Derawar Fort

Derawar Fort 

A view of a large building across some fields. The building is not significant, but it was the first day in the Punjab that the pollution was thin enough that I could see clearly for so far from the main road. Our police escort took us out of town to a junction where we stopped. We were meeting other tourists. It is a big country but the expression is that it is a small world. A police 4x4 stopped next to us. Behind it was a car with the two Italian women that I had first met in Lahore and the same minibus of French tourists that we had first met in Harappa.

A convoy of one police 4x4, one minibus and two cars set off. Along the road, the Italians escorted by the police 4x4 split off. The minibus and my car had a guard each sitting with us but no police vehicle. We stopped at a bazaar. Their schedule was different from us and included a half hour break at the bazaar. I had seen plenty and wanted to move on but had to wait for the minibus. 

I walked around the market just to fill in the time. Despite the armed police escort, the guards and my guide were content for me to wander by myself. Even in a small town like this, people spoke English. I was stopped several times to be welcomed to the country, asked my name, where I was from and the like. I was also stopped by several beggars. I used my limited knowledge of Urdu to shoo them away. I worked every time. If I just shook my head or spoke in English, they persisted. Say it in Urdu and I was not hassled again.

                                        

We were driving though part of the Cholistan desert. The rainfall is low but where there is water, there is life. The irrigation canals criss cross the area bringing water from the runoff in te distant mountains to the vast flat plains and makes them green. From the car, I could see wheat, cotton, and maize being grown.

In the background of the photo to the right are neat mounds. These are made from the straw of the wheat or rice crop. It is used for fodder. It is not very nutrious and in temperate areas it is only used for bedding. If there is an alternative, animals, animals will prefer to eat green shoots rather than straw. But it arid conditions and where alternatives are in short supply, the animals are fed straw. If it is to be sold further afield, the loose straw is made into bales for easier trnsport.

Some mounds of straw were left in the open. Others were carefully covered with tarpaulins to make a giant tent city.
                                        

A harvested field of cotton with the twig like plants still standing but stripped of their cotton balls.

A stripped cotton field with the twig part of the plants neatly stacked across the field ready for collection. There were stacks of ctton twigs at the side of the road and next to farmhouses. These too were used for fodder, but being teigs they were too tough for cows but adequate for goats. They were also used for fuel . They are good to start a fire but they burn fast with no embers for long lasting het.
                                        
Without water to irrigate, there was just gently rolling sand with desert scrub.

After driving across seemingly endless desert we reach the Derawar Fort. It had multiple bastions and towers along each of its four walls. It is roughly square in plan.

A view of the Derawar Fort. Its walls are 1.5 kilometres long and stand up to 30 metres. It was built in the 9th century by a Hindu king on a site wher several earlier forts had been built. It was captured in the early 18th century by the muslim nawab of Bahawalpur and extended and modified in 1732. They were pre-occupied at Shikarpur and they lost the fort in 1747.They regained control of the fort in 1804. Nawab Sadeq Muhammad Khan Abbasi V, the last ruler of Bawawalpur state was born in the fort in 1904.

A view of the south west tower.

Wallking long the southern wall, some of the dmage that the fort hs endured can be seen. The outer face is built of fired brick for strength. Behind the fired brick facade is a core of mudbrick. Once the hrd outer facing bricks have  breached, the softer mudbricks are much more susceptible to erosion.

A view along the western wall of the fort. In the distance to the right is the entrnce.

                                        

A closer view of the entrance.

A view of the entrnce with a lrge bstion with ports for cnnons and to the far right on the north estern corner of the fort is a white building which will be my first stop inside the fort.

The ramp running longside the wall up to the main (and only) gate into the fort.

We stopped at the court of arbitration, the white building on top of the tower on the north eastern corner of the fort that we had seen from near the entrsnce. Despite some of the out walls suffering from time and wether, the arbitration court had some beautiful mosaic decoration.

There were more mosaics inside coving the walls...

and a colourful ceiling. From this vantage point, there are views across the surrounding countryside. To the north is a major river, now much reduced in width due to water being extracted for irrigation. To the west is a mosque and a kilometre further away is the mausoleum of the muslim nawab royal family.. In the other direction was the view across the fort. The buildings within the fort have deteriorated substantially. The only prominent two storey building remaining was the execution tower.

Part of the prison block, located convenirntly next to the 

Part of the prison block, located coceniently next to the execution block..

Part of the mosque and one of the surviving minarets.

The entrance to the Victoria palace. It is brick built with plaster over the top with wooden beams. There is no stone in the desert so they used wood instead. The column were have been finished to look like stone but they are in fact wood.

Prt of the harem...

...inside there are wooden beams holding the roof up. Many of the surviving buildings are not safe to enter as they could collapse at any time.

Walking up from the floor of the fortress across slopes of collapsed mud brick and fired brick allows access to the tops of the walls and towers. There are views across the countryside and views of the brickwork on neighbouring towers.

