Shahjahanabad-Old Delhi

Its Art & Architecture architect Srishti Dokras

Dr Uday Dokras

The Battle that Founded Shahjanabad

Shahjahanabad. The imperial capital Shahjahanabad was built by Mughal Emperor
Shahjahan (1628- 58) between 1639 and 1648 and it spread out over a large area along the
banks of river Yamuna in the southeastern parts of the Delhi triangle. Delhi went into
something of an eclipse from the time of Humayun's Delhi to the accession of Shahjahan, the
great Mughal builder who in 1648 built Shahjahanabad, the seventh city of Delhi. Shahjahan's

Delhi, is today more visible than all the Delhi's built before it. The scale on which he built was
also more heroic, as can be seen from the Red Fort and the Jama Masjid.

The magnificence of the palace (Red Fort - World Heritage Monument at present) is best
described in the famous couplet inscribed in the Diwan-i-Khas:
Agar fardos ba rue
Zamin ast Hamin ast a
hamin ast a hamin ast.
If paradise be on the face of the earth, it is this, even this, it is this

The celebrated poet Mirza Galib, maintained the same fervour and wrote: "If the world
is body, Delhi is the soul". There can be no better attributes for a city.

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Walled City: Shahjahanabad was a walled city, and some of its gates and parts of the wall
still stand. The romance of the bazaars of Delhi can be experienced at its best in and around
Chandni Chowk and its by lanes. Shahjahanabad was secured and enclosed by about ten
kilometer long well. Ten gates connected the city with the surrounding region. Lahore gate
was the main entrance for the Red Port besides Delhi Gate. The Kashmere Gate, Calcutta
Gate, Mori Gate, Kabul Gate, Faresh Khana Gate, Ajmere Gate and the Turkman Gate were
the other major links of the city with the highways. A system of Mohallas and Katras was
developed to suit the homogenous community structure. Shahjahanabad who furnishes a fine
example of secularism which distinguishes it from the bazars of many historic buildings and
temples: The Lal Jain Mandir from the time of Shahjahan, Appa Gangadhar Mandir (Gauri
Shankar mandir), the only temple built during Marathi dominion, Arya Samaj mandir (Dewan
Hall), Baptist Chruch, Gurudwara Sisganj, Sunehri Masjid and west end terminus, the Fateh
Puri Masjid. On 9th March, 1739 Nadir Shah defeated Mohammad Shah at Panipat and
entered Delhi. He massacred the inhabitants and took over almost the entire wealth
Shahjahanbad, accumulated by the Mughals in India. The Peacock throne, priceless stones
such as Koh-i-Nur and Darya-i- Nur, fine pieces of art, thousand of horses, camels, and
elephants, and numerous books and manuscripts was carried among as booty.

Till the time the British moved the capital of their Indian Empire from Calcutta to Delhi, the
city continued to be battered by invading armies, of the Marathas from the South and
Nadirshah, the Persian Emperor, and Ahmad Shah Abdali, the Afghan from the north. All this,
of course, was in addition to the bitter rivalries and intrigue which destroyed Delhi from
within.

However, immediately after attaining the freedom, Shahjahanabad revived its old pomp and
splendour when the first President of free and Democratic India, Dr.Rajendra Prasad drove
in State procession in Chandini Chowk on 5.2.1950.

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161 Years Ago Today In History of Shahjahanabad | Siege Of Delhi – 11 May 1857
Early on 11 May, the first parties of the 3rd Cavalry reached Delhi. From beneath the windows
of the King’s apartments in the palace, they called on him to acknowledge and lead
them. Bahadur Shah did nothing at this point, apparently treating the sepoys as ordinary
petitioners, but others in the palace were quick to join the revolt. During the day, the revolt
spread. European officials and dependents, Indian Christians and shop keepers within the city
were killed, some by sepoys and others by crowds of rioters.

The public crier still prefaced the proclamation of the Company’s orders with the words, ”
People belong to God, the Empire belongs to the Emperor, and the order is from the Company
Bahadur “–the Empire did belong to the Emperor, no matter who governed it on his behalf or
even against his will. It was, therefore, obvious that the Emperor would always welcome an
opportunity of throwing off the yoke of their control. On the morning of 11 May, 1857, he was
suddenly disturbed by the shouts of the troopers. The sawars of the 3rd Light Cavalry of Meerut
had crossed Jamuna and were addressing the Emperor from below the walls of the Fort for
assistance in their fight for the faith.

One early morning, I left my house for the Qila, and entering through the naqqarkhana reached
the Diwan-e-Aam. From there I decided to go to the khan-samaani and meet Hakim Ahsanullah
Khan [the prime minister] to find out if Huzoor had given any orders. With this in mind, I
avoided the lattice door and entered the khan-samaani door. When I had walked a little beyond
the Mehtab Darwaza, I saw the purbias bringing the prisoners out of the Bagh.
“Where are you taking them?” I asked.
“We will take them out of the Qila and keep them elsewhere,” one of them said.
“This is part of our agreement,” I protested. “Please don’t take them away.”
But they refused to listen to me. I was worried that they might play foul and so rushed to

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Ahsanullah Khan sahib, who was lying in the upper storey of the khan-samaani. I told him,
“Khan Sahib, are you aware of what is happening?”
“What?” he asked.
“Those ruffians are taking the prisoners away. I am afraid that they will murder them. Please
make arrangements for their safety.”
Ahsanullah Khan retorted, “What can I do?”
“Khan Sahib,” I said, “this is a test of our loyalty. If you want to save the emperor, please reason
with the rebels and save the prisoners. Or remember that the British will raze Dilli to the
ground.”

In his memoirs Dastan-e-Ghadar, Tale of the Mutiny, Zahir Dehlvi, who was an official in Bahadur Shah
Zafar’s court and a poet, describes the events that unfolded on May 16 that year: ( Reference from Rana
Safvi)

Ahsanullah Khan replied, “Miyan, you are very young. How would you know that man does not
listen to reason when caught up in circumstances such as these? He does not think of the result of
his actions. If we remonstrate with them now, they will kill us first, and then murder the
prisoners.”
“It is better that a few of us are killed,” I said. “At least the Badshah’s empire will be saved.”
Saying this, I left from there and came back to the deorhi.
I sent a message to the emperor through the khwaja-sara stating that the purbias had taken the
prisoners whom Huzoor had kept in his special protection. The emperor gave immediate orders
to call Hakim Ahsanullah Khan so that he could make arrangements to save the prisoners.
The khwaja-sara came outside the palace and sent a messenger to get Hakim Ahsanullah Khan
post-haste. Two more messengers were sent one after the other, but though time was passing,
Hakim ji did not move from his place. After some time, Hakim Ahsanullah Khan came to the
tasbihkhana and entered the presence of Huzoor.
The emperor gave orders: “Call the officers and reason with them and save the prisoners.”
Hakim Ahsanullah Khan said, “All right. As you wish.” He came out to the Diwan-e-Khaas and

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sat down against the arch in the middle enclosure. Perhaps he sent a few people to call the rebel
officers.
Suddenly we saw that two companies of purbias, bearing loaded guns on their shoulders, were
coming from the door of the Lal Purdah. As soon as they came into the Diwan-e-Khaas, they
surrounded us and stood in front of us with guns pointed at us. All of us were praying to God and
reciting the kalima. There were ten or twelve of us and we thought that they would blow us up at
any moment. For a few moments, they kept standing there like that. After that, two sawars lofted
a red flag outside the Lal Purdah, which was an indication to the other sawars to put their guns
back on their shoulders and leave.
A messenger came after a few minutes and gave us the news: “The prisoners have been
murdered.”
— Excerpt from Dastan-e-Ghadar, Tale of the Mutiny, by Zahir Dehlvi, translated by Rana
Safvi, Penguin Random House

The sepoys were not long in laying siege to the arsenal. Willoughby gave the order to ignite the
vast piles of explosives. A shattering explosion informed the British that Delhi was lost. While
the arsenal’s destruction deprived the insurgents of one supply of munitions, another magazine,
located three miles outside the city and filled with some 3,000 barrels of gunpowder, had fallen
into the hands of the mutineers and would keep them well-supplied. Miraculously, Willoughby
and two of his officers had survived the blast and were able to reach British lines.
Watching from his command post on the Delhi Ridge, Brigadier Graves could see below him the
damage caused by the arsenal’s explosion. But more worrisome than the loss of munitions was
the effect the explosion had on the native troops, who were incited to even greater fury.
Lieutenant Edward Vibart of the 54th Native Infantry, witness to this tableau of horror, later
described it: ‘The horrible truth now flashed on me — we were being massacred right and left,
without any means of escape! I made for the ramp which leads from the courtyard to the bastion
above….Everyone appeared to be doing the same…the bullets whistled past us like hail. To this
day it is a perfect marvel to me how any one of us escaped being hit.’

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But some did escape. Under the broiling sun, the survivors of the Kashmir Gate massacre waded
through streams and braved jungles in their efforts to find a safe haven. A few of the survivors
sought temporary refuge within the Flagstaff Tower, where conditions were cramped and soon
became unbearable. A Dr. Batson of the 74th, with Graves’ permission, struck out for Meerut on
foot to plead for a relief column. Disguised as a native fakir, he finally reached Meerut after 25
days on the road. Twice Batson was caught and recognized as an Englishman despite his native
dress, but he managed to talk his way out of trouble.

Having given Batson up for dead, Graves was convinced by J.A. Tytler of the 38th that his
sepoys were reliable and permitted him to attempt to evacuate the women and children trapped
on the ridge. The little caravan of rickety carriages was mercilessly harassed by the natives as it
wended its way to safety, but finally, Tytler and his charges reached Karnal. The rapid spread of
the mutiny in North India provoked unprecedented anguish and indignation in Britain. Army
reinforcements were rushed from Rangoon, Ceylon and the Madras Presidency in South India.
The British regarded Delhi as particularly important for symbolic and strategic reasons. If it was
not soon retaken, the Punjab and Northwest provinces might be encouraged to revolt. Sixteen
years earlier, during the First Afghan War, the Afghans had wiped out a British army — and
with it the myth of British invulnerability. And only a year had passed since the Crimean War
had dramatized the rivalry between Great Britain and Russia, reminding many Indians as well as
Persians and Afghans that the great Russian bear to the north could still be played off against
imperial Britain’s lion. Now the only sources of quick relief for Delhi were the Punjab and
northern cantonments, where there were British regiments and relatively reliable native units.
The 75th (Stirlingshire) Highlanders and the 1st and 2nd Bengal Fusiliers, which were posted
near the hill station of Simla, reached Umbala on May 23 to stage an assault on Delhi. Those
units were joined by the 9th Light Cavalry and 60th Rifle regiments and a squadron of the 4th
Irregular Cavalry, as well as two troops of the Horse Artillery, to make up two brigades under
the command of Maj. Gen. Sir Henry Barnard. From Meerut came a column consisting of one
wing of the 60th Rifles, two squadrons of the 6th Dragoon Guards, 50 troopers from the 4th
Irregulars, two companies of native sappers and Scott’s battery of 18-pounders — all under the
command of Colonel Archdale Wilson.

In searing heat, the British held off repeated efforts by the mutineers to retake the ridge.
Intelligence reports reaching the British suggested a growing schism between Muslim and Hindu
mutineers in Delhi. But whatever disputes may have divided the sepoys, retaking a fortified
Delhi, whose forces far outnumbered the British, would not be an easy task. Barnard,
commanding the ridge force, was reluctant to attack the entrenched positions of the mutineers
without further reinforcements, including a proper siege train.
June 23, the 100th anniversary of Robert Clive’s victory at the Battle of Plassey, which had
marked the completion and consolidation of the British East India Company’s control over India,
was a difficult day for the British. On this day, bazaar folklore had it, the British Raj would be
driven from the subcontinent. In what may have been an attempt to fulfill that prophecy, the
sepoys launched a particularly savage attack on the ridge. The British won the day, however,
driving the attackers back to their Delhi ramparts.

Adding to the difficulties of the British was Barnard’s sudden death on July 5 from cholera, a

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virulent disease that took a heavy toll on many of the ridge defenders. Major General Thomas
Reed replaced Barnard, but he was too ill to command and was replaced a fortnight later. Given
the temporary rank of major general, Archdale Wilson took command of a force now consisting
of 4,023 infantrymen, 1,293 cavalrymen, and 1,602 artillerymen and engineers — a total of
6,918 effective troops, but still no match for the enemy behind Delhi’s walls.
Brigadier General John Nicholson’s flying column, which had dashed down the Grand Trunk
high road from the Punjab to Delhi’s relief, arrived to join the British forces on Delhi Ridge in
mid-August. The striking-looking, 6 foot 2 inch Irishman had served with distinction for 20
years, and his legendary reputation inspired all who fought under his command. A native cult
that revered Nikolsen had even arisen in the Northwest Frontier area and northern Punjab. An
admiring lady described his magnetism: ‘He could put his own heart into a whole camp and
make believe it was its own.’

Nicholson’s arrival with his badly needed force was none too soon. The soldiers, riddled with
cholera, were beginning to feel inadequate for the challenge awaiting them. There were,
moreover, rumors of treachery in the native ranks and suspicions that in combat some sepoys had
shot at their British officers from behind. A few native regiments were, in fact, dismissed from
duty and sent off the ridge on suspicion of harboring rebellious intentions.
Nicholson was so concerned about the state of affairs on Delhi Ridge that, on September 7, he
wrote the chief commissioner in the Punjab, Sir John Lawrence, ‘Wilson’s head is going; he says
so himself, and it is quite evident he speaks the truth.’ Lawrence then wrote to Wilson,
reminding him that the fate of the British throughout India demanded an immediate assault on
Delhi. The commissioner understood that if the campaign failed, even the Sikhs would falter in
their loyalty. Northwest India would rise, and the tragedy of the First Afghan War would be re-
enacted on the flat plains of the Punjab. The eminent Lord Frederick Roberts later reminisced
about an extraordinary talk he had with Nicholson during those tense days. The fierce-eyed
warrior had said with uncommon conviction: ‘Delhi must be taken and it is absolutely essential
that this should be done at once; and if Wilson hesitates longer, I intend to propose at to-day’s
meeting that he should be superseded.’

As it turned out, on that day Wilson did order preparations for an assault to begin in earnest. The
plan of attack called for General Nicholson to lead a 1,000-man column from the 75th
Highlanders to mount the Kashmir Bastion, while another column from the 52nd (Oxfordshire &
Buckinghamshire) Light Infantry would force the Kashmir Gate, enabling the British troops to
fight their way into the city itself. Other columns would breach the Lahore Gate. A total of 5,000
men would take part in the British assault on Delhi, whose estimated 30,000 sepoy defenders
were now under the command of Bakht Khan, an artillery officer who had 40 years of military
experience.

The attack was scheduled for 3 a.m. on September 14. ‘There was not much sleep,’ wrote one
officer in a letter home that evening. ‘Just after midnight we fell in as quickly as possible, and by
the light of a lantern the orders for the assault were read to the men. Any man who might be
wounded was to be left where he fell.’ The Roman Catholic Chaplain Bertrand blessed the 75th
Highlanders and prayed for mercy ‘on the souls of those soon to die.’
Nicholson signaled his column to charge. An earsplitting shout from the 60th Rifles was met by
flame-belching rebel artillery. But not all went well. Nicholson’s storming party outran its

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ladder-bearers and was left exposed in the 16-foot moat, where they were raked by withering fire
from the mutineers on the walls above them. When the ladder parties caught up with them,
Nicholson led the survivors in a charge through a breach that had been made in the wall by his
supporting artillery.

Colonel George Campbell rushed his column to within striking distance of the critical Kashmir
Gate and sent a small party of Bengal Engineers, under Lieutenant Duncan Home, to pack
explosives under the gate. A firing party of the 52nd covered them as best it could, but the
exposed sappers drew terrible fire. Half of them were killed and Lieutenant Philip Salkeld was
mortally wounded, but Sergeant John Smith finally managed to touch off the explosion that blew
a hole in the gate. As Bugler Robert Hawthorne of the 52nd sounded the attack, the British
troops poured through the opening to be met only by the charred corpses of the sepoy defenders.
Home, Salkeld, Hawthorne and Smith later received the Victoria Cross for the part they played
in blowing open the Kashmir Gate; Salkeld’s was the first VC to be awarded posthumously.
Now within the city gates, three columns joined forces in an area between the Kashmir Gate and
the Anglican church. The fourth column, whose artillery failed to appear amid the confusion, had
been forced to retreat beyond the field of fire due to heavy casualties. The troops within the
Kashmir Gate had to make their way some 250 yards down a 10-foot-wide lane flanked by flat-
topped buildings, from which sepoys maintained a constant rain of fire. Making matters worse
were two artillery pieces at the head of the lane and some 1,000 mutineers waiting to fire on the
approaching British from atop the so-called Burn Bastion.

The 1st Bengal Fusiliers took the lead in making the dash up the lane toward the Lahore Gate,
which had to be opened to admit other British units. Powerless against the sheets of rifle fire
from the rooftops, the fusiliers fell back. Nicholson then personally led a new attack on the
Lahore Gate. Just as he flourished his saber, however, a mutineer fired on him point-blank from
a window. Badly wounded, he mustered the strength to prop himself up on one elbow and once
again shouted encouragement to his men, but his troops were unable to force this death trap and
had to retire. In six hours, the British had lost 66 officers and 1,104 men.

The fight for the city continued in the face of the massed sepoys entrenched beyond the British
foothold on the northern extremity of the city. The situation looked hopeless to almost everyone
— except Nicholson, who fought for life as he rested near the Kashmir Gate. Sensing that
Wilson was again losing heart, Nicholson was said to have muttered, ‘Thank God I have strength
yet to shoot him if necessary.’

Ranking officers such as Colonel Richard Baird Smith, Wilson’s chief engineer, and Brig. Gen.
Neville Chamberlain prevailed upon Wilson to keep up the struggle for Delhi. On September 16,
the magazine that Willoughby had blown up was captured. To the delight of the British, some
171 guns and vast stores of ammunition had somehow escaped damage in the explosion. The
narrow lane leading to the Lahore Gate was widened and made navigable by blasting the houses
along its curbs. On September 19, the Burn Bastion was taken, and on the following day the
Lahore Gate finally fell to the British. As the weary days of fighting continued, news of victories
was welcome. News of Nicholson’s ebbing life was not. When the great soldier died, he was
widely mourned and has ever since rested securely in the British pantheon of war heroes. The
last remaining redoubt of the sepoys was believed to be the king’s palace, but when its gates

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were blown open, it was found to be nearly deserted. At dawn on September 21, a royal salute
told all within hearing distance that Delhi had been taken by the Army of Retribution. The seat of
the once-great Mogul Empire was forever gone.

Bahadur Shah, disillusioned and tired of being manipulated by the sepoys, had hidden a few
miles north of the city in Emperor Homayun’s tomb. This was discovered by the intrepid but
headstrong Major William Hodson, who was famous along the Northwest Frontier as the leader
of hard-riding irregulars known as Hodson’s Horse and who now managed intelligence for the
British at Delhi. With 50 of his men he set out on September 21 to bring in the errant king.\

Bahadur Shah had huddled inside the cloisters of the tomb while thousands of his servants and
well-wishers sullenly watched the approaching British horsemen. The king knew that resistance
on his part would be pointless, and he accepted Hodson’s promise that the major would spare his
life if he gave up quietly.
Followed by a vast entourage of Indians, Hodson led his captive back to Delhi. Then, he and 100
of his irregular cavalrymen returned to Homayun’s tomb, this time to bring back the king’s two
sons and grandson. Despite a mob of royal retainers and partisans, many of whom were armed,
Hodson was able to flush the young scions of the Mogul dynasty from their hiding place.
Hodson, surrounded by a hostile crowd, did something that has ever since been criticized but
may have saved his life and those of his escort — he raised his carbine and summarily executed
the three princes. Amazingly, the shocked mob did nothing. Hodson, as he had done many times
before, stunned his adversaries into submission by sheer audacity. The bodies were dumped
unceremoniously at the spot where the king’s sons were thought to have committed atrocities
against the English. As the British chaplain observed, ‘It was a dire retribution.’

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Bahadur, humiliated by a trial, exiled for life in Rangoon and saddened by the death of his sons
and grandson, described his feelings in a poem he wrote before his death on November 7, 1862:
‘All that I loved is gone/Like a garden robbed of its beauty by Autumn/I am only a memory of
splendor.’

This article is outsourced from : Wikipedia, Dastan-e-Ghadar ( Translated by Rana Safvi)

,Article by John H. Waller and originally published in the March 1998 issue of Military

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http://www.puranidilliwalokibaatein.com/2018/05/161-years-ago-today-in-history-of-
shahjahanabad-siege-of-delhi-11-may-1857/Sohail Hashmi

The following is a timeline of the history of Delhi, including New Delhi. Changes in

ruling nation are in bold, with a flag to represent the country where available.

Kuru Kingdom (1200 BCE-500 BCE)

 Territory came under the Kuru Kingdom.

Maurya Empire (300 BCE-100 BCE)[edit]

 Territory came under the Maurya Empire.

Kushan Empire (1st-3rd century)

 Territory came under the Kushan Empire.

Gupta Empire (3rd century-6th century)

 Territory came under the Gupta Empire under the Yaudheya consortium.

Vardhana Dynasty (6th century-7th century)

Gurjara-Pratihara Dynasty (7th century)

 Territory briefly came under the Gurjara-Pratihara Dyansty.

