Skardu Fort or Kharpocho (The king of Forts)

Skardu Fort or Kharpocho means "The king of Forts" is a fort in Skardu city in the Gilgit-Baltistan region that dates from the 16th century by the king Ali Sher Anchan in a very innovative way. It is a high mountain fort from the early days of the king's and queen's living spot, located in Chumik Road, Skardu, Gilgit Baltistan, Pakistan. An ancient mosque is also present inside the fort. A view from this monument brings into vision the entire valley, and you will know the reason of is called "The king of Forts" because one can have a very firm eye on its citizens and invaders.

Within the fortress there aren’t structures that survived the time, however, there is a mosque that is considered to have been built with the arrival of Islam in the region. Some of the exciting sights that could be seen in Skardu Fort and the remains of the fort are baithak area, a large spacious room which has decorated with high standard furniture, servant rooms, and plenty of more inventories been placed whenever visitors plan to Kharphocho Fort.

General Zorawar Singh who was a military general of Dogra Rajput ruler Maharaja Gulab Singh realized the importance of the fort's location in the town and so he occupied the fort. Later General Zorawar Singh served as the governor and extended the territories of the kingdom by conquering Ladakh and Baltistan. Skardu Fort was not fortunate enough to survive the plentiful campaigns of conquest, and it was finally destroyed in 1857 under the guidance of Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir, Ranbir Singh. Mughal emperor Aurangzeb who ruled all over the sub-continent also tried to occupy the fort, but all of his struggles went in vain.

Though all of those years of the conquest of Raja and Emperors the fort has gone through, some of its walls are still there to impress us and show us its glory and importance of itself. Skardu Fort has always succeeded to impress everyone with its beauty and its strength and tells us the story of the adventurous era that it survived.