Derawar Fort, Bahawalpur. Derawar Fort is located 45 km south of Dera Nawab. The first fort on the site was built by Hindu Rajput, Rai Jajja Bhatti of Jaisalmer. It was captured and completely rebuilt by the nawabs of Bahawalpur in 1733. In 1747, the fort slipped from the hands of the Abbasis owing to Bahawal Khan’s preoccupations at Shikarpur. Nawab Mubarak Khan took the stronghold back in 1804.
The forty bastions of Derawar are visible for many miles in Cholistan Desert. The walls of the fort are 30 metres high with a circumference of 1.5 km. The mosque outside the fort is made of marble. It was built on the exact lines of the Moti Masjid in the Red Fort of Delhi (India). The fort is still the property of the Abbasi family and one has apply to the Bahawalpur PTDC to request a permit from Abbasi family. It takes a week for getting the permit. There is a royal necropolis ( Graveyard), five-minute walk to the east. Its tombs are adorned with exquisite blue tiles but it’s not open to visitors unless they are accompanied by a member of the Abbasi family. [Aerial-view-of-Derawar-Fort-and-Abbasi-Mosque-Bahawalpur-Photos-of-Bahawalpur.jpg]