DELHI, NCT Delhi

Main Attractions

Coronation Park

Coronation Park is a park located on Burari Road near Nirankari Sarovar in Delhi, India. The park is sometimes referred to as the Coronation Memorial; it was the venue of the Delhi Durbar of 1877 when Queen Victoria was proclaimed the Empress of India. Later it was used to celebrate the accession of King Edward VII in 1903, and, finally, it was here that the Durbar commemorating the coronation of King George V as Emperor of India took place on 12 December 1911, subsequent to his coronation at West minster Abbey in June 1911.

Old Delhi Railway Station

Old Delhi Railway Station (station code DLI), is the oldest railway station of Delhi city and a Junction station. It was established near Chandni Chowk in 1864 when trains from Howrah ,Calcutta started operating up to Delhi. Its present building was constructed by the British Indian government in the style of nearby red-coloured fort and opened in 1903. It has been an important railway station of the country, and preceded the New Delhi Railway Station by about 60 years.

The Shahdara Metro Station

The Shahdara Metro Station is located on the Red Line of the Delhi Metro. The 8.5 kms section between Shahdara and Tis Hazari was the first Delhi Metro section to become operational and was inaugurated on 24th December 2002 by Atal Behari Vajpayee, the Prime Minister of India. The first phase of the project was completed in 2006 within given budget and almost three years ahead of schedule.

Akshardham

Akshardham is a Hindu temple complex in Delhi. Also referred to as Delhi Akshardham or Swaminarayan Akshardham. The complex displays millennia of traditional Hindu and Indian culture, spirituality, and architecture. The building was inspired and developed by Pramukh Swami Maharaj, the spiritual head of the Bochasanwasi Shri Aksh.

The India Gate

The India Gate, originally called the All India War Memorial, is a war memorial located astride the Rajpath, on the eastern edge of the ‘ceremonial axis’ of New Delhi, formerly called Kingsway. The names of some 70,000 Indian soldiers who died in World War I, in "France and Flanders, Mesopotamia, and Persia, East Africa, Gallipoli and elsewhere in the near and the fareast", between 1914–19, are inscribed on the memorial arch. In addition, the war memorial bears the names of some 12,516 Indian soldiers who died while serving in "India or the Northwest Frontier and during the Third Afghan War".

The Red Fort

The Red Fort was the residence of the Mughal emperors of India for nearly 200 years, until 1857. It is located in the centre of Delhi and houses a number of museums. In addition to accommodating the emperors and their households, it was the ceremonial and political center of Mughal government.

Brief History

Delhi is an ancient and historic city of India. However, the origin of its name is lost in antiquity. Delhi by tradition traces its history to the Mahabharata, the tale of epic war fought nearly 3000 years ago between estranged cousins, the Kauravas and the Pandavas, for the legendary city of Indraprastha. The Mahabharata speaks about a city called Indraprastha which was built along the banks of river Yamuna in the area lying between the present Feroze Shah Kotla and Humayun Tomb. But there is no direct evidence to identify this city with that of Delhi. A.D. Ptolemy, the famous Geographer, who visited India during the second century A.D. has, in a map, mentioned a place known as Daidala located close to Indraprastha and midway between present Mathura and Thanesar. 

However, there is no mention of any city called Indraprastha or Delhi in any of the works of the Greek writers on the conquests of Alexander the Great, who invaded India in 326 B.C. Even the Chinese pilgrim Huien Tsang does not make any mention of the city in his Memoirs. According to one school of thought accepted by Lord Cunningham, Delhi derived its name from Raja Dhilu or Dhillu whose period of reign is not definitely known. According to another school of thought supported by an inscription in village Sarban in Delhi, Dilli was founded by Tomaras, the Tunvar Rajputs. Lying at the strategic entrance of the fertile Indo- Gangetic plain, one of the great centres of human civilization for whose possession invaders of the north from Caucasus to Mongolia have braved the high mountain passes of the Himalayas for millennia, Delhi has for long centuries been the seat of power and she has witnessed the passing of many dynasties and mighty empires. In the 11th century, Tomara ruler Anangpal built a fort in Delhi and ruled from here. At the end of the 12th century, Delhi changed hands and passed into the hands of Muslim conquerors. Mighty empires have risen and fallen in Delhi countless times and at least seven cities, monumental gifts to posterity, still survive. It is customary to speak of these seven cities of Delhi though actually there are about 15 sites, not built layer upon layer, but contiguously.

