Phillaur Fort or Maharaja Ranjit Singh Fort is located on the

Grand Trunk Road Grand Trunk Road (formerly known as Uttarapath, Sadak-e-Azam, Shah Rah-e-Azam, Badshahi Sadak, and Long Walk) is one of Asia's oldest and longest major roads. For at least 2,500 years it has linked Central Asia to the Indian subcontinent. It r ...

Phillaur Phillaur is a town and a municipal council as well as a tehsil in Jalandhar district in the Indian state of Punjab. The city is situated 20 km from Ludhiana, 45 km from Jalandhar and 140 km from Amritsar. It is situated on the border of the Doa ...

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

, India.

History

During the reign of

Shah Jahan Shah Jahan I, (Shahab-ud-Din Muhammad Khurram; 5 January 1592 – 22 January 1666), also called Shah Jahan the Magnificent, was the Emperor of Hindustan from 1628 until his deposition in 1658. As the fifth Mughal emperor, his reign marked the ...

(1628-1658) an Imperial sarai was constructed here and in 1809 it was rebuilt as a fort under the rule of

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 ...

(1780–1839). It was designed by Dewan Mohkam Chand, with the assistance of Ranjit Singh's French and Italian generals. It was constructed as a response to the British, who built a

Fort A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from La ...

in nearby

Ludhiana Ludhiana () is the most populous Cities in India, city in the Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab.164.100.161.224 http://164.100.161.224 › filesPDF Ludhiana State: Punjab Business & Industrial Centre, Tier 2 1 ... The city has an estima ...

. Phillaur Fort was officially known as Maharaja Ranjit Singh Fort. It is a historic red-brick citadel on the Grand Trunk Road in Punjab, originally built as a Mughal-era sarai under

(1628–1658) and later transformed into a formidable military stronghold by

Maharaja 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 Misl ...

in 1809 with European architectural influences. After the Sikh defeat in the

Battle of Aliwal The Battle of Aliwal was fought on 28 January 1846 between the East India Company, British and Sikh Empire, Sikh forces in northern India (now Punjab, India). The British were led by Sir Sir Harry Smith, 1st Baronet, Harry Smith,Smith, Sir Ha ...

(1846), the British took possession, repurposing it as an artillery depot and, by 1891, converting it into India's oldest police training academy. The fort complex also houses the revered shrine of Pir Baba Abdullah Shah Ji, adding to its cultural significance. Today, it remains both an architectural landmark and a live police academy, although its custodianship under Punjab Police has sparked debate over heritage access.

Architecture

The fort's architecture has a distinct European character, with channels dug out along the boundary of the fort, watchtowers on the two gateways, four

bastion A bastion is a structure projecting outward from the curtain wall of a fortification, most commonly angular in shape and positioned at the corners of the fort. The fully developed bastion consists of two faces and two flanks, with fire from the ...

s on four nooks high walls around the fort. It features an extensive moat and inward-sloping outer walls engineered to deflect artillery fire, alongside watchtowers atop both eastern ( Delhi Gate) and western ( Lahori Gate) gateways, each with distinctive three-storey height and decorative chajjas over richly niche-lined facades. The fortress walls are punctuated by four robust bastions at its corners and additional bastions along the ramparts enhanced by Parapets and chemin de ronde walkways. Within, the mortar-built ramparts encircle structures such as the Police Training College, director's residence, and Finger Print Bureau, preserving the fort's functional lineage.

Gallery

File:"Loodianah, on the Sutlej"*.jpg, The Fort of Phulloor, on the Punjaub side of the Sutlej in 1846 File:Fort of "Philoor" (Phillaur) on the Sutlej River, built by Maharaja Ranjeet Singh.jpg, Fort of "Philoor" (Phillaur) on the Sutlej River, ca.1858–61

References

External links

* {{Commons category-inline, Phillaur Fort Forts in Punjab, India Monuments and memorials in Punjab, India