The most visible parts of ancient Dhar are the massive earthen ramparts, which are best preserved on the western and southern sides of the town. These were most likely built at beginning of the 9th century. Wall remains show that the city was circular in plan and surrounded by a series of tanks and moats, similar to the city of
Warangal, in the
Deccan. The circular ramparts of Dhar, unique in north India and an important legacy of the Paramāras, are unprotected and have been slowly dismantled by brick-makers and others using the wall material for construction. On the north-east side of the town, the ramparts and moats have disappeared beneath modern homes and other buildings. There are many stepwells of various periods in Dhar which are dried or filled with sewage and trash. Till now, 46 stepwells are listed in the Dhar premises, and a work of reviving those stepwells is an ongoing plan for the year 2024.
Fort The historic parts of Dhar are dominated by an impressive sandstone fortress on a small hill. The fortress is thought to have been built by
Muhammad bin Tughluq, the Sultan of Delhi, most likely on the site of the ancient Dhārāgiri mentioned in early sources. One of the gateways, added later, dates to 1684–85 in the time of 'Ālamgīr. Inside the fort there is a deep rock-cut cistern of great age, and a later palace of the Mahārāja of Dhar that incorporates an elegant pillared porch from the
Mughal period, possibly built in the mid-17th century. The palace area houses an outdoor museum with a small collection of temple fragments and images dating to medieval times.
Museum Inside the fort, a large number of sculptures and antiquities from Dhar and its neighbourhood are kept in utilitarian buildings constructed in the late 19th century. Some pieces from the collection have been moved to
Mandu where the Department of Archaeology, Museums and Archives has created a museum with a range of displays in the 'Barnes Koti', a Sultanate-period building used by Captain Ernest Barnes, the political agent of the Bhopawar agency.
Tomb of Shaykh Changāl On the overgrown ramparts of the medieval city, overlooking the old moat, is the tomb of Shaykh Abdullah Shāh Changāl, a warrior saint. The earliest evidence for the tomb comes from an inscription of 1455; the building was entirely rebuilt in the second half of the 20th century.
Iron Pillar One of the most significant historical attractions at Dhār is the ancient iron pillar. Fragments of it are at the
Lat Mosque where the three surviving portions are displayed outside the mosque on a platform thanks to the conservation efforts of the
Archaeological Survey of India. The pillar, which was nearly 13.2 m high according to the most recent assessment, carries several inscriptions, the most important recording a visit by the Mughal emperor
Akbar in 1598 while on a military campaign in the Deccan. The pillar's original stone footing is displayed nearby.
Lat Mosque The
Lat Masjid, or 'Pillar Mosque', located to the south of the town, was built as the
Jami' Mosque by
Dilawar Khan in 1405. It derives its name from the
iron pillar ("lāṭ" in Hindi), which lies in the immediate campus of the mosque.
Kamāl Maulā Campus The Kamāl Maulā is a spacious enclosure containing a number of tombs, the most notable being that of Shaykh Kamāl Mālvī or Kamāl al-Dīn (
circa 1238–1331). Kamāl al-Dīn was a follower of
Farīd al-Dīn Gaṅj-i Shakar (
circa 1173–1266) and the
Chishti saint
Nizamuddin Auliya (1238–1325) and migrated to Malwa with his brother in the late 1200s. His descendants have served as custodians of Kamāl al-Dīn's tomb in an unbroken line for 700 years.
Bhoj Shala Except for the
Mihrab and
Minbar, which were purpose-built for the monument, the
hypostyle hall immediately next the tomb of Kamāl Maula is made of recycled temple columns and other architectural parts. It is similar to the Lāṭ Masjid, but was built earlier, as an inscription from 1392 described records of repairs by Dilāwar Khān. In 1903, Sanskrit and
Prakrit inscriptions from the time of
Arjunavarman (
circa 1210–15) were found in the walls of the building by
K. K. Lele, Superintendent of Education in the Princely State of Dhar. The engraved inscriptions are displayed inside the entrance. One text includes parts of a drama called
Vijayaśrīnāṭikā composed by Madana, the king's preceptor, who bore the epithet
Bālasarasvatī. Other tablets noted by Lele include a slab inscribed in Prakrit with two versions of the
Kūrmaśataka – verses in praise of the Ādī Kūrma, the primordial or foundational tortoise in Hindu mythology. The inscription contains a colophon ascribing it to king
Bhoja. These finds prompted Lele to name the building
Bhoj Shala, or 'Hall of Bhoja', in reference to King Bhoja (
circa 1000–55), the author of several works on poetics, grammar and aesthetics, most notably the
Śṛṅgāra Prakāśa. C. E. Luard, writing in 1908, does not use the term Bhoj Shala but mentions traditions describing the building as 'Raja Bhoja's school'.
Cenotaphs and Old City Palace The old city palace of the
Pawar clan, a branch of the
Marathas that claims descent from the
Parmar Rajputs of
Malwa, is now used as a school. It is a plain, medium-sized building built around 1875. A marble
statue of the
Jain goddess
Ambikā, discovered on the site of the palace in 1875, is now in the
British Museum. Of the same time period as the palace are a collection of domed
cenotaphs of the Pawar rulers on the edge of the large tank known as Muñj Talab. The name of the tank was probably derived from
Vākpati Muñja (10th century), the first Paramāra king that entered Mālwa and made
Ujjain his main administrative seat.
Tomb of Shaykh Zahīr al-Dīn Qādirī The tomb said to be that of Shaykh Zahīr al-Dīn Qādirī, a contemporary of Kamāl-al-Dīn, stands in the fields on the western side of the old circular city.
Tomb of Bugḍe Pīr On the east side of the old town the tomb of Tāj al-Dīn 'Aṭā'ullah. Popularly known as Bugḍe Pīr, the building is a small domical structure of the seventeenth century. 'Aṭā'ullah was born in 1578-79 and enjoyed the patronage of
Nur Jahan.
Agency House Another colonial era building at Dhar, located outside the old town on the road to
Indore, is the Agency House. It was built by the Public Works Department during British rule and was the center of the administration of Dhar
State and the
Central India Agency. The building has been abandoned and is now in ruins.
Jheera Bagh In the 1860s, the Powars built a palace at Hazīra Bāgh, adjacent to the road to Māṇḍū. Known as the Jheera Bāgh Palace, the complex was renovated by Mahārāja Anand Rao Pawar IV in the 1940s and is now run as a heritage hotel. Designed in an unpretentious
art deco style, it is considered to be one of the most elegant and forward-looking examples of early modern architecture in
North India. == Political history ==