[1]: 177, 255  The current gate at the northern end of the medina was built under the Alaouite sultan Moulay Isma'il (ruled 1672–1727).

[1]: 195  The gate historically had great importance for the city, being the entry point for all trade and communications with the north of the country.

[3] The name of the gate likely derives from a historic market for vendors of packsaddles (Arabic: بردعين, romanized: al-brad'iyin, but locally pronounced as berda'in) which existed nearby.

Like Bab el-Khemis, the archway of the gate is set within a square space (measuring 11 metres (36 ft) per side) which is covered in decoration.

According to Ibn Zaydan, a cemetery had existed here since the Almohad conquest of the city (12th century), dedicated to the martyrs who were killed in the siege.