This festival symbolising communal harmony, was started by Mughal Emperor Akbar Shah II, the father of Bahadur Shah Zafar, and Empress Mumtaz Mahal II (for the release of their son).

Bakhtiar Kaki was a disciple of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti, hailing from Chisht located on the border of Afghanistan and Turkmenistan. Moinuddin Chishti settled at Ajmer and founded the Chishtiya school of Sufism. He in turn was the peer of Khwaja Nizamuddin Auliya.

'Prince Jahangir (by the British and has) return to Delhi in 1830-31. The emperor and the empress went to Bakhtiar Kaki's Tomb and offered a floral chaadar ... and also a floral pankha ... From the following year floral tributes were also paid at the neighbouring Yog Maya Temple ... dedicated to Yog Maya, the eighth child of Devaki, Krishna's mother ...

Phool Walon ki Sair was observed till 1942, when the  British abolished it during the freedom struggle ... PanditNehru revived the festival in 1961. he established the Anjuman Sair-e-Gul Faroshan (a Persian name meaning a body of florists - from Fatehpuri - on a pleasure trip) with Yogeshwar Dayal, a prominent citizen of Delhi, Nuruddin Ahmed, the then mayor of Delhi and Begum Taimur Jahan a descendant of the Mughals ... as members. Mr. Dayal remains the secretary and Begum Abida Ahmed is the president of the Anjuman ... The festival is observed after  Dussehra. Different states present their pankhas and cultural performances at Jahaz Mahal, the main venue near Qutub Minar. This year, the festival was heralded on September 28 by the playing of the shehnai. From October 9th to 11th, floral tributes will be paid at the tomb and temple ...                                                (Source: The Times of India, 6 October, 1998)