Thursday, October 29, 2015

The Many Lives of Delhi



This post is a consequence of a Heritage walk through New Delhi organised by the Hungarian Information and Cultural Center

New Delhi, referred to by some as Lutyen's Delhi, is the Capital of modern India. It is one among many cities built by conquerors who made India their home. Of course, for any place to be 'New', there has to be an 'Old'. In this case, it is Old Delhi or 'Purani Dilli'. This name, however, is a misnomer. Old Delhi is just another Delhi supplanted by a newer city. In fact, present day Old Delhi was the 'new' Delhi built by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jehan, and named Shahjehanabad. We started calling it Old Delhi when the British built a new capital over the ruins of an even older Delhi, remnants of which can still be seen in the Lodi Gardens. 

As you can see, Delhi is a complex mixture of many cities, old and new, each creating and destroying something at the same time.

Today, I intend starting a new series on these many delhis, a Delhi Diary.

So let us kickstart this series with a brief look at the various cities which have stood on the present site of Delhi.

Indraprastha. The legendary capital of the Pandavas in the Indian epic Mahabharata. According to legend, this was a forest called 'Kandavaprastha' which was burnt down to build the city of Indraprastha.

Lal Kot. Founded by Anang Pal, Tomar Rajput in AD 736. The remains of this citadel can be seen along the Mehrauli-Qutab and Badarpur-Qutab roads.

Qila Rai Pithora.  Created by Prithviraj Chauhan, who took over Lal Kot from the Tomars. Also known as the 'first city' of Delhi, it dates to the 10th century, and gets its recognition due to the availability of recorded historical facts. The ruins of the fort ramparts are still partly visible in the area around Qutab Minar and ruins scattered around Saket, Mehrauli, Kishangarh and Vasant Kunj.

Mehrauli.   Created by Qutubuddin Aibak,  the first dynasty (Slave Dynasty) of Muslim sultans to rule over northern India. Qutab Minar, the 72.5m tall Tower of Victory, completed in 1220 AD, Quwwat-al-Islam (Might of Islam) mosque and the ruins around it are all that remain of the 'second city'.

Siri.   Built by Allauddin Khilji, the successors of the Slave Dynasty. Siri, the 'third city', is represented by stretches of thick stone walls and the Hauz Khas complex.

Tughlakabad.   The 'fourth city' was created by Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlak in 1321. The Tughlakabad fort is part of the remains.

Firozabad.   Built by Firoze Tughlak. The 'fifth city' is also called Firoze Shah Kotla. This was a large enclosure of high walls , containing palaces , pillared halls , mosques, a pigeon tower and a water tank. Today, Kotla Firoze Shah is famous for its sports stadium.

Dinpanah.   Founded by Humayun in 1533. It is the 'sixth city'.

Shergarh.   Sher Shah who overthrew Humayun in 1540 razed Dinpanah to the ground and built his new capital, Sher Shahi or Shergarh. He started building the Purana Qila. It was completed by Humayun when he won back Delhi in 1555. 

Shahjehanabad.   Built in 1639 by Shahjehan, the Mughal emperor who gave us the Taj Mahal. He named the city, the seventh Delhi, Shahjehanabad. The area including Jama Masjid, Chandni Chowk and Red Fort is now known as Old Delhi.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, Delhi changed hands many times. Though a Mughal King was always on the throne, the city was taken over or sacked by the Marathas, the Sikhs, the Rohillas, Nadir Shah of Persia, Ahmed Shah Durrani of Afghanistan and finally the British. After the First War of Independence in 1857, the last Mughal Emperor was exiled and Delhi came under the direct rule of the British. It was made a district in the province of Punjab. However, the capital of British India continued to function from Calcutta.

New Delhi.    In the early 1900s, the British decided to build a new capital, one that reflected the greatness of the Empire. Delhi was not an obvious choice. However, it was chosen over Calcutta as it had been the capital for many Empires of ancient India, including the Mughals. It was also better located to administer the empire which now stretched from the Indus to the Bay of Bengal. New Delhi was meant to symbolise and showcase the eternal glory of the British Raj. However, little did they know that within 16 years of the city's inauguration in 1931, their Indian empire would end.

I hope to cover each of these cities as I visit various parts of Delhi. Ciao.

0 comments:

Post a Comment