B.A.

(Programme) Semester-VI History

GENERIC ELECTIVE (GE)

Delhi Through The Ages
Study Material : Unit (I-VII)

SCHOOL OF OPEN LEARNING

University of Delhi

Department of History
 Graduate Course
GENERIC ELECTIVE (GE)

DELHI THROUGH THE AGES

CONTENT

UNIT-I MANY PASTS OF DELHI: Ecology, Dr. Madhu Trivedi

Archaeology and History
UNIT-II Cities of Delhi: Urban Settlements from Vikash Kumar Singh
UNIT-III 18th and
nd Early 19th Century Shahjahanabad: Dr. Madhu Trivedi
Politics, Literary Culture and Delhi College
UNIT IV Delhi in
n 1857: Revolt And Re-Conquest
Re Abhinav Mishra

UNIT-V Making of The New Imperial Capital : Abhinav Mishra

Delhi 1911-1930
1930
UNIT-VI Delhi in 1947: Partition and After Abhinav Mishra
UNIT-VII Delhi as Economic and Cultural Centre Dr. Madhu Trivedi
(a) Music
(b) Craft and Artisans

Editor :
Dr. Rajni Nanda Mathew
Prabhat Kumar

SCHOOL OF OPEN LEARNING

UNIVERSITY OF DELHI
5, Cavalry Lane, Delhi-110007
 DELHI THROUGH THE AGES

COURSE OBJECTIVE

The objective of the paper is to familiarize the students with the history of the city of Delhi
starting from its early inception to the Modern Times (contemporary period). Besides getting
acquainted with the history and archaeology of Delhi, the students will also learn about the
gradual growth of Delhi as an economic and cultural centre. The entire course will be dealt
with in seven units covering diverse topics such as the various urban settlements of Delhi, the
importance of Shahjahanabad in the development of the great imperial city of Delhi, the
consequences of the Revolt of 1857 for Delhi's future development and the impact of partition
on the structure and settlement pattern of Delhi.
 UNIT-I
MANY PASTS OF DELHI: Ecology, Archaeology and History
Dr. Madhu Trivedi
Structure
1.0 Introduction
1.1 Sources for the Study of Delhi’s Past
1.2 The Earliest Settlement under the name of Indraprastha
1.3 Delhi as an Historical City
1.4 Conclusion
1.0 Introduction
Delhi, as we all know, is one of the longest-serving capitals and perhaps one of the
oldest inhabited cities in the world. Although there is little record of Delhi's ancient
history, there is no denying the fact that it was an important political centre, a
conglomeration of many cities, which was built, destroyed and rebuilt several times.
The present unit will deal with the early history of Delhi with special focus on
Indraprastha and the Tomara and Chauhan constructions.
1.1 Sources for The Study of Delhi’s Past
Delhi has been the site of human settlement from prehistoric times. Although stone tools
belonging to these times have been found at several places in Delhi, particularly in the
rocky stretches of the Delhi ridge and from Anangpur in Faridabad, no skeletal remains
of the prehistoric people have been unearthed so far. Unfortunately, not much can be
known about the prehistoric times in Delhi from the available archaeological evidence.
Similarly the Late Harappan remains found at Bhorgarh (near Narela in North Delhi),
Mandoli (near Nand Nagari in east Delhi), etc. tell us little about early proto-historic
settlements in the Delhi region. Besides, the archaeological evidence of Delhi’s past
suffers from another major limitation i.e. the detailed and complete reports of most of
the excavated sites have not been published. For example, we all know that the Purana
Qila is the only site in Delhi where we get evidence of a continuous history of over 2500
years. Excavations were carried out here in 1955, 1970s and subsequently in 2013-14.
Yet the complete Purana Qila report is still unpublished.
In the absence of ample archaeological data, we tend to rely on the ancient literature for
information regarding Delhi’s early history. However, “as dates of many of the texts are
uncertain and the information they give is often a complex synthesis of mythology and
historical fact”, not much reliable evidence can be gleaned from them either.
Piecing together the evidence from stone tools, ancient mounds, pottery, monuments,
sculpture, literature and local traditions, Upinder Singh in her work “Ancient Delhi” has
ably traced the history of Delhi from the Stone Age to the times of the Rajputs.
According to her, the “history of Delhi includes the story of orally transmitted local
legends and traditions which are recorded not in written texts but in collective memory.

1
The physical geography of Delhi region in ancient times is still obscure but we do know
that the settlements in the Delhi area were well connected with other ancient settlements
of north India such as those of Mathura, Taxila, Varanasi, Shravasti and Kausambi, with
the help of the two trade routes of the early historical period namely the Uttarapatha and
the Dakshinapatha. The easy access to water, in the form of the river Yamuna, and the
city’s strategic location on the old trade route helped the settlements of Delhi to flourish.
1.2 The Earliest Settlement under The Name of Indraprastha
The origin of Delhi is lost in remote antiquity. Also, Delhi is not the oldest name of the
town that first came into existence. The first city of Delhi is believed to be Indraprat or
Indraprastha, a city fit for gods. According to legend, the town of Indraprastha was
established by Yudhishtara. It was so called, as it looked like Amaravati, the capital of
Indra. It is referred to in the Epic [Mahabharata] as Purottamam (chief of towns). It was
also known during this period under the alternative names of Sakraprastha, Sakrapuri, and
Khandavaprastha; the last owing its origin to the forest in which it came to be established.
It was there too that Vajra, the son of Aniruddha, was installed as the king of Yadavas.
The later history of the city is obscure though its name Indarpat survived.
Indraprastha is also mentioned as “Indapatta” or “Indapattana” in Pali-language Buddhist
texts, where it is described as the capital of the Kuru Kingdom. The Purana Qila is widely
believed to be on the site of old Indraprastha. However, there is lack of any conclusive
historical evidence in this regard. Archaeological surveys were carried out in 1954-1955,
between 1969 and 1973 and 2013-14.
The 1954-1955 sessions revealed pottery of the Painted Grey Ware (before c.600
BCE), Northern Black Polished Ware (c.600-200 BCE), Shunga, and Kushan
Empire periods. Interestingly, the 1969-1973 sessions and the subsequent excavations at
the site in 2013-14 by V.K.Swarnkar failed to reach the PGW levels. Evidence of
continuous occupation from the NBPW period to the 19th century has been found.
The Maurya-period settlement yielded mud-brick and wattle-and-daubhouses, brick
drains, wells, figurines of terracotta, a stone carving, a stamp seal impression, and a
copper coin. Simple grey ware and simple red ware belonging to a pre-Mauryan era
settlement were also found suggesting that there were human settlements in Delhi in the
time of the 16 Mahajanapadas.
D. C. Sircar, on the basis of an analysis of a stone carving found in the Delhi area
at Sriniwaspuri which records the reign of the Mauryan emperor Ashoka, believed
Indraprastha was a significant city in the Mauryan period.
The Purana Qila is an important site, whether or not it represents Indraprastha says
Upinder Singh. She finds it plausible to believe that “Indabara”, (possibly derived from
the Prakrit form “Indabatta”) which finds mention in Ptolemy's Geography and is said to
be probably in the vicinity of Delhi, was the same as Indraprastha. However, despite the
finds of some odd pieces of the pottery representing the PGW culture at the Purana Qila,
it cannot be conclusively proved to be the site of Mahabharata’s Indraprastha. Thus the
remains of the fabled city are yet to be found.

