page_title: Lohgarh (Bilaspur)
section_title: Lohgarh And Muklishgarh are different sites
hierarchical_section_title: Lohgarh (Bilaspur) / Lohgarh Sahib Fort / Lohgarh And Muklishgarh are different sites
caption_attribution_description: English: Map from sikh history from Persian sources by Irfan Habib
context_page_description: Lohgarh is a historic town in Bilaspur tehsil of Yamunanagar district of Haryana in India. It was the capital of the Sikh state under Banda Singh Bahadur from 1710 to 1716.
context_section_description: The contemporary historians were Mughals, therefore they deliberately projected a wrong picture of Lohgarh. Later on, the other historians picked, their references in context of Lohgarh leading to depiction of wrong interpretation of history. Muklishgarh is almost 30 km away from Lohgarh.
  Islam Shah Suri (original name Salim Shah) son of Sher Shah Suri(original name Farid Khan), in his days of brief rule, began to build a strong fortress under the name of "Pawangarh". After the demise of their rule it remain unfinished and fell into ruins.(Later Mughals, p. 109). But the name "Moklespore" (mentioned in Rennels map of countries between Delhi and Candhaar, 1792), it is itself suggestive of its founder. Iradat Khan calls it Daber. (Jonathan Scot’s Translation of the Memoirs of Iradat Khan, p. 61.)
  Historian Dr. J. S. Grewal in his book "The Sikhs of the Punjab" (p. 83) writes, Banda Singh bahadur adopted Mukhlispur, an imperial fort now given the name of Lohgarh, as his capital and struck a new coin in the name of Guru Nanak and Guru Gobind Singh.
  Historian Dr. Hari Ram Gupta in his book "History of the Sikhs" (p. 11), "he therefore established his headquarters, in the beginning of February 1710, at Mukhlispur situated in lower Shiwalik hills south of Nahan, about 20 km from Sadhaura. Its fort stood on a hill top. Two kuhls or water channels flowed at its base and supplied water to it. This fort was repaired and put in a state of defence. All the money, gold and costly material acquired in these expeditions were deposited here. He struck coins and issued orders under his own seal. The name of Mukhlispur was changed to Lohgarh, and it became the capital of the first Sikh state."
  Historian Dr. Ganda Singh in his book "Life of Banda Singh Bahadur" writes, "the fort of Mukhlispur was built by one Mukhlis Khan under instructions from Emperor Shsh Jahan who accasionally spent his summer there (p. 55-56). It was a strong hill-fort about half-way between the towns of Sadhaura and Nahan (about nine kos from Sadhaura), within the boundary of the village of Amuwal, among the steeps of the Himalayas on an elevated summit which could be approached only by craggy rocks and ravines. It was surrounded by two rivulets, "Pamuwali" and "Daska-wali" Khols or Khuds, which originally formed only one stream, parting into two to embrace the hillock of the fort. The fort was in a most neglected condition when Banda Singh occupied it. It was soon repaired and was given the new name of Lohgarh or Iron Fort."
  Khushwant Singh in his book "A History of the Sikhs"(second edition, p. 103), "Banda was too shrewd to place much reliance on the loyalties of the new converts and he made the old fort of Mukhlisgarh, in the safety of the Himalayas, his headquarters. At Mukhlisgarh, Banda learned that Bahadur Shah (Mughal emperor), after subjugation of Rajasthan and not likely to return to Delhi before the monsoons. Banda decided to utilize the opportunity to destroy the remaining vestiges of Mughal rule in northern India."
  Surinder Singh in his book "Discovering Baba Banda Singh Bahadur" (p. 285-286) writes, "Banda Bahadur carried out the repairs to the Mukhlispur fortess and renamed it as Lohgarh. He also fortified it by laying 3 to 4 ft high and 50 to 100 ft long stone walls, 52 in number. Sikh soldiers could stay behind these walls and the Mughal forces trying to reach the fortress had to face their gunshots and arrows about 15 times before they could reach the top. Large-scale troops could not climb  and on two occasions when they were able to follow Banda Bahadur and his troops up to Lohgarh, the imperial forces lost a large number of soldiers but were not able to catch Banda Bahadur and his men. This small defensive arrangement has been deemed as a capital by large number of historians from Punjab when the site was hardly about 100 to 200 km from major parts of Punjab and could be easily visited and examined. The author had the occasion to visit and examine this-the Sadhaura-Lohgarh-Sitaragarh axis, a large number of times in his capacity as convenor for t
caption: Map depicting Lohgarh and Muklishgarh, From Irfan Habibs's Book on Sikh history from Persian sources.
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