Sialkot Fort
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
One of the most ancient cities of Pakistan (5000 years), Sialkot has historical importance for having Sailkot Fort, one of the oldest forts in Pakistan. Known historian Diayas Jee has stated that Hindu Raja Sálbán had re-established the Sialkot city in about the 2nd century AD 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 defense of the city. Raja Sálbán supposedly used more than 10,000 laborers and masons for the repairing and extention of the fort with huge-sized 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 her 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 architects and engineers from Greece. A wonderful road was built from the Fort to Rani Achchran's palace (Present Sahabpura Road in Sialkot). From 1179 to 1186 Shahab ud-Din Ghori occupied Lahore and Sindh. With the help of king of Jammu, he occupied the fort of Sialkot. Sialkot Fort was given to the Janjua tribes by Sultan Firuz Shah Tughluq who accepted their suzerainty in that region in about late 14th century.
The late Rashid Niaz, another historian who has authored Tareekh-i-Sialkot, wrote that the second wall of the ancient Sialkot Fort was discovered by the then Sialkot Municipal Corporation in 1923 while carrying out digging for installations in various parts of the city. At that time, archaeology experts from Taxila and Delhi visited Sialkot and confirmed that the stone-made faseel was 5,000 years old. Later, that wall was re-buried.
At present, just few ruins including a bastion are all that are left.The provincial archaeology department of Punjab and the district administration have left the historical Sialkot Fort to rot as among many ills plaguing it is growing number of encroachments which have become a blot on its face. Offices of the district government a are located on the fort premises, but none of the officials concerned seems willing to improve the lot of the centuries-old building.
.PNG/40px-South_Asia_(ed).PNG){kind=small}
