HERITAGE CONSERVATION FORT OF KHARAN BALOCHISTAN

1. HERITAGE
The Kharan fort
Balochistan

3. INTRODUCTION
 The ancient fort of Kharan holds
within a fascinating chapter of
historical facts and events.
 In the historical context where it
shares the story of its habitant’s
warfare, it also tells a captivating
tale of spiritual occurrence.

4. M
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C
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O

5. N
M
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O

6.  Kharan is a town in Kharan district,
Balochistan.
 The state of Kharan was established in about
1697 as a vassal state of Kalat until 1940.
 On March 17, 1948 Kharan acceded to
Pakistan and on October 3, 1952 it joined the
Balochistan States Union.
 The state was dissolved on October 14, 1955
when most regions of the western wing of
Pakistan were merged to form the province of
West Pakistan.
INTRODUCTION TO KHARAN

7. YELLOW MOUNTAIN
 According to the historian Istakhari, the primeval
name of it was Karan or Qaran meaning “barren
mountains”. In linguistic manner, Kharan is a
Balochi word which means yellow color (Yellow
Mountain).
 The infrastructure of the Kharan Fort is such that
an underground tunnel leads to far off places,
there is a huge courtyard and humongous rooms
which are beautifully made but unfortunately
they’re in shabby condition.

8. HISTORY
 Kharan was conquered in 1789 by Azad Khan
Nosherwani.
 According to early history, the Nowsherwani tribes
migrated from Iran to Kharan and were later
bound to Sistan Balochsitan.
 Azad Khan Nosherwani was the mastermind
behind the Kharan fort.
 He built eleven fortresses around the city to
secure it politically from Afghanistan, the State of
Kalat and foreign traders of that time, but from a
military point of view it was necessary to build a
central fort.

9.  The construction of the main fort was stopped
while it was underway each time due to
inadequate water supply.
 Despite the numerous efforts,the water crisis
made the construction of the fort impossible.
 Wells and Karez were excavated many times but
water became impossible to obtain.
FORTRESS INCOMPLETE
CONSTRUCTION

10.  Local stories stated that a famous spiritual
personality who was in close ties to the Chief
called upon to settle this problem.
 He took Azad Khan from the present Kharan
town to the north on the point of Dilkasha, a
famous place of that time, and marked the
location of Karez and the fort with his
supernatural wand.
 It is reported that from that time onwards, the
water of the Karez flows in the same quantity,
neither less nor more, till date.
SPIRITUAL STORY BEHIND
FORT

12. Construction details
 The construction of the fort was again planned
under a new strategy.
 The fort was architecturally built on the Iranian
style layouts,where solid burnt bricks were used
and dome shaped structures were built around for
security measures.
 It is said that the building blocks for the fort were
brought 6km away through a human chain.

14.  The fort of kharan city , located in city’s congested
locality, is stunning and its construction modus
oprerandi is said to be Mughal alike design.
 It is a two storied fort and is spread on an area of
approximately 400 square yards.
 It was built in three years with a workforce of 400.
 It is made of mud and small bricks.
 However, some locals are of the opinion that
“gutch”( a constructing material ) has been used in
its construction.

16.  Inside the fort, a three room kitchen was built along the
southern wall of the fort.
 An Iranian style anchorage and military parade
contingents’ rest rooms were constructed adjacent to the
exterior wall, while beautiful arcade shaped masque was
built on the east side of the fort which can be still used
today.
 There can be found a well exactly in the middle of the
fort as well.
 Window motifs were erected on all sides of the fort to
keep an eye on the enemies.
 Externally, the fort had forty shops that became center of
the trading activities in the region and trade occurred
with neighboring countries like Afghanistan and Iran.
 The fort was brilliantly fortified that overlooked the whole
Kharan city.

17. KITCHEN ON
SOUTHERN
SIDE

18. WINDO
W
MOTIFS

19. REMAINING
ARCADES OF
MOSQUE

20.  After the death of Azad Khan Nowsherwani, his son
Sardar Nawroz Khan Sherwani used the place for
defense purposes and later by Sardar Yaqub Khan
Nowsherwani who died in the same fort.
 The remains of the fort still tell the story of its rise and
fall.
 While Kharan is historically considered to be the
oldest part of Balochistan, it can certainly increase the
heritage value of the province.
 Better care for remnants of the fort can attract the
attention of archaeologists and tourists.
 There were a total of 1,500 caves during British rule,
but now only 500 are left.
FALL OF AZAD KHAN

22.  The fort of kharan is considered the heritage of a
princely state that is unfortunately fast decaying.
 The negligence on the part of government ,
NGOs and the department of archaeology has left
it on the brink of collapse.
 Kharan , once a part of Persian empire, was
conquered in 1789 by Azad Khan Nosherwani.
 It had the distinction of being one of the four
princely states prior 1951 when it was merged
into Balochistan state union.
 It was ruled by Nosherwani tribe.
KHARAN FORT NEEDS
PRESERVATION

23. ARCHAEOLOGICAL HERITAGE
 Moreover , an archaeological heritage is a site
which the people visit to contact with past, but on
the contrast, the fort of kharan has never caught
the sight of visitors as the government’s ill
treatment towards the fort has barred the latter to
be declared an archaeological site.
 From all round the clock, not only the castle itself
, but its archaeological importance, wealth of
information and artifacts are in greatest jeopardy.
 For a long time, the fort has been exploited in
the name of knowledge and treasure, looted for
objects, destroyed out of idle curiosity and
plundered for material for new construction.

25. LACK OF PRESERVATION OF
FORT
 The fort might have been stationing troops,
strengthening the Power of kingdom, but above
all, the security of kings and their families .
 However , in this day and age, the fort itself is
in dire need of security.
 A prompted and substantive action on the part
of government, NGOs and the department of
archaeology is much needed for the purpose of
fort’s safety and protection.

26.  There is no time better than now to take
initiatives rather than analyzing the causes in
the aftermath of its collapse .
 It is pertinent to request the provincial and
district authorities to implement the orders of
Supreme Court of Pakistan, issued couple of
years ago, to build a backyard for the fort’s
protection and preservation. Proactive policies
should be made so that not a piece of
heritage but the whole of the fort is preserved.