A high, weathered mound of mud-brick walls rising out of the flat old city, Qila Mubarak is the oldest surviving brick fortress in India — parts of it date back over 1,800 years, to the time of the Kushan emperor Kanishka. The walls climb 36 metres above the surrounding lanes and you can still climb up to the ramparts for a view that stretches across the rooftops of Bathinda and out into the cotton fields beyond.
Inside the compound are a small Sikh shrine, a museum of arms and royal memorabilia, and the chamber traditionally pointed out as the cell where Razia Sultana was held. The brickwork itself is the real attraction — narrow, hand-cut bricks laid in courses that have somehow withstood eighteen centuries of monsoon, drought, siege and neglect. Entry is a few rupees. Mornings are best, before the heat climbs.