Tomara Dynasty (731-1160)

 731/736 – Lal Kot founded by the Tomara dynasty

Chahamanas of Shakambhari (1160-1206)

 c. 1160 – Chauhan rulers take Lal Kot from the Tomars.

 1180 – Lal Kot renamed to Rai Pithora.[
 1191 – First Battle of Tarain, the Chauhans under Prithviraj Chauhan defeated
the Ghurid empire.
 1192 – Second Battle of Tarain, Delhi sacked by Muhammad Ghori.
The Delhi Sultanate refers to 5 Muslim Kingdoms which were based mostly in Delhi for 320
years. They are:

 1206 -1290 –Early Turkish Rulers / Slave Dynasty or Mamluk Dynasty Qutb-ud-din

Aibak becomes first Sultan of Delhi in 1206. Delhi is the capital.

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 1290-1320 – Khalji Dynasty Jalal-ud-din becomes first sultan of Khalji Dynasty in 1290
 1320 -1413 – Tughlaq Dynasty (1320 -1413) Ghazi Malik ascended the throne under the
title of Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlaq in 1320
 1414-1451 – Sayyid Dynasty Khizr Khan ascended the throne in 1414
 1451 - 1526 – Lodi Dynasty Bahlul Lodhi captured Delhi and became Sultan in 1451

Mughal Empire (1526 – 1757)

 1526 –   Mughal Empire: The First Battle of Panipat creates the Mughal Empire,

centered at Agra and Delhi.
 1556 – Second Battle of Panipat, and Mughals retake Delhi from Suri dynasty.
 1639 – Shahjahanbad (Old Delhi) is founded by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan.[3]
 1737 – First Battle of Delhi, where Mughal Delhi is sacked by Marathas.
 1753 – Jat ruler Suraj Mal defeat Mughals Rohilla and capture Delhi.

Maratha Empire (1757-1803)]

 1757 –   Maratha Empire: Battle Of Delhi (1757), Marathas defeat Rohilla Pathans

and capture Delhi.[4]
 1764 – Jats, Marathas and Sikhs lay siege to Delhi for several months and
defeat Rohillas.
 1771 – Delhi becomes a Maratha protectorate under Mahadji Shinde.
 1783 – Sikhs defeat the Mughals at the outskirts of Delhi as Marathas resist Ahmed Shah
Abdali of the Durrani Empire.

British Empire (1803 – 1947)

 1803 –   Company Rule: Battle of Delhi between the Marathas and British East

Indian Company.
 1804 – Siege of Delhi by Marathas
 1857 – Indian Rebellion of 1857 begins in several cities, including Delhi.
 1858 –   British Raj
 1911 – Delhi is once again the capital of the British Raj.
 1927 – New Delhi founded.
 1931 – New governmental quarter of Delhi inaugurated by architect Edwin Lutyens. It is
called Lutyens' Delhi.

India (1947 – present)

 1947 –   Dominion of India: New Delhi becomes the capital of India.

 1950 –   India
 1956 – Delhi is made into a Union Territory.
 1991 – Delhi is formally made into a National Capital Territory.

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 1996 – Lajpat Nagar Market Blast kills 13 people and injures 39.
 2001
o 13 December: 2001 Indian Parliament attack takes place.
o Population: 13,782,976
 2002 – Delhi Metro begins operation.
 2005 – Delhi bombings kill 62 people and injure at least 210
 2008 – More than 35 killed and 150 injured during the 13 September 2008 Delhi
bombings and 27 September 2008 Delhi bombings.
 2010 – Delhi hosts the Commonwealth Games[8]
 2011 – Population: 16,753,235 
 2011 – Atleast 15 people are killed and 79 injured in the 2011 Delhi bombing.
 2012
o 13 February: 2012 attacks on Israeli diplomats in Delhi, part of the Iran–Israel
proxy conflict.
o 29 March: 4th BRICS summit takes place.
 2014
o 14 February: Politician Arvind Kejriwal resigns from the post of Chief Minister.
 2015
o 7 February: Aam Aadmi Party wins the 2015 Delhi Legislative Assembly
election.
 2019
o Shaheen Bagh Protests oppose the passage of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act,
2019.
o 8 December: 2019 Delhi factory fire.
 2020
o 5 January: 2020 Jawaharlal Nehru University attack occurs, with the attackers
unknown.
o 8 February: Aam Aadmi Party wins the 2020 Delhi Legislative Assembly
election.
o 23 February–29 February: 2020 Delhi riots incur communal violence in response
to the Shaheen Bagh protest.
o 2 March: The COVID-19 pandemic in Delhi begins, soon leading to a lockdown.
o 30 November: Ten thousand farmers from different states of India
(including Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh) arrived at the outskirts of New Delhi to
mark protest against deregulation rules.
 2021
o 29 January: Israeli Embassy in Delhi is attacked with Iran refuting allegations of
purporting the attack.

Delhi has a long history, and has been an important political centre of India as the capital of
several empires. Earliest coverage of Delhi's history is in the onset of the Tomar's kingdom in the

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8th century. Since then, Delhi has been the centre of a succession of mighty empires and
powerful kingdoms, making Delhi one of the longest-serving capitals and one of the oldest
inhabited cities in the world. It is considered to be a city built, destroyed and rebuilt several
times, as outsiders who successfully invaded the Indian Subcontinent would ransack the existing
capital city in Delhi, and those who came to conquer and stay would be so impressed by the
city's strategic location as to make it their capital and rebuild it in their own way.
During the Vedic period, Delhi was the site of Indraprastha or Indrapat, an Indo-Aryan city in
the Khandava Forest which served as a capital of the Kuru Kingdom, the first recorded state-
level society in the Indian subcontinent.
In the medieval era, Delhi was ruled by the Tomara dynasty and Chauhan from 736 to 1193.
The Delhi Sultanate is the name given for a series of five successive dynasties, which remained
as a dominant power of Indian subcontinent with Delhi as their capital.
During Sultanat period, the city became a center for culture. The Delhi Sultanate came to an end
in 1526, when Babur defeated the forces of the last Lodi sultan, Ibrahim Lodi at the first Battle of
Panipat, and formed the Mughal Empire.
The Mughals ruled the area for three centuries. During the 16th century, the city declined as the
Mughal capital was shifted. The fifth Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan built the walled city
of Shahjahanabad within Delhi, and its landmarks, the Red Fort and Jama MasjidHis reign would
be considered the zenith of the empire. After the death of his successor Aurangzeb, the Mughal
Empire was plagued by a series of revolts. They lost major portions to the Marathas, Sikhs and
many governors of erstwhile Mughal provinces like Bengal, Awadh and Hyderabad. Delhi
was sacked and looted by Nader Shah. The Jats captured many important towns of Mughal
heartland south of Delhi. The Marathas captured Delhi in the battle of Delhi in 1757 and
continued to control it until 1803 when they were defeated by the British during the second
Anglo-Maratha War. In 1803, the Delhi was captured by the British East India Company.
During Company Rule in India, the Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah II was reduced to merely a
figurehead. The Indian Rebellion of 1857 sought to end company rule and declared Bahadur
Shah II the Emperor of India. However, the British soon recaptured Delhi and their other
territories, ending the short-lived rebellion. This also marked the beginning of direct British Rule
in India. In 1911, the capital of British India was shifted from Calcutta to New Delhi, the last
inner city of Delhi designed by Edwin Lutyens.
After India's Independence from the British, New Delhi became the capital of the newly
formed Republic of India.

14
Lal Kot, built by Anangpal Tomar II/Historic map of Shahjahanabad (now known as Old Delhi), in 1863

as Indraprastha, which means "city of Lord Indra". The legendary ancient city of Indraprastha is
believed to have been established 5000 years ago, as per the ancient Indian epic Mahabharata. A
long-standing tradition associates Delhi with Indraprastha and identifies the legendary city with
the village Indarpat, which survived until the early 20th century within the Purana Qila. There is
no tangible archeological evidence, however, which links the excavated 'painted greyware' at
Purana Qila with the Bharata Khanda site.
There was Ochre Coloured Pottery culture in Red fort area which began around c.2000 BCE
according to carbon dating. Around c.1200 BCE the region was inhabited by people of Painted
Grey Ware culture which corresponds to Vedic Period. Significant prehistoric sites in Delhi
include Anangpur (in the Badarpur region), as well as Harappan excavations near Narela and
Nand Nagari.

Early Political History of Delhi, 1060–1947 CE.

Tomaras

Agrasen ki Baoli is believed to be originally built by the legendary king Agrasen/The bastion of Lal Kot fort in
Delhi's Mehrauli built by Tomara ruler, Anangpal Tomar in c. 1052 CE.

15
 Sculptures of ancient temple in Qutb Minar complex./ Museum and remnants of the walls of Qila Rai
Pithora, the second city of Delhi.

Anangpal Tomar founded Delhi in 1052. A VS 1383 inscription in Delhi Museum confirms the

founding of Delhi by the Tomars
He established the Tomar Dynasty of Delhi in the early 8th century and built his capital at
the Anangpur village in Haryana. The Anangpur Dam was built during his reign;
the Surajkund during the reign of his son Surajpal.
Chauhan
The Rajput Chahamana (Chauhan) kings of Ajmer conquered Lal Kot in 1180 and renamed it
Qila Rai Pithora. The Chauhan king Prithviraj III was defeated in 1192 by Muhammad Ghori in
the Second Battle of Tarain, solidifying Muslim presence in northern India and shattering Rajput
power in the Indo-Gangetic Plain
Delhi Sultanate

The Qutub Minar is the world's tallest brick minaret at 72.5 metres, built by Qutb-ud-din Aibak of the Slave
dynasty in 1192 CE/Mosque tomb over ancient temple structure in Qutb Minar complex

From 1206, Delhi became the capital of the Delhi Sultanate under the Slave Dynasty. The
first Sultan of Delhi, Qutb-ud-din Aybak, was a former slave who rose through the ranks to

16
become a general, a governor and then Sultan of Delhi. Qutb-ud-din started the construction of
the Qutub Minar, a recognisable symbol of Delhi, to commemorate his victory but died before its
completion. In the Qutb complex he also constructed the Quwwat-al-Islam (might of Islam),
which is the earliest extant mosque in India. He was said to have destroyed twenty-seven Jain
temples initially housed in the Qutb complex and pillaged exquisitely carved pillars and building
material from their debris for this mosque, many of which can still be seen. After the end of the
Slave dynasty, a succession of Turkic Central Asian and Afghan dynasties, the Khalji dynasty,
the Tughluq dynasty, the Sayyid dynasty and the Lodi dynasty held power in the late medieval
period and built a sequence of forts and townships in Delhi.

Tomb of Ghiyasuddin Tughluq within the Tughlaqabad Fort./Jahaz Mahal is built during the Lodi dynasty period
(1452–1526) as a pleasure resort.
 

Alauddin Khilji's madrasa and Tomb in the Qutb complex.

Timur
In 1398, Timur Lang invaded India on the pretext that the Muslim sultans of Delhi were too
tolerant of their Hindu subjects. After defeating the armies of Nasiruddin Mahmud of Tughlaq
dynasty, on 15 December 1398, Timur entered Delhi on 18 December 1398, and the city was
sacked, destroyed, and left in ruins, and over 100,000 war prisoners were killed as well. In 1526,
following the First Battle of Panipat, Zahiruddin Babur, the former ruler of Fergana, defeated the
last Afghan Lodi sultan and founded the Mughal dynasty which ruled from

17
Delhi, Agra and Lahore.

Raghunath Rao, the Maratha Peshwa who played a key role in capturing Delhi from the Afghans in the Second Battle of
Delhi./After losing the Battle of Delhi (1803) to the British, under Maratha ruler Daulat Rao Scindia, the Marathas lost
control of Delhi and the right to collect chauth from the Mughals./ Hemu, Hem Chandra Vikramaditya, the Hindu
emperor of North India who resisted Mughals in the 16th century.

The early modern period in Indian history is marked with the rise of the Mughal Empire between
the 16th and 18th centuries. After the fall of the Delhi Sultanate, the Mughals ruled
from Agra, Sikri and Lahore, but the city once became the capital in 1648 during the rule of Shah
Jahan, and remained the capital until the fall of the empire. During this time, Delhi became a
center for culture, and poets such as Ghalib, Dard, Dagh and Zauq lived in the city and sought
patronage of the emperor. The Mughals also built several monuments in the city
including Humayun's Tomb, Red Fort, and Jama Masjid.
Babur and Humayun (1526–1556)
The first Mughal Emperors Babur and Humayun ruled from Agra, unlike the preceding Delhi
Sultanate.
In the mid-16th century there was an interruption in the Mughal rule of India as Sher Shah
Suri defeated Humayun and forced him to flee to Persia. Sher Shah Suri built the sixth city of
Delhi, as well as the old fort known as Purana Qila, even though this city was settled since the
ancient era. After Sher Shah Suri's death in 1545, his son Islam Shah took the reins of north India
from Delhi. Islam Shah ruled from Delhi till 1553 when Hindu king Hemu, became the Prime
Minister and Chief of Army of Adil Shah. Hemu fought and won 22 battles in all against rebels
and twice against Akbar's army in Agra and Delhi, without losing any. After defeating Akbar's
army on 7 October 1556 at Tughlaqabad fort area in Battle of Delhi (1556), Hemu acceded to
Delhi throne and established Hindu Raj in North India for a brief period, and was bestowed with
the title 'Vikramaditya', at his coronation in Purana Quila, Delhi. Hemu was defeated at

18
the second battle of Panipat by Mughal forces led by Akbar's regent Bairam Khan, thus
reinstating Mughal rule in the region.
Akbar to Aurangzeb (1556–1707)
The third and greatest Mughal emperor, Akbar, continued to ruled from Agra, resulting in a
decline in the fortunes of Delhi. In the mid-17th century, the Mughal Emperor Shah
Jahan (1628–1658) built the city that sometimes bears his name Shahjahanabad, the seventh city
of Delhi that is now commonly known as the old city or old Delhi. This city contains a number
of significant architectural features, including the Red Fort (Lal Qila) and the Jama Masjid. The
city served as the capital of the later Mughal Empire from 1638 onward, when Shah Jahan
transferred the capital back from Agra.
Aurangzeb (1658–1707) crowned himself as emperor in Delhi in 1658 at the Shalimar
garden ('Aizzabad-Bagh) with a second coronation in 1659. After 1680, the Mughal Empire's
influence declined rapidly as the Hindu Maratha Empire rose to prominence
Decline of Mughals and rise of Marathas
The Mughal Empire suffered several blows due to invasions
from Marathas, Jats, Afghans and Sikhs. In 1737, Bajirao I marched towards Delhi with a huge
army. The Marathas defeated the Mughals in the First Battle of Delhi. The Maratha forces
sacked Delhi following their victory against the Mughals.In 1739, the Mughal Empire lost the
huge Battle of Karnal in less than three hours against the numerically outnumbered but military
superior Persian army led by Nader Shah during his invasion after which he completely sacked
and looted Delhi, the Mughal capital, followed by massacre for 2 days, killing over 30,000
civilians and carrying away immense wealth including the Peacock Throne, the Daria-i-Noor,
and Koh-i-Noor. Nader eventually agreed to leave the city and India after forcing the Mughal
emperor Muhammad Shah I to beg him for mercy and granting him the keys of the city and the
royal treasury. A treaty signed in 1752 made Marathas the protector of the Mughal throne at
Delhi. In 1753 Jat ruler Suraj Mal attacked Delhi. He defeated Nawab of Delhi Ghazi-ud-din
(second) and captured Delhi in the Capture of Delhi. Jats sacked Delhi from 9 May to 4
June. Ahmad Shah Durrani invaded North India for the fourth time in early 1757. He entered
Delhi in January 1757 and kept the Mughal emperor under arrest. In August 1757, the Marathas
once again attacked Delhi, decisively defeating Najib-ud-Daula and his Rohilla Afghan army in
the Battle of Delhi (1757). Later, Ahmad Shah Durrani conquered Delhi in 1761, after the Third
Battle of Panipat in which the Marathas were decisively defeated. Later, a treaty was made
between the Marathas and Afghans that the Marathas would have all the lands east of
the Sutlej river. Thus, the Marathas established full control over the city. Under the leadership
of Jassa Singh Ahluwalia and Baghel Singh, Delhi was briefly conquered by the Sikh Empire in
early 1783 in the Battle of Delhi (1783).

19
The Red Fort was commissioned by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in the 17th century it was
the main residence of the Mughal emperors for nearly 200 years.
 

Humayun's Tomb is considered a predecessor to the Taj Mahal

 

The Jama Masjid is one of the largest mosques in India./Safdarjung's Tomb was built in 1754
in the late Mughal architectural style for Nawab Safdarjung.

20
The India Gate commemorates the 90,000 Indian soldiers who died in the Afghan Wars and World War
I./The Rashtrapati Bhavan (President's Palace) is the official residence of the President of India. Before independence, it
used to be a residence for the British Viceroy.

Company rule in India

In 1803, during the Second Anglo-Maratha War, the forces of British East India
Company defeated the Maratha forces in the Battle of Delhi (1803), ending the Maratha rule over
the city.[31] As a result, Delhi came under the control of British East India Company, and became
a part of the North-Western Provinces. The Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II remained a mere
figurehead.
Revolt of 1857

The Indian Rebellion of 1857 sought to end Company Rule in India. On 11 May, the mutineers
reached and captured Delhi, and declared Bahadur Shah II the Emperor of India, and the
Emperor held his first court in many years. However, the British returned and laid siege to
Delhi on 8 June 1857. On 21 September, Delhi finally fell into the hands of British troops. The
city received significant damage during the battle. Afterwards, the last titular Mughal
Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar II was captured and exiled to Rangoon.
Delhi passed into the direct control of British Government in 1857 after the Indian Rebellion of
1857 and the remaining Mughal territories were annexed as a part of British India.
British Raj

Calcutta was the capital of British India till 1911 but in 1911 at the Delhi Durbar of 1911, held at
the Coronation Park, King George V announced the shifting of the capital to Delhi. New
Delhi designed by the British architect Edwin Lutyens was inaugurated in 1931 after its
construction was delayed due to World War I. New Delhi was officially declared as the seat of
the Government of India after independence in 1947.
During the partition of India, around five lakh Hindu and Sikh refugees, mainly from West
Punjab fled to Delhi, while around three lakh Muslim residents of the city migrated to

21
Pakistan. Ethnic Punjabis are believed to account for at least 40% of Delhi's total population and
are predominantly Hindi-speaking Punjabi Hindus. Migration to Delhi from the rest of India
continues (as of 2013), contributing more to the rise of Delhi's population than the birth rate,
which is declining.
The States Reorganisation Act, 1956 created the Union Territory of Delhi from its predecessor,
the Chief Commissioner's Province of Delhi. The Constitution (Sixty-ninth Amendment) Act,
1991 declared the Union Territory of Delhi to be formally known as the National Capital
Territory of Delhi. The Act gave Delhi its own legislative assembly along Civil lines, though
with limited powers.
After 1967 relations between Hindus and Muslims deteriorated to the level that there was a
significant uptick in the number of riots and other disruption of civil life. One of the most
significant was the 1973 riot in Bao Hindu Rao area, which resulted in the injury of 18 police
officers and financial losses estimated to be around 500,000 Rupees, according to police sources.
Another significant riot happened on 5 May 1974 in the Sadar Bazar area between Hindus and
Muslims in which 11 people were killed and 92 were injured. This riot was the worst in Delhi
since independence. The Centre for the Study of Developing Societies carried out a survey in
nearby areas that showed significant division between Hindus and Muslims who saw each other
negatively.
In 1966, an inscription of the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka (273-236 BCE) was discovered
near Sriniwaspuri. Two sandstone pillars inscribed with the edicts of Ashoka were brought to
by Firuz Shah Tughluq in the 14th century already exist in Delhi.

The Lotus Temple
 

22
 Delhi today./The Raj Ghat, where Mahatma Gandhi was cremated.

Old Delhi or Purani Dilli is an area in the city of Delhi, India. It was founded as a walled
city named Shahjahanabad in 1639, when Shah Jahan (the Mughal emperor at the time)
decided to shift the Mughal capital from Agra. The construction of the city was completed in
1648, and it remained the capital of the Mughal Empire until its fall in 1857, when the British
Raj took over as paramount power in India. It was once filled with mansions of nobles and
members of the royal court, along with elegant mosques and gardens.

