Daultabad

Between Aurangabad and the Ellora Caves is the magnificent hilltop fortress of Daultabad. The fort is surrounded by five km of sturdy wall, while the central bastion tops a 200-metre-high hill. In the 14th century the slightly nutty Mohammed Tughlaq, Sultan of Delhi, conceived the crazy plan of not only building himself a new capital, but marching the entire population of Delhi 1100 km south to populate it. His unhappy subjects proceeded to drop dead like flies on this forced to drop dead like flies on this forced march, and 17 years later he turned round and marched them all back to Delhi. The hill on which the fort stands was originally known as Devagiri, the 'hill of the gods', but Mohammed Tughlaq renamed it Daultabad, the `city of fortune'.

It's worth making the climb to the top for the superb views over the surrounding country. Along the way you'll pass through a complicated series of defences, including multiple doorways so that elephants could not charge them, and spike-studded doors just in case they did. A magnificent tower of victory built in 1435, the Chand Minar, soars 60 metres high. The Qutb Minar in the Delhi, five metres higher, is the only loftier victory tower in India. On the other side of the entrance path is a mosque built from the remains of a Jain temple. The final ascent to the top goes through a pitch-black, spiraling tunnel down which the fort's defenders could hurl burning coals at any invaders.

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