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Photo: Department of Archaeology & Museums, Government of PakistanField guides / Punjab / Raja Man Singh's Haveli
Field guide · Heritage
In the center of Rohtas Fort, there stands on a high part of the hill, the so-called Man Singh Haveli.
It is still controversial whether it was a palace or a temple. The present building is only the south-eastern corner of an irregular quadrangular structure, the rest of which has disappeared. At the south-eastern corner of this structure is a square room (5.5 x 5.5 m) over which is a domed chamber having one balcony on each of the south and east faces, supported on four deep brackets.
Why go
Sher Shah put his revenue minister Todar Mal Khatri in charge of the works. The local Gakhars refused to labour on it: their men had sworn not to assist the Surs on pain of excommunication. The finished fort has walls running more than four kilometres, 68 bastions, twelve gates — four of them traps — some 1,900 battlements and 9,500 stairs. It was never taken by storm. Whether the building at its centre was Man Singh's palace or a temple has never been settled.
Rohtas Fort was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1997 as an exceptional example of Muslim military architecture in Central and South Asia.
On a high part of the hill at the centre of Rohtas Fort stands the so-called Man Singh Haveli. Whether it was a palace or a temple remains unsettled. What survives is only the south-eastern corner of a larger, irregular quadrangular structure: a square room of 5.5 by 5.5 metres carrying a domed chamber, with a balcony on each of the south and east faces supported on four deep brackets.
The high ground at the centre of a World Heritage fortress that no army ever took.
Planning tip
Best Time to Visit, October to March.
Getting there, Rohtas Fort lies about 16 km north-west of Jhelum, off the GT Road. The haveli stands inside the fort walls.
Allow, Half a day for Rohtas Fort as a whole.
Straight-line distance from Raja Man Singh's Haveli, within 30 km.
