Download - History of Rohtas Fort, Pakistan
SEQUENCE
• Part I - Historical Background of Forts
• Part II - History of Rohtas Fort
• Part III - Present Status
• Part IV - Military Significance
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• Humans have constructed forts for thousands of
years, in a variety of increasingly complex
designs
HISTORY OF FORTS
8MEHRANGARH FORT (INDIA)
• The term is derived from the Latin
– Fortis ("strong")
– Facere ("to make")
HISTORY OF FORTS
9NAKHAL FORT (Oman)
• From very early history to modern
times, walls have been a necessity for cities to
survive invasion and conquest
HISTORY OF FORTS
10DIAGRAMATIC LAYOUT
• Some settlements in the Indus Valley
Civilization were the first cities to be fortified
HISTORY OF FORTS
11Mohinjo Daro (Pakistan)
• In ancient Greece, large stone walls had been
used for fortification of cities and were known as
Phrourion
GREEK FORTS
13Carfu (Greece)
• Romans bulit forts as watch towers, to guard
certain roads, passes, and lands detrimental to
the kingdom and called them Castellum
ROMAN FORTS
14Opus Caementicium (Italy)
Forts started
dominating
European warfare in
9th century during
Middle Ages and
were mainly known
as Castles
EUROPEAN CASTLES
15Caerlaverock Castle (Scotland)
MUSLIM FORTS
• Gazwa e Khandaq provides the earliest
example of use of trenches and fortifications by
Muslims in warfare
16
MUSLIM FORTS
• Muslims constructed many formidable forts in
North Africa, Spain, Middle East and India by
incorporating Islamic architectural designs
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MODERN FORTS
In response to arr
of explosive shells
in the 19th century
Engineers evolved
polygonal style of
fortification
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MODERN FORTS
• Steel and concrete fortifications were common during the 19th and early 20th centuries. However the advances in modern warfare since World War I have made large-scale forts obsolete
23Concrete Fortifications (France)
24
FAMOUS FORTS IN PAKISTAN
• Attock Fort
• Ranikot Fort
• Mir Chakar Fort
• Bala Hisar Fort
• Lahore Fort
• Derawar Fort
• Kot Diji Fort
HISTORY OF ROHTAS FORT
• Location / Reasons for Construction
• History
• Structural Details
• Architectural Style / Legacy
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LOCATION
• Rohtas Fort is a historical garrison fort in
Potohar Region
• It is located at a distance of 16 Kms from
Jhelum City
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LOCATION
• It was constructed on a hillock where Kahan
River meets another rainy stream called Parnal
Khas and turns east towards Tilla Jogian
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LOCATION
• The fort is about 300 feet (91 m) above its
surroundings. It is 2660 feet (818 m) above sea
level
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REASONS FOR CONSTRUCTION
• It was built by Sher Shah Suri, to subdue the
rebellious tribes of the northern Punjab region, in
16th century
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HISTORY
• The Rohtas fort was built to crush the local tribes
of Potohar, who rebelled against the Sur dynasty
after the Mughal emperor Humayun was
ousted by the former
• The tribes included, Awans, Janjua Rajputs,
Dhund Abbasi, Kayanis, Minhas Rajputs,
Khokhars among others
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HISTORY
• The Fort was built by Todar Mal Khatri, the
finance minister, under orders of Sher Shah
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• It took 8 years to built the Rohtas fort but the
Rohtas fort was recaptured by local tribes and it
became the capital of Gakhars
• Ironically the very people it was designed to
crush actually became the sole owners of
Rohtas fort
HISTORY
43
• Rohtas Fort was built as a part of a series of
forts to act as a defensive line to block return of
Moughal Emperor Humayun to India
HISTORY
44
45
Pharwala Fort15th Century
Rawat Fort16th Century
Ramkot Fort9th Century
Nandana Fort11th Century
Rohtas Fort16th Century
Mangla Fort20th Century
• Rohtas was also
occasionally used for
administrative purposes
by the Sikh ruler Ranjit
Singh after he captured
it in 1825
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CAMPING AT ROHTAS FORT
• Most of the fort was built with ashlar stones
collected from its surrounding villages
STRUCTURAL DETAILS
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• The fort is irregular in shape and follows the
contours of the hill it was constructed on
STRUCTURAL DETAILS
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• The topmost terrace has merlon-shaped
battlements. Muskets could be used from them
STRUCTURAL DETAILS
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– Mori or Kashmiri Gate
– Khwas Khani Gate
– Tula Mori Gate
– Pipalwala Gate
– Sar Gate
STRUCTURAL DETAILS
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HAVELI MAN SINGH
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• In the Emperor Akbar's times, one of his Hindu
generals Man Singh built a "Haveli", known as
“Haveli Man Singh "
SHAHI MOSQUE
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• This small mosque is near the Kabuli gate
• It has a prayer chamber and a small courtyard
BAOLIS
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• There are 3 Baolis (water well) in the fort• These were made by cutting deep into the lime
rock
RANI MAHAL
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• The Rani Mahal (Queens palace) is near Haveli Man Singh
• It is a one storey structure
• Qila Rohtas is the earliest example of the
successful mixing of Afghan and local
architectural styles, with the Afghan style being
more prominent
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE
75
• “Rohtas Fort is an outstanding example of early Muslim
military architecture in the South Asia which incorporates
features from elsewhere in the Islamic world. It also had a
profound influence on the development of architectural styles
in the Mughal Empire (and hence on the European colonial
architecture that made abundant use of that tradition). It is
also outstanding by virtue of the refinement and high artistic
value of its decorative elements, notably its high- and low-
relief carvings, its calligraphic inscriptions in marble and
sandstone, its plaster decoration, and its glazed tiles.”
• Authority “World Heritage list”
ARCHITECTURAL LEGACY
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• Owing to its rich history, Rohtas Fort acts as a
famous tourist resort for locals and foreigners
PRESENT STATUS
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• Rohtas Fort, though never besieged, exhibits
following fundamentals which still hold true for
Strong Point Defence in modern era:-
• Dominating Ground
• Mutual Support
• All Round Defence
MILITARY SIGNIFICANCE
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• Dominating Ground
Owing to its location on a vantage point (91 ms higher than
surrounding areas), it dominates area all round
MILITARY SIGNIFICANCE
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• Mutual Support
Rohtas Fort was built as a part of continuous defensive line
of forts, which were intervisible to each other and could
support others in case of prolonged sieges
MILITARY SIGNIFICANCE
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• Domination of Line of
Communication
– By virtue of its location in
proximity of GT Road
(built by Sher Shah Suri),
it could dominate the line
of communication and
thus check any attempt to
advance towards Dehli
MILITARY SIGNIFICANCE
86
• Being distantly located from GT road, its
prominent location making it visible to enemy
and lack of communication infrastructure ahead
of Rohtas Fort coupled with the changed
warfare dictates of the 21st century has left
almost a negligible relevance in today’s warfare
CURRENT MILITARY RELEVANCE
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