Mughal Emperor Babur called it the "pearl amongst the fortresses of Hind" because of its impregnability and magnificence and it has also been nicknamed the Gibraltar of India.

[1][4] It has witnessed the varying fortunes of the Guptas, the Hunas, the Pratiharas, the Kachhwahas, the Tomaras, the Pathans, the Surs, the Mughals, the English, the Jats, and the Marathas represented by the powerful Scindia dynasty who have left their landmarks in the various monuments which are still preserved.

[9] The fort is built on an outcrop of Vindhyan sandstone on a solitary rocky hill called Gopachal.

There is a horizontal stratum, 342 feet (104 m) at its highest point (length 1.5 miles (2.4 km) and average width 1,000 yards (910 m)).

[dubious – discuss] He was cured of leprosy, when a sage named Gwalipa offered him the water from a sacred pond, which now lies within the fort.

16 descendants of Suraj Sen Pal controlled the fort, but the 17th, named Tej Karan, lost it.

[11] A Gwalior inscription describes a sun temple built during the reign of the Huna emperor Mihirakula in 6th century.

[13] Bahauddin Tourghil, a senior slave of the Ghurid ruler Muhammad of Ghor captured the fort in 1196 after a long siege.

The last Tomar king of Gwalior, Maharaja Ramshah Tanwar, who had then taken refuge in Mewar and had fought at the Battle of Haldighati.

[22] Persian records, such as Dabistan i Mazahib suggest he was kept in jail for twelve years, including over 1617–1619 in Gwalior, after which he and his camp were kept under Muslim army's surveillance by Jahangir.

The Marathas had captured many territories held by the declining Mughal Empire in Northern and Central India after the death of Aurangzeb.

[16]: 68  The Maratha general Mahadaji Shinde (Scindia) captured the fort from the Gohad Rana Chhatar Singh, but later lost it to the British East India Company.

[26] On 3 August 1780, a Company force under Captains Popham and Bruce captured the fort in a nighttime raid, scaling the walls with 12 grenadiers and 30 sepoys.

In January 1844, after the Battle of Maharajpur, the fort was occupied by the Gwalior State of the Maratha Scindia family, as a protectorate of the British government.

The Maratha Scindias continued to rule Gwalior until the independence of India in 1947 and built several monuments including the Jai Vilas Mahal.

[27][28] The fort and its premises are well maintained and house many historic monuments including palaces, temples and water tanks.

[32] In spite of invasion the early Jaina sculptures of Gwalior have survived in fairly good condition so that their former splendour is not lost.

Within the rectangular structure is a shrine with no pillared pavilions (mandapa) and a South Indian barrel-vaulted roof on top.

It has a masonry tower in the North Indian Nagara architectural style with a barrel vaulted roof 25 metres (82 ft) in height.

The niches in the outer walls once housed statues but now have Chandrashalas (horseshoe arches) ventilator openings in the north Indian style.

The entrance door has a torana or archway with sculpted images of river goddesses, romantic couples, foliation decoration and a Garuda.

It was extensively damaged during Muslim raids, then restored into a Shiva temple by installing a liṅga, while keeping the Vaishnava motifs such as the Garuda.

[41][42] Close to the Teli ka Mandir temple is the Garuda monument, dedicated to Vishnu, is the highest in the fort.

[43][44] Dedicated to Vishnu and Shiva, These are pyramidal in shape, built of red sandstone with several stories of beams and pillars but no arches.

According to Surjit Singh Gandhi, 52 Hindu Rajas who were imprisoned in the fort as hostages for "millions of rupees" and for opposing the Mughal empire were dismayed as they were losing a spiritual mentor.

[citation needed] The Hathi Pol gate (or Hathiya Paur), located on the southeast, leads to the Man mandir palace.

[citation needed] The temple was destroyed during Mughal period but now has been re-established in the front open space of the Vikram mahal.

This chhatri (cupola or domed shaped pavilion) was built as a memorial to Bhim Singh Rana (1707–1756), a ruler of Gohad state.

[citation needed] The Gujari Mahal now a museum, was built by Raja Man Singh Tomar for his wife Mrignayani, a Gujar princess.

Rare artefacts at the museum include Hindu and Jain sculptures dated to the 1st and 2nd centuries BC; miniature statue of Salabhanjika; terracotta items and replicas of frescoes seen in the Bagh Caves.