Rohtas Fort (قلعہ روہتاس – Qila Rohtas)(Jehlum)

The Rohtas fort lies sprawling upon a low rocky hill north of Jhelum in a bend of the river Ghan (mostly spelled as Kahan). It occupies an uneven piece of land cut up by deep mountain torrents of which the ChandWali Kas and Parnata Kas are the most important. The eastern wall of the Anderkot follows the edge of the former whereas the corresponding walls the outer fort follows that of the latter. This Rohtas is not to be confused with the Rohtasgarh fort in Bihar, from which it derives its name. 


The fort was built in compliance with the orders of Sher Shah (actual name Farid Khan) son of Hassan Khan, son of Ibrahim Khan, and Afghan of the Sur section of the Lodhi tribe. The project was financially looked after by Todar Mal, the finance minister of Sher Shah; it was executed by Shahu Sultani who acted in the capacity of what may presently be called a superintending engineer.


The project took many years to complete (perhaps 10 years) and was finished during the reign of Sher Shah’s son and successor Jalal Khan who assumed the title of Islam Shah at the time of his accession to the throne in AD 1545. The expenditure is variously recorded by the Tahrik I Daudi as eight crores five lace five thousand and two and half dams i.e. Bahluli’s and Tuzuk I Jehangiri as sixteen crores , ten lacs of dams and a little more. Both the source refer to inscribed to a stone slabs fixed on gates as their source of information, It is likely that the estimate if the Tahrik I Daudi pertains merely to the Anderkot and that of Tuzuk I Jehangiri to the outer fort.


Nasiruddin Humayun (r.1530-1540, 1556-1556), son and successor of Zahiruddin Babur (r.1526-1530), the Mughal emperor of India had at the hands of Sher Khan (Sher Shah Suri, (r.1540-1545) suffered devastating defeats in two pitched battles, the first at Chaunsa on the Ganges below Benares, and the second near Qanaauj, also on the Ganges, but much higher up the river. He had to retire into the Punjab where he expected to reach some kind of an accommodation with his younger brother Mirza Kamran who held Kabul and Ghazni under his control. When Humayun reached the sarai (Inn) of Daulat Khan near Lahore, Kamran came forward to receive him. Humayun stayed in the garden of Khawaja Dost, but suspecting deception on the part of his brother, he decided to fall back on Sindh in search of a possible exit to Persia. Sher Khan who had now assumed sovereignty and the tile of Sultan Sher Shah and had reached Khushab on the river Jhelum. It was here that the Afghans of Roh presented themselves and paid homage to him. Amongst those who attended upon him were the Baluch chiefs Ismail Khan and Fateh Khan of the Dudai clan of Hut, and Ghazi Khan the Marlani, the founders of three Deras bearing their respective names. Sher Shah expended a vast sum of money and presents upon the Afghans who presented themselves before him, but, although all the zamindars and nobles of the areas had done so, the Gakkar chief, the Rai Sarang, who depended upon the strength of his country in the Koh e Jud, did not think fit to do so, and, according to one source, when Sher Shah summoned him, dispatched some lion and Tiger skins in reply. This enraged Sher Shad so much that he decided to ravage and lay desolate the Gakkar country. On this occasion he inspected the Kohistan, visiting Nandana and Tilla Balnath the Jogi, for a possible site to erect a fort, saying, that he would drive such a spike into the breast of the Gakkhars as should remain there till the end of time. How far the story is correct it is difficult to say. The obvious reason that led him to take such a decision was the Gakkar –Mughal alliance which could pave the way for the Mughal reentry. His own analysis of the situation led ultimately led him to believe that a strong frontier fort was urgently needed for the dual purpose of suppressing the Gakkars and blocking the successful Mughal advance from Kabul or Kashmir.


The new fortress was placed under the charge of Haibat Khan Nayazi, Khawas Khan, Isa Khan Nayazi and Habib Khan Kakar- his most trusted generals, along with numerous armies. The posting of his great amirs in Rohtas shows the kind of concern Sher Shah in his mind regarding the sensitive nature of the frontier. In AD 1543-44, Sher Shah recalled the other generals and left Haibat Khan in sole charge of the Punjab. Haibat Khan held Rohtas with a force of 30,000 Afghan horse; all in his own pay. After his services in Multan the same Haibat Khan was raised to the highest rank, with the title of Masnad- Ata Azam, Humayun (The Most August, The Occupant of the Exalted Seat of Dignity). He was likewise assigned a scarlet tent, which only the family of the sovereign was hitherto allowed to use. The fortress was not finished, however till some years later.