The origin of the Rohtas Fort goes back to the Sur dynasty, where emperor Sher Shah Suri ordered the court to be constructed after his victory over the Mughal emperor Humayun. Construction of the fort began in 1541. It was made primarily as a defense against the Gakkhars.
The fort was soon ceded to Mughal emperor Humayun in 1555, after the local governor, Tatar Khan Khasi, deserted the fort ahead of the Mughal army’s advances. The fort lost much of its significance as the fort’s purpose of subduing pro-Mughal Gakhar tribesmen, as well as the preventing the return of Emperor Humayun, was no longer required. Further, the construction of the nearby Attock Fort in the 1580s by the Emperor Akbar better served Mughal interests. Rohtas Fort, ironically, came to serve as capital of the Gakhar tribes that it had initially been designed to subdue, and was not required as a military garrison as the local Gakhar tribes remained loyal to the Mughal crown.