A SURVEY OF THE SARAIS, THE REST HOUSE, CONSTRUCTED BY MUGHAL EMPERORS ON THE MUGHAL ROAD

Abstract

Mughal Emperor used to visit The Valley of Kashmir after defeating the Chack Rulers and included Kashmir as their Subah in 1585. They choose the route from Lahore via Nowshera, Chingus, Rajouri and Rattan Pir Pass to Srinagar, Kashmir. It was necessary to discover the appropriate halting places with rest houses or Sarais on the route to stay during their visit. A large number of Sarais were constructed in various places on the route with variation in architectural taste according to the topography. In this paper an attempt is made to study the locations, architectural styles and layout of these monuments. Almost all the Serais, existing or partly ruined, are taken for study. It is found that these structures constructed with the local stones and the bricks were also used in construction. These monuments are planned on simple designs but massive production speaks of their strength as their existence till now.