Isarlat Sargasooli

This guide to the seven-story sandstone tower in Jaipur's old bazaars follows Maharaja Ishwari Singh, who raised it after surviving years of civil war with the help of his commander Hargobind Nattani. It also carries a rival court poet's legend about why the king really built it so tall, and the unpaid debt to a Maratha commander that came due a year after the tower was finished. Look up at its seven stories from the street below, where it has stood since 1749.