Jaisalmer is one of the most romantic places in India, exotic for foreign as well as Indian tourists. For centuries, this little site near the present India-Pakistan border was a trading post, via which trains of camels trekked across deserts to Afghanistan and West Asia, carrying silver, cloth and more. The area was ruled by the Bhatti Rajputs. Rawal Jaisal started building the fort here in 1196, and later Bhatti rulers kept adding to the edifice.
Immortalised through many images, from Satyajit Ray’s film Sonar Kella to the Jaisalmer cigarette advertisements to Indian tourism posters, the yellow-sandstone fort is the town’s signature sight. Jaisalmer Fort is unique inasmuch as people have been living in it throughout is history.