Some detail of the decorative brickwork on another bastion.

There is some renovation being undertaken. The larger expanse id of eroded mudbrick. Towards the bottom of the photo cn be seen the new fired brickwork and infill of mud behnd it.. The ridge towards the top of the photo is a layer of tiles built out to support each other that has resisted erosion to date but could collapse soon without remedial restoration work.

The main entrance to the secretarial block...

...and a broken support beam, emphasising the dangerous nature of entering a building. In the centre of the fort in a large open space that might have been a parade ground, there is a large cannon on a dias.

Opposite the entrance is the back of a mosque complex and a few buildings hosing a souvenir stall and a cafe.

There is also an opportunity to have a camel ride. I wasn't interested as I have been on a camel before. There were a few other tourists visiting, the group of French tourists and a f ew local visitors but I saw no one having a ride on the camel.

We walked around the buildings to the southern entrance of the mosque and entered.

There was a large marbled open area for worshippers in front of the main entrance to the mosque with a large dome. Either side of the main entrance were smaller entrances and each side of the main dome were smaller domes.. At either end of the building were tall minarets.

Opposite was the main ornate eastern entrance reserved for special guests.

The mihrab inside the mosque.  It was carpeted and had some bright  decorations on the walls and the ceiling....

Just a kilometre away was the family mausoleum of the royal family. Not much can be seen from the outside except some of the domes of mausleums. This is the modest entrance to the site.

Inside are descendents and relatives tombs. The latest addition was 2002.

The entrance to the single storey mausoleum of the nawabs.

A view along the fron of the mausoleum to a minaret at one end.

Inside  is where all the nawabs that have ruled Bahawalpur are buried from the first one of this dunasty                                          
The walls are richly decorated, the floor is blck and white marble and the ceiling is a giant mirror covered with a lattice work of fine woodwork.

The individual square buildings and domes are the mausoleums of the wives of the nawabs.

Wedrove on with our guard to the Sadiq Garh Palace. It has high walls surrounding the complex.

We drove through the gate and had a view of the palace along a tree lined avenue.

A view of the front facade. It is 250 years old and similar in layout as the Noor Mahel but with 120 rooms, it is a lot larger. It is alleged that Zulfakir Bhutto in 1971 wen he was prime minister offered his daughter Benazir Bhutto in marriage to one of the nawab's sons but the offer was not accepted. In retaliation the army seized the estate. The army still occupy a substantial portion of the estate. Parts of the estate are still occupied by relatives. This palace is not occupied but ownership is in dispute between 23 claimants. The solicitors are wringing their hands with glee whilst the palace, last occupied in 1971 continues to crumble.

It was dark inside and only a few of my photos are worth showing although the actuality with my own eyes was much better. The main reception and hall.

The walls above the entrnce in the main hall...

...the royal dias at the far end of the hall...

...part of the decoration of the brrel vaulted roof. To one side is the dining room. Ogg to the far side of the dining room were guest reception rooms to which groups of guests could withdraw for less formal conversations.

Then it was a descent into the basement. Not on the average tour but this one was different. The floors were decorated with colourful tiles throughout. Along one coridor there was a lot of squeaking. There were bats roosting there. There were strong rooms and safes with security provided by Chubb & Sons of London, a wll known security company that is still in operation today.

Up two flights of stairs were more royal rooms such as the library but all the removeable fixtures anfd fittings have all been removed.

the view from one of the upper storey windows of the mosque. To the left is the powerhouse. The palace had its own electricity supply. It had electric lifts provided by Schindler & Co. It had fans for air conditioning, a telephone exchange and a swimming pool.

One of several bathrooms, minus the fittings of course.

A view of the main entrance from the side...

...and a detail of one of thebay windows at the front of the palace.

                                                 

We walked through the overgrown gardens to the entrance to the mosque...

                                       

...and viewed the facade .

Inside, the decorations were well preserved with a beautifully decorated dome...

...and some of the architecture and decorations to fit the circular based dome onto a square base...

...and the alcove facing Mecca.

In a range of outbuildings that included a fully fitted garage and inspection pit was a Cadillac...

...and an unidentified vehicle. The last three letters of the makers name are 'DER' and it appears to have been a six letter name, but from the top of my head, I couldn't think of any manufacturer that fitted the puzzle. I noted that the number plate started BWP in gold on a red background just like the vehicles I saw in the Bahawalpur Museum the day before.

The approach to the inside of the main entrance. Frim the sit in front of the mirror in the main hall, there is a view through the reception area, the front door, through the gazebo, and up to approach avenue to the gate.

I almost forgot to take a photo of the outside of the main gate and the angle is poor.

The entrance to the part of the estate still occupied by the army with a tank to the right but regretably a tuktuk drove in fromt of the entrance, but it was a long straight road disappearing into the distance.

And part of the cause of all the pollution. If a farmer doesn't have a use for the straw or other side product from growing a crop, he simply burns it, adding to the pollution.