2
1.3 Delhi as an Historical City
Delhi was under the name of Indraprastha or Indrapat one of the earliest Hindu capitals,
and has a fabulous antiquity of no less than 3000 years before the Christian era. But as an
historical city, it cannot be said to date earlier than the middle of the eleventh century
when a Rajput king Anangpala of the Tomar dynasty founded a town, in the area of
present Suraj Kund. The Tomars later shifted their capital ten kilometres west where
Ananagpal raised the citadel of Lal Kot in AD 1060. It was around the place where the
Qutub mosque now stands.
However, the name Dhilli, or any other ‘phonetically similar version of it‟ is not
traceable in this period. The earliest epigraphic reference to Dhillika, from which the
Delhi derived its name, is found in the Bijolia rock inscription in district Udaipur
(Rajasthan) issued by the Chahaman Someshwara in Vikrama Samvat 1226 (AD 1169-
70). It mentions about the capture of Dhillika by the Chahman ruler Vigraharaj IV.
It suggests that the Tomar capital was originally named Dhillika which gradually
became Dhilli.
The oldest city of Delhi, of which traces remain to this day, is enveloped in the city of
Rai Pithora. The Chauhan ruler of Ajmer Vigraharaj IV captured Dhillika of the
Tomars. His grandson Prithviraj, the famous Rai Pithora extended the ramparts of the
Lal Kot, which is known in the Persian sources as Qila-i Rai Pithora. The walls of his
city can be traced round the Qutb Mosque. This fort was occupied by Qutbuddin Aibak
in 1192. It is here the foundation of Medieval Delhi was laid.
Remains of Lal Kot and Qila Rai Pithora bear testimony to Delhi’s past glory.
According to Rana Safvi, an author of Where Stones Speak: Historical Trails in
Mehrauli: “If there is one place in Delhi which gives one a sense of experiencing a
thousand years of history at once, it is Lal Kot”. He goes on to add that “Lal Kot was
Delhi’s original ‘red fort’. What we call Red Fort or Lal Qila today was called Qila-e-
Mubarak”.
Lal Kot, literally ‘red fort’, is a walled bastion or military garrison erected by Anangpal
II, the Tomar ruler in the middle of the eleventh century. Excavations were carried out
at Lal Kot between 1957 and 1961 and subsequently between 1991 and 1995. While the
earlier ones concentrated mainly on the fortification walls, the latter under the direction
of B.R.Mani yielded a number of antiquities including pottery, sculptures, copper coins,
beads made of terracotta, semi-precious stones, etc. According to Upinder Singh, “two
cultural phases were identified- Period I belonging to the Rajput phase (the mid-11th
century to the end of the 12th century), and Period II to the Sultanate phase (the end of
the 12th century to the mid-14th century)”, each one further divided into three and four
structural phases respectively. All that remains of it are a few mounds and ruins which
lie in present-day Sanjay Van, Mehrauli. Most parts of the fortification walls have
completely collapsed.
Prithviraj Chauhan extended and fortified Lal Kot as a defence against the Turks; the city
then came to be known as Qila Rai Pithora.Qila Rai Pithora literally means “Rai
Pithora's Fort”. The term was first used by the 16th century historian Abu'l-Fazl in

3
his Ain-i-Akbari, who presents Delhi as the Chahamana capital. In the mid-19th century,
archaeologist Alexander Cunningham made a distinction between the ruins at the site,
classifying them into older “Lal Kot” fortification built by the Tomaras and the newer
"Qila Rai Pithora" built by the Chahamans. This classification was however, challenged
by certain historians notable among them being Catherine B. Asher. She describes Qila
Rai Pithora as Lal Kot enlarged with rubble walls and ramparts. According to her, Qila
Rai Pithora served as a city, while Lal Kot remained the citadel. Qila Rai Pithora, which
was twice as large as the older citadel, had more massive and higher walls, and the
combined fort extended to six and a half km.
Asher states that Prithviraj lost the Chahamana kingdom in 1192 CE to the Turks. It is at
this time that the Ghurid governor Qutb al-Din Aibak occupied Qila Rai Pithora, and
renamed it “Dhilli” (modern Delhi), reviving the site's older name.
Upinder Singh, too, is of the view that Qila Rai Pithora is much larger than Lal Kot(
which forms its south-western part).According to her, “ the walls, 5-6 metres thick and 18
metres high at places, were interrupted by several gates, only a few of which survive”.
Excavations carried out in 1956-58 revealed well laid structures, including an oven and
floors of houses.
1.4 Conclusion
Summing up, it is evident that the area in anaround present day Delhi was a site of many
ancient settlements, Indraprastha and Lal Kot being the better known ones. Though it is
generally accepted that Tomar Rajput established the first know city of Delhi more than a
thousands years ago, one must bear in mind that the story of Delhi goes beyond the
Rajputs, both in history and legend. If mythology is to believed, “Delhi was built on what
was once a forest, and was home to pandawas from the epic Mahabharata”. The
historicity of Indraprastha still remains to be corroborated by the archaeological evidence.
Suggested Readings
1. Richard J. Cohen, "An Early Attestation of the Toponym Dhilli", Journal of the
American Oriental Society, Vol. 109 (1989), pp. 513-519.
2. Singh, Upinder. (1999). Ancient Delhi, Delhi : Oxford University Press, p.46-62, 75-
87.
3. Singh, Upinder (Ed.) (2006). Delhi: Ancient History, New Delhi, Social Science Press
(see the articles by Grover and Bakliwal; Dilip K. Chakrabarti and Nayanjot Lahiri;
A.K.Sharma; B.R. Mani; and B.D. Chattopadhyaya; pp. 3-25, 36-40, 68-76)

4
 UNIT-II
CITIES OF DELHI: URBAN SETTLEMENTS FROM THE 13TH AND 14TH
CENTURIES
Vikash Kumar Singh
Assistant Professor (History)
Deshbandhu College
University of Delhi
2.0 Introduction
Delhi, the capital of world largest democracy has a strong and long historical background.
Delhi has been capital of the most powerful dynasty's and emperors of the Indian history.
The history of the city is as old as human settlement in India. Several Kingdoms and
civilizations can be traced back to thousands year ago in Delhi as it has been the site of
human settlement from the prehistoric period. Many Harappan, Vedic age and later Vedic
age sites and settlements have been found here before the establishment of Delhi as the
capital of Rajputs during the rule of Tomar’s and Chauhan’s dynasty.
But 1192 was a very crucial period for not only India but also for Delhi when the
Chauhan ruler Prithvi Raj was defeated by Mohammad Ghori at Tarain. The capital of
Chauhan’s that was known as Qila Rai Pithora was occupied by Ghurid governor Qutb al-
Din Aibak, who established the rule of Delhi Sultanate. The next two centuries (13th and
14th century) of Delhi that we are going to discuss in detail did not just see the rise and
fall of the dynasties but also the emergence of Delhi as one of the largest political,
cultural and economic center of the world.
We will also discuss some important capitals of 13th and 14th century Delhi like Mehrauli,
Siri, Tughlaqabad and Firozabad. It was also an era of political turbulence, dynastic
changes and rebellion.
2.1 Sources of 13th and 14th Century Delhi
A wide variety of sources are available to know about the history of 13th and 14th century
Delhi. With the establishment of the Delhi sultanate tradition of Persian history writing
started. Many of the Persian writers were attached to the court as officials while a few
were independent scholars.
The pioneer history account of Fakhr-i Mudabbir is known as Shajra-i-Ansab compiled in
Lahore. The introduction of his account narrates the life and military exploits of
Qutbuddin Aibak since his appointment in India as Sipahsalar of Kuhram and Sunam in
1192 upto his accession to the throne in Lahore in 1206. This is the first history of the
Ghurian conquest and the foundation of an independent Sultanate in India. Another
important writing of this period was Hasan Nizami’s Tajul Ma’asir. Other notable
historical accounts of this period are Minhaj Siraj’s Tabaqat-iNasiri, Ziauddin Barani’s
Tarikh-i Firuzshahi (1357), Abdul Malik Isami’s Futuh us Salatin (1350) and Shams Siraj
Afif’s Tarikh-i Firuzshahi (c.1400) that provide us important information about the
political, cultural, social and economic condition of 13th and 14th century Delhi. The most
important writing of Ziauddin Barani’s begins with the accession of Sultan Balban to the

