Harkishan Garh Fort

Haripur, Pakistan, Pakistan

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Harkishan Garh Fort is a historic Sikh-era fort in Haripur city of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, built in 1822–23 under the supervision of Governor Sardar Hari Singh Nalwa after the Sikh Empire annexed Kashmir and Hazara.

The square fort is surrounded by a 20-feet-deep defensive moat and massive fortification walls about 16 meters high and 4 meters thick, covering an area of roughly 70 kanals (about 3.5 acres), and it was originally constructed to consolidate Sikh control, serve as an army headquarters, and act as a launchpad for further campaigns in the region.

After the British took over in 1849, the fort briefly functioned as the district headquarters until 1853, when the administration moved to Abbottabad, and later, following Pakistan’s independence, parts of the fort were occupied by the police and revenue departments, with various unauthorized modifications that damaged its historical integrity.

In recent years, the fort has faced threats from demolition and road construction, but after local advocates and lawyers protested, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has approved its conversion into a museum, with the Directorate of Archaeology and Museums assigned to take over, protect, and restore the site so that visitors, including the Sikh community, can learn about nearly 200 years of Sikh rule in the Hazara region.