23
It serves as the symbolic heart of metropolitan Delhi and is known for its bazaars, street
food, shopping locations and its Islamic architecture; Jama Masjid being the most notable
example, standing tall in the midst of the old city. Only a few havelis are left and maintained.
Upon the 2012 trifurcation of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, Old Delhi became
administered by the North Delhi Municipal Corporation.[4][5]

Busy streets near Jama Masjid, Old Delhi./View of Old Delhi from Jama Masjid in June
1973./Jama Masjid built by Shah Jahan, 1656.
The site of Shahjahanabad is north of earlier settlements of Delhi. Its southern part overlaps
some of the area that was settled by the Tughlaqs in the 14th century when it was the seat
of Delhi Sultanate. The sultanates ruled from Delhi between 1206 and 1526, when the last was
replaced by the Mughal dynasty. The five dynasties were the Mamluk dynasty (1206–90),
the Khalji dynasty (1290–1320), the Tughlaq dynasty (1320–1414), the Sayyid dynasty (1414–
51), Lodi dynasty (1451–1526) and the Suri dynasty (1540-1556)
Delhi remained an important place for the Mughals, who built palaces and forts. Most
importantly, Shah Jahan had the walled city built from 1638 to 1649, containing the Lal Qila and
the Chandni Chowk. Delhi was one of the original twelve subahs (imperial Mughal provinces),
renamed Shahjahanabad in 1648, bordering Awadh,
Agra, Ajmer, Multan and Lahore subahs. Daryaganj had the original cantonment of Delhi, after
1803, where a native regiment of Delhi garrison was stationed, which was later shifted to Ridge
area. East of Daryaganj was Raj ghat Gate of the walled city, opening at Raj Ghat on Yamuna
River.[8] The first wholesale market of Old Delhi opened as the hardware market in Chawri
Bazaar in 1840, the next wholesale market was that of dry fruits, spices and herbs at Khari Baoli,
opening in 1850. The Phool Mandi (Flower Market) of Daryaganj was established in 1869, and
even today, despite serving a small geographical area, it is of great importance due to dense
population.
After the fall of the Mughal Empire post 1857 revolt, the British Raj shifted the capital of British
controlled territories in India to a less volatile city, Calcutta in Bengal, where it remained until
1911. After the announcement of the change, the British developed Lutyens' Delhi (in
modern New Delhi) just south-west of Shahjahanabad. At this point, the older city started being
called Old Delhi, as New Delhi became the seat of a national government. It was formally
inaugurated as such in 1931.
People of Old Delhi
Population of Old Delhi is mix of many North Indian ethnicities, after the construction of city,
many people from Rajasthan, Awadh, Haryana, Punjab, Western Uttar
Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Kashmir, and Jammu came for job opportunities and

24
better living standards, most areas still remain Muslim dominated. Culture of Old Delhi is mix of
many cultures, but Urdu remains the most spoken language. Just like Ethnic demographics and
history of Delhi, old Delhi also has many ethnic groups and cultures from different parts
of Indian subcontinent.

Shahjahanabad or Old Delhi, 1911 map

The City of Delhi Before the Siege - The Illustrated London News Jan 16, 1858

Historic map of Delhi (Shahjahanabad), 1863

It is approximately shaped like a quarter cìrcle, with the Red Fort as the focal point. The old city
was surrounded by a wall enclosing about 1,500 acres (6.1 km2), with 14 gates:[10]

1. Nigambodh Gate: northeast, leading to historic Nigambodh Ghat on the Yamuna River

2. Kashmiri Gate: north
3. Mori Gate: north
4. Kabuli gate: west
5. Lahori gate: west close to the Sadar Railway station, Railway Colony, including the tomb
of Syed Abdul Rehman Jilani Dehlvi.

25
 6. Ajmeri Gate: southwest, leading to Ghaziuddin Khan's Madrassa and Connaught Place, a
focal point in New Delhi
7. Turkman Gate: southwest, close to some pre-Shahjahan remains which got enclosed
within the walls, including the tomb of Shah Turkman Bayabani.
8. Delhi Gate: south leading to Feroz Shah Kotla and what was then older habitation of
Delhi.
The surrounding walls, 12 feet (3.7 m) wide and 26 feet (7.9 m) tall, originally of mud, were
replaced by red stone in 1657. In the Mughal period, the gates were kept locked at night. The
walls have now largely disappeared, but most of the gates are still present. The township of old
Delhi is still identifiable in a satellite image because of the density of houses.
The Khooni Darwaza, south of Delhi Gate and just outside the walled city, was originally
constructed by Sher Shah Suri.
Streets and neighbourhoods

Map of Delhi and New Delhi after the First World War. The descriptions are in Czech.
The main street, now termed Chandni Chowk, runs from the Red Fort to Fatehpuri Masjid.
Originally a canal ran through the middle of the street.
North of the street, there is the mansion of Begum Samru, now called Bhagirath Palace. South of
the street is Dariba Kalan, a dense residential area, beyond which is Jama Masjid. Daryaganj is a
section that used to border the river at Rajghat and Zeenat-ul-Masjid.
The Urdu language emerged from the Urdu Bazaar section of Old Delhi. The Din
Dunia magazine and various other Urdu publications are the reason for this language staying
alive.
Its main arteries are

 Netaji Subhash Marg / Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg leading to India Gate (north and south)
 Chandni Chowk/Khari Bawli Road (east and west)
Old Delhi is approximately bounded by these modern roads:

26
 Nicholson Road (north)
 Mahatma Gandhi Marg (east)
 Shraddhananda Marg (west)
 Jawaharlal Nehru Marg (south)

The Lahori Gate of Red Fort from Chandni Chowk.

In 1876, Carr Stephen described the city as follows:
Of the two streets described by François Bernier, the longer extended from the Lahore Gate of
the city to the Lahore Gate of the citadel, and the other from the Delhi Gate of the city to the
Lahore Gate of the fort. Both these streets were divided into several sections, each of which was
known by a different name.
The section between the Lahore Gate of the fort and the entrance of the street called the Dariba,
known as the Khuni Darwazah, was called the Urdu or the Military Bazaar; owing, very
probably, to the circumstances of a portion of the local garrison having been once quartered
about the place. Between the Khuni Darwazah and the present Kotwali, or the Head Police
Station of the city, the street has the name of Phul ka Mandi or the flower market. The houses in
front of the Kotwali were built at a short distance from the line of the rest of the houses in the
street, to form a square.
Between the Kotwali and the gate known as the Taraiah, was the Jauhari or the Jewellers'
Bazaar; between the Taraiah and the neighborhood is known as Asharfi ka Katra, was, par
excellence, the Chandni Chowk. There was a tank in the center of the Chowk the site of which is
now occupied by the Municipal Clock Tower, and beyond this to the Fatehpuri Masjid was the
Fatehpuri Bazaar. The houses around Chandni Chowk were of the same height, and were
ornamented with arched doors and painted verandahs. To the north and south of the square, there
were two gate-ways, the former leading to the Sarai of Jehan Ara Begum, and the latter to one of
the most thickly populated quarters of the city. Round the tank, the ground was covered with
vegetable, fruit, and sweetmeat stalls. Over time the whole of this long street came to be known
as the Chandni Chauk.
This grand street was laid out by Jahanara Begum, daughter of Shah Jahan. From the Lahore
Gate of the fort to the end of the Chandni Chauk the street was about 40 yards wide and 1,520

27
yards long. Through the center of this street ran the canal of 'Ali Mardan, shaded on both sides
by trees. On the eastern end of the Chandni Chauk stands the Lahore Gate of the Fort, and on the
opposite end the handsome mosque of Fatehpuri Begam.
The clock tower no longer exists, although the location is still called Ghantaghar. The Sarai
of Jehan Ara Begum has been replaced by the city hall. The kotwal is now adjacent to Gurdwara
Sis Ganj Sahib.
The engraving accompanying Letitia Elizabeth Landon's poem The City of Delhi, appears to
show the Jama Masjid with an elephant on the open ground before it. She associates the city's
past glories with tales of enchantment, namely James Ridley's The Tales of the Genii (Sir Charles
Mansell).

Lal Mandir

Old Delhi Railway Station built 1903

Many of the historical attractions are in the Chandni Chowk area and the Red Fort. In addition,
Old Delhi also has:

 Gurudwara Sis Ganj Sahib, a sikh Gurudwara built to commemorate the martyrdom site
of the ninth Sikh Guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur. It marks the site where the ninth Sikh Guru was
beheaded on the orders of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb on 11 November 1675 for
rebelling against the throne.
 Gaurishankar Temple
 Salimgarh Fort
 Mumtaz Mahal
 Gali Qasim Jan in Ballimaran is the site of Mirza Ghalib's haveli, and that of Hakim
Ajmal Khan
 Razia Sultana's‍—‌tomb near Kalan Masjid
 Jama Masjid, India's largest mosque
 Lal Mandir, Delhi's oldest Jain temple
 Fatehpuri Masjid
 Khari Baoli, Asia's biggest spice market
 Zinat-ul Masjid, Daryaganj built-in 1710 by one of Aurangzeb's daughters

28
 Rajghat, Mahatma Gandhi's cremation site memorial
 St. James Church (near Kashmiri Gate) built-in 1836, Delhi's oldest church, built by Col.
James Skinner.
Some of the historical mansions include

 Begum Samru's Palace of 1806 (see [1])now called Bhagirath Palace.

 Naughara mansions in Kinari Bazaar, 18th-century Jain mansions.
 Khazanchi haveli
 Haveli Raja Jugal Kishore
 Masterji Kee Haveli, Sita Ram Bazar
 Haveli Sharif Manzil in Ballimaran is famous for its Aristocratic Hakims and their Unani
practice, and that of Hakim Ajmal Khan
 Haveli of Mirza Ghalib, Gali Qasim Jan that is in Ballimaran
 Chunnamal haveli, Katra Neel
 Haveli of Zeenat Mahal, Lal Kuan Bazar
 Haksar Haveli, Bazar Sitaram, where Jawaharlal Nehru was married in 1916 to Kamla
Nehru.
 Haveli Naharwali, Kucha Sadullah Khan, where Pervez Musharraf, former president of
Pakistan was born
 Kucha Chelan (Kucha Chehle Ameeran), where the Persian descent inhabited
 Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib. Place where 9th Sikh Guru Guru Tegh Bahadur was executed.

Historic Karim's at Old Delhi.

Old Delhi is well known for its cuisine.  Old Delhi as the seat of the Mughal Empire for over
two centuries has come to the modern hub of Mughlai cuisine. Karim's, a restaurant described as
the city's most famous culinary destination, is near the Jama Masjid. The Gali Paranthe
Wali and Ghantewala halwai are also situated here. Chawri Bazaar is one of the oldest markets in
Delhi, dating back to the 17th century and was before known as a hardware market, but is known
nowadays for its wholesale paper products.
Old Delhi is also known for its street food. Chandni Chowk and Chawri Bazaar areas have many
street joints that sell spicy chaat (tangy and spicy snacks).
Shahjahanabad: How a planned city came undone
Crowded roads, endless traffic snarls, unauthorised construction and crumbling infrastructure
show how Shah Jahan’s meticulously planned city, once known for its grandeur, has fallen apart
due to years of apathy.

29
At the centre of this settlement was Qila-i-Mubarak (Red Fort), the palace-fortress. The city was
encircled with a wall with 14 gates, from where Shahjahanabad gets its sobriquet of Walled City.
(Virendra Singh Gosain / HT Archive)

On April 19, 1648, Shah Jahan, the fifth Mughal emperor, first stepped into the Diwan-e-Khas,
or the Hall of Special Audience in the newly completed Qila-e-Mubarak or the Red Fort. The
occasion called for a grand celebration. A great velvet canopy stood in the fort’s courtyard, halls
were decked with silks from Turkey and China. Shah Jahan sat on a raised throne, awarding gifts
and ranks to his nobles.

30
This fort was to be the epicentre of Shahjahanabad, the emperor’s new capital. Shah Jahan had
personally overseen the planning of the city, directing a primary mosque or the Jama Masjid to
be built, gardens to be laid, canals to be rebuilt, boulevards to be constructed.
For more than 30 years, Shahjahanabad thrived, not only as the capital of the Mughal empire, but
as a centre of culture, where art, poetry, music, artisanship all flourished. “Shahjahanabad was a
statement of a way of life achieved after many centuries”, writes Shama Mitra Chenoy, a
professor of history at Delhi University in her book, Shahjahanabad: A City of Delhi 1638-1857.
The present-day Shahjahanabad is a tableau of chaos, bursting at the seams with people. More
than the dilapidated buildings, the traffic jams, unauthorised construction and crumbling
infrastructure show how Shah Jahan’s meticulously planned city, once known for its splendour,
was undone by apathy and a lack of planning.
A Planned City
Shah Jahan had a passion for architecture and from the outset, Shahjahanabad was a planned
city. When he decided to shift the capital from Agra in 1639, he instructed architects, engineers
and astrologers at the court to hunt for a suitable site, between Agra and Lahore.
Delhi was the chosen site – its location was apt, it had been the capital of kings before and it was
the final resting place of saints, bringing the touch of the scared. According to Stephen Blake,
one of the first historians to study the pattern of Shahjahanabad, the semi-circluar design of the
city was partly guided by the ‘karmuka’ or arched bow-shape design in ancient Hindu texts of
vastu shastra.
At the centre of this settlement was Qila-i-Mubarak, the palace-fortress. The city was encircled

31
with a wall with 14 gates, from where Shahjahanabad gets its sobriquet of Walled City. Parts of
the wall can still be seen. Five of the gates survive.
By 1656, the Jama Masjid was constructed on an elevated site near the fort; it still remains
Delhi’s biggest mosque. Two main boulevards, Chandni Chowk and Faiz Bazar (in present-day
Daryaganj) are famous, crowded markets, but Nahar-i-Bahisht, a canal in the middle of Chandni
Chowk, no longer exists.
Shah Jahan had a fondness for laying out gardens, a practice introduced by the first Mughal
emperor Babur in India.
“To him, as to all the Mughals, Paradise was not just a walled garden, but a beautiful city,”
writes Narayani Gupta, who teaches history at Delhi University, in her essay, The Indomitable
City. Shah Jahan had a garden called Khizrabad laid out south of the city’s Akbarabadi Gate; his
daughter Roshan Ara Begum constructed one near Lahori Gate, as did other nobles.
While the Mughal builders worked to a plan, certain things were left to the choice of the
residents. “The Mughal system of planning was based on give and take. Private enterprise and
individual initiative also became part of planning,” says Swapna Liddle, convenor of INTACH
and author of Chandni Chowk: The Mughal City of Old Delhi.
The royal planners constructed things such as walls, gates, the major avenues and laid down
certain rules -- for example, the facades of shops in the Chandni Chowk bazaar looked the same
– but the design of houses, katras and mohallas was left to individual choice.
“In every mohalla or locality, building activity was locally negotiated with your neighbours. It
was an informal situation…but now that community spirit is gone,” says Liddle.
How the Red Fort bore the brunt of several assaults
In 1739, Persian invader Nader Shah carried away jewels and valuables, including the Peacock
Throne, which by some estimates was worth 12,000,000 pounds. Later, the silver inlaid ceiling
of the Diwan-e-Khas, the Hall of Special Audience was removed by the Marathas. By the time of
the last Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar’s time, parts of the fort were already crumbling and
Rs 500 per month were set aside to perform repairs.

The next assault came from the British, who, after quelling the 1857 uprising, rces ransacked
Red Fort. They stole jewels and marble slabs and auctioned off the gilded domes of the Moti
Masjid, the mosque within the fort, and the Diwan-e-Khas. The colonial administration added
two structures disrupting the fort’s original design. The first was a railway line that spliced
through the Red Fort complex. The second were barracks to house the colonial army, which
moved into the fort as an assertion of authority. When India gained independence in 1947, the
British soldiers in the barracks were replaced by Indian ones. In 1979, it was decided that Red
Fort would be handed over to the Archaeological Survey of India, but in fact, the army finally
moved out only in 2003.
The Decline of Shahjahanabad
The twilight of the Mughal empire set in motion the decline of Shahjahanabad.
In 1681, Aurangzeb left for the Deccan, never to come back to the north, and with him left most
of the nobles. Then came a series of natural calamities: in 1716, heavy rainfall caused huts to
collapse, killing 2,000 people; in 1719, there were a series of earthquakes; in 1730, plague; and
in 1735, heavy rain caused the canal to flood.
In 1739, came a terrifying time that Delhi had not seen since Timur centuries ago. Nadir Shah,
the Persian king, marched in with his army. Some locals, it is said, threw stones at the Persians.
This enraged Nadir Shah, who stood on the roof of the Sunehri Masjid, near Gurudwara Sis Ganj

32
Sahib in Old Delhi, and ordered a massacre. Some 30,000 people were killed and Shah left two
months later, with the Peacock Throne, gold, silver, and other valuables worth 700 million
rupees.
The city – ever so resilient – did recover from the invasion. But the dilapidation of Delhi had
long set in. The Mughal empire was in disintegration, relying on Maratha protection against
repeated assaults from Afghanistan. In this decaying Delhi, a new form of poetry about the
decline of urban life – Shahr Ashob – developed.
Forced to flee to Awadh after Ahmed Shah Abdali’s sacking of the city in 1748, the poet Mir
Taqi Mir wrote of Delhi:
“Dilli jo ek shahr tha, aalam mien intekhaab,
rehte the jahan muntakhab hi rozgaar ke,
usko falak ne loot ke veeran kar diya,
rehne wale hain hum usi ujde diyar ke.”
(The city of Delhi, chosen of the universe; where only the best in their professions lived; that city
has been looted and laid to waste by the heavens, and I am a resident of that destroyed garden.)
In present day ‘Old Delhi’, as it is called, vestiges of the lost glory, of a Delhi that was ‘aalam
mien intekhaab’ still remain. Here and there, on a rickshaw or while walking, a glimpse of a
haveli or a jharoka can be seen. Names such as Katra Nil, where indigo workers lived or Dariba
Kalan, a mohalla of jewellers, or Haveli Haider Quli, the residence of a military commander or
Zeenat Mahal, the haveli of Bahadur Shah Zafar’s wife, testify to a connection with history. An
older way of living survives but barely, in the food, in kite flying or kabootarbazi, a taste for
Urdu shayari.
While conducting a heritage walk in the Chawri Bazar area recently, Asif Khan Dehalvi, who
runs Delhi Karavan, recounts how he noticed a woman peering from the window of a house. She
listened intently as the storytellers told tales of the market’s history. “After the walk was over,
the woman got into a conversation with my colleague. She said, I have lived here for so many
and I didn’t know anything of the history,” says Dehalvi.
A lack of knowledge, neglect, encroachment and the pressures of overpopulation threaten to
swallow up what remains of Shahjahanabad’s heritage and culture. To counter this, the
Shahjahanabad Redevelopment Corporation (SRC) was set up with the specific aim of restoring
heritage sites and developing the area keeping history in mind.
But the SRC needs to redouble its efforts, feels Liddle. “In many cases, buildings are listed as
heritage, but even the owners don’t know. There should be a level of inspection and interaction
with the people who live here,” she says. “There is an acknowledgement that this is a historic
locality, and hence, it requires special treatment.”
The city of Shahjahanabad consisted of a fort-palace complex and an adjoining city. The Red
Fort or the Lal Qila contained the palace complex and it was made of red sandstone. To its west
was the Walled City with 14 gates. The main streets were Chandni Chowk and Faiz Bazaar.
These were broad enough for royal processions to pass. A canal ran down the centre of Chandni
Chowk.
The Jama Masjid was one of the largest mosques in India and was set amid
crowded mohallas and bazaars. It was built on higher ground so that it stood tall over all other
structures within the city.
The city also had many dargahs, khanqahs and idgahs. Open squares, winding lanes and cul-de-
sacs and water channels were also to be seen everywhere.

33
The Architectures of Shahjahanabad
Sohail Hashmi
A history buff, activist and film-maker, Sohail Hashmi has been conducting heritage walks
since 2000, and has written on Delhi’s languages, food, water bodies and monuments. He
currently works with Knowledge Infrastructure Systems Pvt Limited and is the founding
Trustee of SAHMAT.
Shahjahan commenced the building of his new capital in 1639. It took almost nine
years for its completion and the city was finally inaugurated in 1648, probably in
the month of April, coinciding with  Nauroz—the new year of the Persians. Exactly
100 years from its founding, Delhi was laid waste by the army of Nadir Shah. Mir
Taqi Mir, the master of Rekhta—mixed language—that Urdu was known as in those
times, was to write:
अब ख़राबा हु आ जहान आबाद[‫ا[ب[ خ[ر[ا[ب[ا[ ہ[و[ا[ ج[ہ[ا[ن[ ا[ب[ا[د‬
वरना हर एक क़दम पे यां घर था[‫و[ر[ن[ہ[ ہ[ر[ ا[ی[ک[ ق[د[م[ پ[ہ[ ی[ا[ں[ گ[ھ[ر[ ت[ھ[ا‬
Jahanabad[1], every step was home
is now nothing but desolation.

.
There are enough contemporary records that speak of the riches of the city and the
profusion of its palaces,  havelis, markets, gardens, water bodies and avenues. Like
the ancient city of Rome, Delhi too was not built in a day or even in nine years. For
that matter, like all living cities, it has seen constant construction and like
many cities that have been sacked by invaders, Delhi too has witnessed  large-scale
destruction. The consequence of this cyclical process of destruction and
construction has been a myriad styles, diverse vocabularies of architectural
expression, sometimes combining with and fusing into their predecessors and at
other times, standing up like sore thumbs. One can witness a  built heritage that is

34
unique to Delhi, despite sharing the constituents of this strange melange with
elements that developed in Awadh, Rajputana, Bengal, Portugal, France, Spain,
England. But what is currently destroying all that survives of this varied and rich
inheritance is a product of doubtful origin and parentage—the so-called Mall
Architecture—consisting of steel and glass and nothing else. Whatever survives of
the rich architectural heritage of the city will succumb to this pestilence unless
drastic measures are initiated.

