjab, Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent. It existed from 1799, when Maharaja Ranjit Singh captured Lahore, to 1849, when it was defeated and conquered by the East India Company, Br ...

under Mokham Chand following the battle of Attock in 1813. In the 1830s, the Sikhs strengthened the fort by constructing 'very high and massy bastions' at each gate. The British took over the fort in 1849, following the annexation of Punjab. After the

Partition of India The partition of India in 1947 was the division of British India into two independent dominion states, the Dominion of India, Union of India and Dominion of Pakistan. The Union of India is today the Republic of India, and the Dominion of Paki ...

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ), commonly known as the Pak Army (), is the Land warfare, land service branch and the largest component of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The president of Pakistan is the Commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the army. The ...

took control of the fort. It became headquarters of the 7th division of Pakistan Army. In 1956, the fort was handed over to the

Special Services Group The Special Service Group (SSG) are the special forces of the Pakistan Army. They are also known by their nickname of "Maroon Berets" due to their headgear. The SSG is responsible to deploy and execute five doctrinal missions: foreign int ...

(SSG), a special operations force of the Pak Army. Today the fort remains in control of the SSG.

Features

The fort consists of 4 gates and its perimeter wall is 1600m long. The gates are named the Delhi gate, Lahori Gate, Kabuli Gate and Mori Gate.

References

{{Castles in Pakistan Forts in Punjab, Pakistan Attock District Mughal fortifications

Location

History

Features

See also

References