The history of Lahore can be traced back to the 2nd Century A.D. with the city having enjoyed the status of a capital for about a thousand years - sometimes of an empire and at other times that of a province. Each dynasty of its rulers - the Ghaznavids, Ghaurids, Turks, Sayyads, Lodhis, Mughals, Suris, Sikhs and the British - has left its imprints on the city.
Excavations conducted in the Lahore Fort revealed existence of the city in the early historic period. It is therefore believed that, the Fort was built with the founding of the city itself, its chequered history bearing testimony to the vicissitudes it suffered. The Mughal rulers however, brought this exercise to a halt, by providing it real stability.
The Fort is the only monument in Pakistan, which represents a complete history of Mughal architecture, as it was renovated, added and improved upon by subsequent Mughal rulers, after Emperor Akbar.After the collapse of the Mughal authority, the Fort suffered again due to poor additions, alterations and an aggressive siege in 1841. After having demolished its southern fortification wall, in 1927, the British Government handed over the Fort to the Archaeological Survey of India, which took measures to remove systematically, all the additions and alterations carried out during the British rule, in an attempt to restore the original layout of the buildings and gardens.
Since Independence in 1947, the Department of Archaeology of the Government of Pakistan has been carrying out conservation work, on a limited scale though. Moreover, the pace of deterioration has rapidly outstripped the conservation efforts. The southern portion of the fortification wall and the Matbakh or the Royal Kitchen have demolished, while the ceiling of the Shish Mahal (Palace of Mirrors) is on the verge of collapse. Efforts are being made, in cooperation with UNESCO experts, to save the latter, after a detailed research into the cause of its decay.
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