Let's talk about one of the historical sites of Pakistan, which tourists found fascinating.
Bahawalpur... An agricultural division of Southern Punjab, Pakistan. The City of Nawabs (Princes). Acity with many historical sites. One of which is Derawar Fort .
This square fort has a lot much significance in History of Bahawalpur, this was first built in 9th century AD, by Rai Jajja Bhati , a Hindu ruler of Bhati clan, as a tribute to Rawal Deoraj Bhati the king of Jaisalmer and Bahawalpur. The fort was initially known as Dera Rawal (Living Place of Rawal) and later referred to as Dera Rawar, which with the passage of time came to be pronounced as Derawar, it's present name.
In the middle of 17th century when the Abbasi tribe of Arabia, claimed descendants of Abbasid Caliphs, landed on the banks of River Sutlej, they acquired Bahawalpur as their principality and announced their independence at the decline of the Durrani Empire and became the Nawabs of Bahawalpur.
In the 18th century the Muslim Nawabs of Bahawalpur conquered the Derawar Fort from the Hindu Shahotra tribe. It was later rebuilt in its current form in 1732 by the Abbasi ruler of Bahawalpur Nawab Sadiq Muhammad, but in 1747 the fort slipped from their hands owing to Bahawal Khan's preoccupations at Shikarpur. Nawab Mubarak Khan took the stronghold back in 1804.
1,000 year-old catapult shells were found in the debris near a decaying wall in the fort.
Nawab Sadiq Muhammad Khan Abbasi,the 12th and the last ruler of Bahawalpur state, was born in this fort in 1904.
This fort is well-known for its forty bastions, which are visible for many miles in Cholistan Desert. Its walls have a perimeter of 1500 meters and stand upto 30 meters high.
This historically significant fort presents an enormous and impressive structure in the heart of the Cholistan desert, but it is rapidly deteriorating and in need of immediate preventive measures for preservation.
Derawar Fort is an important place for tourists. The off-road Cholistan Desert Jeep Rally or TDCP Cholistan Jeep Rally was recently established near the Derawar Fort.
There is another fort located in the same deserts of Bahawalpur,Bijnot Fort, but unfortunately there are only ruins of it left.