Junagarh Fort

Junagarh Fort is the principal fort of Bikaner, in the Thar Desert of northern Rajasthan. Its story begins in 1478, when Rao Bika put up a stone fort here, then called Chintamani, and the town grew up around it. The citadel seen today was the work of Raja Rai Singh, sixth ruler of Bikaner, whose service to the Mughal emperors Akbar and Jahangir earned him honours and jagirs. Its foundation was laid on 17 February 1589 and the work was finished on 17 January 1594.

Attackers seldom succeeded; Kamran Mirza, a son of Babur, held it only briefly in 1534. The fort is rectangular, with a circuit of more than 1,078 yards enclosing about 63,119 square yards. The style is mainly Rajput, with Gujarati and some western touches added as ties with the Mughals grew. Gates such as Karan Pol and Suraj Pol open on to a group of palaces, each built to the taste of a different ruler, with carved balconies, kiosks and red and gold sandstone walls.