The Ita Fort in Itanagar town of Arunachal Pradesh, is one among the most important of historical sites in this Indian state. The literal translation of the name means "A Fort of bricks" where the word Ita means brick in Assamese language. This is also the origin for the name of the capital of Arunachal Pradesh – Itanagar.

Getting There

The fort is situated just outside the city of Itanagar in the Papum Pare district of the state and is at a distance of about 4 km which is a smooth 16-20 min ride from the main town. You get plenty of local cabs to the location.

Origin

The Ita Fort is known to be one of the earliest forts which the great Chutia king, Ratnadhwajpal had built all over his kingdom from the town of Biswanath till Disang. The historian Sarbananda Rajkumar, states that the fort was built by the Chutia king Ramachandra/Pratap Raja who was also the grandson of king Mayurdhwaj. This is also verified by the copper plate belonging to the same period found near present-day North Lakhimpur town issued by Pratap Narayan. He was also known as Nandeswar.

According to Ahom Buranjis, a systematic chronicle of the Ahom kingdom, the Ahom king Sutupha was to attack the Chutia kingdom in the 14th century, but he cancelled the plans as his ministers advised against it. Later the death of the Ahom king at the hands of the Chutia king Pratap Narayan Nandeswar is recorded towards the later part of this century.

Again, the Nishi tribal folklore has a different story. It is said that a king from the plains was charmed by the beauty of Nishi women, married one of them and built the Ita fort as a palace for his wife. The Copper bell which was built during the time mentions the name Ramachandra as well, who might have been his father, Nandeswar.

From all of the above, it can be inferred that the fort was indeed built in and around the late 14th century by the Chutia king Nandeswar. It is an absolute delight for all history lovers.

Description

The fort has an irregular shape, built mainly with bricks dating back to the 14th-15th Century. The total brickwork is of 16,200 cubic meter lengths which were probably built by kings of the Chutiya kingdom which ruled the region during that time. It is said that about 8 million bricks were used to construct the structure of this fort. The bricks of the fort are typically of medieval and pre-Ahom period.

There are natural ridges and brick ramparts all around the fort. The fort has entrances on three different sides of its two brick walls, one each on the western, eastern and southern faces of the walls. There is an approximately, 500-meter-long rampart in the eastern side with just one gate which is towards the Dikrang Valley; while the western rampart is more than 1400 metres in length and has two gates near the banks of Senkhi river. In the north and south of the fort, irregular steep ridges of more than 100 meters in length are seen.

However, the main fort building si pretty small and looks like a large room, nothing very elaborate inside, except the historical significance. Other attractions close by is the Indira Gandhi Park.