5
throne of Delhi in 1266 and end with the account of first six years of Sultan Firuz Shah
Tughluq’s reign in 1356. Barani tries to analyse the cause and effect of the events and
developments taking place in polity, society and economy of Delhi. According to
historian Sunil Kumar Barani’s account gave a critical review of the variety of sultanate
rulers. His text was not only didactic but also it is also critical to an appreciation of the
authors opinion on ideal governance.
While these Persian chronicles focused primarily upon the courts and administration of
sultans, contrary to that the Sufi literature of this period primarily provides valuable
information about the life and conditions of the common people of Delhi. In particular,
the Malfuẓāt (conversation of Sufi saints recorded by their disciples) and Tazkiras
(biographical dictionaries of the Sufis) add to our knowledge of King's subject's.
Important examples of Malfuẓāt literature from this period are 14th-century texts, the
Fawaid Al-Fawad by Amir Ḥasan Sejzi Dehlavi, that is a report of the teaching of
Nizamuddin Auliya in Delhi. Tawarikhs composed by secretaries and courtesans are also
important historical sources.
Apart from historical writing a number of other works are available for this period like
Abdu’r Razzaq’s Matla’us Sa’dain (travelogue), Tutsi’s Siyasatnama (administration &
polity), Fakhr-i Mudabbir’s Adabu’l-Harbwa’as- Shuja’at (warfare). Ibn Battuta’s Rihla
and Shihab-al Din al-Umari account Masalik al-absar Mamalik al-Ansar are the excellent
travel accounts of this period. Vernacular and the Jain literature is also an important
source for this period. All the above mentioned sources add to our knowledge of how
Delhi was in the 13th-14th century, as discussed further.
2.2 Urban settlement of Delhi during 13th and 14th century
As we know that pre-Sultanate period Delhi was the capital city of Tomar Rajput’s in the
11th century and Chauhan Rajputs in 12th century AD. The commercial as well as cultural
importance of the city enhanced during their rule. Large number of Jain merchants settled
in Delhi and started their commercial activities. They also constructed several small stone
temples in this region. The capital city of the Rajput rulers was the base for the
establishment of first capital city of Delhi sultanate that is known as Dihli-i-Kuhnah or
Mehrauli or Old City of Delhi. Apart from the commercial and cultural background, the
strategic and geographical location especially the Yamuna river for water supply and
trading activities and the Aravali hills for security and commanding position and rocks
for the stone quarries were important to establish Delhi as a capital city.
From 1192 AD, Delhi was under the control of Ghorian-Turkish conquerors but the
capital was Lahore till 1220s AD. It was Iltutmish (1210-36) who established the first
permanent authority and capital in Delhi. After that later sultans of Delhi sultanate also
established their capital city on riverine plain during 13th and 14th century. These
Settlements included Kilokari that was built by the Rukn al-Din Firuz (1236), Siri by
Aluddin Khilji (1296-1316), Tughluqabad by Ghiyasudin Tughluq (1320-24), Jahapanah
by Muhammad bin Tughluq (1324-51) and the last capital of Delhi sultanate, Firuzabad
by the Firuz Shah Tughluq (1351-88).
Medievalist historian Prof. Irfan Habib in his writing analyses the development of the
economic, commercial as well as art and cultural activities during 13th and 14th century

6
Delhi. He shows how the debates related to economic development during the Delhi
sultanate amongst the historian went about where some historians like Prof K.S.Lal and
Prof. Lallan ji Gopal described that poverty and population reduction of the country after
coming of the Muslim rule in India but contrary to their work Prof Mohammad Habib
shows that after coming of the Delhi sultanate economic organizations were established
that were much superior to those that existed earlier. According to Mohammad Habib
there was an expansion of the towns and important alteration in the agrarian relationship.
He mentions that the new rulers were interested in products of artisans- manufacturers
and not the caste of artisans. According to him sultanate period was a period of
urbanization and reduction of the power of local hereditary.
Irfan Habib shows that there was considerable change in the urban economy and that is
reflected in the considerable growth in size and number of the towns, expansion in the
craft production and corresponding expansion in commerce. Ibn Battuta described Delhi
as a city of enormous extent and population, the largest city in the Islamic East. He also
describes the technological improvement during this period. For example, the arrival of
spinning wheel (Charkha) in the cotton textile sector increase the production. Similarly,
the Sericulture or rearing of the mulberry silk worm also introduced in silk cloth weaving
during Sultanate period. Paper manufacturing started and by the early 14th century the
sweet-meat sellers of Delhi could pack their products in paper for their customers.
That was also a period of development of art and architecture technologies. According to
Irfan Habib during these period crucial and new elements in building industry included
the use of cementing lime and vaulted roofing with extensive use of true arch and dome.
Use of enormous silver coinage and gold coins shows the growth of commercial
prosperity and transformation. Apart from these change, large number of skilled
immigrants like artisans, merchants came from Islamic East to India and bring them their
craft, techniques and practices. Craftsman’s and artisans from the Islamic land played an
important role in the making of Delhi as a great cultural city. Sultan’s of the Delhi
extended patronage to artisans and craftsman, as Minhaj Siraj writes that the “people
from various parts of the world gathered together in Delhi, which became the retreat and
resting place for the learned, the virtuous and the excellent of the various parts of the
world.”
Delhi also emerged as an important pilgrimage center for Islam during the 13th and 14th
century AD. To communicate the character of the 13th and 14th century Delhi, the
Sultanate chronicler Mumbai Siraj referred to the city as Qubbat-al-Islam or the sanctuary
of Islam. Large number of mosques and Madrasas were constructed during this period. It
was under Iltutmish that Sufism gained prominence in Delhi thereby strengthening the
pluralistic fabric of city and earning the city epithet of 'Hazrat-i- Delhi'. He held
discourses with orthodox ulemas but disregarded their advice when formulating imperial
policies. This balance between the Shariah and practical needs of the time became a
feature of Turkish rule in Delhi. Most prominent Sufi Silsila that was Chisti Sufi
developed in Delhi during this period. Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya was the prominent
religious figure of the Delhi and during the 14th century his tomb emerged as the most
venerated shrine in Delhi. The Dargah of another important Sufi saint Qutubuddin
Bakhtiyar Kaki also emerged as an important pilgrimage site during the late 14th century
Delhi.

7
2.3 Mehrauli or Dehli-i-Kuhnah
Shams al Din Iltutamish (1210-36 AD) established his capital in Mehrauli or also known
as Dehli-i- Kuhnah. This area was earlier part of rajputs rulers Tomara- Chauhan fort.
During his reign Iltutmish piloted the city towards new sultanate identity. He established
his sovereign authority with the help of trained and trusted military cadre. He completed
the construction of Qutbminar in 1215 AD that was started by Qutubuddin Aibak. He also
built a mosque that was Masjid-i- Jami (Delhi’s first congregational mosque) or
Qubbatul-Islam mosque, and a new fort (Hisar-i-Nau) close to the north of the mosque.
The earliest evidence of arch in India is found in this Quwwatul- Islam mosque.
According to Prof. M. Athar Ali the mosque was probably a religious school and known
as Madrasa-i- Muizzi founded as early as reign of Muizuddin of Ghor. Outside its gate
was a market of cloth merchants known as Bazar - i- Bazzazan.
The area of Mehrauli was very far away from the Yamuna river therefore providing water
to the increasing population became the major issue of this city. The nearest point of
Yamuna was 18 km from the city. Another issue was Aravalli rocky range, due to this
there was issue in digging the wells in the most places. To deal with the issues of water
supply Iltutamish built a large tank Hauz-i- Sultani or Hauz -i- Shamsi. It was situated 3
km from the city. The tank was rectangular and about 200 metres long and 125 metres
broad. The tank was not able to meet the needs of water to the large population and
therefore successors of Iltutamish started sifting his capitals city towards the river
Yamuna.
The Old Delhi was the most important city of Delhi that retained it importance as the
center of urban activities, and as the focal point of the socio-religious life of Delhi. It
continued to remain associated with the authority of the rulers of Delhi Sultanate till
Kiayqubad’s rule. However, the successor and son of the Iltutmish, Rukn-al-Din-Firuz
shifted his capital from Old Delhi to Kilokhri for establish his independent authority and
challenge to his disloyal and ambitious slave commanders. Kilokhari was located on a
low hillock by the bank of the river Yamuna, to north east of the Old City. But within a
short period the slave commander also known as Shamsi Bandagan defeated Rukn-al-Din
and placed his sister Raziyah sultana on the throne of Old City and till the reign of
Kayqubad Old Delhi was remaining the capital of sultanate. Kayqubad was appointed on
the throne by Ghiyashi commanders therefore he moved quickly from Old Delhi to
protect himself from their influence. He shifted his capital to Kilokari. Ziyaduddin Barani
describes how he made Bazar, Mosque and complex in his capital. During the rule of
Allaudin Khilji (1296-1316) this Old City witnessed large scale building activities,
renovation and repair work. He also built Alai Darwaza here in 1305 AD. He expanded
the size of Qubbatul-Islam mosque of a double size during his reign. Allauddin also
repaired the old fort and re-excavated the Hauz-i-Shamsi water tank because large
number of mud and silt were present inside the tank and a Chabutara (platform) and a
domed pavilion (Gumbad) built in the middle.

