Gwalior Fort

These are some photographs I took during my trip to gwalior from my cellphone camera.

This fort is situated at Gopachal, nearly 100m above the town of Gwalior. It’s width ranges from nearly 1km, to less than 200m. The walls, which encircle the fort, are solid and nearly 10m high. In places the cliff overhangs and elsewhere it has been clipped to make it steep and hence unscalable. It earned the reputation of being North and Central India’s most impregnable fort. Babur described the fort as, "The pearl amongst fortresses in India".

The fort also enjoys the advantage of an unlimited water supply, as there are many water tanks on the plateau.

The fort can be approached from the south or the northeast. The latter approach starts from the archaeological museums and leads to the doors of the Man Singh Palace. The southern entrance is via the URBAI GATE and goes past the cliff face with Jain Sculptures on it.

HISTORY:

The fort has a long history, which goes back to over 1000years. According to a legend, on the hilltop where the fort stands, lived a hermit GWALIPA. He cured SURAJ SEN of leprosy, by giving him a drink of water from the Suraj kund, which is still there in the fort. He also renamed him SURAJ PAL and said that as long as he and his descendents kept the name PAL, they would remain in power. His 84th descendent however, changed his name and lost his kingdom.

In 1938, the Tomar dynasty came to power in Gwalior. Man Singh, who ascended the throne in 1486 incidentally, was the greatest of the Tomar rulers. He repelled an attack on the fort by SIKANDAR LODI of Delhi. In 1516, Ibrahim Lodi laid siege on the fort. Man Singh died but his son held on to the fort for one year before surrendering. After the Lodis, the fort passed into the hands of the Mughals who held onto it till 1754, when the Marathas captured it.

The next 50 years saw the fort change hands several times before passing into the hands of the Scindias. In 1857, the troops revolted against the British in defiance of the ruler who remained loyal to the British. It was near this fort that TANTIA TOPE was defeated and the Rani of Jhansi killed in battle.



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