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In 1648, Mughal emperor Shah Jahan moved the capital of the empire from Agra up north along the banks of the Yamuna river. He named this new capital after himself, Shahjahanabad. The city had massive fortification, with 14 grand gateways.
These formidable walls and gates secured Shahjahanabad and also constructed an identity for it: the “walled city”, as one is reminded even today by a government signboard while approaching the Old Delhi quarter of the Indian capital.
Since they were built, these fortifications have been attacked several times and rebuilt. Now, only five of the original gates remain. The vestiges of the walls, no longer uninterrupted fortifications, are scattered across the urban sprawl of New Delhi.
But look closely and walls continue to define Old Delhi’s limits four centuries later. An aerial view makes apparent the borders of what was once the Mughal and later British capital, an agglomeration of densely packed buildings and alleys. It stands in stark contrast to its successor, the planned city of New Delhi.
These sites are a glimpse of a vanishing past.
Old Delhi’s gates were often named after the place to which the roads around them led to. The northern gate to the city, Kashmere Gate, faces the direction of Kashmir. It is also the only twin doorway in the Old City – credited to a British renovation around 1835.
The gate served as an important site during the Third Battle of Panipat in 1761 and the rebellion of 1857. During the Siege of Delhi in 1857, advancing British forces blew up sections of Kashmere Gate to break the sepoy stronghold at the Mughal throne under Bahadur Shah II.
Today, a plaque commemorates the rebellion at Kashmere Gate, which stands tall after being battered by cannonballs, gunpowder and time.
Once a protector, the gate is now a protected monument under the Archaeological Survey of India, guarded by fences and security personnel.
Kashmere Gate stands between the Delhi Metro’s busiest metro station as well as the Maharana Pratap Inter-state Bus Terminus. Delhi Junction Railway Station is also in the vicinity.
As a hub of transport and travel since the 17th century, Kashmere Gate is testament to how cities retain their historical character over time.
Moving westward, the longest stretch of continuous walls to exist today can be seen from Nicholson Road to Kashmere Gate. The walls have evolved with the city and its residents, who have made dwellings and temples in its niches.
Tiles with images of deities dot the surface of the great walls.
In between, sections of the wall have been broken to let new roads in.
Mori Gate, at the intersection of Nicholson and Hamilton Roads, down west of Kashmere Gate, lives on only in memory – there are no ruins to tell its tale. Residents remember the history behind the name “Mori”, which means “hole” in Punjabi.
In 1783, the advancing Sikh army led by generals Baba Baghel Singh and Baba Jassa Singh Ahluwalia blew a section of the wall, creating holes to enter Delhi. The Mori Gate bus terminal and Mori Gate Road bear its name today. There is also a “Mori Gate Chowk” close by.
South-west of Mori Gate, overlooking Asia’s largest spice market, Kharibaoli, Kabuli Gate sleeps unknown to its occupants.
Both Mori Gate and Kabuli Gate were pulled down in 1873, after the sepoy rebellion, to accommodate traffic and commerce for the Delhi Junction railway station. But unlike Mori Gate, there is nothing to remember Kabuli Gate – neither ruins nor places – and not even the location where it stood retains its name. The site now constitutes a busy intersection between Naya Bazar Road and Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Marg, flanked by railway lines.
Old maps are all that remain, showing Kabuli Gate standing between Lahori Gate and Mori Gate.
The adjoining grain market also bears no signs of the gate.
Kabuli Gate area has lent itself to tarpaulin dwellings now. The two children and their families are among the hundreds who live in makeshift homes around what was once the historic gate.
Lahori Gate was once the royal entryway to the city. The gate faced Lahore, which was the capital of the Mughal empire under Emperor Akbar, alongside Agra, Fatehpur Sikri and Delhi. A walled city itself, Lahore features a “Delhi Gate” as well.
Delhi’s Lahori Gate leads inwards towards the 17th-century Fatehpuri Masjid – built by one of Shah Jahan’s wives, Fatehpuri Begum – Chandni Chowk and directly to Red Fort. It is considered to be one of the last places to be captured during the Siege of Delhi in 1857.
