Ahmedabad gates: Residue of past or the pride of the present?

A few months ago, Ahmedabad Municipal Transport Services (AMTS) bus rammed into wooden shutter of the central bay of Dilli Darwaja, one of the few remaining visual reminders of the time - six centuries to be precise - since city's founding.

Million pieces of the shattered glass of the bus remained on the road, driver fled in wee hours, episode is forgotten but a permanent scar has remained to the gate shutter. A gate once that protected the city from all external threats is itself under the threat of its extinction, demanding protection.

After the founding of the city in 1411 by king Ahmedshah, it was in 1469, the erstwhile king of Gujarat province Mohammad Begda- built the city wall with twelve gates. Characteristic of medieval times, marked by the collective defence, fort walls used to get built with moat all around and retractable gates as draw bridges, to provide much needed protection to inhabitants from bow and arrow warfare in pre-canon ball days.  When cannon ball and gunpowder was invented, nearly a century later, the defence strategy through fort walls and gate became redundant and ineffective. This is when in many medieval towns and cities, confines of fort wall was removed and cities rather than with their densely-built neighbourhood with compactly packed row houses splurged into garden city with large boulevards, avenues and sprawling bungalows.

However, for Ahmedabad such transformations were denied until very recently. Fort wall, dense neighbourhoods as pols and city gates continued to have their relevance in psyche of its citizens.

These were integral to their lives and daily routines and had in fact, acquired some sense of collective bond. Which is why, as late as on April 21, 1831, citizens of Ahmedabad, on their own initiatives, without waiting for authorities, took up the restoration of the fort walls affected by floods, earthquake and vandalism.

Setting an apt example of local self-governance, citizens formed the committee and by voluntarily levying octroi on Ghee, raised two and half lakh Rupees fund then, for city wall restoration. Well appreciating the value and sentiments of the citizens later even the British raj spent money in restoring the entire wall in early twentieth century.

Fort wall, made of terracotta bricks, lime mortar and external lime plaster, has 12 gates clad with stone. Twelve gates include Astodia gate, Dariapur gate, Delhi Darwaja (also known as Idario gate), Ganesh bari, Jamalpur gate, Kalupur gate, Khanjahan gate, Khanpur gate, Raipur gate, Rakhial gate, Sarangpur gate and Shahpur gate.

— The author is a Ahmedabad-based architect and historian