Multan Fort

The Multan Fort was a historic fort in the city of Multan, Punjab, Pakistan.¹ It was built on a hillock separated from the city by the Ravi River.² The fort was destroyed in 1849 by British forces during the Second Anglo-Sikh War.²

The walls of the fort were built by the Mughal prince Murad Bakhsh in the 17th century.³ The fort was notable for both its effectiveness as a defence installation and for its architecture.² The famed Multan Sun Temple was located within the fort premises. Contemporary reports put the walls of the fort at 40 to 70 feet (21 m) high³ and 6,800 feet (2 km) in circumference. The fort had 46 bastions which included two flanking towers at each of the four gates (the De, Sikki, Hareri and Khizri Gates).² A ditch 25 feet (7.6 m) deep and 40 feet (12 m) wide and an 18-foot (5.5 m) glacis protected the fort from intruders.

Within the fort stood a citadel flanked by 30 towers, enclosing a Hindu temple and a governor's palace. The citadel was severely damaged by the battering it got from the guns during the siege in 1818.³