At the time when Shahjahanabad was inaugurated, there were large stretches of
open land, like Ballimaran, inhabited initially by those who ferried people across
the river, and later, in the early 18th century, settled  by Shamsis or the Qaum-e-
Saudagaran from Punjab. The area was built up  only gradually.There were parts
that remained unbuilt till the early 20th century, like the place where the Darya
Ganj Police Station came up in the early 1930s.  Also, the Sultanate period
graveyard, near Kalaan Masjid and the mausoleum of Shah Turkman Bayabani that
saw construction in the post-Independence period, were spaces built  when people
escaping to Delhi from the rioting mobs in the surrounding areas of West UP
camped in the graveyard and eventually settled down here. There were places that
were built up earlier but the structures were razed to the ground by successive
regimes as signs of conquest, as was done later by  the British colonialists in the
immediate post–1857 period with all the structures outside the fort walls, or half a
decade later, with the area where the Railway Station came up in 1865. So what one
witnesses today as the architecture  of Shahjahanabad is not something that was built
in one large continuous movement of construction, but  partly remnants from phases
of destruction and the remaining, one might add, ongoing insensitive
encroachment. 

When Shahjahanabad was inaugurated in 1648, the capital had returned to Delhi
after almost 90 years from the time of the death of Humayun. A section of the area
upon which Shahjahanabad came up had been part of the fifth city of Delhi namely
Firozaabaad. Now known as ‘The Kotla of Firoze Shah’, this area extended roughly
from the present day Turkman Gate of Shahjahanabaad to the grave of Sultan
Raziaat Bulbuli Khana, near the beginning of Bazar Sitaram. Three structures,
belonging to the reign of the 14th century ruler Firozeshah Tughlaq—a mosque and
two mausoleums—the Kalaan or Kaali Masjid, the mausolea of Shah Turkman
Bayabani and of Razia Sultan, though now greatly modified, survive in this area.  

35
 
Fig. 1: Kalaan Masjid

Fig. 2: Grave of Razia Sultan                      

36
Despite being plastered and painted over and covered with green tiles and fine
marble dust at places, these three structures present a picture that is at great
variance from the building techniques and material used to build the city of
Shahjahan.These three structures, like all construction throughout the Sultanate and
early Mughal period in Delhi, stand out because they were built with the locally
available Delhi quartz. This metamorphosed rock, mined from the Aravalis, did not
lend itself to carving because of its brittle nature. As a result,  buildings built with
the Delhi quartz were normally given a thick covering of limestone plaster that was
later, before it had fully dried, decorated with incised patterns or calligraphy in
what is known as stucco work.

Fig. 3: Turkman Gate built of Delhi quartz

The monumental mausoleums, forts and mosques built in the Sultanate period
introduced the technique of building with rubble where mis-shapen and irregular
stones were held in place with a mortar of crushed bricks and slaked limestone. The
exposed surfaces were given a cladding of dressed quartz, exterior walls were left
plain, while interior walls were given a thick coat of lime plaster that was at times
embellished with incised patterns or calligraphy.
As the Sultanate expanded and extended its control over parts of Rajasthan, we
gradually see increasing use of marble and sandstone, initially only as
embellishment but later as the principal building material. Construction in Delhi,
during the time of  the Mughals, especially Humayun and Akbar, are the best
examples of the use of both. Adham Khan’s mausoleum was built  principally with
Delhi quartz and finished with lime plaster and sandstone embellishments. In the

37
Jamali Kamali complex and in Purana Qila, including the Qila-e-Kuhna Mosque and
in the mausoleum of Isa Khan, we see increasing use of sandstone, while the
mausoleum of Quli Khan is almost totally covered with limestone. The  tomb of
Humayun is an example of the gradual eclipse of the Delhi quartz.

Fig. 4: Use of sandstone in Jamali Kamali Complex

Fig. 5:  Red sandstone used in  Purana Qila

38
Fig. 6: Limestone used in Quli Khan's mausoleum, Jamali Kamali  

Fig. 7: Sandstone and Delhi quartz   used together in the  mausoleum of Isa Khan,
Humayun's Tomb complex

Fig. 8: Humayun's Tomb

These buildings were in stark contrast to the building style that gradually developed
during the Mughal period in areas surrounding Agra, Lahore and Delhi, the latter
reaching its apogee during the time of Shahjahan. The post–Humayun period is thus
marked by the gradual eclipse of Delhi quartz and the emergence of a new style of
architecture that is distinguished by sharper edges and clearer lines as compared to
the Sultanate period. 
The exceptions to this general trend include the Qutub Minar, the Alai Darwaza, the
Mausoleum of Ghiyas-ud-Din Tughlaq and the Jami Mosque commissioned by
Khizir Khan in the courtyard of the shrine of Nizam-ud-Auliya. All four are built
with lime and sandstone, with some use of marble.  

39
Fig. 9: Alai Darwaza and Qutub Minar (rear view): Use of Delhi quartz, sandstone
and marble. 

Fig. 10: Mausoleum of Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlaq

By the time Shahjahan had come to the throne, the Mughals, at Delhi, Agra, Lahore
etc. had shifted almost exclusively to the use of marble and sandstone for
monumental structures. At times, fascia  with buff, brown and (rarely) yellow
sedimentary stones were used as elements of novelty.
But this was as far as monumental structures went. Other structures such as shops,
houses, smaller havelis continued to be built with Delhi quartz rubble and were
given a thick coating of limestone and crushed brick plaster. So, in the main, before
the arrival of the Europeans and the introduction of steel in construction, the city of
Shahjahanabad was a mixture of monumental structures and larger  havelis built with
red sandstone and marble, while markets. houses and smaller havelis continued to
be built with Delhi quartz. The base was gradually undergoing a change from the
Sultanate and early Mughal period to the time of Shahjahan and later.

The inner material that supported the façade during the Sultanate and early Mughal
period used to be rubble masonry, held together with crushed brick and limestone
mortar. This rubble masonry was now replaced with bricks. These were the really
small narrow bricks known as the Lakhori or Kakaiya bricks that became
increasingly popular during the reign of Shahjahan and held sway well into the very
late 19th century and continued to be used till the early decades of the 20th century.
They were gradually replaced by the large (approx. 9"x4"x3") bricks, popularly

40
known as the ‘ghummaeent’ introduced during the colonial period, which are in
almost universal use in India now.

Fig. 11: Remnant of  haveli structure in Shahjahanabad (Old Delhi)

Fig.12: Lakhori or Kakaiya bricks

Through all these changes, there was one constant—the binding material of crushed
kiln-fired bricks and limestone mortar—from about the late 12th century all the way
to the mid–19th century. Though it was known in India even before the arrival of
the Turks and Central Asians, its use was not widespread . This is because  the
‘point and slot’ technique of building, especially for large palaces and forts, that
relied on large blocks of stone fitting into each other, had little need of binding
materials. The much longer lasting c huna-surkhi or crushed bricks and lime stone
mortar, that had survived 600 years or more from the 12th century to the mid–18th
century, gradually gave way to  the quick setting Portland cement that was  
imported from cement factories from England for decades and began to be
manufactured in India from the first decades of the 20th century.
The earlier havelis of Delhi made a gradual transition from the crushed brick and
limestone plaster to brick and cement structures that were increasingly relying on
iron girders to support their balconies. Chandni Chowk and Chawri and bits of
Bazar Sitaram acquired verandas as the residents on the floor above extended their
balconies into terraces.

Though the havelis, big and small, retained the basic design of construction around
an open courtyard, they had gradually begun to grow vertical. The balconies and
overhangs became larger and lanes began to shrink as structures on both
sides inched closer to each other as they rose up. Many architectural elements
drawn from the colonialists—metallic awnings supported on steel rods, cast or
wrought iron railings, carved wooden pillars, Spanish blinds painted green in the
style of Spanish villas or haciendas, the increasing use of stained glass, the
replacement of thick walls with large number of doors especially on the first floor
and above, the replacement of the cusped or scalloped arches of the period of
Shahjahan with the Gothic or Roman arches—began to modify the look and feel of
the architecture of Delhi, though still retaining a modicum of continuity in the
layout and design of the houses and streets.

41
Fig. 13:   Overhanging balcony of an old haveli building in Sitaram Bazar
The first major break in the look and feel of the city came with the introduction of
steel. The steel girders led to the broadening of the narrow balconies and passages
that had traditionally rested on stone brackets. Broad verandas came up,  resting on
cast iron pillars with the intertwining initials of the builder Sultan Singh as in
Kashmiri Gate or upon steel girders as in Chawri Bazar and Chandni Chowk,
turning the broad avenues of Shahjahanabad into narrow congested streets. This was
followed by a vertical growth in Shahjahanabad, made possible by the increasing
use of steel in construction.
Shahjahanabad, therefore, is a living example of diverse building materials and
techniques that reflect not only the Sultanate, the Mughal, the colonial but also
styles that borrow from two or three building styles in combination. At  present, we
have no architectural style left at all and increasingly buildings have started looking
like the hideous glass and metal scaffoldings that are mushrooming all over the city
and elsewhere. This is a style of building that has erased the earlier distinctions of
house, shop, and public structures. All the new structures coming up in Chandni
Chowk, Chawri and numerous lanes and bylanes of Shahjahanbad have come to
acquire the same uninspiringly impractical and absolutely ugly look.
Unless serious steps are initiated to arrest this trend, this living heritage city with
its diverse vocabulary of architecture will suddenly disappear, to be replaced by a
combination of metal and glass that has no relation to what has been, and thus these
faceless heaps will ensure that nothing else survives.

[1] Jahanabad was how Shahjahanabad was popularly known.

https://www.sahapedia.org/the-architectures-of-shahjahanabad
Article by Sohail Hashmi

42
 Shahjahanabad
Delhi went into something of an eclipse from the time of Humayun's Delhi to the accession of
Shahjahan, the great Mughal builder who in 1648 built Shahjahanabad, the seventh city of
Delhi. Shahjahan's Delhi, is today more visible than all the Delhi's built before it. The scale on
which he built was also more heroic, as can be seen from the Red Fort and the Jama Masjid.
Habitat Library & Resource Centre Page 2
The magnificence of the palace (Red Fort - World Heritage Monument at present) is best
described in the famous couplet inscribed in the Diwan-i-Khas:
Agar fardos ba rue Zamin ast
Hamin ast a hamin ast a hamin ast.
If paradise be on the face of the earth, it is this, even this, it is this
The celebrated poet Mirza Galib, maintained the same fervour and wrote: "If the world is
body, Delhi is the soul". There can be no better attributes for a city.
Shahjahanabad was a walled city, and some of its gates and parts of the wall still stand. The
romance of the bazaars of Delhi can be experienced at its best in and around Chandni Chowk
and its by lanes. Shahjahanabad was secured and enclosed by about ten kilometer long well.
Ten gates connected the city with the surrounding region. Lahore gate was the main entrance
for the Red Port besides Delhi Gate. The Kashmere Gate, Calcutta Gate, Mori Gate, Kabul
Gate, Faresh Khana Gate, Ajmere Gate and the Turkman Gate were the other major links of the
city with the highways. A system of Mohallas and Katras was developed to suit the
homogenous community structure. Shahjahanabad who furnishes a fine example of secularism
which distinguishes it from the bazars of many historic buildings and temples: The Lal Jain
Mandir from the time of Shahjahan, Appa Gangadhar Mandir (Gauri Shankar mandir), the
only temple built during Marathi dominion, Arya Samaj mandir (Dewan Hall), Baptist
Chruch, Gurudwara Sisganj, Sunehri Masjid and west end terminus, the Fateh Puri Masjid. On
9th March, 1739 Nadir Shah defeated Mohammad Shah at Panipat and entered Delhi. He
massacred the inhabitants and took over almost the entire wealth Shahjahanbad, accumulated
by the Mughals in India. The Peacock throne, priceless stones such as Koh-i-Nur and Darya-i-
Nur, fine pieces of art, thousand of horses, camels, and elephants, and numerous books and
manuscripts was carried among as booty.
Till the time the British moved the capital of their Indian Empire from Calcutta to Delhi, the
city continued to be battered by invading armies, of the Marathas from the South and
Nadirshah, the Persian Emperor, and Ahmad Shah Abdali, the Afghan from the north. All this,
of course, was in addition to the bitter rivalries and intrigue which destroyed Delhi from
within.
However, immediately after attaining the freedom, Shahjahanabad revived its old pomp and
splendour when the first President of free and Democratic India, Dr.Rajendra Prasad drove in
State procession in Chandini Chowk on 5.2.1950.
Source: http://www.delhitourism.gov.in/delhitourism/aboutus/shahjehanabad.jsp

The imperial capital Shahjahanabad was built by Mughal Emperor Shahjahan (1628-
58) between 1639 and 1648 and it spread out over a large area along the banks of river Yamuna
in the southeastern parts of the Delhi triangle. The outspurs of the Aravalli range
reachingdeep into the great alluvial plains of north India have their terminal point in the Delhi
Ridge which afforded natural protection to the city from erosion by the river Jamuna. Thus,
heights for commanding positions, rocks for stone-quarries, and the river for water supply

43
were the factors which should have combined to attract Shah Jahan for the creation of his
capital city that virtually overlapped the cities of Sher Shah and Firuz Shah. Other reasons for
selecting Delhi were that it enjoyed a reputation as the imperial city and served as the capital
of the Muslim rulers for about three hundred years. It also acquired an aura of sanctity as a
religious centre.

Shahjahanabad as the exemplar of the sovereign city model

This theory was propagated by Stephen P. Blake. According to him like many other capital
cities such as Istambul, Isfahan, Tokyo, and Peking, Shahjahanabad was also the ‘exemplar’ of
the sovereign city model. The sovereign city, Blake opines, was the ‘capital of the patrimonial –
bureaucratic empire, a type of state which characterized the Asian empires from about 1400 to
1750…The patrimonial – bureaucratic emperor dominated the social, economic, and cultural
life of the city, and he dominated its built form as well.’[1]

Blake further explains that from the micro-perspective the sovereign city was an enormously
extended patriarchal household, and the centre of power lay in the imperial palacefortress.
The city was an extension of the imperial mansion as the layout of the buildingsand
gardens, and the shops in the city copied the layout of the buildings within the palace
complex. Similarly the organization of production and exchange in the city, by and
large, followed the same system as was prevalent in the palace-fortress. In respect of
social interaction of the inhabitants of the city also the imperial palace set the model. From the
macro-perspective the sovereign city was the kingdom in miniature. The emperor
intended that his command of the city in respect of power, obedience, resources, and influence
should be ‘symbolic’ of the influence that he and his subordinates exercised over empire.[2]
The structure of society in the sovereign cities, states Blake, also followed the pattern prevalent
in the imperial palace. There was a pattern-client relationship between the emperor and his
nobles, then between the nobles and the members of their household bound the city in a kind
of vast extended family. These ties were reviewed and strengthened in the daily rituals of the
palace fortress. The cultural life also revolved round the households of the
emperors, princes, and great nobles who were well versed in the various artsand crafts, and
they provided patronage to arts and crafts, literature, painting, music, and architecture.

Whether these characteristics were present in Shahjahanabad, and the city reflected the power
of the Mughal emperor, or how muchinfluence the ruler exercised on the inhabitants of the
city is a subject of discussion amongst the scholars. One may point it out
herethat the great cities in Mughal India were not merely princely camps as Max Waber
has visualized on the basis of the account of the French traveller Bernier. In stead they had a
logic and structure of their own. There were certain principles that guided their
construction that manifested the power of the ruler in various ways. The capital stood as a
symbol of his power and wealth. The planning of Shahjahanabad, undoubtedly, reflected the
power of the ruler as many other cities of medieval India, but it also had certain distinguishing
features denoting an independent urban growth in many respects.
Dominating ideas in the founding of Shahjahanbad
Shahjahan had most intense interest in architecture. He replaced many of the structures
of Akbar’s period in sandstone in the palacefortress of Agra with those of his own design in
marble. As Muhammad Salih Kamboh, a contemporary historian tells us, during his daily

44
darbar nobles and princes exhibited their plans for buildings and gardens, and he also used to
see in the evening the designs of buildings which were under construction.[3] In 1639 he
decided to found a new capital not only for the reason that he wanted to distinguish himself
from his predecessors, it was also because due to erosion the scope for the expansion of the
imperial capital Agra became difficult, and on festive occasions it was difficult to manage the
crowd in the palace-fortress and so on. Shahjahan instructed the architect-planners and
astrologers to select a site for his new capital and his choice fell on a spot in the Delhi triangle
where the spurs of Aravalli controlled the course of the river Yamuna in such a way that it
would not change.
In order to understand the founding of Shahjahanabad one has to take into account the
fact that Mughal rulers conceived the city as the meeting place of the heaven and earth. Their
belief originated in accordance with the traditional theories of Islamic architecture,which
held that the city lay between the two major poles of man and the cosmos, and incorporated
the principles of both. The city was therefore a sacred centre that was considered ‘to
encompass the empire and the universe’. It was ‘an organic analogy that controlled the
plan and functioning of the urban system’. Accordingly the emperor also had a hallowed
significance; he was the ‘symbolic centre of a nested hierarchy: city, empire and universe.’ This
view is reflected in contemporary historian Muhammad Salih’s comment that the four walls of
Shahjahanabad ‘enclosed the centre of the earth’.
These ideas were not merely confined to the Islamic architecture only, Hindu architects and
builders also nurtured the belief that the capital city was located at the centre of the
kingdom, the palace-fortress at the centre of the city, and the throne of the king at the centre of
the universe. Many of them were associated with the construction activities of Shahjahanabad.
Cityscape of Shahjahanabad
Shahjahan imposed his own vision on the new capital. Its cityscape centered on the structures
of the ruler and his nobles. In this way it resembled to Isfahan, the capital of the
Safavids which was designed by the Safavid ruler Shah Abbas at the close of the sixteenth
century. The area of Shahjahanabad was much larger than any of the earlier cities of the
Sultans of Delhi or any other rulers on the sub-continent.
The construction work on the site commenced under the supervision of two
renowned architects Ustad Ahmad and Ustad Hamid.However, Shahjahan kept a close watch
on the entire project including the locations and building plans of the mansions of the
grandees of the empire. After two weeks, when initial spate work was completed, princes and
high-ranking nobles also received plots of land so that work may also start on their
mansions. Work on the imperial structures was carried under the supervision of three
subadars – Ghairat Khan, Allah Vardi Khan and Makramat Khan. When finally completed the
city was magnificent and it was regarded as one of the largest and most populous city in the
world. Muhammad Salih is all praise for the city and opines that neither Constantinople nor
Baghdad could compare with Shahjahanabad which lacked none of the amenities of life.
Town planning
The Mughal emperors were consummate masters of town planning especially Shahjahan who
had a very highly cultivated aesthetic sense. He planned everything on a large and noble
scale. Long before Paris set the fashion (1670 AD) of having the principal streets of the
city flanked with avenues, and boulewards became the attractive features of the modern
towns in modern Europe, Shahjahan had planned in 1638 a beautiful bouleward in the Chandni
Chowk of Delhi. It had a marked similarity with Unter-den-Linden in Barlin founded by

45
Fredrick the Great about 1740, the ‘grandest example of a bouleward in Europe’.
The plan of Shahjahanabad reflects both Hindu and Islamic influences. It seems to have
followed a design from Manasara, an ancient treatise on architecture which contains a
semielliptical
design called karmuka or bow for a site fronting a river or seashore. There
was, however, a variation devised in it that on the most auspicious spot i.e. the juncture of the
two main streets, the place was occupied by the palace-fortress. In the original karmuka plan
the most auspicious place in a settlement was to be occupied by a temple. The selection of
karmuk plan symbolically suggests the power of the king.
The planning of Shahjahanabad also reflects the traditional Islamic city plan. According to it
the concept of the city lies between the two poles – man and universe – and that incorporates
the symbolic principles of both. The city drew on the images of men and universe in a
symbolic form. The plan of the city was also seen to emulate the anatomy of men which
‘contained all the possibilities of the universe within himself’.[8] Elements of cosmological
concept of the city found vogue in the working of the Iranian architects of Shahjahan’s
court. As Blake opines the walled city ‘symbolized the cosmos and the eight gates the four
cardinal directions plus the four gates of heaven.’[9]
The City Walls and Gates
The city was fortified on three sides by a strong wall and the fourth – on the eastern side –
partly by the Fort and partly by the wall.The northern wall of the city extended just three
quarters of a mile from the Water Bastion in the east to the Mori Bastion in the west.It was
encircled by a massive wall more than 8 metre high and 3.5 metres wide. The total length of
the walls exceeded 9 kilometres.The wall was surmounted by twenty-seven towers and
interspersed with a number of big gates and entryways at regular intervals. The major
gateways pointed to the direction of the important places and regions of the empire, such as
Lahori Gate, Kashmiri Gate, Ajmeri Gate, Akbarabadi Gate, etc. Towards the river, where
Rajghat and Nigambodh ghat are located, smaller gates were provided for the Hindu
inhabitants of the city to visit their places of worship and perform ceremonial
functions. Overlooking these gates were chaukis (posts) and quarters for the security
personnel. There were two hillocks within the area enclosed by the citadel. On one of
these,known as Bhujalal pahari, was constructed the Jami’ Masjid. It is about 500 metres
southwest
of the fortress.
The Palace-fortress
The Palace-fortress of Shahjahan, called the Qila-i Mubarak (auspicious Fort, popularly
known as Lal Qila) was an overpowering structure which took nine years to
complete. According to the French traveller Bernier it was ‘the most magnificent palace in
the East – perhaps in the world’. It is built on a larger and much comprehensive scale than any
other of its kind. It was the residence of the emperor, and also the seat of the governmental as
wall as cultural activities, and contained a variety of buildings, thus forming a city within
city. In all there were 32 buildings in the palace-fortress.
The extent of the wall of the palace-fortress comes to about 3 kilometres, and it encloses an
area of about 124 acres, which is twice the size of the fort at Agra. It is nearly a regular
parallelogram with the angles slightly canted off. The high walls are relieved at intervals with
towers surmounted by shapely kiosks.
Thousands of stone-cutters, masons, stone carvers, carpenters, gardener-designers, and others

