Multan Fort

The Multan Fort, a military installation, was a landmark of Indian defence and architecture. According to some estimates the original fort was built between 800 and 1000 B.C. It was built near the city of Multan, in Punjab province, on a hillock separated from the city by the Ravi River. The fort was destroyed by British forces during the British occupation of India.

The fort was notable for both its effectiveness as a defence installation and for its architecture. Contemporary reports put the walls of the fort at 40 to 70 feet (21 m) high and 6,800 feet (2 km) in circumference. The fort's 46 bastions included two flanking towers at each of the four gates (the De, Sikki, Hareri and Khizri Gates). A ditch 25 feet (7.6 m) deep and 40 feet (12 m) wide and an 18-foot (5.5 m) glacis protected the fort from intruders.

Within the fort stood a citadel flanked by 30 towers, enclosing mosques, a Hindu temple and a Khan's palace. The citadel was severely damaged by the battering it got from the guns of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in 1818.

The Fort was originally known as Katochgarh and is attributed to have been built by the Katoch Dynasty. Coordinates: 30°11′56″N 71°28′24″E / 30.19889°N 71.47333°E / 30.19889; 71.47333

Prahladpuri Temple

Prahladpuri Temple, Multan is located It is located on top of a raised platform inside the Fort of Multan, adjacent to tomb of Hazrat Baha’ul Haq Zakariya. The Prahladapuri temple like the Sun Temple of Multan had been destroyed after Muslim conquest of Multan, suffered several material losses and was reduced to a nondescript shrine by the 19th century. A mosque has subsequently built adjacent to temple.[1]

The original temple of Prahladpuri is said to have been built by Prahlad, son of Hiranyakashipu, the king of Multan (Kashya-papura)[2] in honor of Narsing Avatar, an incarnation of Hindu god Vishnu, who emerged from the pillar to save Prahlada.[3][4][5][6]

Gates

There were four other gates which belong to Kohna Fort of Multan, out of which only first survives.
Qasim Gate
Khizri Gate
Sikhi Gate
Hareri Gate

See also

References

  1. ↑ Muslim Saints of South Asia: The Eleventh to Fifteenth Centuries By Anna Suvorova. p. 153.
  2. ↑ Syad Muhammad Latif (1963). The early history of Multan. p. 3,54. Kasyapa, is believed, according to the Sanscrit texts, to have founded Kashyapa-pura (otherwise known as Multan
  3. ↑ Gazetteer of the Multan District, 1923-24 Sir Edward Maclagan, Punjab (Pakistan). 1926. pp. 276–77.
  4. ↑ Imperial rule in Punjab: the conquest and administration of Multan, 1818-1881 by J. Royal Roseberry. pp. 243, 263.
  5. ↑ All the year round , Volume 51. Charles Dickens. 1883.
  6. ↑ Survey & Studies for Conservation of Historical Monuments of Multan. Department of Archeology & Museums, Ministry of Culture, Government of Pakistan

External links

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