History of Delhi

Travel to Delhi, a city as ancient as ancient can be. Delhi is bejeweled by numerous relics that serve as tablets on which its history is written. Historians opine that Delhi is not a single city but a combination of eight cities that have been established here from as early as 900 BC to 1930 when the British completed the construction of Delhi as the capital of imperial India. If you count the smaller settlements and forts, the number may touch fifteen. Each city has left behind so much story and material for rumination that it requires many a lifetime to know them all completely.

To go back into an era where mythology and history are too closely intertwined, it is believed that Delhi, then known as Indraprashtha, was the scene of action of India's great epic, the Mahabharata. Indraprastha is said to have been founded by the Pandavas on the banks of the river Yamuna. Recorded history that exists from the 11th century mentions the city during the rule of Raja Anangpal of Kanauj, a Tomar king, who established Lal Kot as his capital city in the vicinity of the Qutab Minar. This was the first city of Delhi. The famous ruler of this line of Tomars was called Prithvi Raj Chauhan. He is said to have built many temples and a huge fort called Qila Rai Pithora.

However, their 200-year-old rule culminated in the 12th century with the invasion by Mohammed Ghori from Afghanistan and the establishment of the Slave Dynasty. One of the rulers of this dynasty, Qutub-ud-din Aibak, built the tall Qutab Minar. The Lal Kot continued to be the capital till 1303 when Khilji defeated the invading Rajputs at Siri and constructed Delhi's second city in the area. Today, Delhi's best auditorium, the Siri Fort, stands at the site.

During the Tughlak rule (1320-1412) the third and fourth cities of Delhi were founded. Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq, Alauddin Khilji's successor, founded Tughlakabad which took four years to build. It is perhaps the most beautiful ruin in the country. Sultan Mohammad-bin-Tughlak constructed Delhi's fourth city called Adilabad, a few yards away from Tughlaqabad and enclosed a large area within a wall, creating within it the Jahanpanah forest to protect his people living in the open plains from attack by invaders.

Delhi's fifth city, Ferozabad, was founded by Firoz Shah Tughlaq (1351-88) and was located in the vicinity of the present Feroz Shah Kotla. The sixth city is said to be located in the ancient city of Indraprastha, where the Purana Quila or Old Fort stands today. This grand fort was erected by the Mughal Emperor Humayun between 1533-34, but was forced to flee by the invading Afghan warrior Sher Shah Suri (1530 -39). Sher Shah Suri built a beautiful hall and mosque in the fort and ruled from her till 1555 when Humayun returned to power and recaptured the fort.

The living legacy of Delhi is Shahjahanabad or Old Delhi as it is now called, was build by Emperor Shah Jahan as Delhi's seventh city between 1638 and 1649. This city, with the Red Fort as the focal point and Jama Masjid as the praying center, contains many fine examples of Mughal architecture. It has a fascinating market planned to shine under the light of the moon, called Chandni Chowk.

Modern Delhi or New Delhi is the eighth city. It centers around Rashtrapati Bhawan and was formally inaugurated in 1931. Following the British decision to shift the capital of imperial India from Calcutta to Delhi in 1911, two British architects, Sir Edwin Lutyens and Sir Herbert Baker were commissioned to design a city, keeping the grandeur of India in mind. This new city is today the capital of modern India.