Rawat Fort

Rawat Fort (Urdu: قلعہ روات), also known as Sarai Rawat, is an early 15th century fortified caravanserai on the Pothohar Plateau, near the city of Rawalpindi in the province of Punjab, Pakistan.

It is 17 km east of Rawalpindi on Grand Trunk Road. The second century Mankiala Stupa can be seen from the roof of the fort. The fort is located approximately 50 miles from the vast Rohtas Fort, which was built by Sher Shah Suri to subdue the rebellious Ghakkar tribe and bring the Potohar region under his control.

Rawat Fort derives its name from the Arabic word rabat (Arabic: رباط), meaning 'caravanserai', an inn for caravans.

The Rawat fort or sarai is believed to have been founded as a caravanserai in the 15th century by the Delhi Sultanate. The caravanserai itself may have been built atop a Ghaznavid-era fort that was established in 1036 CE. The caravanserai was then later converted into a fortress in the 16th century by the local Gakhar clan in order to defend the Pothohar Plateau from Sher Shah Suri's forces. It remained under Gakhar control throughout and after Mughal rule until it was taken over by the Sikh army and then in turn by the British.

The fort is almost in square form and has two gates. It measures 93.5 x 106.3 m and covers a courtyard of around 10,000 m2 (2.5 acres). There is an octagonal tomb with a dome measuring 16.6 m in diameter in the fort's inner portion – an area which also contains many graves. The tomb is traditionally believed to belong to Sarang Khan Gakhar, while graves to be of his associates who died fighting along with him against Sher Shah in 1541. Along the perimeter are several small cells, which may have originally been small rooms rented out to itinerant merchants.The west wall of fort contains a mosque with three domes, measuring 29.5 x 12.1 m.

The fort is federally protected as a Cultural Heritage Site of Punjab, and is managed by the Ministry of Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage. In November 2016, a conservation plan was commissioned for preservation of the fort. 50 million rupees were allocated in March 2017 towards the first of two phases of conservation of the Rawat Fort.

Text adapted from “Rawat Fort” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Rawat Fort ranks #4,628 of 8,133 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #18 of the 32 mapped in Pakistan. Founded 1036, it is older than 91% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 325 atlas entries founded in the 11th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 1,054 times in the last 60 days, more than 50% of the atlas. 1 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Rawalpindi, 16 km away. See how Pakistan compares in the castle statistics.

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