High above the Son river is the hill fort of Rohtasgarh. Named after Rohitaswa, the son of the legendary Raja Harishchandra, the fort was captured by Sher Shah in 1539. He added to its fortifications but then gave it up in favour of the fort at Shergarh.

In the reign of Akbar, Raja Man Singh occupied the fort as the viceroy of Bengal and Bihar. He built most of the palaces and buildings of the Mahal Sarai that stand today.

Later the fort was held by other governors and gave shelter to the family of the rebellious mughal prince Khurram (Shah Jehan) in 1644. Before the Battle of Buxar in 1764, the family and dependents of Nawab Mir Kasim also took refuge here. After Buxar, the fort was handed over to the British, who soon abandoned it.

The fort occupies a large plateau with a circumference of 40 kilometers. The walk to the top takes nearly two hours. There are a few villages on the plateau with some land under cultivation, but large parts are rocky and barren, dotted with remains of temples and other buildings.

Distance from Maksudpur: 169 km