Baghsar Fort stands on a hill above Baghsar lake in the Samahni valley of Bhimber District, close to the Line of Control. Built of stone in the Indo-Islamic and Mughal styles, it is the best-known fort of the old Chib country of Chibhal.
History
Little is recorded about the fort’s beginnings. It may first have been raised in the fifteenth century by the chieftain Jasrat, who built a string of forts in these hills. It was strengthened in the Mughal period, when the imperial road to Kashmir passed through the valley, and it later came under the control of the Chib rajas of Bhimber, who are believed to have rebuilt it with the help of Mughal builders.
Baghsar is tied to the death of Emperor Jahangir. The emperor died near Bhimber in October 1627 on his way back from Kashmir; to preserve his body for the long journey to Lahore, his entrails were removed and buried inside Baghsar Fort.
Inside the fort
The fort is built around two enclosures. The outer one is lined with 38 small rooms. The inner court holds a darbar hall, where the ruler met his courtiers and visitors, a water tank and 43 more rooms. Three gateways lead into the fort, a lookout post commands its south-eastern corner, and its walls are pierced with loopholes so that archers and musketeers could shoot while staying under cover.
Visiting today
The structure of the fort is still largely intact, but it has suffered from long neglect, and because it stands so close to the Line of Control some parts may be closed to visitors. Anyone planning a visit should check local conditions first. The view across Baghsar lake to the hills of Kashmir is one of the most beautiful in Bhimber District.
Read more about the road that made Baghsar important in Bhimber: Gateway on the Mughal Road to Kashmir.
Sources
- Salman Rashid, “Dumped into oblivion”, The News, 2 September 2007.
- Sarina Singh, Pakistan and the Karakoram Highway (Lonely Planet, 2008), p. 186.
- J. Hutchison and J. Ph. Vogel, History of the Panjab Hill States, vol. II (Lahore, 1933), “Bhimbar and Khari-Khariyali”, pp. 725–729.