Who gave Delhi its name? When did Delhi became New Delhi? Why and How? It had long history. Its called the heart of India. I would like to know about our Country Capital, particularly how did the name of Delhi came to be and why every ruler of this country want it as its capital?
Posted On : 8/12/2009 8:59:33 PM
Maniam PS [Guru] Reward Points : 137200 Member Since : Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Calcutta was the capital of India until December 1911 during the British Raj. However, Delhi had served as the political and financial centre of several empires of ancient and medieval India, most notably of the Mughal Empire from 1799 to 1849. During the early 1900s, a proposal was made to the British administration to shift the capital of the Indian Empire from Calcutta to Delhi. Unlike Calcutta, which was located on the eastern coast of India, Delhi was located in northern India and the Government of British India felt that it would be easier to administer India from Delhi rather than from Calcutta. On December 12, 1911, George V, the then Emperor of India along with Queen Mary, during the Delhi Durbar, made the announcement that the capital of the Raj was to be shifted from Calcutta to Delhi, while laying the foundation stone for Viceroy s residence in the Coronation park New Delhi was laid out to the south of the Old City which was constructed by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan. However, New Delhi overlays the site of seven ancient cities and hence includes many historic monuments like the Jantar Mantar and the Lodhi Gardens. Much of New Delhi was planned by Edwin Lutyens, a leading 20th century British architect and Herbert Baker, and contracted to Sir Sobha Singh. Lutyens first visited Delhi in 1912, and construction really began after World War I and was completed by 1931, when the city later dubbed Lutyens Delhi was inaugurated. Lutyens laid out the central administrative area of the city as a testament to Britain s imperial aspirations.
Posted On : 8/13/2009 1:28:58 AM
Maniam PS [Guru] Reward Points : 137200 Member Since : Wednesday, March 18, 2009
The etymology of Delhi is uncertain but many possibilities exist. The most common view is that its eponym is Dhillu or Dilu, a king of the Mauryan dynasty, who built the city in 50 BC and named it after himself. The Hindi/Prakrit word dhili loose was used by the Tuar Rajputs to refer to the city because the Iron Pillar built by Raja Dhava had a weak foundation and was replaced. The coins in circulation in the region under the Rajputs were called dehliwal. Some other historians believe that the name is derived from Dilli, a corruption of dehleez or dehali Hindi for threshold and symbolic of city as a gateway to the Indo-Gangetic Plains. Another theory suggests that the city s original name was Dhillika. Source: Wikipedia
Delhi Or New Delhi
