Page 48 - Lohgarh

48 w Lohgarh : The World’s Largest Fort

made pucca trenches and obstacles in most of plain area. Sikh army
kept Mughals engaged in war most of the time in plain area where 52
bastions existed before their attack on Lohgarh area. The siezure by
the enemy on the front side, i.e. the southern side was not so effective,
therefore, this lead to heavy damage to the Mughals during the war.
The Lohgarh trustee explored deeply the area of the Lohgarh Fort with
a good number of people because one could only enter it after cutting
wild plants on the way. Lohgarh Fort, which is spread in 7000 acres, is
divided further into sectors. So far 32 sectors of its area, which comprises
about thousands of acres of land, have been surveyed. Each sector is
situated on different hillocks. There are dual-protection walls enclosing
each sector. The foundation of the ramparts could be seen especially at
vulnerable points, which were properly plugged with stone walls. Each
sector supported as a defense for the adjacent sector.
In case one sector was captured by the enemy, the other men sitting
in the adjacent sectors could inflict heavy damage on them with their
gunshots, as the area came directly under their range due to higher
contours. Many areas of Lohgarh are still under exploration because it
can be inspected only after cutting wild plants. The outer wall of the
Lohgarh Fort is not found continuous. The foundations are clearly visible
at vulnerable points. The foundation about 2.5 to 3 meters wide and it
is not visible where the wall join steep rise of the hills. Fort’s outer
circumference of the wall, including hill width is about 50 km. How could
this huge Fort, which is further defended by the Fort wall around each
sector, be conquered by the Mughal army in one throw and one day as
narrated by some historians. As the strategy of war, the Mughal army
used to lay siezure of the enemy posts, thus cutting their supplies of
essential materials required for the sustenance of life, compelling the
defending forces to surrender; but, in case the Lohgarh siezure was not
possible, the question of a shortage of supplies and further surrounding
of Lohgarh never actually happened.
The geographical location and topography of the Lohgarh area is
such that here the siezure of Mughals also was not possible. This area,
having high contours hills with undulated land with thorny forest covers