Delhi Assembly Elections – Mountains were cut, markets were established, when the foundation of New Delhi was laid in the forest… the story of the establishment of the capital! – Delhi assembly election 2025 making of Delhi as capital NTC

Delhi, which is getting ready for the Assembly elections 2025, is as modern as it looks today, having gone through many changes. Countless pages of history are hidden in the streets here. If you go in search of the roots, the stories of the cities and cultures will be revealed within the layers of the city. Sometimes this Delhi saw the rule of Sultans and sometimes the glory of Mughals, then in 1911 the British changed the capital from Kolkata to Delhi. Then this city was settled anew. Suddenly luxurious buildings started coming up in desolate areas. The story of settlement of New Delhi is also amazing.

There is a poetry by Muzaffar Hanfi-

‘Whatever may be the streets of Delhi,
Without you, I will lose my home…’

Delhi city is like this. Delhi is not far for any Indian living in India or even abroad, thousands of miles away from it. For those who are here, this is Delhi and also for those who are in some other corner of India. The stories of Delhi’s repeated destruction and subsequent settlement have created a Delhi with a mixed culture whose example will not be found anywhere else in the world.

Delhi, which developed during the period of Sultanates and Mughals in the medieval period, can be called the Delhi of forts. The doors of the forts of this Delhi faced outwards and most of them had names indicating directions. Like Badaun, Ajmer, Lahore, Kashmir, Delhi. That is, those who were going to tell the direction of big cities. Similarly, the markets for wholesale goods built outside the city walls undoubtedly became localities but their names continued unchanged, such as Rakabganj, Malka Ganj, Pahar Ganj and Sabzi Mandi.

Then the British came and the Mughal identity of Delhi started fading. When the British shifted the capital from Kolkata to Delhi, the foundation of New Delhi was laid.

How did the British capital come from Kolkata to Delhi? This question remains in everyone’s mind. In fact, in the year 1911, the third Durbar organized under the British rule was organized in Delhi, in this Durbar, the British Emperor George V announced to make Delhi the capital. The reason behind this is said to be that due to the Revolt of 1857, the British government felt that by making a city located in the middle instead of Kolkata located in the east of India, they could rule India more strongly.

For this reason, Emperor George V announced to make Delhi the capital. George V also laid the foundation stone of the new capital, New Delhi, in Coronation Park, Kingsway Camp. It cost about four lakh British pounds to shift the entire British administration from Kolkata to Delhi. For this, employees were brought from Madras to Kolkata Presidency.

After the completion of the construction of New Delhi city, it was inaugurated by Viceroy Lord Irwin on 13 February 1931. Two English architects named Herbert Baker and Edwin Lutyens designed and planned this city. After the approval of this plan, the work of building construction in the city was given to contractor Sobha Singh. Many other contractors were entrusted with different construction works.

First secretariats were built in the capital, then the network of roads started being laid. The government wanted people to come forward and buy land and build buildings there, but people were reluctant. People would come to work in offices in New Delhi and return to their homes in Old Delhi. It was all forest here – Raisina, Paharganj, Malcha, everywhere.

To prove the legitimacy of their empire, the British named the roads of New Delhi after former Indian rulers such as Ashoka, Prithviraj, Firoz Shah, Tughlaq, Akbar and Aurangzeb. The King of Jaipur had given land to the British for New Delhi, Jaisinghpura and Raisina, and two roads were also named after Raja Mansingh and Jaisingh of the Kachhwaha dynasty of Jaipur.

Rajendra Lal Handa has written in detail in his book the stories of the newly settled capital Delhi in the 1930s. This reveals the entire story of the settlement of areas of Delhi, their naming and creation of new identities. Handa writes-
‘Ten years ago, if someone had asked about the geographical boundaries of Delhi, we could have told him that Delhi is the city which has Timarpur in the north, Safdarjung in the south, Shadipur in the west and Shahdara in the east. If this same thing were told to a geography student in 1950, he would laugh. Timarpur, Safdarjung, Shadipur and Shahdara have now become parts of Delhi. To be honest, it would not be an exaggeration to say that ‘Delhi is the city whose North, West, East and South are Delhi in all directions.’

Handa further writes-
‘Delhi, which was known as Indraprastha during the Mahabharata period, was destroyed and settled 7 times during Muslim rule. What is nowadays called Old Delhi is the seventh. Then New Delhi was settled which is the eighth Delhi. Nature has bestowed immense blessings on Delhi. Despite being a plain area, Delhi has a mountain range which has enhanced the natural beauty of Delhi. During the British period, this mountain got the name Ridge which is prevalent till now. New Delhi was established around this ridge.

Today, the Delhi that existed in the year 1941 has many forms. There was a dense forest between Pusa Road and New Delhi and a drain that ran along the ridge to Tughlakabad. It is called bloody drain. Today a colony of refugees has settled in its rugged hills. Whose population is above 20 thousand. Almost the same condition has happened to the barren land lying near Bhogal in front of Safdarjung. There were bushes, peel trees and tent bushes all around the land. This entire area from Safdarjung to Nizamuddin was deserted. There were bushes all around. Today it is the largest settlement of New Delhi which has 4500 beautiful houses and about 600 shops. The population of this colony is above 25 thousand. My friends used to call this Lodhi Colony the biggest cantonment of India.

On the other hand, four years ago, there was a big beautiful garden in front of the Diwan Hall at the end of Chandni Chowk. In the evening, on its lush green grass, people used to entertain themselves after taking leave from the shop by lying down or sitting with their loved ones. Children used to fly kites here during the day. In the morning, women coming and going from Yamuna used to sit here for five minutes and breathe.

Today this garden has been converted into a huge market. In which everything from exotic clothes to old vases and birch cups are sold. There are 1600 shops in this market. At one time, due to this market, Chandni Chowk was almost eclipsed. Dozens of similar small and big settlements were established. There is a plan to build 4000 more houses and shops. Space is being created for them by demolishing the old wall till Delhi gate. The name of this ground is Ramlila Ground. It used to be lively here only during exhibitions or once a year during Dussehra.

These huge changes have taken place in Delhi – mountains have been cut, forests have been cleared, settlements have been established in desolate areas, laboratories have been built for the progress of science where thieves used to share their shares after theft. This is how Delhi settled and kept changing.

Today, excluding NCR areas, the population of Delhi city alone is around 2.25 crores. But Delhi city was not always so crowded. The population of Delhi kept increasing with time and NCR kept getting connected to Delhi. When the British settled in Delhi in 1911, the population here was 4 lakhs. The original inhabitants of Delhi were considered to be the original inhabitants of the villages already settled within the borders of Delhi. Among the people living in Old Delhi, people coming from other states made it their home.

On one side, there is Old Delhi, which was built by the Mughals, which has its own culture, while on the other side, there is Delhi which is Lutyens Zone, which was settled by the British. This is a VIP area where everyone from the Prime Minister to all the big leaders and cabinet ministers live. So on one side there is the area where refugees from Pakistan settled which includes areas like Tilak Nagar, Mukherjee Nagar, Rajendra Nagar, Patel Nagar, Punjabi Bagh, Lajpat Nagar.

At the same time, Jamunapar in East Delhi, which is called Delhi inhabited by Purvanchals, is also buzzing with its own colours. So there is a separate Delhi of 340 villages, although here too the urban culture started dominating with time. Who were considered the original inhabitants of this place, which includes outer Delhi. After partition, Punjabi people dominated here and after the 1982 Asian Games, people from Purvanchal came and the demography changed completely. These are countless stories of Delhi contained within Delhi, of cities within the city and of cultures within the culture.