The History of Kangra Fort

As You know, like many other hill stations in India has a long history,Kangra fort is one of them.
Once known as Nagarkot, the fort still stands firm on the ground despite endless assault by 
both man and nature for a long, long time now! The history of Kangra Fort dates back to 
4th century BC and thus it is counted among the few prominent historical remains of Kangra. 
It was constructed by the Katoch Dynasty. Kangra fort is located atop a hill on the base of 
which the river Banganga and Patal Ganga cuddle each other.

        

The Kangra Fort is located on the opposite bank of the River Banganga (a Tributary of 
River Beas) to the west, about 20 kilometers from Dharamshala.The Fort has been 
constructed at the meeting point of the two rivers of Banganga and Manjhi.The fort is 
spread over an area of around 4 km and is guarded by high walls and ramparts.
There are plenty of doors in this fort which are made by the emperor of particular 
empires.The entrance to the fort is planned with stone carvings and known as Ranjit 
Singh Gate.The next entrance door to the fort is JahangiriDarwaza followed by Ahni 
and Amiri Darwazas.In Kangra Valley, Three ShaktiPeeth Temples are situated under
The history of Kangra Fort, there are three temples situated inside the fort called
Ambika Devi Temple, the Shitlamata Temple and Lakshmi Narayan Temple. A staircase
in between the temples of Shitlamata and Ambika Devi leads to the Sheesh Mahal where
a small hall-like compartment is designed with block of stone at the boundry of which a
polygonal watch tower is installed. Also stepwell called Kapoorsagar is a outstanding
attraction of Kangra Fort.

Invasions Under The History of Kangra Fort

Mahmud Ghaznavi had invaded India Seventeen times. After defeat Anandpal in 1009 
A.D., he infested Nagarkot and looted immense treasury.It is believed that the fort was 
built by Susharma Chandra after the grand battle of Mahabharata along Kauravas. 
The earliest recordsof foreign invasions on Kangra fort have the reference of attack by 
Mahmud of Ghazni back in AD 1009. Mahmud Ghaznavi could not regulate many parts 
of Kangra excluding Nagarkot till 1023 A.D.In The History of Kangra Fort,Muhammad 
Bin Tughlaq, the Turkic Sultan of Delhi,was the next emperor to capture the fort later in 
1337 and led an army to defeat Raja Prithvi Chand of Nagarkot. And after his death in 
1351,his successor Firoz Shah Tughlaq conquered Nagarkot in the same year.We can 
find references of this aggression in ‘Tarikh-i-Firoz-Farishta’ and‘Tarikh-i-Firoz-Shahi’.
In 1621, however, Mughals regained their control of the fort with Jahangir conquering it 
after a long siege of 14 months.Later, Jai Singh Kanhaiya, the Sikh general of Batala 
succeeded in capturing the fort.

Kangra Fort Museum

There’s a museum at the entrance where visitors can check out amazing specimen of 
art carving,various wonderful stone sculptures, idols and a collection of some old, 
valuable photographs thatshow the state of The History of Kangra Fort dating to a 
timebefore a deadly earthquake rocked the Kangra Valley in 1905.The Museum also 
provides audio guides for the fort and the museum has a cafeteria.

Impact on the history of kangra fort through Rise of Sansar 

Chand

Kangra Kingdom was one of the strongest kingdoms of today’s.Kangra King Sansar 
Chand Katoch was strongest kings at that time.His grandfather Ghamand Chand 
Katoch expanded the territory in between Ravi and Sutlej Rivers.However,Kangra King 
was failure in getting back Kangra Fort from Mughal.

In 1788,Sikh Army of Jay Singh of Kanhaya Misal and Kangra combined army 
captured KangraFort from Mughal.Jay Singh captured Kangra Fort politically.Sansar
Chand  started attacking onJay Singh kingdom and started looting the territories. 
Jay Singh had to return Kangra Fort to  Sansar Chand.Inside The History of Kangra 
Fort, after getting back Kangra Fort,Sansar Chand compelled 11 nearby Kings of 
Kangra to be under Kangra Kingdom.He ordered those 11 Kings to attend court for 
offering tribute to Kangra Kingdom.After taking charge of 22 Hill petty Kingdoms,  
Sansar Chand started expanding to south of Kangra.Sansar Chand attacked twice 
on Hoshiarpur and Bijwada.However,Raja Ranjit Singh defeated Sansar Chand both 
the times.Sansar Chand captured complete territory of Kurail Kingdom a hill kingdom 
and conquered almost all neighboring kings and regions including Chamba, Kahloor, 
Mandi and Sirmaur.Due to this,the hill kings were unhappy by Sansar Chand’s act for 
capturing smaller kingdoms.Sansar Chand insulted by all means those 11 kings.
Those 11 kings united and decided to take help from Amar Singh Thapa,Gorkha
Regiment commander and came together against Sansar Chand.They infest Kangra 
with  Gorkha troops and won the fort.

 
Sansar Chand went to Maharaja Ranjeet Singh for help.He agreed to help, but  

Sansar Chandhad to agree to transfer Sandhata district and the Kangra fort to the
Lahore Darbar. A treaty was signed and the emperors of Kangra never gained control 
of the fort again.