ROHTAS FORT

INTRODUCTION

• Rohtas Fort is a historical garrison fort located near Jhelum

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INTRODUCTION

• It was built by Sher Shah Suri in 16th century

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AIM

To brief about history, structural details and

present status of Rohtas Fort

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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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PART I – HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF FORTS

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• History of Forts

• Eras of Forts

PART I – HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

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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)

• Greek Forts

• Roman Forts

• European Castles

• Muslim Forts

• Modern Forts

ERAS OF FORTS

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• 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

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MUSLIM FORTS

• Muslims constructed many formidable forts in

North Africa, Spain, Middle East and India by

incorporating Islamic architectural designs

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MUSLIM FORTS

18Red Fort (India)

MUSLIM FORTS

19Fujairah Fort (UAE)

MUSLIM FORTS

20Cordova (Spain)

MUSLIM FORTS

21Alexandria Fort (Egypt)

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)

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FAMOUS FORTS IN PAKISTAN

• Attock Fort

• Ranikot Fort

• Mir Chakar Fort

• Bala Hisar Fort

• Lahore Fort

• Derawar Fort

• Kot Diji Fort

25Attock Fort (Built in 16th Century)

26Ranikot Fort (Built in 9th Century)

27Mir Chakar Fort (Built in 15th Century)

28Bala Hissar Fort (Built in 18th Century)

29Lahore Fort (Built in 16th Century)

30Derawar Fort (Built in 17th Century)

31Kot Diji Fort (Built in 18th Century)

PART II – HIST OF ROHTAS FORT

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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

16 Km

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Jhelum

Rohtas Fort

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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LOCATION

• It covers an area of 12.63 acres (51,100 square

ms)

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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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REASONS FOR CONSTRUCTIONSHER SHAH SURI

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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

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• 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

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Pharwala Fort15th Century

Rawat Fort16th Century

Ramkot Fort9th Century

Nandana Fort11th Century

Rohtas Fort16th Century

Mangla Fort20th Century

• The fort was captured by Mughal emperor

Humayun in 1555

HISTORY

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Nadir Shah

CAMPING AT ROHTAS FORT

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Ahmed Shah Abdali

Maratha Army

• 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

• Its cost of construction was 80,505,002 Dams

(Bahlulis)

HISTORY

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• Rohtas Fort could accommodate upto 30,000

men

STRUCTURAL DETAILS

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• 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 perimeter of fort is 5.2 km

STRUCTURAL DETAILS

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• The fortification has 68 bastions (towers) at

irregular intervals

STRUCTURAL DETAILS

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• The height of the outer wall varies between 10

and 18 metres

STRUCTURAL DETAILS

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• Its thickness varies between 10 and 13 metres

STRUCTURAL DETAILS

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• The wall has 2 or 3 terraces and varies in

thickness

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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• Soldiers could also pour molten lead over the

walls

STRUCTURAL DETAILS

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• The Rohtas Fort has the following 12 gates:-

– Sohail Gate (Main Gate)

STRUCTURAL DETAILS

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– Shah Chandwali Gate

STRUCTURAL DETAILS

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– Kabuli Gate

STRUCTURAL DETAILS

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– Shishi Gate

STRUCTURAL DETAILS

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– Langar Khani Gate

STRUCTURAL DETAILS

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– Talaqi Gate

STRUCTURAL DETAILS

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– Gatali Gate

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 "

HAVELI MAN SINGH

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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

TOMB OF KHAIR UN NISA

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• Outside the Langar Khani Gate is the tomb of a lady called Khair Un Nisa

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EXECUTION TOWER

• 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

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PART III – PRESENT STATUS

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• Rohtas Fort was designated a World Heritage

Site in 1997

PRESENT STATUS

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• “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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• Most of the fort is in a very good state of

preservation

PRESENT STATUS

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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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PART III – MILITARY SIGNIFICANCE

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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

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• 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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THANK YOU

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