8
2.4 Siri: The Capital city of Alauddin Kalaji
Siri was initially a military encampment or Lashkargah that was built by prominent
Khilaji ruler Allauddin Kilaji (1296-1316), later on he developed Siri as a capital city of
Delhi sultanate. The first reference of Siri in sultanate writings came through Amir
Khusraw, he mentions Siri as a site that existed between Old Delhi and Kilokhri.
Allauddin Khilji made Siri as garrison town to protect it from the Mongol invasion. It was
the army encampment to counter Mongol threat because most powerful attacks on Delhi
was during the reign of Allauddin Khilaji under the leadership of powerful Mongol
commander Qutugh Qocha and his lieutenant Taraghai. Historian Peter Jackson wrote
how the threat of Mongols contributed in more positive change in Delhi and Siri was also
amongst one this positive change. According to him due to the Mongol threat Delhi
became the refugee camp and people like bureaucrats, soldiers, scholars of Khurashan
and central Asia came to settle in Delhi during his reign. Prof. M. Athar Ali also
mentions that due to the Mongol threat it was necessary to fortify the capital and keep the
population within the fortified wall. According to him to build this fortified city supply of
stone was easily available from the rocky zone.
Ziauddin Barani in his writing mentions that despite the investment and renovation of Old
Delhi, Allauddin was not interested in living in Old City because he was fed up with the
resistance that he was facing from its old household that was another reason to establish
Siri as capital outside Old City. As Prof. Sunil Kumar mentions that Siri was critical for
Allauddin to show his authority and escape from the conspiracy of Old City.
According to Yazdi’s description in Jafarnama Siri was circular in shape not recetangular
with seven gates for entry and exit but at present time only the South Eastern gate is
stands. Around 70000 workers put their efforts to build this city and that is reflected in
strong walls and ramparts of the Siri fort. Alauddin also built important palace of a
thousand pillars commonly known as Hazar Sutun. Design and structure of this palace
was wonderful which was erstwhile laden with stones such as sapphires, lapis lazuli and
intricate Naqqashi work on its wall and roof, sadly, none of which remains on the
premises today.
Another structure built by Alauddin Khilji in Siri was the Hauz- i- Alai. It was big
reservoir of water which is currently situated in Hauz Khas to meet the water requirement
of the Siri and Old City. Yazdi called it reservoir a 'small sea' and he also wrote that it
was filled with the rainy water and served to supply the needs of people of Delhi for the
whole year. The shape of this reservoir is square and size of each side is approximately
600 meters in length and total space enclosed by its banks amounted to over 70 acres. Ibn
Battuta describe that Hauz-i-Khas was larger than Hauz-i-Shamsi.
Tuhfewalagumbad is the only Khalji era building located within the walls of the Siri fort
towards its western corner. Although it is prominently visible from the main road, the
enclosure for the buildings is now surrounded by the Shahpur Jat village and its
compound is entered through a narrow lane accessed from within the village. Very little
is known about why the building came to be known as this name, its name literally
meaning is the 'gifted dome'. From the outside the building has the appearance of tomb
but in reality this was mosque. The structure that now survives is the central chamber of
the main prayer hall of this mosque. The chamber is centered through a large iwan that

9
contains three smaller and narrower arched opening. Above the central arch is yet another
but smaller arched opening.
Ziauddin Barani mentioned how Siri developed as a major commercial center during
reign of Alauddin Khalaji. Alauddin ordered to open cloth market on an open place
within the wall city. This market was known as Sara-i-Adl and was close to the Badaun
gate that was the greatest gate of the Delhi as mentioned by the Ibn Battuta. Also a grain
market was situated near the Mandavi Darwaza as mentioned by the Barani. Successor of
Alauddin, Mubarak Shah Khalaji (1316-20) developed Siri as his capital and home of
royal family and administrators. He expanded Siri as commercial and urban center. He
referred Siri as ‘residence of the Caliph’. He was murdered in Siri by his slave Khusraw
Khan in 1320.
2.5 Tughluqabad: The Capital City of Ghayasuddin Tughlaq
Tughlaqabad fort in Delhi which is complete ruin now was built by the Ghayasuddin
Tughlaq (1320-25), the founder of the Tughlaq dynasty. He continued his capital from
Siri to show the continuity of the Khalaji rule and gain support of the political elite but
for the political stability very soon he constructed the new capital Tughlaqabad. It was the
first properly planned capital of Delhi sultanate which was constructed on previously
uninhabited sites.
According to IbnBattuta’s account the construction of the Tughlaqabad had been in mind
of the Ghayasuddin Tughlaq from the time when he was in the court of Mubarak Shah
Khalaji. Barani mentions that construction of the fort started just after enthronement of
the sultan. Another reason behind the construction of new capital was the trend to
construct new capital city to mark the establishment of new dynasty like Kilokari for
Khalaji’s. Barani mentions that the town seems to have completed during the first two
years of the reign of Ghayasuddin Tughlaq in 1321-22. Muhammad bin Tughlaq conquest
of Warangal was celebrated in both Siri and Tughlaqabad and same year it was made the
Dar-al-Mulk(capital). Architect of the Tughlaqabad fort was Ahmad b. Ayaz of Anatolian
origin. He was expert of geometry and in-charge of the royal building.
Gayasuddhin selected area of Tughlaqabad to construct new city because of its defensive
structure and the site lay in its stone quarries which provided building material and the
scarp’s that could be used to reinforce the elevation of fortifications. There was also
possibility to setting a dam and creating a tank for source of water supply. According to
Ishami, sultan Ghayasuddin ordered to digging of a tank under the elevated fort. Sultan
built a tomb and there was a man-made island in the middle of the lake. There was a
300m long causeway to linking the tomb to the fort. Citadel was to the south of the town
that was highest point of the hill. Residence of the sultan was close associated with the
fort. Total area of the fort was within 6 km. It had total 15 gates, amongst them 12 were
defensive gates to the outside, 2 more gates were between fort and town and a single gate
connecting to fort to the citadel. Khirki gate was towards the lake south of the town and
in front of the Yamuna Ghat and there were flight steps to provide access of water.
Ghayasuddin was a clearly a military man which is exhibited in his city structure. His
main concern was to provide safety and security to the capital. Fortifications of wall and
most of the buildings were built by rubble stone with lime and sand mortar and were

