The Indian state of Rajasthan attracts many visitors from around the world. It includes well-known cities like Jaipur, Jodhpur, Udaipur and Pushkar. Over most of the past thousand years, Rajasthan was made up of about 20 independent Hindu kingdoms. Although occasionally united and sometimes conquered by outside empires, the Rajput maharajas who ruled these kingdoms built numerous forts and fought valiantly for the protection of their kingdoms and their wealth. After India’s independence from Britain in 1947, they retained their titles and some of their properties, but many of their citadels were later converted into national museums or heritage hotels.

Some of the forts around Rajasthan that are worth seeing include the Mehrangarh Fort in Jodhpur, built on top of a sheer rock cliff; the Kumbhalgarh Fort, located at a height of 3,500 feet and surrounded by 22 miles of interlocking walls; and the Gwalior Fort, which changed hands among many rulers over the centuries. While traveling in India, we visited two such forts with fascinating histories and unusual legends attached to them — Chittorgarh Fort and Amber Fort.

Chittorgarh Fort originally was built on a plateau high above the surrounding plains in the 8th century. It protected the temples, palaces, stables and memorials of the Maharana of Mewar for many centuries until it was conquered by the Mughal Emperor Akbar and abandoned by the Rajputs in the 16th century. Most of the sturdy walls, gates and several dozen buildings within this ancient fortress remain intact. People often visit it either on a day trip from Udaipur or when traveling through Rajasthan.

Chittorgarh has several features worth noting. The 122-foot-high Victory Tower, built on a ridge by Maharana Kumbha in 1448 to honor a military victory over a rival Rajput sultan, is magnificent. This sandstone tower is engraved with images of numerous gods, and the vestibule at the top of the staircase offers a commanding view of the entire fort and the countryside. Another unusual feature is the large reservoirs carved into the rock face that hold spring water and rain water and allowed the fort to withstand many attacks over the centuries.

Perhaps the most compelling reason to visit Chittorgarh is to visualize the legends that surround this fort. The Rajputs glorify their military history and have a tradition of often fighting to the last man and woman in battle. Legend has it that on each of the three occasions when the Chittorgarh Fort was conquered, thousands of Rajput warriors fought to their death rather than surrendering, while thousands of Rajput women committed mass suicide by immolation to escape capture.

Another legend features the beautiful queen Rani Padmini who became an object of desire for the Sultan Alauddin Khilji of Delhi in 1303. In order to avoid a siege, the Maharaja allowed the sultan to visit the fort and glimpse his queen’s reflection in the water of a reservoir through a mirror placed in a nearby building. This experience (which can be duplicated by tourists today) only heightened the sultan’s determination to conquer the fort, but in the end Padmini escaped capture by committing suicide with the rest of the women in the fort and the furious Alauddin sacked the city. So while many historians claim that Alauddin conquered Chittorgarh in order to gain control of Mewar’s trade routes, Rajputs believe in the more epic explanation.

Another fort that we visited in Rajasthan is the Amber Fort, located to the north of Jaipur. This fort was constructed by the renowned Rajput ruler Man Singh I in 1592 and it served as the capital of the Kachhawaha kingdom until the 18th century when the palace was relocated to present-day Jaipur. Amber Fort is situated in a scenic location on a natural ridge that stretches for many miles above a narrow valley. There is a pleasant lake below the fort as well as a small island covered by a Mughal-style garden. Above Amber Fort is a second fort called the Jaigarh Fort, which provided further protection for the palace and the villages below. Visitors to Jaigarh can admire a 50-ton cannon on wheels that guarded the valley in the 1700s.

The main entrance to Amber Fort is a stone pathway that climbs to the top through a series of switchbacks. Although a back road can be used to drive to the fort, my wife and I reached the fort on the back of one of the several dozen village elephants who have ferried people during morning hours to the top for generations. Guided by a driver, or mahout, and seated sideways on a small platform, I held on tight and peered over the wall at the village and lake far below until we reached the top. I even managed a smile or two for the dozens of local photographers shouting for our attention. The fort provides spectacular views and features many bejeweled chambers, which were used by the royal family or by the Mughal Emperor when he visited his Kachhawaha allies.

Glenn Carberry of Norwich is a local attorney who practices in New London. A frequent world traveler, he has visited more than 50 countries and more than 100 World Heritage sites. This series shows some of the sites he and his wife Kimberly visited on a recent trip that included India, Singapore and Cambodia.