Rawat is a small town on the Grand Trunk Road, only a few kilometers from Rawalpindi, falling within the Islamabad Capital Territory. While traveling from Rawalpindi toward Lahore, you might catch a glimpse of the large gates of a fort, about a hundred meters off the road, behind a busy bazaar and a bus stop. This is Rawat Fort, the one of the only two forts located l territory. Pharwala Fort, although very close to Islamabad, lies just outside the boundary of the capital region.
Though not as imposing or large as Pharwala Fort, Rawat Fort is nonetheless a fairly large and historically significant structure. It is located at 33° 29' 53.24" N, 73° 11' 39.23" E.
The fort is a perfect square, with each side measuring 105 meters, covering an area of about 2.7 acres and surrounded by residential houses. Its most striking feature, in my opinion, is the main gate located on the eastern side of the fort (or sarai), which we shall discuss later.
Two other important structures inside the fort are a large octagonal tomb and a mosque with three prominent domes. The fort’s walls are not very high and are in a dilapidated condition. In addition to the main gate, there is a smaller entrance in the northern wall of the fort or caravanserai.
Rawat a corruption of an Arabid Word "Rebat", meaning Sarai (inn) seems originally to be an ancient Sarai. Situated 18 kilometers from Rawalpindi towards Jhelum, close to the Grand Trunk Road. the present small fortress - sarai, appears to have been builto during the Sultanate period in early 15th century AD. the elegant small stone fortress is however,, also curiously associated with the name of Masud, son of the great conqueror Sultan Mahmood of Ghazna (1036 AD), where he is said to have been arrested by his rebellious soldiers and eventually murdered in the Fort Giri near Taxila and subsequently with the name of famous Gakhar Chief Sarang Khan. Who fell with his sixteen sons, fighting against Sher Shah Suri and buried within the precinct of this monument. The fort in its present condition contains two gateways, the main gate open towards East while small one on North. A three domes mosque in the middle of western wing, an octagonal single domed mausoleum on the north western corner, partly obstructing the frontage of the mosque and numerous scattered graves inside. There are regular rows of identical living cells along the four sides of the quadrangular inner face of the defense walls ............................... courtyard.
روات عربی زبان کے لفظ ربات (رباط) کی بگڑی ہوئی شکل ہے۔ ربات کے لفظی معنی سرائےکے ہیں۔ اس سے اندازہ ہوتا ہے کہ موجودہ قلعہ ایک قدیم کاروان سرائے تھا۔ جو کہ جرنیلی روڈ کے ساتھ مسافروں کی سہولت یا سرکاری اہلکاروں کے ٹھہرنے کے لیئے بنائی گئی تھی۔ اس کا فن تعمیر اس بات کی غمازی کرتا ہے کہ یہ قلعہ نما سرائےپندرہویں صدی کے اوائل میں سلاطین دہلی کے زمانے میں تعمیر ہوئی تھی۔ لیکن اس قلعے کو سلطان محمود غزنوی کے بیٹے مسعود کے ساتھ بھی منسوب کیا جاتا ہے۔ جس کا زمانہ 1036ء ہے اور کہا جاتا ہے کہ اس کے لشکر کے باغی سپاہیوں نے اسے اس قلعے میں گرفتار کیا اور بعد میں ٹیکسلا کے نزدیک گڑی کے قلعے میں لے جا کر قتل کردیا۔ یہ قلعہ بعد میں گکھڑ قبیلے کے سردار سارنگ خان کے قبضے میں آیا جو کہ اپنے سولہ بیٹوں کےساتھ شیرشاہ سوری کے ہاتھوں قتل ہوا اوراسی قلعے میں دفن کیا گیا۔
موجودہ قلعہ فصیل اور دو دروازوں پر مشتمل ہے۔ صدر دروازے کا رخ مشرق کی جانب ہے۔ جبکہ عقبی دروزہ شمال کی جانب کھلتا ہے۔ فصیل کے اندر چاروں اطراف میں ہجرے بنے ہوئے ہیں۔ فصیل کے اندر دیگر تاریخی عمارتوں میں ایک ہشت پہلو مقبرہ، ایک مسجد اور چند قبریں ہیں۔
he story of Sultan Masud Ghaznavi is correct in its details. After losing battles against the Seljuks, the Ghaznavids were indeed shifting towards Lahore as the capital of their empire. After losing the battle of Dandanaqan in 1040, near Merv, Masud retreated towards this part of his empire, and was captured by a rebellious faction led by his brother, and imprisoned at Giri, and subsequently executed.
Now let us examine the second story, about a battle between Sher Shah Suri and Sarang Khan Gakhar, which was supposed to have been fought in 1546 AD. But Sher Shah had already died in May 1545, though that is a minor inconsistency. After the defeats at Chausa and Kannauj, Humayun and his large family, along with thousands of supporters, fled to Lahore, and when Sher Shah Suri approached, they all fled in panic towards the River Jhelum. Near Khushab, they all split into two groups: one fled to Kabul, while the other, under the command of Humayun, marched towards Multan. Sher Shah too pursued Humayun up to Multan. So I am not sure whether Sher Shah came as far north as Rawat, as he became busy in other campaigns in central India. One more point we should bear in mind is that most of the action associated with this small fortress most probably took place at Pharwala, about 17 kms to the northeast, which is a very big fort and certainly had great importance in this region.
January 1, 2017.
Doha - Qatar.
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