10
cased with dressed stone. Fortifications of walls vary in thickness. Rampart was over 10m
thick while citadel was 30m thick and average town wall was between 10m to 15m thick.
There was three tiered defense system between the fort and outside area. The wall of
citadel was 20m to 30m above of the level of town and plain and had commanding view.
Pavilion in the Tughlaqabad fort was most prominent building which was built on a
platform. It was in pyramidal shape and surrounded by palace building. There was three
opening in each side. Pavilion was in the form of domed chamber. Ibn Battuta describes
pavilion as a 'great palace of golden brick.' Other buildings of the Tughalaqabad fort was
the mosque, royal square, public audience hall and court. Ibn Battuta writes about the
public audience hall was that it was known as a Kushk-i-Lal means the red palace. It is a
huge building with vast audience hall and gallery and on the top of entrance is pavilion,
looking over the audience area.
In 1325, Ghayasuddin Tughalaq was returning from his Bengal campaign to Delhi, a
pavilion erected to honour Sultan’s success collapsed causing his death. Ibn Battuta
accused his son Mohammad bin Tugalaq and architect of the pavilion Ahmad b. Ayaz as
conspirator and held them responsible for Ghayasuddin’s death. His body was brought to
his famous tomb and buried there. The fort was never really inhabited was finally
unceremoniously abandoned in 1327. Mohammad bin Tughlaq decided not to stay in his
father’s citadel because of guilt feeling and soon constructed new citadel Adilabad. There
was only a royal palace that was constructed because it was not large enough to build
public and private audience hall and building. After some time, he shifted to his new
capital Jahapanah which had palaces, audience hall and civic buildings. Mohammad bin
Tughlaq left Tughalaqabad to destruction and ruin. Even his successor Firoz shah
Tughlaq (1351-88) rebuilt and repaired old building and constructed new public
building's but Tughalaqabad was not included in his grand building projects. Later on he
built his own capital Firozabad on the bank of Yamuna river in 1358 AD.
2.6 Conclusion
We can say that the 13th and 14th Century Delhi was a period of shift and transformation
in the economic, political, social and cultural life of Delhi that was shaped by the
Rajput’s rulers in the 11th and 12th century. During this period a new Indo-Islamic art
and architecture developed in Delhi. This was also a period of development of new
technologies in manufacturing sector. Artisans, Craftsman and scientists from all over
the world came to Delhi seeking better opportunities. New capital city and different
markets developed during this period. Delhi also emerged as a pilgrimage center for
Islam during 13th and 14th century. It was also era of political conflicts, rebellion and
dynastic change in ruling class.
2.7 Suggested Readings
 Ali, Athar. (1985). “Capital of the Sultans: Delhi through the 13th and 14th
Centuries”, in R.E. Frykenberg, (ed.).Delhi Through the Age: Essays in Urban
History, Culture and Society, Delhi: Oxford University Press, pp. 34-44.
 Habib, Irfan. (1978). ‘Economic History of the Delhi Sultanate an Essay in
Interpretation’, Indian Historical Review, vol. 4, pp. 287-303.

11
 Haidar, Najaf. (2014). ‘Persian Histories and a Lost City of Delhi', Studies in
People's History, vol. 1, pp. 163–171.
 Jackson, Peter. (1986). ‘Delhi: The Problem of a Vast Military Encampment’, in:
R.E. Frykenberg (ed.). Delhi Through the Ages: Essays in Urban History, Culture,
and Society, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1986), pp.18-33.
 Kumar, Sunil. (2011). “Courts, Capitals and Kingship: Delhi and its Sultans in the
Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries CE.” in Albrecht Fuess and Jan Peter Hartung,
(eds.). Court Cultures in the Muslim World: Seventh to Nineteenth Centuries.
London: Routledge, pp. 123-48.
 Kumar, Sunil. (2019) “The Tyranny of Meta-Narratives; Re-reading a History of
Sultanate Delhi”, in Kumkum Roy and Naina Dayal.(Ed.).Questioning Paradigms,
Constructing Histories: A Festschrift for Romila Thapar, Aleph Book Company, pp
222-235.
 Singh, Upinder. (1999). Ancient Delhi. Delhi: Oxford University Press.

12
 UNIT -III

18TH AND EARLY 19TH CENTURY SHAHJAHANABAD : POLITICS,

LITERARY CULTURE AND DELHI COLLEGE
Dr. Madhu Trivedi
Structure
3.0 Introduction
3.1 Shahjahanabad as the exemplar of the sovereign city model
3.2 Dominating ideas in the founding of Shahjahanbad
3.3 Cityscape of Shahjahanabad
3.4 Delhi as a Centre of Art and Culture
3.5 The Literary Culture
3.6 Urdu: Its Origin and Development as a Literary Language
3.0 Introduction
The imperial capital Shahjahanabad was built by Mughal Emperor Shahjahan (1628-58)
between 1639 and 1648 and it spread out over a large area along the banks of river
Yamuna in the southeastern parts of the Delhi triangle. The outspurs of the Aravalli range
reaching deep into the great alluvial plains of north India have their terminal point in the
Delhi Ridge which afforded natural protection to the city from erosion by the river
Jamuna. Thus, heights for commanding positions, rocks for stone-quarries, and the river
for water supply were the factors which should have combined to attract Shah Jahan for
the creation of his capital city that virtually overlapped the cities of Sher Shah and Firuz
Shah. Other reasons for selecting Delhi were that it enjoyed a reputation as the imperial
city and served as the capital of the Muslim rulers for about three hundred years. It also
acquired an aura of sanctity as a religious centre.
3.1 Shahjahanabad as The Exemplar of The Sovereign City Model
This theory was propagated by Stephen P. Blake. According to him like many other
capital cities such as Istambul, Isfahan, Tokyo, and Peking, Shahjahanabad was also the
“exemplar” of the sovereign city model. The sovereign city, Blake opines, was the
“capital of the patrimonial – bureaucratic empire, a type of state which characterized the
Asian empires from about 1400 to 1750…The patrimonial – bureaucratic emperor
dominated the social, economic, and cultural life of the city, and he dominated its built
form as well.”1
Blake further explains that from the micro-perspective the sovereign city was an
enormously extended patriarchal household, and the centre of power lay in the imperial
palace-fortress. The city was an extension of the imperial mansion as the layout of the
buildings and gardens, and the shops in the city copied the layout of the buildings within
the palace complex. Similarly the organization of production and exchange in the city, by

1
Stephen P. Blake, Shahjahanabad: The Sovereign City in Mughal India, 1639- 1739.Cambridge
University Press, Cambridge, 1991, p. XII.

13
and large, followed the same system as was prevalent in the palace-fortress. In respect of
social interaction of the inhabitants of the city also the imperial palace set the model.
From the macro-perspective the sovereign city was the kingdom in miniature. The
emperor intended that his command of the city in respect of power, obedience, resources,
and influence should be “symbolic” of the influence that he and his subordinates
exercised over empire.1
The structure of society in the sovereign cities, states Blake, also followed the pattern
prevalent in the imperial palace. There was a pattern-client relationship between the
emperor and his nobles, then between the nobles and the members of their household
bound the city in a kind of vast extended family. These ties were reviewed and
strengthened in the daily rituals of the palace fortress. The cultural life also revolved
round the households of the emperors, princes, and great nobles who were well versed in
the various arts and crafts, and they provided patronage to arts and crafts, literature,
painting, music, and architecture.
Whether these characteristics were present in Shahjahanabad, and the city reflected the
power of the Mughal emperor, or how much influence the ruler exercised on the
inhabitants of the city is a subject of discussion amongst the scholars. One may point it
out here that the great cities in Mughal India were not merely princely camps as Max
Waber has visualized on the basis of the account of the French traveller Bernier. Instead
they had a logic and structure of their own. There were certain principles that guided their
construction that manifested the power of the ruler in various ways. The capital stood as a
symbol of his power and wealth. The planning of Shahjahanabad, undoubtedly, reflected
the power of the ruler as many other cities of medieval India, but it also had certain
distinguishing features denoting an independent urban growth in many respects.
3.2 Dominating Ideas in The Founding of Shahjahanbad
Shahjahan had most intense interest in architecture. He replaced many of the structures of
Akbar’s period in sandstone in the palace fortress of Agra with those of his own design in
marble. As Muhammad Salih Kamboh, a contemporary historian tells us, during his daily
darbar nobles and princes exhibited their plans for buildings and gardens, and he also
used to see in the evening the designs of buildings which were under construction.2 In
1639, he decided to found a new capital not only for the reason that he wanted to
distinguish himself from his predecessors, it was also because due to erosion the scope
for the expansion of the imperial capital Agra became difficult, and on festive occasions
it was difficult to manage the crowd in the palace-fortress and so on. Shahjahan instructed
the architect-planners and astrologers to select a site for his new capital and his choice
fell on a spot in the Delhi triangle where the spurs of Aravalli controlled the course of the
river Yamuna in such a way that it would not change.
In order to understand the founding of Shahjahanabad one has to take into account the
fact that Mughal rulers conceived the city as the meeting place of the heaven and earth.
Their belief originated in accordance with the traditional theories of Islamic architecture,
which held that the city lay between the two major poles of man and the cosmos,and
1
Ibid., pp. XII-XIII.
2
Amal-i Salih, ed. G. Yazdani, Vol. I, p. 248.

