Page 43 - Lohgarh

Structure and Location of the Lohgarh Fort w 43

Panchkula (chowki village near Nada Sahib); (Forts still exist in
Mansoorpur & Bavana). The last Fortification made by the Sikhs and
Banda Singh Bahadur, are found near Pinjore. Banda Singh Bahadur
striked at the Mughals over a very wide area ,extending from Jalandhar
2
Doab in Punjab to Bareilly in Suba Delhi. So it is quite obvious that the
Fortification were made on the shivalik hills from Punjab to Uttar
Pradesh. At various points, nature was very skillfully used for defense
purposes and the hills were cut for the generation of narrow passages,
so that, in case the enemy army reaches a particular bastion of Lohgarh,
the large Mughals army cannot enter all together in the bastions. As a
part of strategy of defense through this narrow passage only a single
soldier could enter inside the bastions one at a time. It was always easy
to handle single moving soldier and the Sikh army even in less number
always remained heavy on the Mughal forces due to their strategic
defense positions and caused heavy casualties to the Mughal troops
advancing towards Fort Lohgarh. Lohgarh Fort was constructed by
common men, i.e. by Vanjara Sikhs and the Sikligars, who lived near
the vicinity of Lohgarh Fort. This is the largest Fort of the world having
defense comprising 200 hills on which strong ramparts of Fortification
were made. This makes Lohgarh Fort the largest Fortification of the
world, constructed so far. This is also the first time in the world history
that the Fort was constructed by the people and not by any monarch.
The contour of first Fortification of the Fort commences at the
height of 1200 feet above sea level and the last rampart of the Fort is
found on the hilltop 1900 feet height. Each hill has an independent and
separate defense system which also acts as a supporting protective
system of other defensive posts. Such a unique Fort was built to deal
with the world’s strongest army of Mughals. The Mughals had a
mammoth army, equipped with the most sophisticated weapons of that
time. As the strategy of war the Mughal army used to lay siege of the
enemy Fort thus cutting the supplies of essential materials required for
the sustenance of lives. The soldier in the Fort were compelled to
surrender. The major part of a military campaign of Mughals frequently
consisted of an extended siege of a town or a Fort with only a few minor