THE WALLED CITY

 

 

        Lahore  which for some times in history also stood for the name of a  province, long served as capital of a  vast Punjab. Afterthe partition of the province at the time of independence on 14th August 1947, it conticued to serve as the headquarters of the western part  which came to Pakistan. The city is situated in latitude 340 34'5'' N and longitude 740 21'E while its height from mean sea level is about 217 metres.

      The old ,walled city is in the shape of a parallelogram, with the imposing Fort carved out in its north-western corner. In ancient times the river Rivi, the smallest of the five rivers giving Punjab its name, used to flow along the northern wall of the city and the fort. As the river, notorious for its changing course, rolled on ltowards further north away from the cityh, the fort was extended mainluy for defence. The Ravi floods, however, posed threat to the city and, at least for once, its encroachments caused so much alarm that in 1662 the Emperor Aurangzeb Alamgir made an huge embankment of bricks and mortar along its left bank, running for about six kilometres, and thus saved the city from the mas destruction. The Ravi further  changed its course and is presently flowing about two to three kilomateres north of the old city. The old course of the river, or the buddha Ravi as is locally known, has either been usurped for habitation or given to large and beautiful parks where Minar-e-{alostam mpw stamds.

      The archaeological excavation carried out in 1958 in the south eastern part of the present fort of Lahore yielded, among other things, a gold coin of Sultan Mahmud of Ghazna, portraying the period of its abundance at its earlier stages.

      Emperor Akbar during his fourteen years stay at Lahore 1584 to 1598 enclosed the fort with a brick wall to serve as fortification. He also founded palace buildings, which activity continued throughout the golden period of the Mughals as his successors enlarged and added to the construction towards north and west to the citadel.

       The old, or walled, city is over two kilometres in length and above one kilometre in breadth, which also includes the fort in its north western corner. The history city has a circumference of almost seven kilometres where a wall interspersed by thirteen gates runs majestically.

      The building activity did not limit itself to the confines of the city wall even during the long historic period of its existence. Many palaces, pleasures gardens, living quarters, tombs and mosque were constructed in the near, or a little far, suburbs of the city. The British added systematically by constructing a huge chhowani or cantonment towards south of the main city. The modern population pressure has resulted in the spilling over of the city and its expanding on all the four directions. The main thrust is, however, on the south where the new colonies, housing schemes and other development projects have extended lahore upto Raiwind, a town about 40 kilometres away from the walled city.

 

 

         The old and walled city had effectively controlled accesses. It could be entered through thirteen gateways, provided in the huge wall at intervals throughout its peripheral run. The gateways were differently named. Starting from the north western corner they were:-

 

 

 1 . Roshnai darwaza, was the 'gate of lights', lies between the Badshahi Mosque and the Fort. As it was lmost frequented by the royalty, Omra and courtiers, it was profusely lit up at night hence the name.

 

 

2.   Masti darwaze, the name of the gate is the corrupt form of Masjid[of the mosque] or more appropriately Masiti, as the mosque is  known in Punjabi language. It is called so as it faces the famous Maryam Zamani Mosque.

 

3. Kashmiri darwaze, was named as such as it opened in the direction of Kashmir.

4. Khizri or Sheranwala darwaza, As  the river Ravi used to flow lose to the city on this side, where ferry was located, the place was known as Khizri after Khizr, the patron Saint of waters and doscoverer of 'aab-e-hayat' the elixir or water of immortality. However, during the  Sikh period, Maharaja Ranjit Singh kept two domesticated lions at this gate, which gave it the popular name of Sheranwala darwaza or 'lions'gate'.

5. Yakki darwaza, It is the corrupt shape of ''Zaki'', named after the saint who was martyred here while fighting against the Mughal forces.

6. Delhi darwaza, named so as it opened on to the trunk road to Delhi.

7. Akbari darwaza, It is named after the Emperor Akbar who had rebuilt the city and its fort with burnt bricks. A market close tto it, said to have been built during the same period, still flourishes as Akbari mandi.

8. Mochi darwaza, The name mochi [though meaning cobbler] seems to have originally been moti or pearl, named after an officer of Akbar, Moti ram who resided in the quarters close to here.

9. Shah Alami darwaza, named after Muhammad Mu'azzam Shah Alam, the son and successor of Aurangzeb Alamgir, opened towards south. The gate having become the victim of modernisation' and the so-called development of the area, has since disappeared leaving only the legacy of its name.

10. Lahori darwaza, alos commonly called Lahori[pertaining to blacksmith], was named after the city itself. Most probably the quarters of the city first populated during the period of Ayaz, were around this gate.

11. Mori darwaza, As the name mori or hole implies, it is the smallest of all the gates and is said to have served as refuse disposal route of the city.

12 .Bhati darwaza, is called after the name of the Rajput tribe which inhabited the area in ancient times.

13.Tazali darwaza, seems to have been named as such as taxal, or mints, of the Muslim peiod rulers were located in this area.