New Delhi : In the mid-seventeenth century, when Mughal emperor Shah Jahan shifted his capital from Agra to the banks of the Yamuna, he imagined a city secure enough to guard an empire and grand enough to project its splendour. Thus, Shahjahanabad, the so-called seventh historic city of Delhi, was born enclosed within a formidable 13-metre-high, six-kilometre stone-and-rubble wall. With 13 monumental gateways and 14 smaller wicket gates punctuated this fortification, sealing the city’s boundary between what chroniclers often described as “civilisation and wilderness,” order and the chaotic world outside. A portion of the wall. (Photo by Sanjeev Verma) Originally made of mud, the wall was rebuilt in red sandstone in 1657. But centuries later, what survives is scattered, stressed, and scarred. Its decline started with the British conquest, and continues under civic neglect, unchecked construction, and layers of everyday urban life pressing against its stones. Today, last stretch of the fortification still standing, the Daryaganj section – often described as the best preserved – stands in distress. During a spot check along the 1.4-km …