Alwar fort

Coordinates: 27°34′28″N 76°35′16″E / 27.57444°N 76.58778°E / 27.57444; 76.58778

Bala Quila built by Raja Hasan Khan Mewati
Distant view of Alwar fort from the city

Bala Quila also known Alwar fort is a fort in Alwar in Indian state of Rajasthan. [1] It is situated on a hill in the Aravalli Range, above the town of Alwar.[2] The fort is 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) long and is about 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) wide. It was built by Hasan Khan Mewati in 1550 C.E. In the following centuries it went the Mughals, Marathas, the Jats and last to the Kachwaha Rajputs.[3]

History

Babur (the first Mughal king in India) spent a night here. He took away the treasure that was kept there and gave it to his son, Humayun. Later Jahangir stayed there for some time when he was packed off by his authoritarian father, Akbar. The place where he stayed came to be called Salim Mahal. (Jahangir was actually banished by Akbar because he tried to assassinate Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak, one of the "nine jewels" of his father's court). On 1692 the mughal emperor Aurangzeb a point her grandson shazada Md jawan bakht qiledar of the fort and jawan reign 10 years

Description

View of city of Alwar from Bala Quila.

Hindu scriptures (the Puranas), dictate that 'a fort is the strength of a king'. Within the fort are 15 large and 51 small towers perched on the ridgetop, 340 metres (1,120 ft) above the city. The fort included 446 openings for musketry, along with 8 huge bastions encompassing it. When visited a few years ago, this fort was being used by the Police as a radio listening post. Visitors may initially be made very uncomfortably unwelcome and threatened with fines for even coming to the fort but it is only 20 rupees or so, which then grants access. The ruins must have been magnificent in their time but now most roofs are gone plus many of the floors and there are trees growing in the main rooms.

The fort is accessible only by four-wheel-drive vehicles, Hindustan Ambassador taxis or by a steep footpath.[1]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Bala Quila (Alwar Fort) Alwar, AlwarCity.com- The Tiger Gate Of Rajasthan". Alwarcity.com. Retrieved 2014-05-13.
  2. ↑ Dang 2005.
  3. ↑ "Bala Quila Alwar". Alwar district Official website accessdate = 2014-05-09.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, April 25, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.