Derawar Fort

Derawar Fort is a large fortress located in Yazman Tehsil in the Bahawalpur District of Punjab, Pakistan. It sits about 20 km south of the city of Ahmedpur East in the Cholistan Desert. From far away, you can see its forty bastions, which are strong towers at the corners and along the walls.

The walls of Derawar Fort are very big, with a perimeter of 1500 metres. They stand up to thirty metres high, making the fort look impressive and strong against the wide, open desert. This historic place shows the amazing building skills of people from long ago.

History

The Cholistan Desert in Pakistan was once home to the ancient Indus Valley culture, which used the Hakra River for farming. Around 600 BC, the river changed its course and disappeared underground, turning the area into a desert. Despite this, the region remained important for trade between Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent and for pilgrims traveling to Mecca.

Derawar Fort was built in 858 by Rai Jajja Bhati, a Hindu Rajput ruler, to honor Rawal Deoraj Bhati, the ruler of the Kingdom of Jaisalmer. Originally called Dera Rawal, it later became known as Derawar. The fort is the best-preserved of many desert forts, including Meergarh, Jaangarh, and Khangarh, which provided shelter for travelers. In the 18th century, it was taken over by Muslim Nawabs of Bahawalpur and later renovated. The fort remained standing because people continued to live there, unlike other medieval buildings that fell into ruin.

The last ruler of Bahawalpur, Nawab Sadeq Muhammad Khan Abbasi V, was born in the fort in 1904. During the 1965 war with India, some parts of the fort were removed for military training. Google celebrated Pakistan’s 75th Independence Day with a special drawing of Derawar Fort, recognizing it as a symbol of Pakistan’s history and resilience.

Structure

Derawar Fort is a huge square building made from clay bricks. Its walls stretch 1500 meters around and rise up to thirty meters high. The fort has forty round bastions, ten on each side, that are also 30 meters tall and can be seen from far away across the desert. Each bastion is beautifully decorated with patterns cut into the bricks. Inside, there are signs of old rooms that once had tiles and colorful paintings. Today, the fort covers about 35 acres of land.

There is a secret underground tunnel that could let someone travel safely from a castle to the fort. The underground areas still have rooms, but many parts are damaged. The fort has a clever way to keep the underground cool without using modern machines. Derawar Fort shows one of many square brick designs from old times, mostly from the 16th to 18th centuries, with some changes made as early as the 9th century.

Nearby, you can find the Moti or Pearl Mosque and the cemetery of the Nawabs, which have beautifully decorated graves. The Abbasi Mosque was built in 1849 for a special religious leader, Pir Ghulam Farid. Close to the fort are tombs of the Nawabs and their families, plus a fancy marble tomb for the last nawab's wife from England.

Renovation

The Fort was rebuilt in its present shape in 1732 by Nawab Sadeq Muhammad, a ruler from the Abbasi family. In 2019, the provincial government set aside money to help protect Derawar Fort, which is a famous building in the Cholistan desert near Bahawalpur.

Much of the work has been done, such as fixing a storage area outside the fort and strengthening damaged parts of the walls and towers. Even with these efforts, the fort still struggles because of bad weather and visitors who do not treat the site with care. Much of the wooden parts inside have disappeared, and the floors are in poor condition.

Visiting Derawar

Visiting Derawar Fort is an adventure that takes about a full day. You’ll need a four-wheel drive vehicle and a local guide to get there. The fort is privately owned by the family of the Bahawalpur rulers, so you need special permission to enter.

Even though the fort could use some care, it’s still an amazing place to see. Exploring the nearby mosques and mausoleums makes the trip even better. Every year, a jeep rally in the Cholistan Desert draws visitors from around the world, with over 70,000 people attending. The rally travels through three districts in the desert.

UNESCO tentative list

Derawar Fort and the Desert Forts of Cholistan were submitted by the Pakistan Government in 2016 to be considered as a World Heritage Site. These forts were important stops along ancient trading routes through a dry and hard-to-reach desert. Derawar Fort, in particular, offered access to water and served as a safe place for travelers.

The fort is important because it shows how people built structures to survive in a tough desert environment and gives us clues about old trade and culture. It helps us understand how people from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India interacted along these trade routes.

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