LalKot, the first city of Delhi, was built about 1060 A.D. by the Hindu Tomara King Anangpal. This was enlarged by the most celebrated Rajput King Prithviraj Chauhan and the fort renamed as Qila Rai Pithora. The first Muslim King of Delhi Qutb-ud-din-Aibak built Delhi’s first mosque Quwwat-ul-Islam on the side of the Hindu fort and laid the foundation of the Qutb Minar close by. Siri, the second city of Delhi was built by Alauddin-Khalji in the early part of the 14th century. The city’s water needs were met by the vast reservoir of Hauz Khas. Ghiyas-ud-din Tughluq, who seized power in 1320, built Tughluqabad, the third city, whose massive ruins still speak of its pristine splendour. Ghyas-ud-din’s son, Muhammad Shah, built his own capital at Jahanpanah, the fourth city, but soon abandoned it and drove out the luckless inhabitants to Daulatabad in the Deccan, 1120 Kms., away. Muhammad Shah, a brilliant and eccentric ruler, was in many respects an innovator far ahead of his times. He decreed the use of copper coins which could be exchanged at the state treasury for gold, an experiment which soon failed but can even now be seen as a forerunner to the modern currency system. The move to the Deccan was also unsuccessful and Delhi resumed its role as the capital. Firozabad, the fifth city, was built along the banksof river Yamuna by Firoz Shah Tughluq who succeeded Muhammad Shah in 1351. Contemporary accounts speak of this city as thriving and prosperous and Firoz Shah’s reign as enlightened and an era of peace and good governance. The death of Firoz Shah was followed by a civil war among his descendants.

The governors of many provinces became independent kings and ultimately only a small area around Delhi remained in the hands of the Tughluq Sultans. The crumbling walls of Firoz Shah Kotla and the Ashoka Pillar today mark the ruins of this city. The Sayyid and Lodi dynasties, which followed the Tughluqs, built many mosques and monuments, including the one now known as Lodi Gardens. They did not, however, build any new city. In 1504, Sultan Sikander Lodi shifted his court to Agra, 170 Kms. down the river Yamuna, and until the 17th century, Agra and Delhi alternated as the capital.

The celebrated Mughal dynasty began its rule with Babar’s historic victory at the Battle of Panipat in 1526. Babar’s son, Humayun, built a fort named Dinpanah on the site of the legendary Indraprastha. The Afghan, Sher Shah Suri, who drove out Humayun for a brief period, fortified the Purana Qila and named this city as Shergarh. Kabuli Darwaza, the North Gate and Lal Darwaza, the Southern Gate, are the only remains of this city today. Humayun regained his throne in 1555 but died soon. He was interred in the first monumental garden tomb of the Mughal era, now called Humayun Tomb, which was built by his widow Haji Begum and considered to be a precursor to the Taj Mahal. Humayun’s son Akbar, who had his capital at Agra initially, shifted his capital to Fatehpur Sikri, 22 Kms., from Agra, for a few years. This city, though deserted now, spectacularly displays the architectural synthesis of Hindu and Muslim styles, a union close to Akbar’s heart. Akbar enlarged and consolidated the Mughal empire and provided a good starting point for his successor Jahangir and for the two later rulers Shahjahan and Aurangzeb. Jahangir’s reign was on the whole quiet as compared to later Mughal rulers. Jahangir had Agra as his capital. 