14
incorporated the principles of both. The city was therefore a sacred centre that was
considered “to encompass the empire and the universe”. It was “an organic analogy that
controlled the plan and functioning of the urban system”. Accordingly the emperor also
had a hallowed significance; he was the “symbolic centre of a nested hierarchy: city,
empire and universe.”1 This view is reflected in contemporary historian Muhammad
Salih’s comment that the four walls of Shahjahanabad“enclosed the centre of theearth”.2
These ideas were not merely confined to the Islamic architecture only, Hindu architects
and builders also nurtured the belief that the capital city was located at the centre of the
kingdom, the palace-fortress at the centre of the city, and the throne of the king at the
centre of the universe. Many of them were associated with the construction activities of
Shahjahanabad.
3.3 Cityscape of Shahjahanabad
Shahjahan imposed his own vision on the new capital. Its cityscape centered on the
structures of the ruler and his nobles. In this way it resembled to Isfahan, the capital of
the Safavids which was designed by the Safavid ruler Shah Abbas at the close of the
sixteenth century. The area of Shahjahanabad was much larger than any of the earlier
cities of the Sultans of Delhi or any other rulers on thesub-continent.
The construction work on the site commenced under the supervision of two renowned
architects Ustad Ahmad and Ustad Hamid. However, Shahjahan kept a close watch on the
entire project including the locations and building plans of the mansions of the grandees
of the empire. After two weeks, when initial spate work was completed, princes and high-
ranking nobles also received plots of land so that work may also start on their mansions.
Work on the imperial structures was carried under the supervision of three subadars –
Ghairat Khan, Allah Vardi Khan and Makramat Khan. When finally completed the city
was magnificent and it was regarded as one of the largest and most populous city in the
world. Muhammad Salih is all praise for the city and opines that neither Constantinople
nor Baghdad could compare with Shahjahanabad which lacked none of the amenities
oflife.3
3.3.1 Town planning
The Mughal emperors were consummate masters of town planning especially Shahjahan
who had a very highly cultivated aesthetic sense. He planned everything on a large and
noble scale. Long before Paris set the fashion (1670 AD) of having the principal streets of
the city flanked with avenues, and boulewards became the attractive features of the
modern towns in modern Europe, Shahjahan had planned in 1638 a beautiful boulewardin
the Chandni Chowk of Delhi. It had a marked similarity with Unter-den-Linden in Barlin
founded by Fredrick the Great about 1740, the “grandest example of a bouleward in
Europe”.4
The plan of Shahjahanabad reflects both Hindu and Islamic influences. It seems to have
followed a design from Manasara, an ancient treatise on architecture which contains a

1
Blake, Preface, p. XIV.
2
Muhammad Salih, Bahar-iSukhan, Persian Manuscript Collection, Or. 178, British Museum, fol. 203b.
3
Amal-i Salih, ed. G. Yazdani, Vol. III, pp. 49-50.
4
For details see Anonymous author, Delhi the capital of India, Revised and enlarged edition of All about
Delhi; first published in 1918, reprint, New Delhi, 1997, p. 212.

15
semi-elliptical design called karmuka or bow for a site fronting a river or seashore. There
was, however, a variation devised in it that on the most auspicious spot is the juncture of
the two main streets, the place was occupied by the palace-fortress. In the original
karmuka plan the most auspicious place in a settlement was to be occupied by a temple.
The selection of karmuk plan symbolically suggests the power of the king.
The planning of Shahjahanabad also reflects the traditional Islamic city plan. According
to it the concept of the city lies between the two poles – man and universe – and that
incorporates the symbolic principles of both. The city drew on the images of men and
universe in a symbolic form. The plan of the city was also seen to emulate the anatomy of
men which “contained all the possibilities of the universe within himself”.1 Elements of
cosmological concept of the city found vogue in the working of the Iranian architects of
Shahjahan‟s court. As Blake opines the walled city “symbolized the cosmos and the eight
gates the four cardinal directions plus the four gates of heaven.”2
3.3.2 The City Walls and Gates
The city was fortified on three sides by a strong wall and the fourth – on the eastern side–
partly by the Fort and partly by the wall. The northern wall of the city extended just three
quarters of a mile from the Water Bastion in the east to the Mori Bastion in the west. It
was encircled by a massive wall more than 8 metre high and 3.5 metres wide. The total
length of the walls exceeded 9 kilometres. The wall was surmounted by twenty-seven
towers and interspersed with a number of big gates and entryways at regular intervals.
The major gateways pointed to the direction of the important places and regions of the
empire, such as Lahori Gate, Kashmiri Gate, Ajmeri Gate, Akbarabadi Gate, etc. Towards
the river, where Rajghat and Nigambodhghat are located, smaller gates were provided for
the Hindu inhabitants of the city to visit their places of worship and perform ceremonial
functions. Overlooking these gates were chaukis (posts) and quarters for the security
personnel. There were two hillocks within the area enclosed by the citadel. On one of
these, known as Bhujalalpahari, was constructed the Jami Masjid. It is about 500 metres
south-west of the fortress.
3.3.3 The Palace-fortress
The Palace-fortress of Shahjahan, called the Qila-i Mubarak (auspicious Fort, popularly
known as Lal Qila) was an overpowering structure which took nine years to complete.
According to the French traveller Bernier it was “the most magnificent palace in the East-
perhaps in the world”. It is built on a larger and much comprehensive scale than any other
of its kind. It was the residence of the emperor, and also the seat of the governmental as
wall as cultural activities, and contained a variety of buildings, thus forming a city within
city. In all there were 32 buildings in thepalace-fortress.
The extent of the wall of the palace-fortress comes to about 3 kilometres, and it encloses
an area of about 124 acres, which is twice the size of the fort at Agra. It is nearly a regular
parallelogram with the angles slightly canted off. The high walls are relieved at intervals
with towers surmounted by shapely kiosks.

1
For details see Blake, pp. 33-36.
2
Ibid., p. 36.

16
Thousands of stone-cutters, masons, stone carvers, carpenters, gardener-designers, and
others craftsmen worked on it. The craftsmanship was of such an order that, as
Muhammad Salih remarks, “a sharp nail could not be pushed between the stones of the
buildings”.1 A large moat, 23 metres wide and 9 metres deep surrounded the fort. It was
faced with rough stone, and filled with water. And as Bernier tells us, it served to further
isolate and protect the imperial household. The palace fortress was separated from the
city proper by three gardens namely Buland Bagh, Gulabi Bagh, and Anguri Bagh. None
of these can be seen anymore.
The palace fortress had four massive gateways: Lahori Gate facing Chandini Chowk was
the principal entrance. Behind its deep recessed portal was a massive vaulted hall which
opened into a courtyard. The hall was connected with a square-shaped structure, called
naubat-khana through a covered corridor. Shops were constructed on both sides of the
corridor and expansive luxury items were available here. It accommodated the entire
royal apartments, palace, and pavilions. Outside it were located the quarters, for the
armed retainers and edifices for miscellaneous purposes. An important building was
Diwan-i Am, a large pavilion measuring about 61 metres by 24 metres. It was divided into
two parts with a marble baldachin (canopy) set into niche in the eastern wall facing the
window. The niche was originally adorned with precious stones. The entire surface of the
building was covered with fine shell plaster and ivory polish which gave it the semblance
of marblestructure.
3.3.4 The Principal Buildings in the Palace Fortress
Interior of the fortress was divided into two rectangles. The harem and private apartments
occupied the whole area eastward of the bazaar. There used to be at least six marble
structures rising above the ramparts and imparting it a picturesque appearance to the front
through their balconies, oriel windows, and turrets. The largest structure in this group was
Rang Mahal. To its north was located the Aramgah (sleeping quarters). The quarters for
the widows and dependents of the former rulers within the fortress were located in a place
called Khawaspura.
Adjacent to Rang Mahal was Diwan-i Khas. It was certainly the most ornamented
building of Shahjahanabad. It was decorated with inlay of precious stones. Only selected
grandees were allowed admission in this building. The imperial fortress contained
thousands of persons that included, apart from the household troops of the emperor,
merchants, artisans, servants, painters, musicians, and secretarial staff and many more. It
also contained workshops, stables, stores, treasury, mint, and weapons. The palace
fortress was, thus, a city in miniature as it contained all the elements of a town or city,
and it served as the model for the city. The layout of the streets in the city was also in the
similar fashion as it was within the fortress.
3.3.5 The Jharokha
On the eastern wall of the fort on the riverfront a delicately carved structure (jharokha)
was devised where the emperor showed himself every day in the early morning to the
people who gathered there in large numbers. Later in the day the contingents of nobles

