|
Delhi has not always been the capital of India but it has played an important role In Indian history ever since the epic of Mahabharata, 5000 years ago. Under the emperor Ashoka, over 2000 years ago, Pataliputra, near modern day Patna, was the capital of his kingdom, More recently the Moghul emperors made Agra the capital through the 16th and 17th centuries. Under the British Agra was the capital until the construction of New Delhi in 1911. Of course it is only comparatively recently that India as we know it has been unified as one country. Even at the height of their power the Moghuls did not control the south of India for example. But Delhi has always been an important city or a capital of the northern region of the sub-continent.
There have been at least eight cities around modern Delhi. The first four were south of modern New Delhi, around the area where the Qutub Minar stands. The earliest known Delhi was known as Indraprastha and was centred near the present day Purana Qila. At the beginning the 12th century AD the last Hindu kingdom of Delhi was ruled by the Tomar and Chauthan dynasties and was also near the Qutab Minar and Suran Kund, now in Haryana.
This city was followed by Siri was constructed by Allah-ud-Din near the present day Hauz Khas in the 12th century. The third Delhi was Tughlaqabad which is now entirely in ruin stood 10 km south-east of the Qutub Minar. The fourth Delhi also dates the 14th century and was also a creation of the Tughlaqs. Known as Jahanpanah it also stood near the Qutab Minar.
The fifth Delhi, Ferozabad, was sited at Ferozshah Kotla in present day Old Delhi. Its ruins contain an Ashoka pillar, moved here from elsewhere, and trace of a mosque in which Tamarlane prayed during his attack on India.
The Emperor Sher Shah created the sixth Delhi at Purana Qila, near India Gate in New Delhi today. Sher Shah was an Afghan ruler who defeated the Moghul Humayan and took control of Delhi. The Moghul Emperor Shah Jahan constructed the seventh Delhi and his Shahjahanabad roughly corresponds to Old Delhi today and is still largely preserved. Constructed in the 17th century his Delhi included the Red Fort and the majestic Jami Masjid. Finally the eighth Delhi, New Delhi, was constructed by the British and officially inaugurated in 1911.
Delhi has seen many invaders through the ages. Tamarlane plundered it in the 14th century and in 1739 the Persian Emperor Nadir Shah sacked the city and carted the Kohinoor Diamond and the famous Peacock Throne off to Iran. The British captured it in 1803 hut during the Indian mutiny in 1857 Delhi was a centre for resistance to the British. Prior to partition Delhi had a very large Moslem population and Urdu was the main language. Now Punjabis have replaced many of the Moslems and Hindi predominates. |
Back
