Punjab is a place that has lots of places that are true depictions of its rich cultural and royal history. There are no other better options that forts and palaces to explain about the rich history of a place.

Maharaja Ranjit Singh who had once controlled Punjab set up some magnificent palaces and forts in the place that made it the opulent place that it is now. The palaces contain some intricate interior design and the forts are architecturally brilliant.

There was a lot that Punjab went through; one of the most terrible experiences that the state faced was to witness the bloody massacre of hundreds of innocent civilians at Jalianwalah Bagh by General Dyer.

Punjab is one of the few cities in the country that is excellent in martial arts. This fact is well proven by the hundreds of forts in the city that contain strong walls that are crenelated. One of the forts that is worth mentioning, is the Faridkot Fort that was constructed around 700 years ago.

The interior design of these forts contains exclusive Rajasthani style paintings and mirror-work that make this place a mandatory visit by the tourists.

Some of The Famous Forts are

Anandpur Sahib Fort

This place was noticed and brought into exercise by Guru Teg Bahadur Singh during the year 1664. This is considered as one of the devout forts by the Sikh people as this place preaches Sikh philosophy. Situated in the north western part of Chandigarh, this place is Khalsa’s motherland thereby making it more spiritual.

There are five big forts that were constructed around this place during the time of Guru Teg Bahadur. Guru Gobind Singh spent around 25 years of his life in this place and made it a religious hub. The rulers of Bilaspur earlier owned this place; however, it started getting notice for its religiousness and spirituality with the evolution of Khalsa around 300 years ago. The earlier name of this place was Chak Nanki.

Bahadurgarh Fort

This fort is one of the important places that explain the history and culture of Punjab. Though there are many forts in Punjab, there are only a select few that can be handpicked as true representations of historical and cultural richness. The Bahadurgarh Fort is definitely one of those few handpicked ones.

Construction on this fort began during as early as 1658 during Nawab Saif Khan’s rule, however it was completed during Maharaja Karam Singh’s rule. This fort is 123 years old and the main city of Patiala is just about 6km away from this place. The huge battlements, all of two, are surrounded by a moat that has a depth of 25 feet and width of 58 feet. This always has water content in it, on order to obstruct the path of the attackers. The distance between the inner wall that is crenelated and the outer wall that is rough is about 110km. The walls act as huge pillars as the stand at a whopping height of 29 feet.

The citadel of this fort is so thoroughly planned and designed that the Punjab police uses it as their permanent training venue. Due to the intricate designs and excellent architectural plan, this fort was constructed after 8 years of hard work. The construction expenses were estimated at a whopping 1 million INR during those days. One can understand the expanse of the perimeter by realising that it covers a distance of 1 1/13 miles around the fort.

Faridkot Fort

The forts in Punjab depict the struggle that the state had gone through during the times of independence and the nasty massacre it had to witness. One look at the forts of these places explains the rich cultural heritage of the state. The Faridkot Fort is one of the most ancient forts in the country and it is the oldest in the state of Punjab.

The forts that were rock solid earlier on to combat any kind of attack and that were true representations of the state’s martial arts excellence have now been replaced with advanced technologies. These technologies are strong enough to take on any air attacks. These technologies do not mean to take away the importance of the ancient citadels in any way. The thick walls and tall forts took on the most severe of attacks in their stride. Stories of innumerable victories are written in the walls of these forts.

Like all other states, Punjab too had its share of huge forts and fortresses that took upon many a challenge successfully. These forts were quite hard to break through and to even enter into the fort; the attackers had to cross the moats. For the precise reason of making the task tougher and insurmountable for the attackers, these moats were filled with water, thereby proving to be excellent obstacles. The inner and outer walls could deceive many an attacker as there were lots of secretive holes in these walls through which missiles were fired in the most unexpected of times. The inner chambers, like all other forts, house various military offices and residential apartments of the royal members.

Shahpur Kandi Fort

Punjab is a place that has an excellent combination of huge farmlands, sprawling meadows, cultural richness, religious importance and innumerable tourist attractions. The Shahpur Kandi Fort is one such fort that is visited by many tourists around the year.

Pathankot is a place that is the convergence of important places of Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. The Shahpur Kandi Fort is strategically located in this place as Pathankot is just about 7km away from this place. This fort connects Punjab with most of the other major nearby cities and occupies a very high position in the priority list of must visit forts by tourists.

Like all other forts, the outer wall is crenelated, the inner wall is rough and tough, it has pores through which missiles can be fired at attackers discreet angles, moats filled with water to obstruct attackers and make job tougher for them.

Phiilaur Fort

The forts of Punjab have a rich history and are representations of the ancient culture and historical importance of the place. These forts hold excellent memories of the victorious moments as well as the unfortunate events of massacres and enemy attacks.

Dewan Mohkam Chand was the brain behind the construction of this fort. The actual construction was done by an engineer from Italy. Mohkam Chand was the general in the Durbar of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and he was known for its acts of bravery and sacrifice.

This fort was built during the British rule and there was huge chaos and pressure during that time. The Phiilaur Fort was constructed and its pattern resembled one of the other forts named Bahadurgarh. Today, one can find the Fingerprint Bureau run by the state government and the Punjab Police’s training academy in the premises of this fort.

It was more of a artillery and an unit of armoury until the Great Mutiny of 1857. The bastions that were deployed in this Fort contributed in a big way in the nation’s Independence struggle. This fort is located in a small town called Phiilaur, the initial name of which was Phulnagar. This quiet and comfortable town changed into a hub of battles during the various exigencies, both political and military, that happened in the state during that time.

This fort served as the perfect guard for the town with its huge citadels, strong walls and secretive architecture. It protected the city from all possible attacks from enemies.