Poonch Fort is a symbol of the heritage of Poonch district. This 248 year old building had seen number of ups and downs, still it remains intact. However during the earthquake of 2005, Poonch Fort was badly damaged its northern and western part constructed during rule (1760-1787 AD) and Sikh rule ( 1819-1845 AD) in Poonch was totally collapsed. The frontal portion had also developed cracks in such a way that it had not remained habitable and out of 21 offices located in the Fort building 19 were shifted from the Fort. This building stands on a mound which is 100 mt distance from South Western Corner of the city. It has been built at such place from where we can gauge and overlook the whole valley of Poonch From Pir Pass (Panchal range) in the east to Toli Pir in the west. The Fort complex has been constructed on 21 kanal piece of land. The Fort building is comprises of 69 rooms, these include four big halls, one varanda, Tosha Khana, Goal Ghar ( office chambers of Poonchi Raja’s) Temple, Mosque and Gurdwara. There are four entrances in the Fort. The main entrance is on the southern side which leads towards the old structure Constructed by Muslim rule Raja Rustam Khan (1760-87 A.D.) The second entrance is on the northern corner of frontal block which goes towards Darbar Hall and Goal Ghar. There are two more entrance on the north-western side. The south-western block has already got collapsed but the walls and basic structure is intact.
Initially the fort was constructed for the defence of the city. Lateron it was converted into the residence as well as Darbar of Raja’s.That is why the looking of its frontal block is like a palae. This fort remained centre of power for centuries during the rule of Poonchi Raja’s, when this region was having a status of Poonch State. At present, the Fort was being used for housing the offices of various departments and it was just like a Mini Secretarial, The building is still dominating the entire Poonch town. This structure is possibly the only of its kind in J&K State of India.
In 1996 AD, the Mughal Emperor Akbar had nominated Saraj-ud-din Rathore of village Kahuta as the ruler and Poonch with the rule title of Raja Poonch, Raja Saraj-ud-din shifted from native village to Poonch city and declared this town as the capital of his Kingdom. At that time. Poonch was very small town with 275 huts. Raja Saraj-ud-Din was residing in a Kacha Fort which was constructed on a mound of Khorinar ridge (a mohalla of Poonch town). This Kacha Fort was known a Duppli in Pahari language. Raja Saraj-ud-Din and his son Raja Fateh Mohd Khan could not thought of a bigf fort as they remained busy in subsiding and diffusing the internal disturbances.
In 1701 AD Abdul Razak Khan became the Raja of Poonch. He decided to construct a strong Fort for the fortification of Poonch town and laid the foundation of this Fort but Raja could not construct it during his tenure due to invasion of Kashmiri rulers on Poonch.
In 1760 AD, Ali Gohar Khan the younger son of Raja Abdul Razak Khan became ruler of Poonch with the title of Raja Rustam Khan. He was very fond of art and architecture. He started the main construction of Poonch Fort. The legend goes that the work of main entry to the fort was not getting stabilized till the only surviving teenager son of a Brahmin widow from Surankot area was embedded in the main wall as per the vision of the Raja in a dream. A commemorative temple of this unknown martyr is still available near the southern entrance of the Fort bear testimony to this legend. After sacrificing the boy in the wall, the main construction of the Fort was started and it was completed by Raja Rustam Khan in 1779 AD Raja Rustam Khan shifted in the Fort and started conducting his Darbar. The architectural style of the block constructed by Raja Rustam Khan has distinct Mughal influences.At present 80% portion of this block has got collapsed.
In 1819 AD, Poonch state was captured by Maharaja Ranjit Singh when he was on the way to conquer Kashmir. His Governors had converted Poonch Fort into the garrison of Khalsa forces. In 1937 AD a local rebellion Shamas Khan Maldyal revolted against the regime of Lahore Darbar and declared himself the Raja of Poonch. At that time apart from Poonch town, there were 12 other small Forts (Dupplies) in Poonch . Shamas Khan captured all these Forts. Then assaulted on the Poonch Fort with a big Force. Mian Bishna a Khalsa General with a contingent of Punjabi soldiers was stationed in the fort at that time. He successfully defended the Fort from the assault of Shamas Khan,only became he was taking shelter of this strong Fort.
From 1827 to 1850 AD Poonch was a Jagir of Raja Dhayan Singh the Prime Minister of Raja Ranjit Singh. This Illaqa was directly governed by the Khalsa Darbar of Lahore. No doubt that this was the most disturbing period in the history of Poonch even then Punjabi Governors have done a commendable work not only in repairing of the original Fort but also they added one big block on the north eastern side of this fort which bears the influence of Sikh architectural style. More than 60 percent part of this block have been collapsed and damaged badly during the earth quake of 2005.
In the light of the verdict of Court of Mentgumry Lorence of Lahore in 1948 Mian Moti Singh a third son of Raja Dhayan Singh became the first Dogra ruler of Poonch state in 1852. At the time of his arrival at Poonch, the condition of Fort was going from bad to worse. Initially he passed orders of repairing and renovation of the fort. After sometime in 1872, Raja shifted in the fort along with his family and Darbar. Then he ordered for redesigning of the fort of the fort on western style. He engaged a European architect who designed the frontal block of the Fort. In this way, the frontal block was added by Raja Moti Singh in the Fort during his tenure from 1852-1892 AD. The work was so superb that the appearance of the Fort changed into a palace.
Upto 1942 AD Poonch Fort was used as a Secretariat by Poonchi Rajas. At that time Fort Complex was consisted of Baghi Khan, Hansli Kanal, Bagh Deodi and Fountain garden. After the happenings of 1947, the Fort building remained un- renovated for a long period. With passage of Travel time, 70% part of southern block constructed during Muslim period and 40% part of northern block built by Sikh Governors got collapsed.No doubt that frontal block was intact but that too was declared unsafe during 1988 by R&B experts and a new construction after demolishing the original Fort was proposed. Luckily Ashok Jaitly, the then Financial Commissioner Planning and Development Department paid a visit to Poonch in 1989 and after inspecting Fort building he rejected proposal of demolishing the Fort and asked the experts to prepare a proposal of renovation of this historical monument of Poonch. By this way, Rs 30.00 lacs were sanctioned for the renovation of the Fort during 1990. But the renovation work was geared up only during 1990-1991 on the initiative of P. Dhar Chakarbarty, District Development Commissioner Poonch. Upto the end the March 1991, 52 out of 79 rooms were renovated by the department and the Construction work in frontal and northern block have been completed but the renovation of southern block constructed during Muslim period was not taken in hand. Presently when the reconstruction of Fort building have again been started from 2007-2008 it is expected that this Fort again attain its original glory and glamour in the future.
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