1
Amal- i Salih, Vol. III, p. 82.

17
and the rajas passed in review.
The early morning ritual of appearing on the balcony, jharokh-darshan as it is called, had
great significance as it brought the emperor in direct contact with his subjects especially
the Hindus, “enfolding them into the great household that was empire”. Anyperson, even
the meanest or the poorest, could participate in this ritual. This ceremony inspired
tremendous awe and respect in the heart of his audience. The Mughal rulers understood
the value of the ritual and this custom was followed. The ceremonial in the audience halls
strengthened the ties of patron-client relationship.
3.3.6 The Important Places and Bazaars in the city
The most important road was one connecting the Lahori Gate of the city wall and the
Lahori Gate of the palace-fortress with a minor diversion near the Fatehpuri mosque. The
Nahr-iFaiz1 flowed through the centre of the road between the Fatehpuri mosque and the
palace-fortress, and a square was constructed around the central part of the canal. The
beautiful reflections on the moonlit nights soon gave it the popular name Chandni
Chowk. It is apparent that Chandni Chowk was laid, though on a large scale, on the same
plan on which chamans or flower gardens are arranged in front of the Mughal palaces.2
Both sides of the road were lined with the trees and more than 1500 shops on it, which
were either owned by Princess Jahan Ara or Nawab Fatehpuri Begum (one of the queens
of Shahjahan). Starting from the side of the palace-fortress the markets were called Urdu
Bazar, Jauhri/ Asharfi Bazar and then Fatehpuri Bazar. Another straight road connected
the Akbarabadi Gate of the palace-fortress with the Akbarabadi Gate (now called the
Delhi Gate) of the city wall, and the market here was called the Faiz Bazar. On the road
to the Nahr-iFaiz flowed through the centre and both sides of the road were strewn with
shops. It is now known Darya Ganj. This road was joined, near the fortress by the road
coming from the Kashmiri Gate, on which the main sections of the havelis and mansions
of the nobility located. Yet another straight road came from the Kabuli Gate, running
parallel in the north to the Chandni Chowk, it joined the Kashmiri Gateroad.3
3.3.7 The Palaces and Mansions of the Nobility
In the social hierarchy the position of the members the ruling class was next to the
emperor. They tried to imitate the imperial establishments in all its departments, though
at a much lower scale. Thus, the common features that could be located in these palaces
and mansions include naqqar-khana (drummer’s chamber), provision of the token-force
of armed retainers, gardens, and the harem or the residential apartments for the family of
the nobles. These mansions were, however, not the private property of the nobles and
could be acquired by the state any time. The residences of the rich merchants and hakims,

1
In order to ensure adequate supply of water for the palace and city Shahjahan re- excavated, deepened
and extended the canal which was originally constructed by Sultan Firuz Shah Tughlaq during 1355-58,
and later on cleaned and extended during Akbar‟s time. It was now called Nahr-iFaiz which entered
Shahjahanabad near the Kabuli Gate in the north-west. Inside the city this canal measured approximately
8 metres wide and 8 metres deep. It was divided into 2 main channels and 8 sub- channels to provide
waters to residences and a number of gardens which were in the city and the suburbs.
2
For details see, Delhi the capital of India, Revised and enlarged edition of All about Delhi, p.113.
3
For details see, Madhu Trivedi, “Shahjahanabad” in Historic Delhi, published by Indian History
Congress, 52 Session, 1992.

18
most of these were havelis or multi-storied structures, were their private properties.
The palaces and mansions of the princes and great nobles dominated the cityscape of
Shahjahanabad. The residential complexes were surrounded by high walls and they
contained gardens, and beautiful apartments. The account of William Franklin of the
mansion of a great noble Khan-i Dauran, the wazir of Muhammad Shah during the
eighteenth century, provides an idea of the “size and the complexities” of the residences
of these nobles. Generally a lofty gateway (also called the naqqar khana) housed the
soldiers of the daily guard and the household musicians. A large forecourt surrounded by
a row of rooms under an arcade lay immediately inside. It contained places for the
soldiers and servants of the household and for the horses, elephants, and attendants of
visitors. They also contained apartments for servants, clerks, artisans, soldiers, store
rooms for different commodities, record offices, treasuries, workshops and so on. The
living quarters of the princes and amirs used to be in the inner quadrangle, which was
separated from the public area by a high wall.
These mansions were quite large and some of these have space for thousands of people.
They were so vast that as Muhammad Salih figuratively says “in the courtyard of each
one the area of a city is empty”.1 As Blake remarks, “By virtue of their size and
population, these mansions dominated the sectors of the city just as the palace-fortress
dominated the urban area as a whole.”2 These households also dominated the urban
economy and the process of consumption as well.
3.3.8 The Gardens
Besides the walled area the urban complex extended several miles into the countryside.
As Bernier tells us these suburbs were interspersed with extensive gardens and open
space.3 The gardens occupied an important place in the plan and build of the city in
Islamic tradition which was introduced here more markedly by the Mughal rulers.
Mughal gardens were rectangular, surrounded by high walls broken by gateways, and
topped with towers. These were cut by four swiftly flowing canals which divided them
into four sections and this devise endowed them the name chaharbagh. On three sides
Shahjahanabad was surrounded by several gardens and mansions of the Mughal princes
and nobles. Mention may be made here of Shalimar Bagh, Mubarak Bagh, Roshanara
Begum’s Bagh, Talkatora Bagh, and Kudsia Bagh.
The plan of Shahjahanabad followed that of the palace-fortress. Like it the city was
divided into two parts. The palace was the exclusive area and the seat of power. The rest
of the urban area was the centre of widespread activities. The streets and markets also
followed the pattern of the palace-fortress.4
The planning of the city of Shahjahanabad was done in a manner that it symbolizes the
hold of the ruler in many ways. However, Shahjahanabad was not solely dependent on the
emperor for its growth or sustenance. The urban communities retained “their own
1
Ibid, p. 45.
2
Shahjahanabad: The Sovereign City…‟, p. 49.
3
Francois Bernier, Travels in the Mogul Empire, Delhi, 1972, p. 242.
4
For details see Stephen P. Blake, “Cityscape of an Imperial Capital: Shahjahanabad in 1739”, in Delhi
Through the Ages, edited by R. E. Frykenberg, p. 185.

19
distinctive style and character”. This is there as on that in spite of the decline in the power
of the Mughal emperor from the middle of the eighteenth century Shahjahanabad
continued to flourish as a busy commercial centre. The culture it had evolved continued
to thrive. One can see strong traces of this even today in the walledcity.