In 1888, Lahori Gate and its walls were torn down to connect Shahjahanabad with Sadar Bazar and ease the flow of trade. Today, a masjid, a busy chowk and a police station bear its name.
The Lahori Gate, on the south, bookends the massive grain market with Kabuli Gate, on the north. It features its own bazaar of seasonal goods. A view from the rooftop of one of the shops that crowd the area offers a glimpse of the clamour of the chowk.
Shraddhanand Marg, still known by its old name, Garstin Baston Road or GB Road, connects Lahori Gate to Ajmeri Gate. Now a landmark entry to New Delhi Railway Station, Ajmeri Gate has been protected by a fence that keeps the bustle out.
Around the gate, schoolchildren play cricket and street vendors rest.
Ajmeri Gate is in remarkably good condition even as the monument sits awkwardly at an intersection, surrounded by eateries, autorickshaws and vendors.
Close by lies Turkman Gate – among the few gates that is a protected monument under the Archaeological Survey of India and is being given a facelift. The gate derives its name from the nearby tomb of Sufi saint Shah Turkman Bayabani, established in 1240, which predates Old Delhi by over 400 years. Not far from Turkman Gate is the tomb of Razia Sultan, the 13th-century woman ruler of the Delhi Sultanate.
The history of Turkman Gate is coloured by the bloodshed from the Emergency. In April 1976, the police opened fire on residents of the area protesting the demolition of their homes. Twelve people were killed.
Not far from Turkman Gate is the the southernmost entryway into the city, Delhi Gate, nestled in the bustle of Daryaganj.
Delhi Gate was the largest gate among the entryways to the city. It is believed to have been named so because it was the entry gate into “new” Delhi for the residents of “old” Delhi, or Mehrauli, arriving from the south. Delhi Gate, like Lahori Gate, was also the name of one of the entrances of the Red Fort. The Metro station nearby also bears the name of the gate.
Delhi Gate has a history of superstition and hauntings. One apocryphal tale suggests that a British sentry, angry over being rejected, murdered his lover here. The Khooni Darwaza nearby also has a history of gore and violence, especially bloody murders relating to the Mughal rulers.
Today, large trees that tower over Delhi gate form a canopy that keeps the area pleasant enough for a midday nap.
The gates of Delhi were more than just functional structures – they were rich in aesthetic detail. Shah Jahan is known to have paid close attention to detail in architecture and was as meticulous when overseeing the construction of the boundary walls and gates of Shahjahanabad.
The gates have square proportions and tall arches for the entry of chariots and elephants alike – today, none of the gates are accessible to automobiles.
The Delhi Gate features floral and intricate designs of vines and lotuses. Other staple Mughal architectural features, like the use of red sandstone, grand bastions and symmetry are also evident.
Khairati Gate, one of the original river gates, is remembered today by a section of damaged walls and an inconspicuous signboard. Khairati Gate was located next to Zeenatul Masjid and dates back to the early 18th century, the time of Aurangzeb’s reign.
Perhaps no other landmarks were as affected as the river gates of Shahjahanabad when the Yamuna changed its course. Delhi’s river gates facilitated commerce and activity around the Yamuna and led to the rise of markets near the bank, like Daryaganj.
The name “Daryaganj” – literally, a market by the river – suggests that it was once a hub for trade that came to Delhi through the Yamuna, which flowed just below the city walls on the east.
The former course of Yamuna can be easily traced, now forming a wide floodplain along Mahatma Gandhi Road. The other “ghat” gates – Nigambodh Gate, Raj Ghat Gate and Kela Ghat Gate – that doubled as security and sites of funeral rituals for Hindu residents, have blended in with the Inner Ring Road.
Old Delhi’s gated boundaries stood tall for centuries but the needs of the ever-growing metropolis are forever expanding the borders of New Delhi. A few gates persevered, others have faded into history, forgotten. Yet, reminders of the past lay scattered in unexpected pockets of the city – sometimes a nondescript piece of a wall, or sometimes just a signboard.
All photographs by Himanshi Aggarwal and Harishankar Manoj.
Himanshi Aggarwal and Harishankar Manoj are freelance journalists and students at Jamia Millia Islamia.
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