46
craftsmen worked on it. The craftsmanship was of such an order that, as Muhammad Salih
remarks, ‘a sharp nail could not be pushed between the stones of the buildings’.[10] A large
moat, 23 metres wide and 9 metres deep surrounded the fort. It was faced with rough
stone, and filled with water. And as Bernier tells us, it served to further isolate and protect the
imperial household. The palace fortress was separated from the city proper by three gardens
namely Buland Bagh, Gulabi Bagh, and Anguri Bagh. None of these can be seen any more.
The palace fortress had four massive gateways: Lahori Gate facing Chandini Chowk was the
principal entrance. Behind its deep recessed portal was a massive vaulted hall which opened
into a courtyard. The hall was connected with a square-shaped structure,called naubat-khana
through a covered corridor. Shops were constructed on both sides of the corridor and
Habitat Library & Resource Centre Page 7
expansive luxury items were available here. It accommodated the entire royal
apartments, palace, and pavilions. Outside it were located the quarters, for the armed
retainers and edifices for miscellaneous purposes. An important building was Diwan-i Am, a
large pavilion measuring about 61 metres by 24 metres. It was divided into two parts with a
marble baldachin (canopy) set into niche in the eastern wall facing the window. The niche was
originally adorned with precious stones. The entire surface of the building was covered with
fine shell plasterand ivory polish which gave it the semblance of marble structure.
The principal buildings in the Palace Fortress
Interior of the fortress was divided into two rectangles. The harem and private apartments
occupied the whole area eastward of the bazaar. There used to be at least six marble structures
rising above the ramparts and imparting it a picturesque appearance to the front through their
balconies, oriel windows, and turrets. The largest structure in this group was Rang Mahal. To
its north was located the Aramgah (sleeping quarters). The quarters for the widows and
dependents of the former rulers within the fortress were located in a place called Khawaspura.
Adjacent to Rang Mahal was Diwan-i Khas. It was certainly the most ornamented building of
Shahjahanabad. It was decorated with inlay of precious stones. Only selected grandees were
allowed admission in this building. The imperial fortress contained thousands of persons that
included, apart from the household troops of the
emperor, merchants, artisans, servants, painters, musicians, and secretarial staff and many
more. It also contained workshops, stables, stores, treasury, mint, and weapons. The palace
fortress was, thus, a city in miniature as it contained all the elements of a town or city, and it
served as the model for the city. The layout of the streets in the city was also in the
similar fashion as it was within the fortress.
The Jharokha
On the eastern wall of the fort on the riverfront a delicately carved structure (jharokha) was
devised where the emperor showedhimself every day in the early morning to the people who
gathered there in large numbers. Later in the day the contingents of noblesand the rajas passed
in review.
The early morning ritual of appearing on the balcony, jharokh-darshan as it is
called, had great significance as it brought the emperor in direct contact with his subjects
especially the
Hindus,‘enfolding them into the great household that was empire’. Any person, even the meanest
or the
poorest, could participate in this ritual. This ceremony inspired tremendous awe and respect in
the heart of

47
his audience. The Mughal rulers understood the value of the ritual and this custom was followed.
The
ceremonial in the audience halls strengthened the ties of patron-client relationship.
The Important places and bazaars in the city
Habitat Library & Resource Centre Page 8
The most important road was one connecting the Lahori Gate of the city wall and the Lahori
Gate of the palace-fortress with a minor diversion near the Fatehpuri mosque. The Nahr-i
Faiz[11] flowed through the centre of the road between the Fatehpuri mosque and the
palacefortress,
and a square was constructed around the central part of the canal. The beautiful
reflections on the moonlit nights soon gave it the popular name Chandni Chowk. It is
apparent that Chandni Chowk was laid, though on a large scale, on the same plan on which
chamans or flower gardens are arranged in front of the Mughal palaces.[12] Both sides of the
road were lined with the treesand more then 1500 shops on it, which were either owned by
Princess Jahan Ara or Nawab Fatehpuri Begum (one of the queens of Shahjahan). Starting from
the side of the palace-fortress the markets were called Urdu Bazar, Jauhri/ Asharfi Bazar and
then Fatehpuri Bazar. Another straight road connected the Akbarabadi Gate of the palacefortress
with the Akbarabadi Gate (now called the Delhi Gate) of the city wall, and the market
here was called the Faiz Bazar. On the road too the Nahr-i Faiz flowed through the centre and
both sides of the road were strewn with shops. It is now known Darya Ganj. This road was
joined, near the fortress by the road comingfrom the Kashmiri Gate, on which the main
sections of the havelis and mansions of the nobility located. Yet another straight road
camefrom the Kabuli Gate, running parallel in the north to the Chandni Chowk, it joined the
Kashmiri Gate road.
The Palaces and Mansions of the Nobility
In the social hierarchy the position of the members the ruling class was next to the
emperor. They tried to imitate the imperial establishments in all its departments, though at a
much lower scale. Thus, the common features that could be located in these palacesand
mansions include naqqar-khana (drummer’s chamber), provision of the token-force of armed
retainers, gardens, and the harem or the residential apartments for the family of the
nobles. These mansions were, however, not the private property of the nobles and could be
acquired by the state any time. The residences of the rich merchants and hakims, most of these
were havelis or multi-storied structures, were their private properties.
The palaces and mansions of the princes and great nobles dominated the cityscape of
Shahjahanabad. The residential complexes were surrounded by high walls and they contained
gardens, and beautiful apartments. The account of William Franklin of the mansion of a great
noble Khan-i Dauran, the wazir of Muhammad Shah during the eighteenth century, provides
an idea of the ‘size and the complexities’ of the residences of these nobles. Generally a lofty
gateway (also called the naqqar khana) housed the soldiers of the daily guard and the
household musicians. A large forecourt surrounded by a row of rooms under an arcade lay
immediately inside. It contained places for the soldiers and servants of the household and for
the horses, elephants, and attendants of visitors. They also contained apartments for
servants, clerks, artisans, soldiers, store rooms for different commodities, record
offices, treasuries, workshops and so on. The living quarters of the princes and amirs used to
be in the inner quadrangle, which was separated from the public area by a high wall.
Habitat Library & Resource Centre Page 9

48
These mansions were quite large and some of these have space for thousands of people. They
were so vast that as Muhammad Salihfiguratively says ‘in the courtyard of each one the area of
a city is empty’. As Blake remarks, ‘By virtue of their size and population, these
mansions dominated the sectors of the city just as the palace-fortress dominated the urban area
as a whole.’ These households also dominated the urban economy and the process of
consumption as well.
The Gardens
Besides the walled area the urban complex extended several miles into the countryside. As
Bernier tells us these suburbs were interspersed with extensive gardens and open
space.[16] The gardens occupied an important place in the plan and build of the city in Islamic
tradition which was introduced here more markedly by the Mughal rulers. Mughal gardens
were rectangular, surrounded by high walls broken by gateways, and topped with
towers. These were cut by four swiftly flowing canals which divided them into four
sectionsand this devise endowed them the name chahar bagh. On three sides Shahjahanabad
was surrounded by several gardens and mansions of the Mughal princes and nobles. Mention
may be made here of Shalimar Bagh, Mubarak Bagh, Roshanara Begum’s Bagh, Talkatora
Bagh, and Kudsia Bagh.
The plan of Shahjahanabad followed that of the palace-fortress. Like it the city was divided
into two parts. The palace was the exclusive area and the seat of power. The rest of the urban
area was the centre of widespread activities. The streets and markets also followed the pattern
of the palace-fortress.
The planning of the city of Shahjahanabad was done in a manner that it symbolizes the hold of
the ruler in
many ways. However, Shahjahanabad was not solely dependent on the emperor for its growth or
sustenance. The urban communities retained ‘their own distinctive style and character’. This is
the
reason that in spite of the decline in the power of the Mughal emperor from the middle of the
eighteenth century Shahjahanabad continued to flourish as a busy commercial centre. The culture
it had
evolved continued to thrive. One can see strong traces of this even today in the walled city.
Source: http://elearning.sol.du.ac.in/mod/book/view.php?id=901&chapterid=848
City of Shahjahanabad
History -
The Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan (whose rule was the zenith of Mughal architectural
brilliance) by 1637 A.D. began to realize the paucity of space in the Agra and Lahore courts to
conduct royal ceremonies properly. By the year 1639 A.D. he decided to lay the foundation
stone for a new capital of his kingdom which would be known as Shahjahanabad. The site of
Shahjahanabad is north of earlier cities of Delhi, its southern part overlaps some of the area
settled by the Tughluqs in 14th century. Delhi had always remained an important place for the
Mughal kings (before Shah Jahan), who built palaces and forts here.
Habitat Library & Resource Centre Page 10
Architecture -
The architecture of the city of Shahjahanabad is something which cannot be
described in a paragraph or two. It was a detailed city (rectangular in shape) (built on the
banks of River Yamuna, which has now changed course) with many architectural and visual
marvels. The main palace (or citadel) in which the emperor Shah Jahan and the succesive

49
rulers of the Mughal Dynasty lived until 1857 A.D. was known as the Lal Qila (Red Fort). It
was called so because of its Red Sandstone walls (Initially the walls were being made of mud
until Shah Jahan ordered them to be decorated with red sandstone). The fort covers
approximately 125 acres of land.

The Red Fort itself is a World Heritage Site which speaks volumes about the beauty of its
buildings and pavilions. Some of the well known and most beautiful sections of the Red Fort
and Shahjahanabad were the emperor's private area which housed various pavilions like the
Diwan e Khas (Hall for Private Audience), Rang Mahal, Mumtaz Mahal (which has now been
converted into a museum), Moti Masjid (Pearl Mosque) (it was the private mosque of Emperor
Aurangzeb (Shah Jahan's successor) e.t.c. The most enthralling part of the private quarters
was the Nahr e Behisht (Stream of Paradise) which was a man made channel of water (drawn
from the river Yamuna). This channel of water had flown through the middle of the main
pavilions of Diwan e Khas , Rang Mahal and the emperor's private apartments. It was loaded
with rose petals, incense e.t.c. so that it would not only cool the halls but also make the air rich
with fragrance.

The city of Shahjahanabad as such had eight gates which were locked during night time (in the
17th, 18th and the 19th century). The city had many bazaars, some of which exist even now, for
example Khari Baoli (which is today Asia's largest wholesale spice market). The area of
Chandni Chowk (Moonlit Square) (which was also the main street of Shahjahanabad) had
many bazaars as well. Some shops in this area are several centuries old ! Other important
monuments in Shahjahanabad are Ghalib ki Haveli (the house of famous poet Mirza Ghalib),
Jama Masjid (Friday Mosque) (an imposing mosque made of Red Sandstone), St James Church
(First Church of Delhi), Sunehri Masjid, Gurdwara Sis Ganj e.t.c.

Decline -
After the fall of the Mughal Empire post 1857 revolt, the British Empire shifted the
capital of India, to a more (security-wise) stable Calcutta (Kolkata), where it remained till 1911
(when they came back to Delhi). After quelling the 1857 revolt the Britishers built a military
garrison inside the Red Fort and evicted the 3000 people (approximately) who were living
there at that time and destroyed many of the residential palaces.
To be frank the city of Shahjahanabad (now better known as Old Delhi) never
actually declined. The focus simply shifted from being an administrative capital city to being
an area for trade and commerce (which it remains till date), with many large wholesale
markets coming up in the mid 19th century. These markets like Chawri Bazar (hardware
market est 1840), Phool Mandi (Flower Market est. 1869) e.t.c. exist till date.
Habitat Library & Resource Centre Page 11
Source: http://travelerrohan.blogspot.in/2012/03/shahjahanabad-old-delhi-1648-adlegacy.
html

Mughal Delhi – Glory and Decline of Shahjahanabad (1640

1857AD)

WHAT: Shahjahanabad, the 7th city of Delhi built by the Mughal Emperor Shahjahan was the
culmination of a long-cherished dream of Emperor Shahjahan to create the world’s best city in

50
India. His reign saw the greatest advancements in Mughal Architecture and the creation of the
new Mughal Imperial Capital of Hindoostan on the banks of the River Yamuna alongwith the
royal palace and fort, Qila-e-Mubarak better known as Lal Qilla or the Red Fort took almost
15 years. As the city of Shahjahanabad with its grand markets, havelis, palaces, gardens, streets
and avenues began flourishing, it was the grandeur of Lal Quilla which sparkled as the
proverbial ‘jewel’ in the ‘crown’ of the city of Shahjahanabad!

11 Secrets of Chandni Chowk That Most Delhiites Don't Know About!

By Disha Kapkoti
If you stand at the Lahore Gate of the Red fort and aim your gaze across Netaji Subhash Marg,
you can see the old city of Shahjahanabad still alive amidst the maddening disorder. The one
road that starts with Digambar Jain Lal Mandir takes you to the Central Baptist Church and
Gurudwara Sisganj Sahib too. On the other side, the Haveli of Begum Samru can be seen which
is now recognized as the SBI building.
It's an explorers paradise.
Popularly known as Delhi 6 owing to the pincode of the locality(110006), this old part of Delhi
still moves at it's own pace. If you're in Delhi and you don't remember the last time you spent
some time in Delhi 6, take time out and rediscover Old Delhi. Here's a list of some of the must-
visit spots and experiences that would take you back in time. Go explore.
1. Chunamal Haveli, The Haveli of The Wealthiest Man of Shahjahanabad.
A Haveli of the renowned textile merchant of olden days India, Lala Chunamal Ki Haveli is a
good spot to revisit the charm of Old India. Amongst the 30 properties he acquired around Delhi,
The Chunamal Haveli is the residence of his descendants in present times. Anil Pershad is the
present host at the Chunamal Haveli built by Lala Chunamal himself in 1850. He was also the
first Municipal Commissioner during the British Raj. The extravagant interiors, imported
artifacts and long history of this house with more that 128 rooms is an experience in itself.

2. Haveli Dharampura, Originally Called 'Teen Chowk ki Haveli'

Shahjahanabad still lives in the hundreds of Havelis sprawled around Delhi 6. While most of

51
these havelis built by courtiers in the 19th century have been abandoned and are currently in
ruins, Haveli Dharampura built in 1887 AD is now restored to it's old glory after restoration
efforts that lasted 6 years. It stands as a glorious example of hope for the havelis around Chandni
Chowk that have been deserted and forgotten.

Image Credits: Haveli Dharampura

3. Bhagirath Palace or The Haveli of Begum Samru
In present times, Bhagirath palace is known as largest market for electronic goods, shadowing
the long history of the establishment. The high arches and roman pillars of the Palace still stand
tall and is recognized as the SBI building in the present days. The Bhagirath Palace belonged to
Begum Samru, a Kashmiri nautch girl who later became the ruler of the Sardhana in Meerut and
a powerful chieftain. She was a daughter of a courtesan who married General Sommers, a
powerful mercenary, and came to be popularly known as Begum Samru. She was also a close
advisor of Emperor Shah Alam. The Begum played a significant role in the history of modern
day Delhi where her forces saved the city from being attacked by 30,000 Sikh men.

52
4. Kinari Bazar, A Mohalla Against The Communal Divide
Earlier known as the commercial hub of the hindu population of Shahjahanabad, Kinari Bazar is
a witness to the changing social and communal relations in Delhi 6 during the British Era. Before
the revolt of 1857, the lanes of Kinari Bazar was mostly populated by Muslim families of
Shahjahanabad who were displaced during the siege of the city. At the end of the revolt, the
British tried to relocate the Hindus of the adjacent mohallas to create a communal divide.
Although the Hindus replaced the Muslims of the Kinari Bazar in the next few years but there
was absolutely no communal tension in the area and Kinari Bazar stood as an shining vibrant
example of India's diversity.

53
Image Credits: Varun Shiv Kapur
5. Chitli Qabar Bazar, The Mazar of a Goat
It's the corner for the true foodies of Delhi who often look for a story in the food they enjoy.
From Karim's to Pehelwan ke Gulab Jamun, the journey of Chitli Qabar Bazar as a food hub of
old Delhi began in the British Raj itself. Chitli Qabar Chowk lies at the intersection of four lanes
and the Qabar or the Mazar at the Chowk is believed to be that of a goat. Believers of the this
story, the shopkeepers around the area still offer flowers and seek blessing at the Mazar every
morning.

6. Khari Baoli, The Ancient Spice Market

Operating since 17th century, Khari Baoli Spice Market continues to be Asia's largest spice
market in the present days. The Khari Baoli step well was constructed during 1650's along the
Lahori Gate and during Shah Jahan's time the Baoli was used by animals and bathing. The first
traders and merchants of Shahjahanbed set up their businesses here and some of the shops are
still known by the serial numbers assigned more than 200 years ago.

54
Image Credits: Michael Vito
7. Kabootarbazi, The Sport of The Rich
Pigeon keeping became a popular interest during the Mughal Rule and the tradition still
continues in parts of Pakistan and Old Delhi. When Shah Jahan shifted his capital from Agra to
Delhi, the people of the city embraced the sport of Kabootarbaazi. The soaring flocks of pigeons
crowd the terraces of various pigeon keepers popularly known as kabootarbaaz. Kaboorbaazi
includes racing and trapping of flocks. This community of Old Delhi organizes a pigeon race
every year on Republic Day for which the Ustads train their flocks for months.

8. Chaurasi Ghanta Mandir and the myth of 84 lives

Amidst several temples in the crowded lanes of the Sita Ram Bazar, Chaurasi Ghanta Mandir is
one of the famous ones among the locals. The temple gets its name from the 84 bells at the

55
temple that are tied to one string. The 84 bells in the temple chime at the same time and the
number 84 represents the 84 lakh cycles of birth a soul has to experience before taking birth as a
human being.

9. Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib, a symbol of diversity

Established in 1783, the Gurudwara commemorates the beheading of the Sikh Guru, Guru Tegh
Bahadur who was beheaded on the orders of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb in 1675 on refusal to
convert to Islam. This holy place for the Sikh Community also preserves the trunk of the tree
under which the Guru was beheaded.

10. The Most Ancient Church in Delhi, Central Baptist Church

Established in 1860 by the Baptist Missionary Society, the Central Baptist Church is the most
ancient Church in Delhi. Missionary JT Thompson purchased the land from Emperor Akbar
Shah II in 1814. He took the property in Daryaganj as a spot to preach and convert the locals.
The Church also witnessed the rebellion of 1857 and JT Thompson along with officials of the
British Congregation were killed by the rebels. The present day Church was re-established within
the property of Begum Samru near her palace, The Bhagirath Palace and a local shoemaker and
converted Christian, Ghasiram, became the incharge of reconstruction.

56
11. Dariba Kalan, The Market of Unparalleled Pearls
Dariba Kalan has a long history as a market for precious stones, gold and silver jewelry. Since
the time of Emperor Shah Jahan, the market still flourishes as Asia's largest jewelry market. The
market derives its name from the Persian word, Dur-e be-baha, which means unparalleled pearl.
Dariba Kalan also witnessed the bloody massacre of 1739 where a Persian invader looted all the
shops and murdered hundreds of inhabitants of the locality. The market however rose back to
business and is still considered a perfect spot for jewelry shopping in Delhi.

The journey from Shahjahanbad to Old Delhi, Delhi 6 has witnessed history of India like no
other city. Ancient havelis lined along the narrow lanes of Chandni Chowk are barely
recognizable and the kuchas and mohallas are nothing but chaos. But if you look beyond the
obvious, a story from history is always waiting for you. Explore Nayi Sadak and Urdu Bazar for
fantastic literature you might not find elsewhere. Visit one of the restored Havelis and rediscover
the forgotten part of history by yourself.

57
Interesting Facts about Hidden Heritage in Bylanes of Old Delhi
If you search Google for Delhi attractions, you will be flooded with information about Red Fort,
Humayun’s Tomb, Jantar Mantar, Lotus Temple, Birla Temple, and many such beautiful
structures. The same happens when one searches online for the places to visit in Delhi or the
things to do in Delhi. The unusual things to see in the bylanes of Delhi are overshadowed by
cafes, clubs, art galleries, malls and fashion streets across the urban landscape of the city. The
lesser-known things and hidden heritage structures in those bylanes of old times reveal many
interesting facts about Delhi, which are missing from most India travel guides. Indian
Eagle explores the bylanes of Old Delhi to make you see the hidden heritage of the city, which
never fails to impress foreign tourists.
Khooni Darwaza: A Witness to Bloodshed in Delhi

Exploring the grim stories of bloodshed related to Khooni Darwaza is one of the unusual things
to do in Delhi. One of the 13 historic gates in Old Delhi, it was built in Sher Shah Suri’s regime
and structured after the Mughal architecture of those times. Among the offbeat places in Old
Delhi, this piece of heritage has several myths and real stories to its fame. It is said that Sher
Shah Suri used to hang the heads of slain offenders from the archway of the gate. Khooni
Darwaza is believed to be the spot where two sons of Rahim-I-Khana, one of the nine jewels in
Akbar’s court, were murdered following an order by Jahangir because they were not happy with
Jahangir’s coronation as emperor. Khooni Darwaza is a witness to the bloodshed caused by
Nadir Shah’s invasion of Delhi. The haunting story of three Mughal princes, sons of Bahadur
Shah Zafar, who were shot dead at the orders of British Major Hudson during the 1857 Revolt, is
an unpleasant account of this Delhi monument. Delhi’s Khooni Darwaza witnessed bloodshed
during the Partition of India in 1947 too.

