Delhi Gate was considered as an important entry/exit point as the Mughals used it while travelling from Delhi to Lahore Fort. The passage leading to Lahore Fort from this gate is known as ‘Royal Trail’ or Shahi Guzargah. Originally built in the 1600s during Mughal emperor Akbar’s period, some of the early city gates (including Delhi Gate) were pulled down by the British in the 1800s. Later (probably 1860s) the Delhi gate was rebuilt in a largely European Style except for the main arch which reminds of the mughal era structures. In the Colonial days, the gate accommodated a police station and a magistrates’ court. The police moved out in 1988 and thereafter part of the building was converted into a girls’ school.

The best route to adopt in order to see the most picturesque potions of the city is to enter it by Delhi Gate. On the left of this gate, which has been restored in quasi-classical and incngruous style, were till recently old hammams or hot air baths, parts of which have been removed by the municipality to clear the way for the new honorary magistrate’s katchery, which is in the wing of the gate itself.

– LAHORE AS IT WAS, Travelogue 1860, J L Kipling & T H Thorton