Kathi Darwaza, Srinagar

Kathi Darwaza, in Srinagar's old city, is the southern and principal entrance to Nāgar Nagar, the fortified settlement Akbar founded around 1597 at the foot of Koh-e-Maran after the Mughals took Kashmir from the Chak dynasty. The settlement was ringed by a rampart called the Kalai or Faseel-i-Akbari, about 5 km in circuit, 13 feet thick and 28 feet tall; Sangeen Darwaza on the west and Bachi Darwaza to the south-west were its other gates. Hari Parbat Fort on the hilltop is a separate, later work of the Afghan governor Atta Mohammad Khan.

The gate is an arch set into the wall, about 35 feet high and 30 feet wide, flanked by bastions and raised platforms for watchmen. Its carved stone façade bears two projecting lotus medallions and rectangular arched panels, and Persian inscriptions in three panels above record its building under Akbar. The passage has a vaulted ceiling, and stairs on the plainer hill side climb to a domed chamber. It is a Monument of National Importance.