JAIGARH FORT

High in the hills above Amber is the magnificent Jaigarh Fort. It was built in the 17th century to reinforce the defenses of the Kachhawaha capital. Its mighty ramparts stretch, seemingly for miles across the hillsides, with embrasures cunningly designed to give the defenders a choice of three different angles for shooting down at their attackers.

Jaigarh Fort

Also on the ramparts is an enormous watchtower, Diva Burj. Once it was seven stories high, but the legends says that the lightning, jealous of the height of its flaming lamp, struck down the top two stories. The most interesting thing about the Jaigarh Fort, however, is the legend of its buried treasure. Raja Man Singh I is said to have buried inside here the booty for its various campaigns, worth, according to one account, Rs.1080 million (US$ 35 million) in the 1720's. The treasure was guarded by fierce Meena tribesmen. Over the centuries, each successive Maharaja was led blindfold to the treasure by the Meenas,once in his lifetime and allowed to choose just one piece from it. In the 1970's the Government of India launched one of the world's most ambitious treasure hunts ever to unearth his legendary treasure. It was, according to one theory, hidden inside the fort's huge water-tanks, but nothing was ever found. Some say the treasure is still in there, somewhere.