Bala Qila crowns a steep Aravalli hill directly above Alwar city, with long bastioned walls snaking along the ridge and huge gateways guarding the approach roads. From the ramparts you get big panoramic views of the city, Siliserh side hills and the plains beyond. Inside are ruined palaces, courtyards, temples and cisterns that show how this was once a self-contained hill capital. The fort has 15 large and 52 smaller towers and hundreds of loopholes for muskets, giving it a hardcore military feel rather than just palace glamour.
About this place
History & highlights
An early fort here was built around 10th–12th century CE, probably by Nikumbh Rajputs, and later strengthened; in the 15th–16th century it was extensively rebuilt and fortified by Hasan Khan Mewati, the local ruler of Mewat. Over time Bala Qila passed through many hands – Mughals (Babur stayed here; Jahangir is said to have lived here in exile), then Marathas and Jats – before Pratap Singh founded the princely state of Alwar in the late 18th century and used the fort as a key stronghold. Today it’s promoted as a “green heritage site” overlooking Alwar and Sariska, symbolising a thousand years of frontier warfare between Delhi, Mewat and Rajputana.
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