The House of Abdus Salam (Urdu: عبدالسلام کا گھر) is a Pakistani national monument. It housed Pakistani Professor Abdus Salam, a theoretical physicist who became the first Muslim and Pakistani to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1979.[1][2] The monument is located in Jhang, Punjab, Pakistan. The fort remains remarkably intact and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. UNESCO called it an “exceptional example of the Muslim military architecture of Central and South Asia.”[2] Sur period Sher Shah Suri, the Afghan founder of the Sur Empire of India, commissioned the Rohtas Fort on the advice of his generals, who suggested him to adopt a scorched earth strategy to defeat the warring Gakhar, a local Punjabi Muslim tribe who were providing bold resistance to the Surs, near the Salt Range region in Punjab, Pakistan.[3][4] Thus the idea of the Rohtas Fort was conceived, with Sher Shah Suri laying down the foundation of the fort.[3] The fort occupied a strategic position between the mountains of Afghanistan and the plains of Punjab, preventing Humayun from returning to India from his exile in Persia.[5] Its name celebrated the Afghan king Sher Shah Suri’s 1539 capture of the Rohtas Fort in the Shahabad district of Bihar from a Hindu prince.[5] Mughal period With Sher Shah Suri’s death, Humayan returned to regain his rule of the Punjab region.[5] Rohtas Fort was ceded to Humayun in 1555. As a result, the fort lost much of its defensive significance.[5] It was never popular with the Mughals because of its plain military style and lack of gardens.[5] In the 1580s, Emperor Akbar constructed the nearby Attock Fort that was a better fit to Mughal interests. Akbar only stayed at Rohtas Fort for a single night. Emperor Jahangir rested there for one night while traveling to Kashmir. He noted, “This fort was founded in a cleft and the strength of it cannot be imagined.” Later, after his victorious return from a forced exile in Kabul, Jahangir convened his court at Rohtas Fort for a short time.