CHAKWAL: Overlooking the sleepy village of Baghanwala at the foot of the hills in one of the tracts of the Salt Range are the remains of Nandna Fort and Nandna Pass.

The fort, which is the site where Al Beruni accurately measured the circumference of the earth, is one of the remains of the era of the Hindu Shahi dynasty.

A more striking historical feature in the same area is the Nandna Pass, a stony passage through the hills that served as an ancient road connecting India to Afghanistan and Central Asia.

The pass was used by invaders and traders alike until the construction of the fort, which was built at this strategic location to monitor travellers and ruled by a governor appointed by the Raja of Lahore.

Every foreign invader had to capture Nandna Fort before marching towards Lahore and Delhi.

When Alexander marched to his final battle with Raja Porus, he came through the Nandna Pass and fought Raja Porus on the banks of the Jhelum River.

According to the legendary historian Mohammad Qasim Firishta, in 1013 Mahmud of Ghazni “drew his army against the fort of Nandan (sic) which is situated on the mountains of Belnat and was in the possession of the Indian prince of Lahore. Anandpal by this time was dead and his son had acceded to his government.

When Pitterugopal, for that was the young prince’s name, saw that he could not stand against the king in the field, he drew off his army towards Kashmir, leaving a good garrison for the defence of the place.

Mahmud immediately invested it and with mining and other arts of attack, assiduously employed himself, so that in a few weeks, the governor seeing his walls in ruins was under the necessity of begging to capitulate.”

Travel writer Salman Rashid told Dawn that the mountains of Balnet referred to the mountains of the revered Hindu Jogi Balnath.

Visiting Nandna Fort today is a painstaking task, with no proper paths leading to the site. Instead visitors have to attempt mountain climbing, since the fort is situated at a height of 1,500 feet.

The temple at the fort has crumbled, while the remains of a mosque still stand, signifying that the fort was also controlled by Muslims.

In his book The Salt Range and the Potohar Plateau, Salman Rashid suggested that it was Mahmud Ghazni who appointed a Muslim governor there after capturing Nandna Fort.

The ancient fortification made using local stone can still be seen, and the remains of some graves are still standing.

The ruins of the fort are scattered across the peak of the hill. It is clear from the masterfully carved stones that only crumbling walls remain of what used to be a large room.

The temple now has nothing to offer but two dilapidated wall.

According to Salman Rashid, Vishnu, one of the principal deities of Hinduism, was worshipped here.

“Following the style of the Martand temple, the elevation of the building is replicated on the outside walls showing that the entrance vault, when it stood intact, had a trefoiled arch and that the spire rose high above,” he wrote.

“Judging from the state of the ruins, this was one of the earliest, if not the first, of the Salt Range temples to be built by the kings of Kashmir,” he concluded.

Published in Dawn, October 20th, 2019