Landmark Asia
Rohtas Fort
Rohtas Fort is an old fort in Pakistan. Its stone walls run for more than 4 kilometers, with 12 gates!
Rohtas Fort is a 16th-century fort in Punjab, Pakistan, built for the ruler Sher Shah Suri from 1541. Its stone walls run for more than 4 kilometers around a hill, with 68 round bastions and 12 gates. It became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997.
Rohtas Fort (Qila Rohtas), begun in 1541 for Sher Shah Suri, founder of the Suri dynasty, is a 70-hectare garrison fort in northern Pakistan. Its stone walls, more than 4 km long, follow the hilly ground and carry 68 bastions and 12 gateways. UNESCO calls it an exceptional example of early Muslim military architecture in Central and South Asia, and a model for later Mughal architecture.
Photo: Hussain Khalid, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Discover Rohtas Fort
Rohtas Fort is in Pakistan, a country in South Asia.
Its long stone walls go up and down over a rocky hill.
Rohtas Fort stands near the city of Jhelum in Punjab, northern Pakistan. Its walls wrap around a small hill beside the Kahan River.
The walls are more than 4 kilometers long and enclose 70 hectares. Inside, there is room for a whole village, and people still live there today.
ICOMOS describes Rohtas as a complex of defensive works around a small hill beside the Kahan River. The walls, irregular in plan, follow the broken ground for more than 4 km and enclose 70 hectares.
UNESCO notes that a village grew up within the walls and still exists. The land inside the walls is government-owned, and building in and around the village is strictly controlled.
- Where
- Near Jhelum, Punjab, Pakistan
- Walls
- more than 4 km
- Area
- 70 ha
- World Heritage Site
- 1997
Built for Sher Shah Suri
A ruler named Sher Shah Suri ordered the fort to be built.
Work began in the year 1541.
Sher Shah Suri, founder of the Suri dynasty, began building Rohtas Fort in 1541 at an important spot in the north. ICOMOS gives the building years as 1541 to 1543.
The fort stayed in use until 1707. Later it was used again under Durrani and Sikh rulers in the 1700s and 1800s.
UNESCO records that Sher Shah Suri, founder of the Suri dynasty, began Rohtas Fort in 1541 at a strategic site in northern Pakistan; ICOMOS dates the building to 1541-1543. UNESCO says it was never taken by storm and has survived intact.
The garrison complex was in continuous use until 1707, then reoccupied under Durrani rulers in the 18th century and Sikh rulers in the 19th. ICOMOS adds that its name comes from Rohtasgarh, another fort.
Walls up to 18 meters high
The walls are made of stone and are up to 12.5 meters thick.
Rows of round towers stick out from them.
The stone walls are up to 12.5 meters thick and between about 10 and 18 meters high, depending on the ground. Stone stairs link terraces inside them, and rooms inside the walls housed soldiers and stores.
All along the walls are 68 rounded bastions. A wall 533 meters long divides off an inner fort.
ICOMOS gives the stone walls a thickness of up to 12.5 m and a height of 10.05 to 18.28 m, varying with the terrain, with two or three internal terraces linked by stone stairways and imposing stone merlons on top. Vaulted galleries inside the walls served the garrison as living quarters and stores.
The circuit is lined with 68 semicircular solid bastions, spaced irregularly, and a cross-wall 533 m long sets off the inner citadel. UNESCO says the design was based on Turkish military architecture developed for the age of gunpowder and cannon.
Twelve great gates
The fort has 12 gates. The finest one is 21 meters tall!
Some gates have shiny glazed tiles.
Twelve gates lead through the walls. ICOMOS calls the Sohail Gate the finest: it is 21.34 meters high, with decorated balconies on each side.
The Shishi Gate is named for its glazed tiles, one of the earliest uses of such tiles in the region. Inside, two stepped wells cut into the rock gave the fort its own water.
The sandstone gates are massive and ornate. The Sohail Gate, which ICOMOS calls the finest, is 21.34 m high and 20.7 m wide, flanked by decorated balconies on brackets and sturdy bastions; four other gates are double or oblique 'trap' gates guarding vulnerable approaches.
The Shishi Gate takes its name from the glazed tiles in its outer arch, one of the earliest examples of glazed tile facing in the region. Two baolis (stepped wells) cut into the limestone gave the garrison its own water.
- Built
- 1541–1543
- Bastions
- 68
- Gates
- 12
- Sohail Gate
- 21.34 m high
Walls on a rocky hill
In this photo, old walls stand on top of a steep, rocky hill.
