Skardu Fort

Kharpocho Fort قلعہ کھرپوچو
A view of fort from the foot of Mont Kharpocho
Location	Skardu, Gilgit-Baltistan
Coordinates	35°18′15″N 75°38′22″E / 35.30406°N 75.63957°E / 35.30406; 75.63957
Built	16th Century CE
Location of Kharpocho Fort قلعہ کھرپوچو in Gilgit Baltistan Show map of Gilgit Baltistan Skardu Fort (Pakistan) Show map of Pakistan

Skardu Fort or Kharpocho (Balti: کھر فچو; Urdu: قلعہ سکردو), meaning The king of Forts, is a fort in Skardu in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan. Australian mountaineer and film maker Greg Child writes that the fort is "perched above the junction of the rivers" and overlooks the Rock of Skardu.^[1]

The fort was built by king Ali Sher Khan Anchan at the end of the sixteenth century.^[2]

The fort remained capital of Maqpoon dynasty till fall of the Maqpoon Monacrch Ahmad Shah in the hands of Dogras in 18th century.^[3]

During his invasion of Baltistan in 1840, the Dogra general Zorawar Singh stormed it and razed it to the ground.^[4][5]

Zorawar Singh had another fort built on level ground next to the Kharpocho hill. The fort remained till the First Kashmir War in 1947, when the Gilgit Scouts laid a siege to it fighting against the Jammu and Kashmir State Forces under the command of Lt. Col. Sher Jung Thapa. Thapa eventually surrendered after running out of rations.^{[6][7] [8]}

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Skardu Fort.

• List of forts in Pakistan
• List of museums in Pakistan

• 
  Kharpocho fort
• 
  Entrance to the Skardu Fort
• 
  The ancient mosque at the fort
• 
  A 1924 photo of the Mosque in Skardu Fort

• NorthernAreas.gov.pk Skardu page