Kamlah Fort (also: Kamlahgarh or Kamlah Garh, from Hindi
गढ़ (''Garh''): "fort") is a 17th-century fort located near Kamlah village in the province of
Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh (; Sanskrit: ''himācāl prādes;'' "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a States and union territories of India, state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen Indian Himalayan ...
,
India west of
Mandi.
It was probably constructed in 1625 by
Raja
Raja (; from , IAST ') is a noble or royal Sanskrit title historically used by some Indian subcontinent, Indian rulers and monarchs and highest-ranking nobles. The title was historically used in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia.
T ...
Suraj Sen Suraj Sen (later known as Suraj Pal) was a legendary petty noble who founded the fortress and city of Gwalior. Legendary accounts differ as to the claimed timeframe, from 375 AD to 700 AD.
Per legend, Suraj was a leper who was healed by the hermit ...
of Mandi.
The Mandi kingdom depended on its forts for its security, and Kamlah Fort had the reputation of being the most secure repository of the reputed 360 forts of the Mandi state from the rule of Suraj Sen to that of
Ishvari Sen
''Ishvari'' (Sanskrit: ईश्वरी, IAST: Īśvarī) is a Hindu epithet of Sanskrit origin, referring to the Goddess, the divine female counterpart of Ishvara. It is also a term that refers to the shakti, or the feminine energy of the ...
(1788–1826).
Maharaja
Maharaja (also spelled Maharajah or Maharaj; ; feminine: Maharani) is a royal title in Indian subcontinent, Indian subcontinent of Sanskrit origin. In modern India and Medieval India, medieval northern India, the title was equivalent to a pri ...
Ranjit Singh
Ranjit Singh (13 November 1780 – 27 June 1839) was the founder and first maharaja of the Sikh Empire, in the northwest Indian subcontinent, ruling from 1801 until his death in 1839.
Born to Maha Singh, the leader of the Sukerchakia M ...
attacked the fort in 1830.
It was destroyed in 1840 and then retaken a few years later and reconstructed by
Mandi Kings.
See also
*
Forts in India
The existence of the earliest forts in India have been substantiated by documentation and excavation. In the medieval times, the architecture of the forts had both Hindu and Muslim influence. The forts constructed by the British initially opted ...
*
Suket State
Suket State was one of the princely states of India during the period of the British Raj. The capital of the state was Pangna. Its last ruler signed the accession to the Indian Union on 15 April 1948. Formerly it belonged to the States of the ...
*
Raja
Raja (; from , IAST ') is a noble or royal Sanskrit title historically used by some Indian subcontinent, Indian rulers and monarchs and highest-ranking nobles. The title was historically used in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia.
T ...
References
Further reading
*
Forts in Himachal Pradesh
17th-century forts in India
Buildings and structures in Mandi district
{{India-struct-stub