Sialkot Fort

Sialkot, which is one of the most ancient cities of Pakistan (more than 5000 years old), has historical significance due to the Sialkot Fort, one of the oldest forts in Pakistan. The well-known historian, Diayas Jee, has stated that Raja Sálbán re-established the Sialkot city around the 2nd century A.D. and ruled over the area between the rivers Ravi and Chenab. Sálbán built the Sialkot Fort (which, at the time, had double walls) for the defence of the city.Raja Sálbán, supposedly, used more than 10,000 laborers and masons for the repair and extension of the Fort with huge stone slabs and rocks which were brought to the location from Pathankot. This work was completed in a stipulated period of two years, at which point, the fort had two huge walls and 12 bastions. Raja Salbahan had a great respect for his wife, Rani Achchran, and loved her very much, so he built a very attractive palace for her which was (approximately) 9 square miles in area near Roras (Ugoki) and was designed and constructed by the architects and engineers from Greece. A wonderful road was built from the Fort to Rani Achchran's palace (present-day Sahabpura Road in Sialkot).From 1179 to 1186, Shahab ud-Din Ghori occupied Lahore and Sindh. With the help of the Raja of Jammu, he occupied the Sialkot Fort. The Sialkot Fort was given to the Janjua tribes by Sultan Firuz Shah Tughluq who accepted their suzerainty in that region around late 14th century A.D.

Rashid Niaz, another historian who has authored Tareekh-i-Sialkot, has written that the second wall of the ancient Sialkot Fort was discovered by the Sialkot Municipal Corporation in 1923 while carrying out civil works in the city. At that time, archaeology experts from Taxila and Delhi visited Sialkot and confirmed that the stone wall (faseel) was 5,000 years old. Later, that wall was re-buried.

At present, few ruins, including a bastion, are all that is left of the Fort. The Archaeology Department of Punjab and the district administration have left the historical Sialkot Fort to rot. Among the many ills plaguing it is the growing number of encroachments which are a blot on its face. The offices of the district government are located on the premises of the Fort but none of the officials concerned seems willing to improve the lot of the centuries-old structure.

ee also

* Sialkot

References

*http://www.dawn.com/2007/05/09/nat26.htm
*http://www.dawn.com/2004/07/23/local35.htm
*http://pakistantimes.net/2005/09/02/national4.htm