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| HISTORY |
| The Indian capital city of New Delhi has a long history, including a history as the capital of several
empires. The earliest architectural relics date back to the Maurya
Period (c. 300 BC); since then, the site has seen continuous settlement.
In 1966, an inscription of the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka (273-236 BC) was
discovered near Srinivaspuri, which is near Noida. Two sandstone pillars
inscribed with the edicts of Ashoka were brought to the city by Firuz
Shah Tughluq in the 14th century. The famous Iron pillar near the Qutub
Minar was commissioned by the emperor Kumara Gupta I of the Gupta
dynasty (320-540) and transplanted to Delhi during the 10th century.
Eight major cities have been situated in the Delhi area. The first four
cities were in the southern part of present-day Delhi, According to Indian folklore, Delhi was the site of
the magnificent and opulent Indraprastha, capital of the Pandavas in the
Indian epic Mahabharata, founded around 500 BC. Hindu texts state that
the city of Delhi used to be referred to in Sanskrit as Hastinapur,
which means "elephant-city". A village called Indraprast existed in
Delhi until the beginning of the 19th century. The British demolished
the ancient village to make way for the construction of New Delhi in the
late 19th century. Archaeological evidence suggests that Indraprastha
once stood where the Old Fort is today. Excavations have unearthed
shards of the grey painted ware (c. 1000 BC) that some archaeologists
associate with the age of the Mahabharata, but no coherent settlement
traces have been found. The name Delhi may be derived from the word
'Dhillika', though there are other theories. Raja Dhilu (King Dihlu)
founded ancient Delhi in 800 BC[1] It was the name of the first medieval
township of Delhi, located on the southwestern border of the present
Delhi, in Mehrauli. This was the first in the series of seven medieval
cities. It is also known as Yoginipura, that is, the fortress of the
yoginis (female divinities). It gained importance during the time of
Ananga Pala Tomar. In the 12th century, the city was included in the
dominions of Prithviraj Chauhan. |
8th century to 16th century |
The Tomar Rajput dynasty founded Lal Kot in 736 near
the Qutub Minar. The Prithviraj Raso names the Rajput Anangpal as the
founder of Lal Kot. The Chauhan Rajput kings of Ajmer conquered Lal Kot
in 1180 and renamed it Qila Rai Pithora. The Chauhan king Prithviraj III
was defeated in 1192 by the Afghan Muhammad Ghori. Anangpal Tomar, a
Chandravanshi Rajput ruler of Delhi , often described as the founder of
Delhi, built the citadel some 10 kilometres from Suraj Kund around 731. From 1206, Delhi became the capital of the Delhi
Sultanate under the Slave Dynasty. The first Sultan of Delhi,
Qutb-ud-din Ayb ak was a former slave who rose through the ranks to
become a general, a governor and then Sultan of Delhi. Qutb-ud-din
started the construction 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
pillaged exquisitely carved pillars from 27 temples for this mosque,
many of which can still be seen. After the end of the Slave dynasty, a
succession of Turkic and Central Asian dynasties, the Khilji dynasty,
the Tughluq dynasty, the Sayyid dynasty and the Lodhi dynasty held power
in the late medieval period and built a sequence of forts and townships
in Delhi. in 1398, Timur Lenk invaded India on the pretext
that the Muslim sultans of Delhi were too tolerant of their Hindu
subjects. Timur entered Delhi and the city was sacked, destroyed, and
left in ruins.[3] In 1526, following the First Battle of Panipat,
Zahiruddin Babur, the former ruler of Fergana, defeated the last Lodhi
sultan and founded the Mughal dynasty which ruled from Delhi, Agra and
Lahore. |
17th century to 19th century |
In the mid-sixteenth century there was an
interruption in the Mughal rule of India as Sher Shah Suri defeated
Babur's son Humayun and forced him to flee to Afghanistan and Persia.
Sher Shah Suri built the sixth city of Delhi, as well as the old fort
known as Purana Qila and the Grand Trunk Road. After Sher Shah Suri’s
early death, Humayun recovered the throne with Persian help. The third
and greatest Mughal emperor, Akbar, moved the capital to Agra resulting
in a decline in the fortunes of Delhi. In the mid-seventeenth century,
the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan (1628-1658) built the city that sometimes
bears his name (Shahjahanabad), the seventh city of Delhi that is more
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 old city served as the capital of the
later Mughal Empire from 1638 onwards, 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. Nader Shah defeated the Mughal army at the huge
Battle of Karnal in February, 1739. After this victory, Nader captured
and sacked Delhi.[4] In 1761, Delhi was raided by Ahmed Shah Abdali
after the Third battle of Panipat. At the Battle of Delhi on 11
September 1803, General Lake's British forces defeated the Marathas.Delhi passed to British control in 1857 after the
First War of Indian Independence; the last Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah
Zafar II was exiled to Rangoon and the remaining Mughal territories were
annexed as a part of British India.
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Twentieth century |
Shortly after Indian Rebellion of 1857, Calcutta was
declared the capital of British India but in 1911 the capital was again
moved to Delhi. Parts of the old city were pulled down to create New
Delhi, a monumental new quarter of the city designed by the British
architect Edwin Lutyens to house the government buildings. A brief but
fascinating account of the Indian contractors behind this construction
can be found in Khushwant Singh's autobiography Truth, Love and a Little
Malice. New Delhi was officially declared as the seat of the Government
of India after independence in 1947. During the Partition of India
thousands of Hindu and Sikh refugees from West Punjab migrated to Delhi.In 1984, the assassination of Prime Minister Indira
Gandhi led to a violent backlash against the Sikh community, resulting
in the deaths of 5,000 people. |
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