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Adham Khan’s Tomb: A Convoluted Labyrinth

Some of the amazing facts about Delhi are buried in the labyrinthine corridors of Adham Khan’s
Tomb, one of the hidden monuments in India. A timeless marvel of the Lodhi architecture, the
tomb is nicknamed Bhool Bhulaiya (labyrinth) because of its convoluted structure. Built in 1562
AD, the tomb was consecrated to Adham Khan and his mother, Maham Anga, who was Emperor
Akbar’s minister as well as wet nurse. Maham Anga, an influential figure in not only the Mughal
court but also Akbar’s life, broke down mentally after his son was punished to death for his
heinous act of killing Ataga Khan, a principal advisor in the Agra Fort’s court. Though Adham
Khan’s Tomb is listed among the lesser-known Delhi attractions, it is a must visit. There is a
legend that once a bridegroom party took shelter in the tomb on the way to the wedding venue
and got lost in the night.

Photograph (1872)/ Adham Khan's tomb, which also house the tomb of his mother, Maham
Anga, Mehrauli, Delhi.
Adham Khan's is the 16th-century tomb of Adham Khan, a general of the Mughal
Emperor Akbar. He was the younger son of Maham Anga, Akbar's wet nurse thus also his foster
brother. However, when Adham Khan murdered Akbar’s favourite general Ataga Khan in May
1561, Akbar immediately ordered his execution by defenestration from the ramparts of the Agra
Fort.
The tomb was built in 1562, and lies to the north of the Qutub Minar, Mehrauli, Delhi,
immediately before one reaches the town of Mehrauli, [1] it is now a protected monument
by Archaeological Survey of India.[2] The tomb is opposite Mehrauli bus terminus and many
passengers use it as a place to wait.

59
Adham Khans tomb, surrounding archway, Mehrauli
It lies on the walls of Lal Kot and rising from a terrace enclosed by an octagonal wall provided
with low towers at the corners. It consists of a domed octagonal chamber in the Lodhi
Dynasty style and Sayyid dynasty early in the 14th century. It has a verandah on each side
pierced by three openings. It is known popularly as Bul-bulaiyan (a Labyrinth or Maze), for a
visitor often loses his way amidst the several passages in the thickness of its walls.[3]

Adham Khan tomb interior, Mehrauli, Delhi/Qutub Minar from Adham Khan

Adham Khan, son of Maham Anga, a wet nurse of Akbar, was a nobleman and general in
Akbar's army. In 1561, he fell out with Ataga Khan, Akbar's Prime Minister and husband of Jiji
Anga, another wet nurse, and killed him, whereupon he was thrown down from the ramparts
of Agra Fort twice, by the order of the emperor Akbar and died [4]
His mother after fortieth day of mourning also died out of grief, and both were buried in this
tomb believed to be commissioned built by Akbar, in a conspicuous octagonal design, not seen
in any Mughal building of that era, a designed perhaps designated to the traitors, as it was
common design features visible in the tombs of the previous Sur Dynasty, and also the Lodhi
dynasty now within the present Lodhi Gardens (Delhi), which the Mughals considered traitors.
In 1830s, a British officer named Blake of Bengal Civil Service, converted this tomb into his
residential apartment and removed the graves to make way for his dining hall. Though the officer
died soon, it continued to be used as a rest house for many years by the British, and at one point
even as a police station and a post office. The tomb was vacated and later restored by the orders
of Lord Curzon,[6] and the grave of Adham Khan has since been restored to the site, and lies right
below the central dome, though that of his mother Maham Anga never was.

Chor Minar: The Tower of Beheading

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Some of the unknown facts about India are hidden in the holes on the Tower of Beheading,
which is locally known as Chor Minar in Delhi. The slaughtered heads of thieves used to be
hanging from the holes on the tower, giving a lesson to ‘aspiring robbers’. Of all Delhi
attractions, the Chor Minar is often mistaken for an architectural wonder for its holes. The holes
were made to support spears with heads of beheaded human bodies, in the regime of Alauddin
Khilji, a ruthless sultan of Delhi, who was responsible for the death of Mewar’s Rani Padmini
in Chittorgarh. Such a cruelty was his way of dealing with the Mongols, who were a potential
threat to the Delhi Sultanate. The Chor Minar is located in Houz Khas, Delhi.
READ ALSO 10 Best Road Trips from Delhi
Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah: A Sufi Music Hub

61
Your experience of Old Delhi would remain incomplete without a visit to Hazrat Nizamuddin
Dargah. The mausoleum is dedicated to the famous Chisti Saint Nizamuddin Auliya. It also
houses the tombs of Amir Khusru, Mirza Ghalib and Shah Jahan’s daughter Jahanara. Though
located in a bustling area, the Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah in Old Delhi is a serene place with
musical atmosphere on Thursday evenings. Both men and women are required to cover their
heads inside the dargah complex. Women are not allowed to enter the place where the
Nizamuddin’s Tomb is. The death anniversaries of Saint Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya and poet
Amir Khusru are commemorated through the ‘Urs’ festivity in April and October. Listening to
the Sufi music at the dargah is one of the interesting things to do in Delhi.
Mirza Ghalib ki Haveli: Ghazals in Chandi Chowk   

62
Located in a narrow lane of Chandni Chowk in Old Delhi, Mirza Galib Ki Haveli was the
residence of Mirza Asadullah Baig, a noted Urdu and Persian poet who used to
write ghazals (poetry) under such pen names as Ghalib and Asad. The heartbeats of Old Delhi
are felt in the silence of the haveli where Mirza Ghalib took his last breath in 1869. One of the
eminent poets in British India, he is said to have lived a tragic life, which gave birth to most of
his melancholic poems and songs. He was infamous as the ‘Ladies’ Man’ in the Mughal court of
his time, but such derogatory remarks never offended him. There were a few shops inside Mirza
Ghalib ki Haveli in Chandni Chowk until the building was renovated and restored to its old
world charm in 1999. It got a new lease of life with bricks of sandstone and a wooden entrance.
Visit to this place among Old Delhi’s lesser-known attractions is one of the things to do in Delhi.
Manju Ka Tila: Little Tibet in Delhi

63
Manju Ka Tila is one of the most overlooked places to visit in Delhi. Popularly known as Mini
Tibet, it is a small Tibetan settlement which came to exist around 1960 when some Tibetan
refugees entered India and found shelter in Delhi after Dalai Lama was exiled to
Dharamshala. Manju Ka Tila market is popular with students and tourists alike for the Tibetan
street food. The second generation of the first Tibetan settlers currently lives in Manju Ka Tila
Colony where street-side stalls sell inexpensive junk jewellery and clothes. Some aspects of the
Tibetan life and culture have crept into the day-to-day life of Delhites. Some Tibetan dishes such
as Momo, Thukpa, Tingmo and Phing Sha have made their way to the popular street food of
Delhi. Potala House, Tee Dee and Coffee House in Manju Ka Tila Colony are the most-
frequented hangouts for Tibetan food lovers. CD cassettes of Tibetan films and songs are also
found here.
Delhi is an ever-evolving cosmopolitan city. If Old Delhi is the place for offbeat travel, New
Delhi is suitable for business travel.

ATTRACTIONS: After a sumptuous breakfast in the oldest and most famous market of
Shahjahanabad, Chandni Chowk, we shall enter the realm of the Quila-e-Mubarak. Listening
about the history and stories of this amazing monument will help you get a fascinating
glimpse of Mughal court life inside the Fort and help you imagine the richness of the Mughal
royal lifestyle at the height of its power over the subcontinent. Feel the aura of the fort as
the ultimate seat of power as it must have exuded nearly 450 years ago. We will visit the
public and private audience halls, the women’s quarters, the private residences, baths and
gardens of the Mughal emperors. The fort was home to a succession of Mughal emperors, but

64
as the glory years of the Mughals came to an end so did the royal lifestyle! Later Emperors
abused the fine buildings, invading raiders snatched its various treasures and finally the
British, blind to its qualities, pulled down the greater part of this grand fort. We will also visit
the smaller Salimgarh Fort which was constructed on an island of river Yamuna pre-dating the
Red Fort by almost 120 yrs. Later several Mughal rulers camped here which includes
Humayun who stayed here for three days before recapturing Delhi in 1555AD. In later
centuries the Mughals and British (after 1857) used it as a prison for political prisoners
including many Freedom Fighters till as late as the 1940s.

65
SHAHAJAHANBAD
Emperor Shahjahan built Shahjahanabad, the old city of Delhi in 1648 with the concept of
medieval city layout. Shahjahanabad was a fortified city with rubble walls, bastions and gates at
regular intervals. The city was inhabited on the west of the Red Fort, and, the palace on the
banks of River Yamuna. Jama Masjid the great Friday royal mosque was constructed towards the
south-west of the Red fort. Fortified neighbourhoods with arterial lanes and built fabric on both
sides and neighbourhoods are the main features of the old city of Delhi. Over the period, the
historic built fabric has experienced transformation & declination but many portions are still
alive and bear the evidence of history. The buildings in the old city are distinct in spatial

66
planning, architecture, decorative elements and climate-responsive features. Special efforts and
technical knowledge can save these pieces of evidence for future generations.

GRANDEUR AND STYLE

Ages passed and I did not remember you. Yet, it would be wrong to say that I had forgotten you.
– Firaq
Shahjahanabad is home to a number of grand and stately Havelis of considerable architectural
merit constructed along a set pattern. Built during the late Mughal and colonial periods, the
facades are magnificently carved in buff and red sandstone. The fronts of the Havelis are
decorated with floral patterns, sculptures and fluted designs. The interior of the Havelis have a
central courtyard around which rooms are built, in what is known as the central courtyard plan.
One side usually has a small stone stairway leading to the first floor. The distinguishing features
are the grand old wooden doors with iron or brass and copper fittings with intricate designs on
them and arched niches.

The wall, the rooms, the arch-vault jack roofs and arcaded verandas are said to represent colonial
features. Beautiful jharokhas (windows), chattris (umbrellas), small decorative balconies, fluted
columns, well-designed chabutras (platforms), traditional baithaks (drawing rooms) and marble
floors are features of the Mughal architectural styles. The Havelis are set on a high platform
above street level. Fine and detailed fluted designs depicting different themes adorn the interiors
of these Havelis. The use of stained-glass windows, generally associated with churches, is
another special feature of these grand residences.

Most Havelis have a distinctly marked outer area. The nobleman or owner conducted his routine
work and attended to official business here. The inner area constituted the personal living space.
The central portion of the building, the diwankhana, acted as the drawing-room. As imitations of
imperial constructions, Havelis also had a profusion of gardens, fountains and fruit trees. Today
one can hardly visualize such splendour.

It is often overlooked that the Hindu and Muslim mansions had little to differentiate them, even
as the owner’s perception of life and his beliefs mostly influenced haveli architecture. The
Havelis were not built at random locations but in suitable surroundings. The terraces were
planned with a sense of purpose: apart from providing privacy. Khus (aromatic grass) screens,
kept constantly moist, helped keep the summer heat away while the fine stone screens with
beautifully worked geometric patterns served as ventilators. Some of the large rooms had
fireplaces; the smaller ones were heated with sigris (charcoal braziers) full of red-hot colas.
Patterned stonework embellished the ceramic tiles, but these are rarely seen now. It is a distress
that needs to be visibly assuaged. Only then will a magnificent cultural realm be salvaged.
‘Kasra Zindgani shad bashad ki dar shab-e-jahan abad bashad.’ (the man who fortunately finds
residence in the city of Shahjahanabad leads a happy life). It is innovativeness and a fresh
outlook that is important today, if one is to move forward and stake a claim to the above
mentioned verse.

The name Dharampura of the locality was named after the word ‘Dharam’ – religion, likely
because of the large number of small and big religious institutions including Jain temples. The
building is situated in close proximity of historic Jama Masjid having direct access through Gali

67
Gulian and then opening into Gali Anar with beautiful sandstone arched entrance with decorative
features on the way to haveli. The other approach is through Dariba Kalan the famous jewellery
market, and then walking through Kucha Seth which was a magnificent and Historic Jain temple
with beautiful carvings in it leading to the Haveli.
The Haveli was a part of a residential zone historically, but at present converted into a core
commercial area. The approach towards the building is only a 5′ narrow alley, giving a feeling of
vintage memory lane. The Haveli has the narrowest gali on its backside. The surroundings of the
Haveli still bears the pieces of evidence of history through its physical features. Brackets,
balconies, jharokas, multifoliate arched gateway, carved sandstone facades, wooden doorway the
visual quality of the approach way which at present look dilapidated due to modern insensible
urban pressure.

HAVELI DHARAMPURA
Haveli in Dharampura has distinctive features attributed to the Late Mughal style, though part of
it is a later addition in the 20th century. During the Mughal and the late Mughal period, a large
number of Havelis were built by the courtiers. Historical references suggest that the construction
of the haveli dates to 1887 AD. It was originally designed to have a mixed-use pattern i.e both
residential and commercial. Shops on the lower ground floor that open towards the street and the
remaining floors designed as a residence portray the mixed-use of the Haveli. The ground floor
with a grand entrance and first floor were constructed at the same period, while the second floor
clearly seems to be a later addition at a much later stage in the mid-20th-century.

ABOUT HAVELI DHARAMPURA

A one-of-its-kind experience awaits you at Haveli Dharampura. Step into a time capsule from the
Mughal era through the architectural beauty and grandeur of Haveli Dharampura. Indulge in
comfort, luxury and relaxation with our royal pampering.

Be transported to olden times as you walk through the cusp-arched gateway to a serene hideaway
in the heart of Old Delhi. Rest and rejuvenate in the Indian boutique-style rooms equipped with
all modern amenities screened from the brouhaha of the surrounding streets by thick stone walls.

Delight in the sights and sounds of old Delhi. Explore the bazaars lined with colourful shops.
Lose yourself in the aromas of mouthwatering food. Choose from several nearby sightseeing
destinations.

Indulge in comfort, luxury and relaxation at the beautiful Haveli restored from the brink of
dereliction. The Haveli was awarded UNESCO’s Asia-Pacific Award for Cultural Heritage
Conservation.

Over the past 5 years, several illustrious personalities have visited Haveli Dharampura. Be it
world-renowned film stars, politicians, business leaders, diplomats, authors, travel influencers or
expats, they have all enjoyed a reclusive rejuvenating stay at the Haveli.

HAVELI’S ARCHITECTURE
The Haveli is beautifully decorated with intricate designs of woodwork on the rooftops,

68
sculptures and Hindu goddesses engraved in stone and steel, antique balconies and jharokas that
open to the chirpy pigeons and busy roads of Chandni Chowk.
A grand multi-foliated arched gateway entrance leads you to the central courtyard. Small kiln-
fired bricks called “lakhori“ bricks, red sandstone brackets, floral decorations, motifs, large
arched openings with elephants and intricate carvings on the main door, wooden joist flooring
and lime concrete flooring – give the Haveli a distinct Mughal architectural look.
Spread over 500 sq. yards, this spectacular building once consisted of 60 small rooms, which
have now been redesigned with modern state of the art furnishings and facilities while
maintaining its authentic charm. The Haveli now has 14 guest rooms that are aligned along the
central courtyard.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE HAVELI

The haveli is a significant heritage building, not only due to its distinct architectural features and
traditional construction style but also because it is part of the wonderful ensemble in the historic
core of Capital City. It is on Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage’s list.
In the neighbourhood, there are many residences built in the same period with similar
architectural styles. Architecturally, the haveli is a unique example of residential buildings
during the 19th and 20th centuries planned around a central courtyard. There is an intricate use
of stone brackets, balconies, jharoka, and multi foliated arched gateway and arches, carved
sandstone facades, wooden doorways. The traditional style of construction with lakhori bricks,
wooden joists roofing with lime concrete flooring and use of arches for spanning gives a distinct
architectural contribution to the period.
Although no record is available on information about the original owner of the Haveli, it can be
presumed that the building was probably constructed by a wealthy resident or a business person
of the Dharampura area.

Haveli Dharampura, built in 1887 CE and currently owned by BJP leader Vijay Goel, is a 19th-
century haveli in Chandani Chowk area of old Delhi that as awarded a special mention
in UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation in 2017.[1][2]

Architecture: Spread over 500 sq. yards it is built in the architecture of 19th and 20th around a
central courtyard it has intricate designs of wood work on the rooftops, sculptures and Hindu
goddesses engraved in stone and steel, antique balconies intricate stone brackets,
balconies, jharoka, red sandstone brackets, floral decorations, motifs, wooden joist flooring and
lime concrete flooring, multi foliated arched gateway and arches, carved sandstone facades, large
arched openings with elephants and intricate carvings on the main door, wooden doorways using
traditional material including lakhori bricks and lime mortar.[3][4][2][5][6]
This heritage building classified as "category-2 protected building" by the Delhi Govt's
Department of Archaeology. It was bought and restored by Vijay Goel and refashioned into a
modern 14-rooms 5-star hotel with ancestral haveli look and feel also has a restaurant named
lakhouri.[7][8][6]

From 2011 to 2016 six year restoration project of this protected heritage building by its current
owner, Mr Goel, with no financial or technical support from the government. he resisted the urge
to add new rooms or use more affordable modern material. Instead of iron grille, he used more
expensive cast iron grille, painted the doors blue as was historically customary for the

69
neighborhood, cleared 1000 truckloads of rubble, brought artists who had worked on restoration
of UNESCO heritage listed Red Fort, it was the first haveli to be completely restored in last 100
years. His vision of restoration of other havelis of the neighborhood is based on sustainable
heritage conservation methods and sustainable financial commercial use of the havelis while
staying true to the original heritage of havelis. He was attracted to this haveli, its chajjas (roofs),
pillars, balconies, everything fascinated him.[9]
"You need heart to conserve heritage."
— Vijay Goel, haveli owner and BJP leader,  The Sunday Guardian[

9]

70
71
72
The Red Fort or Lal Qila (Hindustani: [laːlqiːlaː]) is a historic fort in Old
Delhi, Delhi in India that served as the main residence of the Mughal Emperors. Emperor Shah
Jahan commissioned construction of the Red Fort on 12 May 1638, when he decided to shift his
capital from Agra to Delhi. Originally red and white, its design is credited to architect Ustad
Ahmad Lahori, who also constructed the Taj Mahal. The fort represents the peak in Mughal
architecture under Shah Jahan, and combines Persianate palace architecture with Indian
traditions.
The fort was plundered of its artwork and jewels during Nadir Shah's invasion of the Mughal
Empire in 1739. Most of the fort's marble structures were subsequently demolished by the British
following the Indian Rebellion of 1857. The fort's defensive walls were largely undamaged, and
the fortress was subsequently used as a garrison.
On 15 August 1947, the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, raised the Indian
flag above the Lahori Gate. Every year on India's Independence Day (15 August), the Prime
Minister hoists the Indian tricolour flag at the fort's main gate and delivers a nationally broadcast
speech from its ramparts.

The name Red Fort is a translation of the Hindustani Lāl Qila,  deriving from its red sandstone
walls. Lal was derived from Hindustani language meaning "Red" and Qalàh derived from Arabic
word meaning "Fortress". As the residence of the imperial family, the fort was originally known
as the "Blessed Fort" (Qila-i-Mubārak). Agra Fort is also known as Lāl Qila.
Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, c. 1630

73
Emperor Shah Jahan commissioned construction of the Red Fort on 12 May 1638, when he
decided to shift his capital from Agra to Delhi. Originally red and white, Shah Jahan's favourite
colours,[7] its design is credited to architect Ustad Ahmad Lahori, who also constructed the Taj
Mahal. The fort lies along the Yamuna River, which fed the moats surrounding most of the
walls. Construction began in the sacred Islamic month of Muharram, on 13 May 1638.
 
 Supervised by Shah Jahan, it was completed on 6 April 1648.  Unlike other Mughal forts, the
Red Fort's boundary walls are asymmetrical to contain the older Salimgarh Fort. The fortress-
palace was a focal point of the city of Shahjahanabad, which is present-day Old Delhi. Shah
Jahan's successor, Aurangzeb, added the Moti Masjid (Pearl Mosque) to the emperor's private
quarters, constructing barbicans in front of the two main gates to make the entrance to the palace
more circuitous.
The administrative and fiscal structure of the Mughal dynasty declined after Aurangzeb, and the
18th century saw a degeneration of the palace. In 1712 Jahandar Shah became the Mughal
Emperor. Within a year of beginning his rule, Shah was murdered and replaced by Farrukhsiyar.
In 1739, Persian emperor Nadir Shah easily defeated the strong Mughal army of around 200,000
soldiers,[15] plundering the Red Fort, including the Peacock Throne. Nadir Shah returned to Persia
after three months, leaving a destroyed city and a weakened Mughal empire to Muhammad Shah.
 
