Finally reached Darawar Fort

Awais Yaqub

The next day went to Darawar fort in Cholistan desert

The wont drive a van until it is completely full of people.

You can see a local guy wearing traditional Shawl known as Ajrak

Well reached the fort by changing multiple mods of transportation this is called Rikshaw

Finally this one will drop at door of fort around 40km away from this place




The Rohi, or Cholistan, is a barren desert tract, bounded on the north and west by the Hakra depression with ruins of old settlements along its high banks; it is still inhabited by nomads. It is at a distance of 30 km. from Bahawalpur. The word 'Cholistan' is derived from the word 'cholna' which means moving.

It covers an area of about 16,000 square km and extends into the Thar Desert of India. The region was once watered by the Hakra River, known as the Saravati in vedic times.

At one time there were 400 forts in the area and archaeological finds around the Darawar Fort, the only place with a perennial waterhole.

The average annual rainfall is only 12 cm, and the little cultivation is made possible by underground wells, drawn up by the camels. The water is stored in troughs, built by the tribes, between sandhills and din waterholes called tobas.

The forts here were built at 29 km intervals, which probably served as guard posts for the camel caravan routes. There were three rows of these forts. the first line of forts began from Phulra and ended in Lera, the second from Rukhanpur to Islamgarh, and the third from Bilcaner to Kapoo. They are all in ruins now, and you can see that they were built with double walls of gypsum blocks and mud. Some of them date back to 1000 BC, and were destroyed and rebuilt many times. Cholistan also boasts of many old forts such as Derawar,Vingrot, Banwar, Marcot, Wilhar, Maujgharh, Mao, Phuira and Din-gharh etc.

This whole fort is made of clay and bricks and hight is 30 meters

Well government allocate budget for renovate the fort but .......

Kid with his camel

Derawar Mosque which is 100 years old and is built with white marble stone. The Derawar mosque of marble is a thing of beauty, an exact replica of the Moti Masjid of the Red Fort of Delhi.

View of fort from Mosque

And someone told me there is no way to go back accept next day thanks to one of the locals who agreed to drop me to nearest bus stop with some mild chance of bus that was 20km away. When i reached that stop that was a small village with crops and greenery and met these guys.

The above guy gave his turban to my guide who i met in Bahawalpur who was my guide at time and he was the one who knew the local language

Well i got the van but i had to sit on roof of driver's seat where they had luggage there was no other van coming and people were hanging all over the van. All images were shot from roof top

And reached the small town from where i caught van for Bahawalpur .

Complete Gallery and large size

z_28

Ho ho Awais !!!
Great work
Looks as movie on Discovery Channel, not just simple pics.
Congrats

Awais Yaqub

z_28 wrote:

Ho ho Awais !!!
Great work
Looks as movie on Discovery Channel, not just simple pics.
Congrats

Thanks i am glad you enjoyed them

spechtal

Great Series Awais! You were on a fantastic adventure. Thanks for sharing your travels.

Lesley Bray

Thank you Awais - I love your photography - very interesting
Lesley

Awais Yaqub

Thanks

swintonphoto

Great series. Some really unique perspectives - wonderful unique places. Wish I was there with you!

Dogdots

Awais....your photos speak

The Forts are so different. Can you get in them? Those really peaked my interest.

Riding on top of the bus.....it was an opportunity for you...those shots from a different vantage point are good.

photocat

History at its best. A shame that buildings like that would vanish. I hope they will restore them. Great shots. Wonderful place and wonderfully snapped

Awais Yaqub

Thanks all

Spagbag

That fort is very impressive. It looks vast, especially in the b/w shot.

schmoo

Awais, you've done it again

I loved your story: the crazy things you do, the way you interact with the locals, Smuggy showing himself in random places, and bringing back such unique photos.

Thank you for going, and sharing them with us here! As z_2 said, much more real and personal than anything we could see on TV here. thumb

Tango

my 2 favs, thanks for showing!

Awais Yaqub

Thanks i am glad you enjoyed it my Last stop for few hours was City of Saints Multan but i got only few photos

Prezwoodz

Awais I feel these are some of the best of yours I have seen. They are simply amazing, colorful, sharp, and meaningful. The first of the Castle is my favorite it really shows its power. Thank you for the great great series.

Gun

Great pictures, I dont even know of this place before.
That fort is just like a really big sand castle made with just a simple bucket.

DJ-S1

Amazing work, Awais!

Cuong

Great series. You even took pictures while riding on the roof of the van. Try a stunt like that here and we'd all end up in jail for sure.

Cuong

Justiceiro

This is my favorite of all the photos that you have shown on Dgrin:




I must see these places. Can an American get into Quetta and beyond without getting in trouble? Once my wife starts working in Europe I will have 5 weeks of vacation. Hmm....

Awais Yaqub

Justiceiro wrote:

I must see these places. Can an American get into Quetta and beyond without getting in trouble? Once my wife starts working in Europe I will have 5 weeks of vacation. Hmm....

Why Quetta ? I will won't recomend to go there not because you are american but because there are lots of potential of :gun2. I will recomand many other places not Quetta
Darawar Fort, Lahore, Texila Ruins, Rohtas Fort,In North of Pakistan Nanga Perbat the Killer mountain, Passu, Rakaposhi, Katas Salt range and Many more Endless beauty of Kashmir !
The real thing in Pakistan is Northren Mountain ranges where i also want to visit some day.
And these places are extremely safe .
When ever you want to come let me know atleast you need a translator

Justiceiro

Be careful what you offer Awais, I just might take you up on it!:D

RBrogen

Absolutely amazing! Terrific work thank you for sharing!

Awais Yaqub

Everyone is always welcomed

Tee Why

Very interesting forts. I don't recall seeing pics of those before.

Awais Yaqub

Tee Why wrote:

Very interesting forts. I don't recall seeing pics of those before.

Thank you i myself went there for the 1st time. Not many people travel to this fort because of its location.

gregkendallball

Awais, these are some incredible shots...I have enjoyed looking through them very much. Wish I could travel there one day!

Zanotti

Great shots and an amazing travel log. Like many here, I would really find that a fun, challanging trip. It is an extremely interesting part of the world, so different from what we live in day to day. I am amazed by the scenes, colors and richness of the land.

Awais: Please keep taking shots of your day to day travel, its facinating for me to see. I also agree with others postings here in that watching your photography over the years, you have really improved. That's great to see as well.

Someday, I am showing up on your doorstep and we'll explore together!

Z

exploderpilot

I think I remember reading in a wilfred thesiger book about that fort, was it the duru tribe that lived nearby?

Awais Yaqub

Thanks Ken and Z i am glad you enjoyed watching them. And you are always welcomed i hope polititions leave their crap away to let people meet

Awais Yaqub

exploderpilot wrote:

I think I remember reading in a wilfred thesiger book about that fort, was it the duru tribe that lived nearby?

No never heard of the tribes

exploderpilot

It was in the book arabian sands. I'll have to read back through it and find it! Are you familiar with thesiger? He was actually an accomplished photog also. I see similarities in your portrait work with his.