Page 30 - Lohgarh

30 w Lohgarh : The World’s Largest Fort

years. It must have taken 70 to 80 years to complete it. Even if all the
stones, bricks, lime and timber, etc. was supplied by Lakhi Rai Vanjara it
must have taken a very long time to carry all these things from far of
places to so many levels of the hills.
It seems that the building of the Fort had begun at the time of
Guru Hargobind Sahib when he had moved to Keeratpur in 1635. But,
most of the work for this Fort must have been done during the time of
Guru Har Rai Sahib. According to Dabistan-I-Mazahib (by Maubad
Zulfiqar Ardastani), Guru Har Rai spent about 13 years (1645 to 1657)
3
in the Thapal village (in the old state of Nahan /Sirmaur, in Lohgarh
zone). The Guru had 2200 horses (that means an equal number of
soldiers). This area was a good grazing ground where the horses could
get grass and water in plenty.
During his stay here, Lakhi Rai Vanjara used to visit him. Here, the
Guru must have monitored the activities of the construction of the Fort.
The central part of the Lohgarh Fort is about 15 km from here (and by
modern roads, it is about 25 kilometers) from here. In between Thapal
and Paonta Sahib, there is only Kalesar forest (now known as Kalesar
Wild Life Sanctuary). Another passage to Lohgarh is via Sukhchainpura
(this village is known after some Sukhchain Singh; he might be a
descendant of Lakhi Rai Vanjara).
As mentioned earlier it seems that all the stones, bricks, lime etc
were brought here by the trade caravan of Lakhi Rai Vanjara, it is very
likely that he set up brick kilns here. Nanakshahi bricks have been used
in dozens of hills. Though the Mughals had removed all the stones,
rocks and bricks from most of the area of the Fort still signs of
Nanakshahi bricks can be found everywhere, not only in one or two
hills but in almost all the hills and at all the levels of the hills.

Who was Lakhi Rai Vanjara ?
4
Most of the students of the Sikh history remember Bhai Lakhi Rai Vanjara
for his act of carrying the headless body of Guru Tegh Bahadur from
Chandni Chowk and cremating it by torching his house. He is popularly
known as Bhai Lakhi Shah Vanjara. But, they do not know that Bhai