 The internal weakness of the Mughal Empire made the Mughals only titular rulers of Delhi, and
a 1752 treaty made the Marathas protectors of the throne at Delhi. The 1758 Maratha victory
at Sirhind aided by the Sikhs and successive defeat at Panipat  placed them in further conflict
with Ahmad Shah Durrani.
In 1760, the Marathas removed and melted the silver ceiling of the Diwan-i-Khas to raise funds
for the defence of Delhi from the armies of Ahmed Shah Durrani. In 1761, after the Marathas
lost the third battle of Panipat, Delhi was raided by Ahmed Shah Durrani. Ten years later, the
Marathas recaptured Delhi from the Rohilla Afghans under the leadership of Visaji Biniwale,
Ramchandra Kanade, Mahadji Scindia and Tukoji Holkar and placed their puppet Mughal
emperor Shah Alam II on the throne.
In 1764, the Jat ruler of Bharatpur, Maharaja Jawahar Singh (the son of Maharaja Suraj Mal)
attacked Delhi and captured the Red Fort of Delhi on 5 February 1765.  Two days later, after
taking tribute from the Mughals, removed their armies from the fort and the Jats took away the
throne of the Mughals, called the pride of the Mughals, and the doors of the Red Fort as a
memorial, and this throne is today enhancing the beauty of the palaces of Deeg. The doors are
located in the Lohagarh Fort of Bharatpur.
In 1783 the Sikh Misl Karor Singhia, led by Baghel Singh, conquered Delhi and the Red Fort.
[25]
 Baghel Singh, Jassa Singh Ahluwalia and Jassa Singh Ramgarhia all allied with a 40,000
force and looted the area from Awadh to Jodhpur. After negotiations, Baghel Singh and his
forces agreed to leave Delhi and reinstate the Mughal emperor Shah Alam II. The condition of
their retreat included the construction of seven Sikh Gurdwaras in Delhi, including
the Gurudwara Sis Ganj in Chandni Chowk
In 1788, a Maratha garrison occupied the Red fort and Delhi alongside providing protection to
the Mughal Emperor. Mahadji Scindia signed a treaty with the Sikhs where they were warned
not to enter Delhi or ask for the Rakhi tribute. The fort came under the control of the East India
Company following the Second Anglo-Maratha War in 1803.
During the Second Anglo-Maratha War, forces of the East India Company defeated Maratha

74
forces of Daulat Rao Scindia in the Battle of Delhi; this ended Maratha control over the city and
their control of the Red Fort. After the battle, the British East India Company took over the
administration of Mughal territories and installed a Resident at the Red Fort. The last Mughal
emperor to occupy the fort, Bahadur Shah II, became a symbol of the 1857 rebellion against the
British East India Company in which the residents of Shahjahanabad participated.

The Rang Mahal inside Red Fort in the mid-nineteenth century.

View of the Red Fort from the river (by Ghulam Ali Khan, between c. 1852–1854/ The Rang
Mahal inside Red Fort today.
Despite its position as the seat of Mughal power and its defensive capabilities, the Red Fort was
not a site of an engagement during the 1857 uprising against the British. After the rebellion was
defeated, Bahadur Shah II left the fort on 17 September and was apprehended by British forces.
Bahadur Shah Zafar II returned to Red Fort as a British prisoner, was tried in 1858 and exiled
to Rangoon on 7 October of that year.[28] After the end of the rebellion, the British sacked the
Red Fort before ordering its systemic demolition. 80% of the fort’s buildings were demolished as
a result of this effort, including the stone screen that connected the pavilions along the fort’s
river-facing façade, which was demolished. All furniture was removed or destroyed;
the harem apartments, servants' quarters and gardens were demolished, and a line of stone
barracks built in their place. Only the marble buildings on the east side at the imperial enclosure
escaped complete destruction, although they were damaged by the demolition efforts. While the
defensive walls and towers were relatively unharmed, more than two-thirds of the inner
structures were demolished.

75
Lord Curzon, Viceroy of India from 1899 to 1905, ordered repairs to the fort including
reconstruction of the walls and the restoration of the gardens complete with a watering system.

Every year on India's Independence Day (15 August), the Prime Minister hoists the Indian
"tricolour flag" at the fort's main gate and delivers a nationally broadcast speech from its
ramparts.
Most of the jewels and artwork located in the Red Fort were looted during Nadir Shah's invasion
of 1747 and again after the Indian Rebellion of 1857 against the British. They were eventually
sold to private collectors or the British Museum, the British Library and the Victoria and Albert
Museum. For example, the jade wine cup of Shah Jahan and the crown of Bahadur Shah II are all
currently located in London. Various requests for restitution have so far been rejected by the
British government.
1911 saw the visit of King George V and Queen Mary for the Delhi Durbar. In preparation for
their visit, some buildings were restored. The Red Fort Archaeological Museum was moved from
the drum house to the Mumtaz Mahal.
The INA trials, also known as the Red Fort Trials, refer to the courts-martial of a number of
officers of the Indian National Army. The first was held between November and December 1945
at the Red Fort.
On 15 August 1947, the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru raised the Indian
national flag above the Lahore Gate.[33]
After Indian Independence, the site experienced few changes, and the Red Fort continued to be
used as a military cantonment. A significant part of the fort remained under Indian Army control
until 22 December 2003, when it was given to the Archaeological Survey of India for
restoration. In 2009 the Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan (CCMP), prepared
by the Archaeological Survey of India under Supreme Court directions to revitalise the fort, was
announced.
Archaeological excavations at Red fort have unearthed several Ochre Coloured Pottery
culture artifacts dating from 2600 BCE to 1200 BCE.
The Red Fort, the largest monument in Delhi, is one of its most popular tourist destinations and
attracts thousands of visitors every year. It is a monument of national significance; every year
on India's Independence Day (15 August), the Prime Minister of India hoists the country's flag at
the Red Fort and delivers a nationally broadcast speech from its ramparts. The fort also appears
on the back of the ₹500 note of the Mahatma Gandhi New Series of the Indian rupee.
The major architectural features are in mixed condition; the extensive water features are dry.
Some buildings are in fairly good condition, with their decorative elements undisturbed; in
others, the marble inlaid flowers have been removed by looters. The tea house, although not in
its historical state, is a working restaurant. The mosque and hammam or public baths are closed
to the public, although visitors can peer through their glass windows or marble latticework.
Walkways are crumbling, and public toilets are available at the entrance and inside the park. The
Lahori Gate entrance leads to a mall with jewellery and craft stores. There is also a museum of
"blood paintings", depicting young 20th-century Indian martyrs and their stories, an
archaeological museum and an Indian war-memorial museum.

76
In April 2018, Dalmia Bharat Group adopted the Red Fort for maintenance, development, and
operations, per a contract worth ₹25 crores for a period of five years, under the government's
"Adopt A Heritage" scheme. The memorandum of understanding was signed with the ministries
of Tourism and Culture, and the Archaeological Survey of India (A.S.I.). The adoption of the fort
by a private group left people divided and drew criticism from the public, opposition political
parties, and historians. It also led to the #IndiaOnSale hashtag on Twitter. ] In May 2018, the
Indian History Congress called for the deal to be suspended until there is an "impartial review"
of the deal "by the Central Advisory Board of Archaeology or any other recognised body of
experts".

Barrel vault structure located past the Lahore Gate, acts as a market that was built to satisfy the
needs of higher ranked Mughal women, who resided in the fort
The World Heritage Convention characterises the Red Fort as representing "the zenith of Mughal
creativity". The fort synthesises Islamic palace structure with local traditions, resulting in a
confluence of "Persian, Timurid, and Hindu architecture". The fort served as an inspiration for
later buildings and gardens across the Indian subcontinent.
The Red fort has an area of 254.67 acres (103.06 ha) enclosed by 2.41 kilometres (1.50 mi) of
defensive walls, punctuated by turrets and bastions that vary in height from 18 metres (59 ft) on
the river side to 33 metres (108 ft) on the city side. The fort is octagonal, with the north–south
axis longer than the east–west axis. The marble, floral decorations and the fort's double domes
exemplify later Mughal architecture.[
It showcases a high level of ornamentation, and the Kohinoor diamond was reportedly part of the
furnishings. The fort's artwork synthesises Persian, European and Indian art, resulting in a unique
Shahjahani style rich in form, expression and colour. Red Fort is one of the building complexes
of India encapsulating a long period of history and its arts. Even before its 1913 commemoration
as a monument of national importance, efforts were made to preserve it for posterity.
The Lahori and Delhi Gates were used by the public, and the Khizrabad Gate was for the
emperor. The Lahori Gate is the main entrance, leading to a domed shopping area known as
the Chatta Chowk (covered bazaar).

77
The most important surviving structures are the walls and ramparts, the main gates, the
audience halls and the imperial apartments on the eastern riverbank.

Map of Red Fort showing major structures

Lahori Gate

The Delhi Gate, which is almost identical in appearance to the Lahori Gate

The Lahori Gate is the main gate to the Red Fort, named for its orientation towards the city of
Lahore. During Aurangzeb's reign, the beauty of the gate was altered by the addition of
a barbican, which Shah Jahan described as "a veil drawn across the face of a beautiful
woman” Every Indian Independence Day since 1947, the national flag is unfurled and the prime
minister makes a speech from its ramparts.

78
The Delhi Gate is an entrance to the Red Fort in Delhi and is on the Fort's southern wall. The
gate received its name from the Fort's city. The primary gate is the Lahori Gate, which is very
similar in appearance.
The gate was constructed under Shah Jahan. It was provided with a 10.5 high
metre barbican by Aurangzeb, facing west.
The gateway consists of three stories and is decorated with square, rectangular, and cusped
arched panels. These panels are flanked by semi-octagonal towers crowned by two open
octagonal pavilions. Red sandstone adorns the gate while the pavilion roofs are in white stone.
Between the two pavilions is a screen of miniature chhatris with seven miniature marble domes.
Flame-shaped battlements encompass the wall.
Near it on the right the last emperor was imprisoned after September 1857. Between the inner
and outer gates stand two large stone elephants without riders. They were replaced here by the
gift of Lord Curzon. Beyond the southern glacis of the fort, on which a cross marks the site of
the old cemetery, are the gardens and cantonment of Darya-ganj. The latter is bounded on the
west by the Faiz Bazar leading to the Delhi Gate.

79
Chhatta Chowk
Adjacent to the Lahori Gate is the Chhatta Chowk (or Meena Bazaar), where silk, jewellery and
other items for the imperial household were sold during the Mughal period. This market was
earlier known as Bazaar-i-Musaqqaf or Chatta-bazaar (both meaning "roofed market"). Lahori
Gate, the entrance portal of the Red Fort, leads into an open outer court, where it crosses the
large north–south street which originally divided the fort's military functions (to the west) from
the palaces (to the east). The southern end of the street is the Delhi Gate.

The Naubat Khana in the Red Fort

The Naubat Khana and the courtyard, before its destruction in the 1850s by the British
colonialists
The Naubat Khana, or Naqqar Khana, is the drum house that stands at the entrance between the
outer and inner court at the Red Fort in Delhi.
The British initially installed the museum of the fort in this gate. It was later moved to
the Mumtaz Mahal. The Indian War Memorial Museum is currently located in the first and
second stories.
The vaulted arcade of the Chhatta Chowk measures 540 x 360 feet, and ends in the centre of the
outer court.[1] The side arcades and central tank were destroyed following the 1857 rebellion.
In the east wall of the court lies the Naubat Khana, which was connected to the side arcades.
Musicians from the Naubat Khana would announce the arrival of the emperor and other
dignitaries at the court of public audience (Diwan-i-Am). Music was also played five times a day
at chosen hours. Many Indian royal palaces have a drum house at the entrance.[
Some historians believe that the later Mughal emperors Jahandar Shah (1712–13)
and Farrukhsiyar (1713–19) were assassinated here
The popular name of the gate, Hathiyan pol or "elephant gate," derives from the tradition that
everyone except princes of the royal blood had to dismount from their elephants at this point,
before entering further into the inner fort complex.[2]
Architecture: The ground plan is a rectangular structure consisting of three large stories. The
band gallery is 100 x 80 feet. [1] The construction material is red sandstone, the surface covered in
white chunam plaster. The richly carved floral designs on its red sandstone walls appear to have
been originally painted with gold. The interior was colourfully painted. Several layers of these
paintings can be found at the entrance chamber.

80
he Diwan-i-Am, or Hall of Audience, is a room in the Red Fort of Delhi where the Mughal
emperor Shah Jahan (1592-1665) and his successors received members of the general public and
heard their grievances.
The inner main court to which the Nakkarkhana led was 540 feet broad, 420 feet deep, and
surrounded by arcade galleries, where chieftains (umaras) on duty were posted. [2] On the further
side of it is the Diwan-i-Am.
The Diwan-i-Am consists of a front hall, open on three sides and backed by a set of rooms faced
in red sandstone. The hall is 100 ft x 60 ft and divided into 27 square bays on a system of
columns which support the arches. The roof is spanned by sandstone beams.
The proportions of this hall, of its columns, and of the engraved arches show high aesthetics and
fine craftsmanship. With an impressive façade of nine engraved arch openings, the hall was
ornamented with gilded and white shell lime chunam plaster work. Its ceiling and columns were
painted with gold.
In the centre of the eastern wall stands a marble canopy (jharokha) covered by a "Bengal" roof.
A marble dais below the throne, inlaid with semi-precious stones, was used by the prime minister
(wazir) to receive petitions. The emperor was separated from the courtiers by a gold-plated
railing, while a silver railing ran around the remaining three sides of the hall. The audience
ceremony is known as Jharokha Darshan.
Behind the canopy, the wall is decorated with panels inlaid with multi-coloured pietra
dura stones. They represent flowers and birds and are reputedly carved by Austin de Bordeaux, a
Florentine jeweler. The hall was restored by Lord Curzon, while the inlay work of the throne
recess and the plaques of the arch to the west side of the throne were restored by the Florentine
artist, Mennegatti. Bernier gives a full account of the splendid appearance of the hall during the
rule of Aurangzeb, as well as the 17th century merchant Jean-Baptiste Tavernier.

81
 The wall of the balcony with inlay work (painting by Ghulam Ali Khan, before 1854)
RIGHT The throne of Shah Jahan (today with anti-bird netting)
 

Mumtaz Mahal/Throne detail/Diwan-i-Am Description

Nahr-i-Bihisht
The imperial apartments consist of a row of pavilions on a raised platform along the eastern edge
of the fort, overlooking the Yamuna river. The pavilions are connected by a canal, known as
the Nahr-i-Bihisht ("Stream of Paradise"), running through the center of each pavilion. Water is
drawn from the Yamuna via a tower, the Shahi Burj, at the northeast corner of the fort. The
palace is designed to emulate paradise as described in the Quran. In the riverbed below the
imperial apartments and connected buildings was a space known as zer-jharokha ("beneath
the latticework").
Mumtaz Mahal
The two southernmost pavilions of the palace are zenanas (women's quarters), consisting of
the Mumtaz Mahal built for Arjumand Banu Begum (Mumtaz Mahal) wife of the Mughal
emperor Shah Jahan and the larger Rang Mahal a resort for royal women. The Mumtaz
Mahal houses the Red Fort Archaeological Museum.
Rang Mahal
The Rang Mahal or Palace of Colour is located in the Red Fort, Delhi.
It originally served as a part of the imperial harem and was known as the Palace of Distinction
(Imtiaz Mahal) during the rule of Shah Jahan. After the British occupied the fort in 1857, Rang
Mahal was used as a mess hall for a brief time.[1]
The building's interior was once richly painted and decorated. Some apartments of this building
are called Shish Mahal due to tiny pieces of mirrors that cover the ceilings.
Through the center of the marble palace, a shallow canal called the Stream of Paradise (Nahr-i-
Bihist) flowed into a marble basin carved into the floor. Under the Rang Mahal was a basement
(tehkhana), which women would use on hot summer days

82
 Drawing of the interior with the Stream of Paradise in the 1850s
 

Interior with the Stream of Paradise in 2012/The mirrored ceiling/The Corner View
 
Khas Mahal

The Khas Mahal in the Red Fort

83
Bahadur Shah II enthroned underneath the Scale of Justice (1837–38)
The Khas Mahal served as the Mughal emperor's private residence in Delhi. The structure is
located inside the Red Fort, which is a large defensive and governmental complex located inside
the city.
It consists of three parts: the Chamber of Telling Beads (Viz-tasbih-khana), the sleeping
chamber, (khwabgah) and the wardrobe (tosha-khana) or sitting room (baithak). The interior is
decorated with carved white marble painted with colourful floral decorations. The ceiling was
also partially gilded. The marble screen was carved with the scale of justice (Mizan-i-adal), and
above it is a particularly important item of Mughal art. The scale used was a depiction of the
emperor's justice.[2]
The projecting tower to the east of the Khas Mahal is called the Octagonal Tower (Muthamman
Burj). The emperor would address his subjects every morning in a ceremony called 

Diwan-i-Khas in the mid-nineteenth century

The Tusbeeh Khana with the imperial seat and the Stream of Paradise (1843)/Interior with
the Stream of Paradise/Marble screen with the scale of justice
The Diwan-i-Khas (Hall of Private Audience) was a building for the official affairs and requests
of the novelty and royal family. A gate on the north side of the Diwan-i-Aam leads to the
innermost court of the palace (Jalau Khana) and the Diwan-i-Khas.[  It is constructed of white
marble, inlaid with precious stones. The once-silver ceiling has been restored in wood. François
Bernier described seeing the jewelled Peacock Throne here during the 17th century. At either
end of the hall, over the two outer arches, is an inscription by Persian poet Amir Khusrow:
If heaven can be on the face of the earth,
It is this, it is this, it is this.

— "World Heritage Site – Red Fort, Delhi; Diwan-i-Khas". Archaeological Survey of India.
Retrieved 15 August 2012.

84
Panoramic view of the imperial enclosure.
From left: Moti Masjid, the hammam, Divan-i-Khas, Khas Mahal and the Rang Mahal
Hammam

Hammam of Red Fort interior in mid-nineteenth century

The hammam were the imperial baths, consisting of three domed rooms with white marble
patterned floors. It consists of three apartments separated by corridors and crowned with domes.
The apartments are illuminated by a colored glass skylight. The two rooms to either side of the
present entrance are believed to have been used by the royal children for bathing. The eastern
apartment, containing three fountain basins, was used primarily as a dressing room. In the center
of each room stood a fountain, and one of the rooms contained a marble reservoir built into the
wall. As legend goes, perfumed rose-water once ran from the taps. The western apartment was
used for hot or vapor baths, and the heating arrangement was being fixed in its western wall.
Baoli

The baoli (step-well) at the

Red Fort, Delhi
The baoli or step-well is one of the few monuments that were not demolished by the British after
the Indian Rebellion of 1857. The chambers within the baoli were converted into a prison.
During the Indian National Army Trials (Red Fort Trials) in 1945–46, it housed Indian National

85
Army officers Shah Nawaz Khan (general), Colonel Prem Kumar Sahgal, and Colonel Gurbaksh
Singh Dhillon. The Red Fort Baoli is uniquely designed with two sets of staircases leading down
to the well.

Moti Masjid in Red Fort Delhi

Moti Masjid
West of the hammam is the Moti Masjid, the Pearl Mosque. A later addition, it was built in 1659
as a private mosque for Emperor Aurangzeb. It is a small, three-domed mosque carved in white
marble, with a three-arched screen leading down to the courtyard
Hira Mahal

Shahi Burj and its pavilion

The Hira Mahal ("Diamond Palace") is a pavilion on the southern edge of the fort, built under
Bahadur Shah II and at the end of the Hayat Baksh garden. The Moti Mahal on the northern
edge, a twin building, was demolished during (or after) the 1857 rebellion. The Shahi Burj was
the emperor's main study; its name means "Emperor's Tower", and it originally had a chhatri on
top. Heavily damaged, the tower is undergoing reconstruction. In front of it is a marble pavilion
added by Emperor Aurangzeb.
Hayat Bakhsh Bagh

Red Zafar Mahal and white Sawan/Bhadon pavilion behind it in the Hayat Bakhsh Bagh

The Hayat Bakhsh Bagh ( 'Life-Bestowing Garden') is located in the northeast part of the
complex. It features a reservoir, which is now dry, and channels through which the Nahr-i-
Bihisht flows. At each end is a white marble pavilion, called the Sawan and Bhadon

86
Pavilions, Hindu months, Sawan and Bhadon. In the centre of the reservoir is the red-
sandstone Zafar Mahal, added in around 1842 by Bahadur Shah Zafar, and named after him.
Smaller gardens (such as the Mehtab Bagh or Moonlight Garden) existed west of it, but were
demolished when the British barracks were built. There are plans to restore the gardens.[  Beyond
these, the road to the north leads to an arched bridge and the Salimgarh Fort.
Princes' quarter
To the north of the Hayat Bakhsh Bagh and the Shahi Burj is the quarter of the imperial princes.
This was used by member of the Mughal royal family and was largely demolished by the British
forces after the 1857 rebellion. One of the palaces was converted into a tea house for the soldiers.

 
 The Streets of Old Delhi: Order in a Seemingly-Chaotic Public Realm. February 11, 2016
Ray Bromley

This  essay is part of a series that examines the roles that community-based organizations
(CBOs) have played as active participants in the process of "governing" whether in service
delivery, risk mitigation, or the creation of livelihood and other opportunities. More ...