Akbar’s grandson, Shahjahan, moved the capital back to Delhi in 1638 and built the splendour city of Shahjahanabad, the seventh Delhi, which is now a living and thriving city, existing side by side with New Delhi. Its monuments still speak volumes of their glorious past and continue to inspire as in their builders’ time - the massive ramparts of Lal Qila (Red Fort) with its courts and palaces, the magnificent Jama Masjid, the bustling Chandni Chowk and the many narrow lanes in which several hundred thousand people live, marry, pray and work. In 1739, Nadir Shah, the Emperor of Persia, defeated the weak and meek Emperor Muhammad Shah, massacred the inhabitants and carried awaythe booty that included the fabled peacock throne, the Kohinoor Diamond, vast quantities of gold and jewels as well as the city’s peerless craftsmen. From then onwards, Delhi headed towards its decline. In 1803, the city changed hands and came into the fold of the British with the installation of a British Resident as ‘Protector’ of Mughal Crown. Following the uprising of 1857, the last of the Mughal rulers, King Bahadur Shah Zafar, the old and the blind poet, was deported and lodged in a Burmese prison and his sons and grandsons were neutralized by the British. For long, Calcutta remained the capital of the British India. It was shifted to Delhi in 1911. A new city, viz., New Delhi, was built subsequently. The Noble Square, the great Secretariat and the high-domed Viceregal Palace, all symbols of the British legacy, which form part of the present New Delhi, stand testimony to the march of history. The city of New Delhi, now grown to a sprawling modern metropolis, many times its original conception, is the seat of the Government of the Republic of India. Today, Delhi is as vibrant as its glorious past.

Delhi, known for open air cafes, Yoga Ashrams, advanced technological institutions and red-brick Universities, towers of float glass and high rise concrete buildings, fortune-telling parakeets, sleek cars winding their way past horse-drawn ‘tongas’ and sputtering auto-rickshaws, crowded cafes surcharged with heady poetry recited with emotions, or vociferous arguments on politics, is a melting pot of ideas, fashions and lifestyles. In essence, Delhi is India in microcosm, of its history, its people, its culture and its future. The District of Delhi was first constituted in 1819 which included two parganas of the north and south with the city at the centre. In 1861, Sonepat Tahsil, which was then a part of Panipat district, was transferred to Delhi district. At that time, Delhi district consisted of three Tahsils, viz., Delhi, Ballabgarh and Sonepat.

Following the transfer of the capital from Calcutta to Delhi in 1911, Sonepat Tahsil was transferred to Rohtak district (now in Haryana) and a greater part of Ballabgarh Tahsil to Gurgaon district (also now in Haryana). Thus, Delhi District comprisedthe then Delhi Tahsil and the remaining portion of Ballabgarh Tahsil. Shahdara town and some villages across river Yamuna, which were till then a part of Ghaziabad Tahsil of Meerut district (Uttar Pradesh),were added to Delhi district in 1915. The province of Delhi thus consisted of one district and one Tahsil. The province of Delhi acquired the Part C State status following the adoption of the Constitution of India. A Legislative Assembly was set up in 1952 which continued till November 1, 1956 when the Central Administration was reintroduced in Delhi. In1966, a Metropolitan Council was set up in Delhi, which is still continuing. The only Tahsil of Delhi of 1961 was bifurcated into two, viz., Delhi and Mehrauli, during 1961-71 and it remained as such upto 1981-91.

Following the passage of the Sixty Ninth Amendment to the Constitution of India in 1991, the nomenclature of the Union Territory of Delhi was changed as National Capital Territory of Delhi w.e.f. February 1, 1992. Subsequently, the administrative set up of the NCT of Delhi also changed. In 1997, NCT of Delhi was decentralised and nine districts were formed with three tahsils under each district. At present, there are 112 villages in the rural area and 113 towns (3 Statutory Towns and 110 Census Towns) in the urban area of the NCT of Delhi.

Till 1991 Census, the statutory towns were divided into Census Charges by the Census Directorate but in 2001, the concept of wards was adopted for two statutory towns, viz., Delhi Municipal Corporation (DMC) and Delhi Cantonment (Delhi Cantt.). However, the concept of charge was continued in respect of NDMC. The concept adopted in 2001 has continued in census 2011 also. The statutory town DMC is spread over in all the nine districts while the statutory town NDMC is spread over in four districts. The Delhi Cantonment Board is the only statutory town which falls in only one district. Apart from this, some wards of the towns are also spread over in different districts/tahsils, which has led to a peculiar situation, particularly for data compilation work at town/ward level.