Amar Singh (Akbar Darwaza)

What this main visitor’s entrance lacks in architectural charm it more than makes up with its rich history. The Amar Singh Gate was originally know at the Akbar Darwazah, as it was through this portal that the Mughul emperor entered the fort. During the reign of Shah Jahan (who seemed to hold little sentimentality towards his father’s life and works) renamed it after one Rao Amar Singh, a leading noble of Jodhpur. It seems that, for circumstances which remain unclear, he slew Shah Jahan’s treasurer. When he realized that he had committed an unpardonable sin, Rao Amar Singh mounted his horse and leapt over the fort wall at this very spot. The horse survived (briefly) and the rider was arrested and put to death. There is little else dramatic in the gate, which is straddled by two octagonal towers, adorned by cupolas. The surface of the gate was decorated with glazed panels.