Mangla Fort

Mangla Hamlet, Pakistan, Pakistan

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Mangla Fort is a historic stone fort located on a high hill beside the Jhelum River at Mangla, near Mangla Hamlet in District Mirpur, Azad Kashmir, Pakistan.

The fort originally stood on the hills overlooking the river that marks the boundary between Punjab and Azad Kashmir, and it has long been seen as a “Gateway to Kashmir” in regional geography and history. Before the Mangla Dam was built in the 1960s, the ancient village of Mangla existed nearby, and most of its residents moved to Mangla Hamlet; the fort’s name comes from this old village.

During construction of the dam, a large part of the fort was submerged in the new lake, leaving only about five to six acres of its southwestern section above water, and access to the site is now restricted as it is under the administration of the Pakistan Army. Earlier accounts describe the fort as built from locally quarried dressed sandstone and lime mortar, with a main entrance showing Sikh-era architectural features and interior slits and rooms that once served residential and administrative purposes, and local tradition says there were temples and saints associated with the site.