The streets and alleyways of Old Delhi are among the best-known examples of traditional urban
environments in India. They are characterized by a great variety of users and activities, changing
substantially according to day of the week, time of day or night, weather, seasons, and the cycle

87
of public holidays, religious festivals and other special events. There is intense competition for
space, and for many hours each day, especially between 11a.m. and 9 p.m., the streets and alleys
are heavily congested and very noisy. Despite all the hustle and bustle, however, there are
informal norms and practices that influence the use of space and that keep accidents, property
damage and criminal activity to low levels. This paper explores the continued viability of Old
Delhi and the informal norms and practices that keep it functioning.
Old Delhi was founded by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan as Shahjahanabad in 1639, and the
city served as the Mughal capital till the last Emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar, was deposed and
exiled by the British in 1858. Old Delhi survives because of its vibrant economy and historical
significance. So far, at least, the Government of India and the Delhi City Authorities have
tolerated it as a historic area, far too complex to formally reorder according to modern norms that
give priority to motor vehicles and focus on simplification, specialization, creating space, and
reducing density. Governments seek to ensure that law and order prevails, that taxes are paid,
and that major accidents and tragedies are avoided, but not to fundamentally transform the area
to conform better to the models of urban development applied since the early twentieth century
in other parts of the metropolitan region. Motor vehicles are not banned, but they are not favored,
and the urban design of neighborhoods intended originally for pedestrians, carts, bicycles, cattle,
and draught animals remains in place.
From Shahjahanabad to Old Delhi

Old Delhi is characterized by high-density, low-to-medium rise, mixed use development in areas
that lie within the original walls of the old city of Shahjahanabad. Some parts of the walled city
were heavily damaged in 1857-1858, during and after the Indian Mutiny or First War of
Independence—the great uprising that affected much of northern India. After the uprising the
British occupied the Mughal fortress and palace complex (the Red Fort) and the great mosque
(Jama Masjid). The British ordered the demolition of almost all the structures between the Fort
and the Mosque and to the south of the Fort, creating an enormous buffer space for military
security, training and parades. Shortly afterwards they ordered the demolition of an east-west
swathe of the walled city for the Delhi Junction Rail Station and associated lines, and in the early
1900’s they ordered the clearance of a north-south swathe just beyond the western walls for the
Agra-Delhi Railroad. The British also demolished substantial portions of the walls and allowed
stone to be removed for other constructions, so what remains of the original walls are primarily
the fortified gateways. The original walls enclosed an area of 6.1 square kilometers, and about
4.0 square kilometers of the historic city remain as dense urban neighborhoods.
In the nineteenth century the British developed their characteristic military cantonment areas and
bureaucratic civil lines to the north of the walled city. They created a low-density semi-suburban
“North Delhi,” designed on the assumption that, for their health, safety, security and happiness,
most British residents needed to reside in bungalows surrounded by gardens, and to ride horses
or travel in horse-drawn carriages to get around the area.

In 1911 the British announced the transfer of the administrative capital of India from Calcutta to
Delhi and the development of a new capital city on the south side of Old Delhi, to be known as
New Delhi. The street plan and urban design of New Delhi, designed by the British architects
Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker, seemed to deliberately contradict and negate every aspect of
Old Delhi. New Delhi was purposefully low density, with wide streets and a complex
Renaissance street pattern featuring a variety of geometric shapes including concentric circles,
hexagons, octagons, and many elaborate roundabouts. The street system seemed to ignore the

88
presence of Old Delhi to the north, instead focusing on a giant west-east ceremonial mall axis
known as the Rajpath, with the principal governmental buildings at the top (west) end and major
monuments, now centered on the India Gate, at the bottom. A second rail station was added, the
New Delhi Station, on the west side of Old Delhi, just outside the historic walls.  A second
cantonment was also created to the south-west, so as to facilitate direct military support to the
new governmental areas.

Construction of New Delhi was quite slow after 1911, and the new capital was not inaugurated
till 1931, just 16 years before it became the capital of newly independent India in 1947. Ever
since there has been a confusion of identities, with some people referring to everywhere in the
National Capital Territory (NCT), including North, Old, and New Delhi, simply as Delhi, and
others insisting that the whole city is New Delhi and Old Delhi is just a cluster of neighborhoods
within that city. Meanwhile, the metropolitan area has spread out in all directions, far beyond the
boundaries of the NCT into the adjacent states of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, with giant suburbs
like Noida, Faridabad, Ghaziabad and Gurgaon giving the metropolitan area a total population
approaching 30 million, or even exceeding 30 million if satellite towns developed by
industrialists and real estate speculators are added in.
The largest unit of all, the National Capital Region, includes cities, towns, villages and rural
areas spread across three states (Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan), all within 200 km drive
of central Delhi, with a total population of over 47 million according to the 2011 census and the
2014 redefinition of regional boundaries.

Most of the sprawling Delhi Metropolitan Region is enormously reliant on motor vehicles and
the extensive metro system for transportation. Wide straight main roads have been built to
accommodate motor vehicles, and most of the metro is elevated along some of the major road
axes. Walkable areas are limited to lower income neighborhoods, small shopping centers, the
interior of shopping malls, and the immediate vicinity of the metro stations. In contrast, most of
the new middle to upper class residential areas are walled and gated with controlled entry only
for residents and their occasional approved guests. The residents can walk within their gated
residential complexes, and those complexes may include membership of tennis clubs, golf clubs
and other exclusive Members Only facilities, but there is no true public realm, open to all. In
middle to upper class English-language media and in the airport, metro stations and other
locations, there are many advertisements exhorting young up-and-coming professionals to do the
right thing and buy into a gated villa, townhouse or apartment complex. These complexes are
presented as totally new, clean, beautiful, green, and ecologically sustainable—earthly paradises
for those who have the money and wisdom to buy into them. They seem to offer protection from
many supposed perils of the city, most notably congestion, pollution, dirt, garbage, itinerant
vendors, beggars, crime, and contagious diseases.

89
If we follow the logic of Delhi’s inexorable sprawl, people who can afford to do so seem to be
fleeing everything that Old Delhi stands for: density, congestion, seemingly chaotic public
spaces where walking is often the fastest and best way to get around, and the presence of great
socioeconomic diversity. Yes, Old Delhi is often noisy, has substantial air pollution, dirt and
garbage, and has many street vendors and a few beggars and petty criminals, but many people,
including some wealthy merchants, want to be there because of the great variety of economic
opportunities that it offers in a relatively small area. Its buildings, streets and alleyways have
high occupancy levels, and many of its businesses are highly concentrated by types of craft,
merchandise and activity. The logic of agglomeration and scale economies is vital, with many
different specialized areas, each combining wholesale and retail trade by dozens of merchants
dealing in a specific commodity like cotton textiles, sandals, spices, pulses, fruits, schoolbooks,
or calendars.

Urban Morphology
As befits a walkable city, Old Delhi has a great variety of houses of worship, historic buildings
and other landmarks, but the majority of the buildings are residential and commercial. Most of
the buildings occupy most of their lots, with little or no setbacks to the front or side, so the
streetscape is essentially continuous, with occasional narrow private alleyways leading to
backyard spaces and with broader public alleyways providing access to properties that do not
front onto the streets. Most buildings date from between 1820 and 1970, though many have
received repairs, modifications, extensions or new facades since then.

Old Delhi is a world of relatively narrow streets surrounding large and irregularly shaped blocks
penetrated by many alleyways. Most of the streets have no sidewalks and have the space for just
one or two lanes of motor vehicle traffic. Off to the sides run public alleyways which penetrate
the blocks and often branch to connect with other alleys. Occasionally an alley may open out a
little to create a pocket plaza around a shade tree or well. Some of the alleys are just dead ends or
U-shaped axes coming back to the same street further along the axis, while others cross the
blocks to eventually reach a different street. There is little concept of a 'block' because there is no
grid plan to permit steady counting of progress in one direction. Indeed, in the narrow alleyways,
where buildings may protrude over the walkway and where arches are common linking
properties on both sides, visitors can very easily lose their bearings.

The one major exception in the street plan of Old Delhi is Chandni Chowk—a wide boulevard

90
that runs .9 miles westward from the Red Fort. Chandni Chowk has sidewalks, and some sections
have arcades, with the second stories of the buildings overhanging the sidewalk and columns
every 7-16 feet creating a nominal divider between the sidewalk and the street. Down the middle
of Chandni Chowk there is a raised divide, often with a small fence on top, intended to prevent
vehicles and pedestrians from crossing to the other side. The boulevard was created in the mid
seventeenth century as an integral part of the new Mughal capital, Shahjahanabad, creating an
elegant promenade from the imperial residence in the Red Fort to the heart of the walled city.
Along its axis are some of the most important houses of worship including the Sri Digambar Jain
Temple, the Sikh Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib, the Suneri and Fatehpuri Mosques, the Gauri
Shankar and Shri Shiv Navgrah Hindu Temples, and the Central Baptist Church. It also includes
the old Town Hall, which served as the center of urban government from 1866 till 2009.
Old Delhi’s traditional urban environments, like comparable historic areas in other major Indian
cities (Kolkata, Chennai, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Ahmadabad, Varanasi, etc.), are characterized by
mixed use. Most of the buildings of Old Delhi are not officially zoned for single uses, and each
building has the use, or mix of uses, that its owners have chosen.

It is very common for downstairs front uses to be retail or service and downstairs back areas to
be used for warehousing and storage, while the remainder of the building is residential. Entire
multi-story buildings may be rented out room-by-room to a mixture of businesses and residential
tenants. Buildings are often festooned with signs advertising the many businesses that function
inside, and religious and public buildings are interspersed between the private residential and
commercial properties. Some buildings have a small semi-private space in front—an area
bordering the street or sidewalk that belongs to the building owner, and the owner may reserve
that space for personal parking or a retail stall, or rent it out to someone else. Very often, also,
private retail and service businesses encroach onto the adjacent public space, giving their
businesses extra visibility and turnover.

Old Delhi Streetlife

Focusing on the public spaces of Old Delhi, there is little or no formal spatial separation of street
commerce from traffic, or of parking from vehicle movement. Similarly, there is no formal
separation of pedestrians from vehicles, or of animals and humans, or of different types of
vehicles. Most streets and alleyways are two-way, and vehicles and pedestrians adjust their
movements and expectations to somehow get through, stopping, reversing, squeezing to the
sides, but most often just relentlessly pushing forward. Chandni Chowk and Netaj Subhas Marg,
the major north-south axis that separates the Red Fort from the remainder of Old Delhi, have
central dividers to separate the traffic going in each direction, and some similar arrangements are
present in the vicinity of the two rail stations, but elsewhere it is normal for vehicles to move
over to the right side of the road whenever there is an obstacle to the left. The alleys are mainly
used by pedestrians, animals, and two- or three-wheel vehicles,as larger vehicles are limited by
the sheer narrowness of the alley spaces and awkward angles of the intersections.

Both in British colonial times and since the Independence of India in 1947, local laws have been
promulgated to govern street activities and traffic flows in Delhi, but the rules have generally not
been strictly enforced in Old Delhi. It is much easier to enforce rules in newer, lower density
areas, and enforcement is particularly strict in governmental New Delhi and in the elite suburbs,

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where the police are expected to protect privilege. Police superintendents and other officials ride
around in cars, ordering their subordinates to enforce rules, if necessary using powers of arrest or
confiscation. In the very crowded, congested, competitive  and multicultural environment of Old
Delhi however, micro-encroachment from private to public spaces is common, and many
vendors, motorists and pedestrians simply do whatever they feel like doing in the public realm
until specifically pushed back or told not to. Some vendors and petty transporters have official
licenses to practice their trade, but most work without permits and simply move away for a time
or pay a small bribe if there is an inspection. In a congested and seemingly chaotic environment,
it is very difficult to enforce rules because so many seem to be breaking them. Instead, to a very
large extent, the continuing peaceful functioning of the public spaces depends on the common
sense and mutual 'give and take' of the many people who use them.

The streets and alleyways of Old Delhi have a clear rhythm over the 24-hour and seven-day
cycles. Activity steadily rises from before dawn until the early afternoon, peaks in the mid to late
afternoon and early evening, and declines from 8pm onwards. The quietest period is between
1:00 am and 5:00 am, and street cleaning, whether by municipal employees or locally hired
sweepers is usually done overnight. There are few or no places to deposit trash, and so during the
course of the day the street becomes increasingly littered with waste that will probably be
removed during the night. The main through roads around Old Delhi have a notable morning
rush hour between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. as corporate and government employees head to work, but
this is hardly noted in Old Delhi, where the rhythm of commercial activity is the prime
determinant of congestion. Traffic is generally lower on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays,
because of public and religious holidays, with Sunday as the quietest day, but at peak hours the
streets are packed on all seven days of the week.

Many street activities are closely related to weather and seasonality. Delhi has great climatic
fluctuations, with average daytime temperatures peaking at 104ºF in May and falling to 68ºF in
January, and average nighttime temperatures peaking at 82ºF in June and falling to 46ºF in
December and January. Heavy rains may accompany the monsoon season in July, August or
September, and fog and air pollution are notable in winter.[3] Many vendors adjust their
merchandise to the climate, for example selling ice cream in hot periods, umbrellas in rainy
periods, and hot drinks in winter. Some vendors give up selling on rainy days, and many people
adjust their hours between hot dry periods, wet periods, and cold periods.
Street vendors vary enormously in level of capital investment and type of stall. Many simply lay
their merchandise out on a cloth or plastic sheet by the roadside. Others walk around carrying
their merchandise, an approach that favors sales to vehicle drivers and passengers. Others sell
from a flat cart mounted on four bicycle wheels, which can be taken off the street and stored
overnight, while still others have elaborate stalls or kiosks, or even sell from the back or side of
parked vehicles.

Animals are important elements of the street environment in Old Delhi; they are usually tolerated
and taken for granted. They are not as frequent and visible as in Indian villages, but they play
significant roles in the local environment and economy. There are many dogs, some associated
with houses, some effectively wild on the streets, and significant numbers of monkeys, often
scampering across the rooftops. Pigeons and crows are the most visible birds, and there are many
locations where seeds are frequently scattered to attract and feed the pigeons. Horses and oxen

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pull carts, and cattle, sheep, goats, and chickens are all kept by local property owners, with cattle
often standing or sitting out on the street and consuming fodder grass or garbage. Some older
hungry cattle wander the streets, abandoned by their owners and waiting to be picked up by the
local authorities. Occasional camels and donkeys are kept to pull carts or carry loads, and
sometimes an elephant may be walked through the street, perhaps heading to a procession, circus
or special event. In general the animals are very docile, as they are accustomed to large numbers
of people and crowded streets, and pedestrians and motorists simply move around the animals
without significant risks of accidents. Animal excrement often falls on the street and is usually
cleaned up overnight and eventually used for fuel or compost. 
The vehicles of Old Delhi are even more diverse than the animal population, with a full range of
motor vehicles: trucks, buses, pick-ups, minibuses, cars, vans, auto-rickshaws (three-wheel
motorcycles for passengers or cargo), motorcycles, motor-scooters, and even some electric
bicycles. In addition there are many vehicles without motors, ranging from hand-carts to
bicycles, cycle-rickshaws (three-wheelers for passengers or cargo), hand-powered tricycles for
people with lower body handicaps, and on to a range of carts and carriages pulled by oxen,
horses, donkeys and camels. Bicycles are often heavily loaded with cargo and then pushed to
their destination.

The result of high levels of congestion and the great variety of animals, vehicles and pedestrians
on the streets is that traffic usually moves at less than six miles per hour and many vehicles and
pedestrians move at under one mile per hour. The norm is that faster vehicles move towards the
center of the road, slower ones move towards the sides, and stationery activities like vending or
parking are at the sides, but every journey has its surprises! A few vehicles commonly found in
rich countries and shopping malls worldwide are rarely seen, notably baby carriages and strollers
or motorized vehicles for the disabled. Such vehicles are rarely used, partly because of their high
cost, but also because rough and dusty pavements, combined with great pedestrian crowding,
would make them unpleasant to ride in. Small children are usually carried, and parents or
servants rent an auto-rickshaw or cycle-rickshaw when they want to move several children.
Vehicles are often tightly-packed, so that a motor-cycle can carry three adults or two adults and
one to three children, a conventional auto-rickshaw can carry two-four passengers, and
specialized auto-rickshaws can carry 6-12 schoolchildren.

Just as moving vehicles create a complex street ecology, parked vehicles take up substantial
portions of the public realm. Old Delhi has very few enclosed lots and virtually no custom-
designed buildings to serve as parking garages, so streets and alleyways provide the
overwhelming majority of parking opportunities. Any wider area creates an income opportunity
for someone to watch over parked vehicles and charge a small fee, and many property owners
rent out their private alleyways or semi-public spaces in front of their properties for parking.
Parking is usually highly specialized, with one area and guardian for motorcycles and scooters,
another for bicycles, another for four-wheel motor vehicles, and yet another for overnight storage
of street vendors’ carts. In areas where there are fixed stalls and kiosks on the street, a night
watchman may keep an eye on the closed stalls so as to ensure that no one breaks in and steals
merchandise. Overnight parking of groups of stalls, carts, rickshaws, or motor-rickshaws may
indicate a common business relationship, whereby a middleman owns many vehicles and rents
them out every day to individual drivers or vendors who use them for their micro-businesses
during the day and then return them to storage each evening.

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Order in Seeming Chaos
The concept of jugaad, the legendary Indian capacity to find solutions to problems through
ingenuity, is crucial in understanding how the public realm functions in a highly congested area
like Old Delhi. Most people have business interests in doing what they seek to do or going where
they seek to go, but all recognize that the costs of conflict are probably greater than the costs of
avoiding conflict. Thus, improvised solutions are constantly employed to achieve objectives and
avoid crises. At congested times, vehicle drivers honk almost constantly, pedestrians push and
squeeze through, and people cross the streets without waiting for more than a small open space
to appear between oncoming vehicles. Even two seconds of hesitation provides an invitation for
others to push forwards. At times it seems that sheer bravado triumphs. So when a pedestrian
steps out to cross the street the best advice is to do so determinedly, looking the oncoming driver
in the eye and assuming that he (or very occasionally she) will stop. Similarly, when drivers want
to pass a pedestrian who is walking along the road or another driver of a slower-moving vehicle,
they simply assume that s/he will continue at the same pace and in the same direction as s/he is
currently moving. The general focus is always on what is ahead, rather than behind or to the side,
and whichever vehicle noses in front, has the right of way.

Many drivers remove side mirrors to make their vehicles a little narrower and to avoid having
them knocked off by other vehicles that squeeze in close. Few drivers pay much attention to their
rear view mirrors.Street vendors combine audacity with common sense conformity, avoiding
flagrant and dysfunctional practices like setting up stalls in the middle of the road—things that
would attract the attention of the local police, with the possibility of arrest, confiscation, or
demands for bribes. Instead they set up on the sides of the street and on the few sidewalks that
exist, forcing pedestrians out onto the road. On the few streets with sidewalks, shopkeepers in
adjacent buildings may try to force them to the edge of the sidewalk, so that potential customers
can pass close to their front windows and doorways, but some shopkeepers adopt an alternative
tactic, extending out onto the sidewalk to give themselves more space to display their
merchandise.

The jugaad metaphor helps observers understand the extraordinarily competitive environment in

which street vendors and rickshaw and auto-rickshaw drivers operate, struggling to find
customers who will pay enough to make it worthwhile to sell goods or provide a service. Equally
significant though is another metaphor—the rain forest—where plants compete intensely to
reach light and maintain water supply, and where different species adapt to forest floor, new
forest clearing and forest canopy locations, including vines that wind themselves up tree trunks
and branches to reach the canopy, and mosses, lichens and arboreal plants that grow directly on
tree trunks and branches. Street vendors work hard to find locations and modes of display to
ensure that many passers-by can see their merchandise and find it attractive. In this task they
have to pay very close attention to the surrounding ecology of traffic, pedestrians, parked
vehicles, and wholesale, retail, and service businesses on private property, and also to competing
vendors, many of whom have established locations and respected rights to occupy those
locations every day.The peace of Old Delhi is maintained not just by police presence, but also by
complex and reciprocal respect of property rights and of spatial and behavioral rights in the
public realm.

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 The area has large Hindu and Muslim populations and significant minorities of Christians, Jains,
Sikhs and others, and each religion has its holy days, processions and rituals that cause extra
traffic congestion. By established custom, these additional complications to the local
environment are respected, and nonbelievers change their hours or routes so as to avoid the
ensuing gridlock. Survival and success in Old Delhi requires great ingenuity and capacity to
adapt, but the complex human ecology provides an extraordinary range of opportunities in a
small area. So much more is available within walking distance than in rural India or on the
metropolitan periphery. Much of Old Delhi was lost in the aftermath of the 1857-1858 uprising,
but fortunately more than half the old city survived. Virtually all the surviving areas of Old Delhi
are bustling and fully occupied at the present day. The urban environment is an historic treasure
and a demonstration that religious tolerance and high-density mixed-use environments continue
to be viable and desirable in 21st century India. 

1. Narayani Gupta, Delhi: Between Two Empires 1803-1931 (New Delhi: Oxford

University Press, 1981);
2. Mushirul Hasan and Dinyar Patel, (eds.), From Ghalib’s Dilli to Lutyens’ New Delhi: A
Documentary Record  (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2014); 
3. Robert Grant Irving, Indian Summer: Lutyens, Baker and Imperial Delhi (New Haven,
CT: Yale University Press, 1981);
4. Jim Masselos and Narayani Gupta, Beato’s Delhi 1857, 1997 (New Delhi: Ravi Dayal
and Orient Longman, 2000);
5. Ajay K. Mehra, The Politics of Urban Redevelopment: A Study of Old Delhi (New Delhi:
Sage Publications, 1991);
6. Lucy Peck, Delhi: A Thousand Years of Building (New Delhi: Roli Books, 2005).
7. Goodfriend, D. E. (1982). Shahjahanabad - Old Delhi: tradition and planned
change. Ekistics, 49(297), 472–475. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43621804

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