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Tour to Rohtas Fort
"There it stands, sprawling across a low rocky
hill a few miles north of Jhelum. Its great ramparts growing from
the cliff like the wall of China, looking north a sandy streambed
to the low hills of the salt range and beyond them, to the snows
of Pir Panjal. The circumference is large enough easily to hold
a couple of Divisions of troops. As you approach the fort, the crenellations
look like ominous rows of helmeted warriors watching you with disapproval.
It is an awe-inspiring sight".
- Sir Olaf Caroe, ex-governor of North West Frontier
Zone (NWFZ) province.
Rohtas Fort, also known as Qila Rohtas, was built
by the Afghan ruler Sher Shah Suri who caused an interregnum in
the Mughal Empire from 1940 to 1945. Built in 1941 after his defeat
of the 2nd Mughal Emperor Humayun, the fort is representative of
the splendor, which became the hallmark of the short but eventful
rule of sis years of the rule of Sher Shah Suri. Described by Rudyard
Kipling as "a river of life as exists nowhere else in the world',
Grand Trunk Road was also the brainchild of Sher Shah Suri. A Pakistan
Holiday also includes a visit to the Rohtas Fort to explore the
strategic importance of the fort. An astute ruler, who by dint of
his determination rose to become the ruler of Delhi, was quick to
recognize the strategic location of Rohtas and immediately ordered
its construction.
Though the fortification was undertaken from a
military standpoint, but in the process it emerged as a fine example
of Pathan architecture of that period. The height of the fort walls
ranges from 30 to 40 feet. The fort has twelve gates including the
beautiful Sohal Gate, which is in good condition and now used as
a rest house. |
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