Mani Majra Fort

Manimajra Fort was the seat of power of the Manimajra state, a small but long-lasting Sikh principality that existed from 1764 to 1875. The village of Manimajra itself is much older, believed to go back to around 1515, founded by a zamindar named Mani Ram Dhillon. The fort and the state came into being when a local chieftain named Gareeb Das Dhillon took control of the Manimajra pargana and declared independence from Mughal rule amid the collapse of Mughal authority at Sirhind, upon the sacking by the 12 Sikh Misls in 1764, making Manimajra his capital. Under Gareeb Das and his successors, the small state grew to control around 84 villages, an area that today covers parts of Chandigarh, Mohali, and Panchkula. The rulers fought and allied with several neighbouring states, including Patiala and Nahan (Sirmaur), and later became a British protectorate around 1809, following the Treaty of Amritsar between the British and Ranjit Singh. One of the family's most lasting contributions to the region was the Mansa Devi Temple, built between 1811 and 1815 by Gareeb Das' son and successor, Raja Gopal Singh. The state came to an end when the last ruler, Raja Bhagwan Singh — who had inherited the throne from his brother Gurbaksh Singh in 1866 died without a male heir. Under British policy (the Doctrine of Lapse) at the time, the state was annexed, and the fort and its properties eventually passed to the Faridkot royal family through marriage. Today the fort still stands in the middle of Manimajra's busy market, though it's in a deteriorating condition and closed to the public. It gained wider attention after being used as a filming location for the movie Zero Dark Thirty, but much of its real history as a Sikh capital has been largely forgotten locally.