Rohtas Fort, built in the 1540s by Sher Shah Suri, an Afghan, is one of the most imposing historical monuments in Pakistan. It is situated on the bank of the Kahan River near Dina, 12 miles northwest of Jhelum in Punjab. It was built to resist the forces of the Gakkhars, the most powerful tribe of the Potohar. Village Mlundi was situated here, but after the construction of the fort, the place was named Rohtas after another Rohtas Fort in Behar (India), which Sher Shah had captured earlier.
Rohtas Fort took ten years to complete. Construction started in 1542 and continued after the death of Sher Shah Suri in 1545. The fort is built of grey ashlar masonry.
The Ghakkars, who were feared by Sher Shah Suri, became trusted allies of the Mughals in 1519 and remained so for the next two centuries. It was the Ghakkars who fought along with the Mughals at Sultanpur. Sher Shah Suri built Rohtas in order to check the Ghakkars and to prevent the return of Naseerurdin Muhammad Humayun, the second Mughal Emperor, whom he defeated in 1539. Suri's reign was short, lasting only six years until 1545, yet in that short period, he managed to drive the alien Mughals out of India. He kept 12,000 men at Rohtas to guard the fort and his newly built road, which ran straight through Ghakkar territory to the Indus and possibly beyond. This was the precursor to the Grand Trunk Road.
The site of the fort is on an ancient route to India used by traffic coming from north of the Salt Range to the plains south of it. Here, the Kahan River, after passing through the low-lying hills of the Tarahi Range, enters into relatively flat ground. This was the Ghakkars' territory. The Ghakkars put up stiff resistance to the building of the fort. Sher Shah had to maintain a large garrison in order to keep construction going.
Rohtas is a very large fort, about 3 miles around the perimeter, with massive battlements and walls. For about half a mile along the river, the walls are double. They are tiered on the inside in some places have three levels. The wall-walks in most sections are wide enough to reassure sufferers from vertigo. There are several large gates and numerous posterns, but otherwise hardly any buildings of note. It is the fortifications themselves that are the attraction.
The plan of the fort is adapted to suit the terrain. It is defended by a number of deep ravines, as well as the river, along most of the perimeter wall. The walls are 30 to 50 feet high. In many places they are 30 feet thick at the base. The fort has 68 towers and 12 gates. Most of the gates are in ruins, but a few are in good shape. The gates are known by the names Kabuli, Badshahi, Langar Khani, Talaqi, Khawas Khani, Gatiali, Beriwala, Pipalwala, and Shisha. The upper portion of Sohal Gate, 70 feet high, is now used as a resthouse.
The outside facade of this gate is elaborately decorated. It was probably used for triumphal entries. The gate is flanked by two very large U-shaped bastions. The walls here are well preserved. There is a large well about 1,500 feet away from the Sohal Gate. The well is quite impressive. A long, straight, wide flight of 135 steps leads down into it with almost triangular arches over the top. An interior wall divides the fort in two. The impressive Chand Wali Gate connects the two parts. The northern part is known as Anderkot.
All that remains of Man Singh's Palace inside the fort are two barahdari (viewing pavilions) at each end of the hill. There is an exceptionally large tower on the west wall. On the top platform of this there is a strange stone block and hole, which was probably the place of execution; the victim was thrown through the hole.
From the tower to the northwest corner of the fort there is a small three-arched mosque with moulded inscriptions of Allah and faint traces of paint which may have been original. It is on the left of the Shisha Gate (Mirror Gate), probably so called because to the right of it was the supposed site of a building called Harim's Hall of Mirrors. Sixty steps lead to a deep well with arcaded basement chambers, windows looking onto the well, and vaulted outlets for the water.
The centre portion of the north walls are well preserved. They have hooded machicolations, apertures from which to pour boiling oil onto attackers. Inside the next gate there is a vaulted octagonal room not unlike those in the Lahore Fort. It still has its original carvings and calligraphic mouldings. On the outside are the remains of blue tiles and more calligraphy. On the north side there is a Sikh house from the late 18th or early 19th century. Here is also the Khawas Khan Gate, named after Sher Shah's general who, took the Ghakkar chief Sarang Khan's daughter in forced marriage. The Batiala Gate is in the southeast corner of the fort.
Ten years after Sher Shah's death, his two successors having proved worthless, Humayun returned to Delhi. The Afghan governor of Rohtas made no resistance and fled the fort, along with his garrison. Thus Rohtas never had to serve the purpose for which it was intended. Humayun died a mere six months after his triumphant return to Delhi. The later Mughal emperors visited Rohtas only rarely. It lost its importance as a frontier garrison when Akbar built his great fort at Attock on the Indus in the 1850s.
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