Page 44 - Lohgarh

44 w Lohgarh : The World’s Largest Fort

skirmishes. 3 Mughal warfare was inflexible when confronted with
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guerrilla tactics. In various incidents of this kind the Gurus had mustered
troops from amongst their followers, the military exercises had been
systematically encouraged, for building and towns in which a careful
consideration was given to proper defenses.
In ancient times nature was used as a defense. Frequently the dense
forest called as Vanh Durg and hills/mountains were called Parvh Durg.
In the case of Lohgarh Fort and its battle field both the concept of Vanh
Durg and Parvh Durg exist which was a great advantage to the Sikh
forces. The geographical location of the Lohgarh Fort is such that, this
place has dense forest on its North and South, the cumulative width of
which is 14 km. the Lohgarh Fort was established as the Sikh State
Capital, by Baba Banda Singh Bahadur in December 1709.The Sikh army
not only had sufficient water but also had control over the water which
flowed down to the enemy’s army. The Fort is designed in such a manner
that it has a double Fortification system, i.e. one Fortification wall moves
around the rivulet area and the other moves around the hill. The rivulets,
passing through the Fort area, strategically bifurcated the Fort in such a
fashion that each bifurcation system in exigency was in the protective
support of the other area. Even if the enemy army succeeded in
capturing any side, the whole Fort could not be captured at the same
time as the Fort is divided along the rivulets and different protective
defence belts. The Sikh army present in other parts of the Fort being at
an advantage point could have easily reinforced and recaptured the
lost portion. The bastions were established in such a fashion and position
that each used to defend other. Watch towers/ chowkies were
established strategically in such a manner that the view of the Som
river is visible from every part of the Fort. Therefore, even when the
Sikh army was outnumbered the enemy army failed to capture it because
of its vantage point of defensibility. No cannons were effective on the
strong impregnable walls of Lohgarh Fort. The flanks and rear of the
Fort, were protected by narrow gorges and its face rested on nearly
vertical slopes. The hill sides were overgrown with dense subtropical
undergrowth, thick bramble, impenetrable mass of thorny shrub acacia,