According to carbon dating evidence from archaeological finds in the Lahore Fort, settlements in the region have existed as early as 2,000 BCE.

Though the modern city's founding may have been as early as 1000 CE, Lahore gained prominence only with the invasion of Muslim rulers from Central Asia.

[1] The entire city of Lahore during the medieval Ghaznavid era was probably located west of the modern Shah Alami, and north of the Bhatti Gate.

[1] During this period, Lahore was closely tied to smaller market towns known as qasbahs, such as Kasur, Eminabad, and Batala in modern-day India.

[1] Akbar's court chronicler, Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak, described the city as a "grand resort of all countries" with manufacturers that produced an astonishing variety of items.

[1] The Emperor Jahangir was later buried in an extravagant tomb in the Shahdara Bagh across the River Ravi, whose construction was overseen by his wife, Nur Jahan.

[4] His first monumental project in the city was the Wazir Khan Mosque, built at the site of a simple pre-Mughal shrine.

[5] He also built two other mosques in the Walled City,[4] as well as the Shahi Hammam - famous for its lavish use of frescoes as a decorative element.

He built for himself a haveli in the old city near the Shah Alami Bazaar called the Peri Mahal, or "Fairy Palace.

[4] Shah Jahan's son, Emperor Aurangzeb, built the largest Mughal monument in Lahore, the iconic Badshahi Mosque.

He also improved civil infrastructure, and ordered the construction of the Alamgiri Bund - a channel built to divert the flow of the River Ravi.

After the British captured Lahore from the Sikhs in 1846, annexation of the Punjab in 1849, the Walled City's administrative practices were largely maintained.

[1] The British built the Lahore Junction railway station outside the city's former walls, in a unique fortified style complete with turrets and crenellations, and loopholes for directing rifle fire.

[6] The Walled City's Rang Mahal was used first as a school for the American Presbyterian Mission, before being used as the first location of Lahore's prestigious Forman Christian College in 1896.

[1] The British regarded the Walled City as a potential hotbed for disease and social instability, and instead focused development away from the Walled City, and into suburban areas to the south and east,[1] where numerous British-era buildings now stand, along with the Lahore Cantonment - originally laid by British administrators.

[1] By the early 20th century, the Walled City's mohallahs came under the administration of British municipal laws which had only previously applied in Civil Station.

As late as 1864, the Lahori Mandi area had been known as kacha kot, meaning "the mud fort," a name derived from the gradient of the land, the water flow, and the formation of mohallahs, kuchas, and kattrahs.

Suburbs grew around the Walled City in areas to its east and south, and most was done in an ad hoc manner with concern paid to the developments immediate environment, rather than a larger masterplan.

This part of Lahore is a bustling community, with history etched in every corner of its streets, and attracts people from all across Pakistan, both for tourism and business purposes.

Some of its monuments are famous sites themselves, including the white marble Naulakha Pavilion, the Sheesh Mahal ("Palace of Mirrors"), Pearl Mosque, and the fort's massive Picture Wall.

The Lahore Fort is notable for having been almost entirely rebuilt in the 17th century,[10] when the Mughal Empire was at the height of its splendour and opulence.

[11] In 1981, the fort was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its "outstanding repertoire" of Mughal monuments dating from the era when the empire was at its artistic and aesthetic zenith.

The mosque is an important example of Mughal architecture, with an exterior that is decorated with carved red sandstone with marble inlay.

[14] The Wazir Khan Mosque (Urdu: مسجد وزیر خان; Masjid Wazīr Khān) is a 17th-century mosque near the Delhi Gate and Chitta Gate that was commissioned during the reign of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan as part of an ensemble of buildings that also included the nearby Shahi Hammam baths.

[25] The Gurdwara Janam Asthan Guru Ram Das (Urdu: گردوارہ جنم استھان گورو رام داس) is a gurdwara built atop the site traditionally believed to be the location of the birthplace and childhood home of Guru Ram Das, the 4th Sikh gurus.

The shrine is located along the Shahi Guzargah, or "Royal Passage" that began at Delhi Gate, and terminated at the Lahore Fort.

[29] No longer used as a hammam, the baths were restored between 2013 and 2015 by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture and the Walled City of Lahore Authority.

In 2012, the Pilot Urban Conservation and Infrastructure Improvement Project—the Shahi Guzargah Project was launched by the Government of Punjab and the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (an agency of the AKDN) which restored a section of Shahi Guzargah ("Royal Passage") between the Wazir Khan Mosque and Delhi Gate under the management of the Walled City of Lahore Authority.

Tangled power lines further spoiled views of the mosque, and the Wazir Khan Chowk had been badly neglected and had shrunk in size due to illegally constructed shops.

Power lines along the project corridor were also placed underground, and the Chitta Gate at the eastern entrance to Wazir Khan Chowk was rehabilitated.