Let me take you inside the magnificent Lahore Fort and through its original entrance from Akber’s era today. For a while imagine the majesty of Akbar’s entourage passing through the Delhi Gate crossing the Royal Trail with people leaning over the balconies and jharokas to take a glimpse of their Emperor and Queen seated on decorated elephants, showering flowers over them. Then following through the royal trail, Akbar the Great enters into his splendid Fort through the giant and massive Akbari Gate! What a mesmerizing scene it would have been of the colorful enchanting entourage entering in this gate with the guards standing with their heads bowed down to the Emperor and his Queen. I wish I was there to see all the royal scenes of the bygone days when the Mughals ruled this place, but now we can only read such stories in books or see the depictions of it in films that are being made on such subjects.
So now let’s come to this magnificent gate of the royals, which was named after the third Mughal Emperor- Akbar the Great, who re-built this fort with burnt bricks and added several mind blowing structures in it. The Mughal Emperor Akbar was the one who added a fortified wall with thirteen gates around the city and thus it became to be known as ‘the walled city’.
The gate is elevated from the ground level and wide enough for an elephant to cross its wide wooden door. The wooden door and the structure are well intact till now but unfortunately this gate is not open for public under the excuse of security
If you wish to see the Akbari Gate which prohibited for public viewing now, you need to come to the circular road and turn towards the Masti Gate, where you will come across a board.This gate is opposite to the ugly looking encroachments of the Rim Market today and is located on the eastern side of the Lahore Fort. This gate, as I mentioned earlier was once the main entrance to the Lahore Fort and till now the stateliness of the gate can be seen in its ages old bricks and huge structure. The exterior of the gate shows aging and graffiti by the locals that has damaged its beauty but the majesty of the gate is tolerating the cruel damage done by the people who do not value the heritage.
The gate is elevated from the ground level and wide enough for an elephant to cross its wide wooden door. The wooden door and the structure are well intact till now but unfortunately this gate is not open for public under the excuse of security. Hence, with the passage of time people forgot that this was the main entrance of the present world heritage site built by the Mughals. Many people are unaware of the fact that the gate has two storeys with chambers inside it which must have been used by the watch guards and other soldiers. The access to the upper storey of the gate is difficult as the stairs are a little derelict and dark even during the day. A grill has been placed on the staircase so the public cannot enter.
There are some interesting facts about this gate. The gate has a basement and it was known as Akbari Sarai (Akbar’s Rest House). It cannot be located now because it is buried under loads of debris and wild plantation since ages and has not been cleaned. Only excavation of the area can reveal it. There is a small window which is like an access to the basement and I am sure that there must be snakes and reptiles down there. Proper precautionary measures have to be taken for going in there and cleaning up the place as there are plans to restore it by the Walled City of Lahore Authority but for now it is not available for public viewing. This gate of Lahore Fort was once connected with the Mariam Zamani Mosque, a Mosque built by Emperor Jahangir for his mother, which is located opposite to it and unfortunately hidden behind the encroachments of Rim Market and Moti Bazaar. One standing at Akbari Gate can never imagine that there is a Mosque located opposite to it. Historians say that there was a garden which connected this gate with the Mosque. The Mughals along with their entourage passed that stately garden to reach the Akbari Gate of Lahore Fort. So now you can imagine the splendor of the gone garden as well. With the passage of time the garden vanished and so did Masti Gate and the gate was closed too with the fall of the Mughal Empire. A colony has been built inside the fort next to the gate which does affect the opulence of the gate. You can see children playing around in the colony and clothes hanging on the wires and the residents riding a bike ignoring all the tourists.
We now enter inside this gate and before you will be the grand view of the famous hall of forty pillars, the Deewan-e-Aam and backside of Jahangir’s Quadrangle. This Deewan-e-Aam was the place where Akbar appeared before the public and his stately balcony which is still intact there, and Mughal era costumed guards are standing there which is an attraction for the tourists. Around Akbari gate, you will hardly find any tourists as it is one of the far away areas inside Fort as the entrance to the fort is now from the British built Postern Gate. So people hardly go up to this part. The entrance to Fort was changed to Alamgiri Gate during the rule of Emperor Aurangzeb Alamgir and that too is now closed for the public.
Till the last few years, there were waist high shrubs around Akbari Gate but now with the new management all is cleared and benches have been placed there for the tourists. A library inside the gate on its upper storey is also being planned so that the tourists can pass time reading books on Lahore there. There are several Hujras (rooms) on one side of the gate and I guess they can be used as craft shops now to make this dull part of Lahore Fort alive. As you go a little ahead from this gate, you will see lush green lawns with ages old tress along with new plants too. The sight is soothing for the eyes and gives you a fresh feeling especially when you are inside the fort early in the morning when the grass is glowing under the sunlight. From Akbari Gate it’s a long route to reach Deewan-e-Aaam and then Jahangir’s Quadrangle. In my opinion anyone visiting Lahore Fort must visit this place too. I hope it’s illuminated soon like the Alamgiri Gate of Lahore Fort so that the tourists can enjoy the splendor of history by night there.
Published in Daily Times, June 1st 2018.