Jaigarh Fort

The hill

Diwali brings fireworks, and this fort made the guns

Diwali is marked with fireworks, and Jaigarh Fort was once a place of a harder kind of fire. It stands on the promontory called Cheel ka Teela, the Hill of Eagles, built about 400 m above Amer Fort. It is also known as Victory Fort.

The foundry

A wind tunnel fed a furnace hot enough to melt metal

During the reign of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, Jaigarh became one of the world's most efficient cannon foundries, thanks to iron ore mines nearby. A wind tunnel sucked air from the high mountains into the furnace, with temperatures as high as 2,400 °F. Most cannons were about 16 ft long and had to be prepared within a single day.

The Jaivana

The great cannon was made here and never used in battle

The Jaivana was made in 1720 during the reign of Sawai Jai Singh II. At the time it was the world's largest cannon on wheels of its era. Its barrel weighs 50 tonnes and is decorated with trees, an elephant scroll and a pair of ducks. It was never used in battle, and was fired only once.

50 tonnesWeight of the Jaivana barrel.

The water

Rain from the hills filled three tanks under the courtyard

A canal on the west side of the fort carried water over a distance of 4 kilometres to three underground tanks below the central courtyard. The largest held 6 million gallons. Water from Sagar Lake was also brought to the fort in pouches loaded on elephant backs, and by people carrying water pots.

The search

A treasure hunt during the Emergency found nothing

During the Emergency of 1975 to 1977, rumours of a Kachwaha treasure in the fort, even in its water tanks, led to a search. An Army unit searched for three months and found no treasures. In 1977 the Income Tax department searched the buildings with metal detectors, also in vain. It was guessed that Sawai Jai Singh used the treasure to build Jaipur.