Phillaur Fort or Maharaja Ranjit Singh Fort is located on the Grand Trunk Road in Phillaur, Punjab, India
This fort has quite the history, dating all the way back to the reign of Shah Jahan in the 17th century, when an Imperial sarai was first constructed on the site.
Fast forward a few centuries to 1809, and the fort was rebuilt under the rule of none other than the legendary Maharaja Ranjit Singh, with the help of some fancy European architects.
But why was it built in the first place, you may ask? Well, it all started with a little friendly competition between Maharaja Ranjit Singh and the British, who had built their own fort in nearby Ludhiana. The Maharaja wasn’t one to back down from a challenge, so he went ahead and built his own fort, and let’s just say it’s a good thing he did because it’s a stunner.
Unfortunately, in 1846 the British took control of the fort after the defeat of the Sikhs at the Battle of Aliwal. But don’t worry, the fort had many more chapters to its story. It was used as an army fort until 1890, then as a police training center, and since 1981 it’s been the Maharaja Ranjit Singh Punjab Police Academy.
But the fort isn’t just a historical landmark, it also holds religious significance as a holy place for local Muslims, being home to Pir Baba Abdullah Shah Ji’s Shrine. And if that’s not enough, it also contains several tombs of Muslim icons and members of Shah Shuja’s family. Talk about a package deal! So pack your bags, and let’s head to Phillaur Fort for a history lesson with a spiritual twist.
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Beautiful place. phillaur is my grandfather palace phillaur fort started a naru Raajputs fort, Raja ratanpal Singh naru(naru Rajput) was first time build this phillaur fort.