- Type
- Fortress
- Built
- 1763 · 18th century
- Coordinates
- 30.3243°, 76.4008°
History
The fort was begun in 1763 by Baba Ala Singh, a Sikh chief of the Phulkian family and founder of the state of Patiala. The first stronghold was a mud fort (kachi garhi); it was later replaced by a structure of fired brick, and a walled city grew up around it. Over roughly a century and a half, successive rulers of Patiala added courtyards and palaces in a style blending Mughal and Rajput traditions, and in the 19th century also buildings in European forms. Under Maharajas Karam Singh and Narinder Singh, painters brought from Rajasthan, the Punjab hills and elsewhere covered more than a dozen chambers with scenes from Hindu mythology, tales of Krishna and portraits of the rulers. From the mid-19th century the rulers lived mainly in newer palaces outside the old town. After 1947 the fort housed state government offices; once they moved out in the 1960s the buildings began to decay, and in 2004 the World Monuments Fund placed Qila Mubarak among the world's 100 most endangered sites. Conservation work began in the following years, and in 2025 a hotel opened in the restored Ran Baas wing.
What to see
The only way into the complex is an imposing gateway pierced by rows of arched openings. Beyond it lies a courtyard in front of the inner palace, Qila Androon – a roughly square building strengthened by massive bastions, with a gateway decorated in stucco. The former audience hall, the Darbar Hall, houses a museum of arms and armour, including a sword attributed to Nadir Shah, and a collection of Bohemian glass chandeliers. Most interiors, including the painted chambers and the mirror-decorated Shish Mahal, are usually closed to visitors. The fort's walls are surrounded by the busy bazaars of old Patiala.
Wikipedia article Wikidata Q7267731
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