Derawar Fort
Derawar Fort is a large square fortress in
Pakistan near
Bahawalpur. The forty bastions of Derawar are visible for many miles in
Cholistan Desert. The walls have a circumference of 1500 metres and stand up to thirty metres high.
The first fort on the site was built by Hindu Rajput,
Rai Jajja Bhati of
Jaisalmer. It remained in the hands of the royal family of Jaisalmer until captured and completely rebuilt by the
nawabs of Bahawalpur in 1733. In 1747, the fort slipped from the hands of the Abbasis owing to
Bahawal Khan's preoccupations at
Shikarpur. Nawab
Mubarak Khan took the stronghold back in 1804.
he nearby mosque was modelled after that in the
Red Fort of
Delhi. There is also a royal
necropolis of the Abbasi family, which still owns the stronghold. The area is rich in archaeological artifacts associated with
Ganweriwala, a vast but as-yet-unexcavated city of the
Indus Valley Civilization.
Derawar fort is one of the largest fortresses in Pakistan. It is located nearly 100 km south of the Bahawalpur city in the vast Cholistan desert. It belongs to Tehsil Ahmad Pur east in Punjab.
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