Halfway between Aurangabad & Ellora caves is the magnificent hilltop fortress of Daulatabad. Built by Bhilama Raja of the Yadava Dynasty in 1187. It was named 'Devagiri' or 'Hill of the Gods'. It gained fame later as the place selected by Mohammad Tughlak 'the mad Sultan of Delhi' who wanted to shift his capital here and thus renamed it 'Daulatabad' or 'City of Fortune'. He force-marched all his subjects here and 17 years later marched them back to Delhi.Perched on top of a high hill, it is surrounded by thick walls, spiked gates, steep gravelled slide ways and a deep moat. Just inside the entrance gate is the 60 m. high Chand Minar tower, overlooking a small mosque built from the remains of a Jain temple. Higher up is the blue-tiled Chini Mahal where the last king of Golconda was imprisoned for 13 years until his death.

JANJIRA : It was the strongest marine fort in all India, built by Abyssinians in 1511 on an island south of Ailbagh below Portuguese Bombay. On the coast about 160 km due south of Bombay, the majestic island fortress of Murud-Janjira was the 16th-century capital of the Siddis of Janjira, descendants of sailor/traders from the Horn of Africa. It is without doubt one of Maharashtra's most commanding coastal forts, stretched along an island a short distance from the tranquil fishing town of Murud and only accessible by local sailing boat. The fort's 12 metre high walls made it impregnable to everyone, even the Marathas - Shivaji tried to conquer it by sea and his son, Sambhaji, attempted to tunnel to it.