Green bushes grow on the slopes, under a glowing sky.
This photo was taken on 23 March 2016. The fort's walls, with notched tops, run along the edge of a steep, rocky slope. A small domed tower rises on the right, and more stretches of wall stand on the far left, above the plain.
UNESCO notes that parts of the wall have collapsed and that rainwater is a threat to them.
The photograph (23 March 2016, by Hussain Khalid) looks along the fort's walls on the rim of a gullied, scrub-covered slope: crenellated wall sections and a large tower at the center right, a small domed turret on the right, and distant wall stretches at the left above the plain.
UNESCO reports that the fortification wall has collapsed in places and that encroachment has disturbed the fort's original drainage, so rainwater flooding is a risk. A conservation program for the fort began in 2000.
Amazing facts
-
A whole village is inside the fort's walls!
A village grew up inside the fort's walls, and people still live there today.
A village grew within the walls and survives to the present day, on government-owned land.
-
Some gates were built as tricky traps!
Four of the gates are double or slanted 'trap' gates that made it harder for attackers to get in.
Four gates covering vulnerable approaches are double ('trap') or oblique gates, which added hazards for attackers.
-
Soldiers once lived inside the thick walls!
Vaulted rooms inside the walls were used by the soldiers as homes and storerooms.
Within the thickness of the walls are vaulted galleries that served the garrison as living quarters and stores.
Words to know
- fort
- a strong building or group of buildings with walls, built for defense
- bastion
- a part of a fort's wall that sticks out, often round, for defense
- garrison
- the soldiers who live in and guard a fort
- merlon
- one of the raised blocks on top of a wall, with gaps between them
- stepped well
- a well with steps leading down to the water
- World Heritage Site
- a place UNESCO lists as important for all people
Discovery challenge
-
How many gates does Rohtas Fort have?
How many gateways pierce the walls of Rohtas Fort?
How many monumental gateways does UNESCO count in the fort's walls?
- 12
- 2
- 120
Show the answer
12
12 gates!
12.
Twelve.
-
In which country is Rohtas Fort?
Rohtas Fort stands near Jhelum, in which country?
In which country's Punjab province is Rohtas Fort?
- Pakistan
- Peru
- Poland
Show the answer
Pakistan
Pakistan!
Pakistan.
Pakistan.
-
In which year did the building of the fort start?
In which year did Sher Shah Suri begin building Rohtas Fort?
In which year does UNESCO say construction of Rohtas Fort commenced?
- 1541
- 1841
- 1941
Show the answer
1541
1541!
1541.
1541.
-
How did the people in the fort get water?
What gave the fort's garrison its own water supply?
What kind of structures cut into the bedrock made the garrison self-sufficient in water?
- Stepped wells
- Water towers
- Rain barrels
Show the answer
Stepped wells
Wells with steps!
Two stepped wells, called baolis.
Two baolis (stepped wells).
-
How long are the fort's walls?
How far do the walls of Rohtas Fort extend?
What length does UNESCO give for the fort's walls?
- More than 4 kilometers
- About 40 meters
- About 400 kilometers
Show the answer
More than 4 kilometers
More than 4 kilometers!
More than 4 kilometers.
More than 4 km.
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For parents & teachers
What children will learn
- Explain how forts were designed to be hard to attack.
- Describe why a fort needs its own water supply.
- Explain how one building style can influence later buildings.
Recommended ages: 4 to 17 · About 15 minutes
Talk about it
- Why would builders make walls follow the shape of a hill?
- Why might a fort have gates that turn or double back?
- How can people protect an old fort when part of a village lives inside it?
Try at home or in class
- Build a fort wall from blocks that follows a bumpy line, then add round towers along it.
- Find Jhelum, Lahore and Islamabad on a map of Pakistan.
Key vocabulary: fort, bastion, garrison, merlon, stepped well, World Heritage Site
Where these facts come from
- Wikidata , Wikimedia Foundation (CC0 1.0)
- Rohtas Fort , UNESCO World Heritage Centre
- Advisory Body Evaluation: Rohtas Fort, No 586 , ICOMOS / UNESCO World Heritage Centre
- File:Rohtas Fort (Jhelum, Pakistan) - World Heritage Site.jpeg , Wikimedia Commons
- UNESCO World Heritage List , UNESCO World Heritage Centre (Linked as a reference; site facts come from Wikidata)
- Wikimedia Commons , Wikimedia Foundation (Per file (public domain, CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA); see each media record)
Checked, not yet human-reviewed. Last updated November 1, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.