Editing Skardu (section)

===Skardu Fort===

[[File:SkarduFortEntrance1167.JPG|thumb|right|[[Skardu Fort]] was built by Raja Ali Sher at the end of the 16th century, and was home to Skardu's local ''Rajas'']]
[[Skardu Fort]] or Kharphocho Fort lies on the eastern face of the Khardrong or Mindoq-Khar ("Castle of Queen Mindoq") hill {{convert|15|m|abbr=off}} above Skardu town. The fort dates from the 8th century CE and contains an old mosque probably dating back to the arrival of Islam in the 16th century CE. The fort provides a panoramic view of Skardu town, the Skardu valley and the [[Indus River]]. It was built by [[Maqpon dynasty]] rulers of Baltistan. It was a seven-storey building. Mostly local people say that Kharphocho is made by a ghost as they were servants of the ruler of that time.{{Citation needed|date=June 2011}}

Kharphocho (Skardu) fort was built on a design similar to that of [[Leh Palace]] and the [[Potala Palace]] in [[Lhasa]], [[Tibet]]. The name Kharpochhe means the great fort — ''Khar'' in [[Standard Tibetan|Tibetan]] means castle or fort and ''Chhe'' means great.{{Citation needed|date=June 2011}}