3.4 Delhi as a Centre of Art and Culture

The establishment of the Sultanate of Delhi in the beginning of the thirteenth century
brought a change in the cultural set-up of northern India. By the second quarter of the
thirteenth century Delhi, the capital of the Turkish empire known as Delhi Sultante,
emerged as a mega-city, a centre of cross-sections of cultural and professional groups
from diverse and vital centres of art and culture especially from Khurasan. Sultan
Iltutmish, who is virtually known as the founder of the Delhi Sultanate, extended
patronage to men of learning and skills. Through the large number of grants and his
unbounded munificence Iltutmish “gathered together in Delhi”, writes Minhaj Siraj,
“people from various parts of the world…and it became the retreat and resting place for
the learned, the virtuous and the excellent [people] of the various parts of the
world”. Delhi was considered the heir to the great cities of Iraq and Ajam. The process
of the enhancement of its prestige as political and administrative centre and hub of
cultural activities never ceased and it became one of the truly grand capitals of the
Islamic world. As a contemporary historian Barani observes, it rivaled Baghdad, Cairo,
Constantinople, and Bait u’l Muqaddas (Jerusalem). Contemporary Indian art and culture
also began to grow in a cosmopolitan cultural setting wherein several cultural streams
from the Persianate world contributed considerably.
3.4.1 Development of Art and Culture under the Sultans of Delhi
The establishment of the Delhi Sultanate with a new set of ruling elite brought significant
changes in the cultural pattern of north India. The Turkish rulers introduced cultural
traditions of the Persianate world which were equally well developed though different in
many ways from those current in northern India. The Persian traditions were further
strengthened after the arrival of scholars, artisans and performing artistes from major
centres of Islamic culture, especially from Khurasan. Gradually however, a slow process
of assimilation to indigenous culture, artistic traditions, and performance practices also
started both at court level and folk level which was instrumental in promoting a
composite tradition in art and culture.
The north Indian art traditions changed in accordance with the changes in patronage
patterns, the requirement of the audience and socio-cultural environment. For instance,
the people mastered the Persian language which had emerged as the spoken medium of
the new aristocratic circle. It was the language of administration and literature in
medieval India. Delhi also became a renowned centre of Islamic studies and had
numerous madrasas. The Madrasa-imuizzi was established in the vicinity of the Qutb
Mosque as early as the reign of Muizzuddin of Ghor, who is better known as Muhammad
Ghori. Delhi earned high reputation as a renowned centre for the study of Persian
language and literature during the thirteenth century. Amir Kusrau and Amir Hasan Sijzi
were the pioneer authors and distinguished poets of Persian. Amir Khusrau is the
representative poet of the sulatanate period. In the system of learning that developed in

20
north India under the patronage of the Sultans of Delhi the study of Indian sciences, arts
and languages had a significant place, and this tradition continued till the beginning of the
eighteenth century.
3.4.2 Emergence of Delhi as a Great Sufi Centre
During the thirteenth century Delhi began to emerge as a great centre of the Chishti
silsila. The Chishi saints played an important role in the religious and cultural history of
India as they adapted well to indigenous traditions and played an important role in
promoting friendly relations amongst the followers of all religions. Their khanqahs
(hospices) were the most effective venue of cultural sharing. The spiritual congregations
were held in these khanqahs and people of all caste and creeds attended these in large
numbers. Shaikh Nizamudin Chishti established his Jama’at Khana in Ghayaspur, a
suburb near Delhi in the late thirteenth century. His charismatic personality had created a
large following covering all classes of people. Like the Suharavardi saints, the Chishtis
also included sama’ (music which leads to the attainment of mystic ecstasy) as essential
part of their zikr (zikr-ijali or reciting aloud). Shaikh Nizamuddin had many adherents of
sama’ in the courtcircle.
It was, in fact, a unique phenomenon of the early fourteenth century that court culture and
popular culture came into close contact through persons who were intimate in both these
circles and Amir Khusrau was the foremost amongst them. He enjoyed the longest tenure
of association with the court. Also, he had links with the Sufi circle. Amir Khausrau not
only attended the fabulous gatherings of the Khalji Sultans “where chosen ones from
among the great masters of musical arts assembled and performed”, he was well versed in
the practices of sama’ performed in these khanqahs. Thus, Amir Khusrau had the rare
opportunity of acquiring knowledge of exclusive court traditions as well as the popular
traditions which were taking roots in sama’ music. At the same time, he was well versed
in the Indian musical system. Amir Khusrau combined all his knowledge in the form of
qaul, tarana, naqsh, nigar, basit, tillana, farsi, fard, and sohla.1 In these musical forms he
blended Indian and Persian lyric genres and musical techniques, and in view of mass
appeal the songs were composed in desi, the dialect current during that period in Delhi.

1
Qaul was a musical form of Arabic origin. In it verses were rendered along with rhythmic syllables.
Tarana was a musical form akin to geet in its rhythmic structure. In its rhythmic syllables were interwoven
with the text.
Tillana was a musical form wherein rhythmic syllables were rendered in place of song-text.
Naqsh was equivalent to man a musical tradition in Prakrit. Nigar was a counterpart of suravrti (sargam).
Fard was a form of tillana wherein a single verse was incorporated in the tal oriented musical structure.
Farsi was a form of tillana in which verses from ghazal and qasida were rendered along with rhythmic
syllable.
Sohla was a musical form rendered on the occasion of festivities. Later on it became associated with the
devotional music of the Sikhs.
Basit was like chhand and was a kind of geet.
These new forms gained currency through the community of qawwals. They became the custodians of
Turko-Persian traditions and at the same time they popularized new forms. The sama’ music was Indianised
and attained a status of its own through this class of performers. From now onwards qawwal became a
generic term for those who performed qaul-tarana and its allied variants. They were also known as
“Delhi singers”.

21
The process of the Indianisation of sama’ music, initiated by Suharavardi saint Shaikh
Bahauddin Zakaria in Multan, culminated in Delhi under the Chishti saints at the
initiative of Amir Khusrau. His endeavour linked two diverse musical cultures, and this
became the foundation stone of Hindustani music. It also led to the creation of a common
musical culture which was followed by the classes and the masses. All musical forms
were learnt by Hindus and Muslims alike who used similar ragas and imageries for
devotional music.
3.4.3 Art and Architecture
Art and architecture are two manifestations of the culture of a period as they reflect the
approach of that society. The establishment of the Turkish rule in India while gave rise to
a new socio-political system, it also marked the beginning of a new expression in art. The
monuments of Delhi depict an uninterrupted development of architectural styles for
almost three hundred years under the patronage of the Delhi Sultans.
The style of architecture that evolved during the thirteenth century is called the Indo-
Islamic style which was a fusion of two distinct Hindu and Islamic tradition of arts. The
Turkish patrons put into effect their own concept and beliefs with the help of the artistry
of Indian masons who for centuries were seen in the erection of stone temples of
spectacular designs. They had their own ideals about the methods of construction. With
the help of their artistic genius, they were able to introduce into the Islamic buildings
their own expertise.
The Indian building technique was based on the trabeate system where main openings are
made by beams supported on pillars. Stone was used for building purposes. Sculpture of
human and animal figures played an important role in the ornamentation of the buildings.
On the contrary the Islamic architecture was based on the arcuate system with an
emphasis on the use of arches, domes, vaults, and squinches etc. Islam prohibited the
depiction of living beings in any form. Hence it gave rise to the art of mural calligraphy,
and it also employed arabesque patterns for decorating the buildings.
Under the arcuate system arch and dome were conspicuous. For building a true arch
stones or bricks were to be laid as voussoirs in the shape of a curve and bound together
firmly by a good building material. This was possible due to the use of lime mortar as the
basic cementing material. The arcuate system was introduced in Delhi as early as the
close of the twelfth century. However, it also employed the trabeate system. And this is
what contributed to the emergence of the new style, the Indo-Islamicstyle.
The monuments of the Qutb complex provide an excellent study in this regard. The
Quwwatul Islam mosque, the first Islamic building constructed in north India, stands
here. It represents the first stage of the evolution of the Indo-Islamic style wherein the
materials from pre-existing twenty-seven Hindu and Jain temples was used. It is
considered by a renowned art historian Percy Brown a “rearranged temple” and a
“miscellany of art”. The arched façade inside the courtyard of the mosque displays the
Islamic calligraphic ornamentation at its best. The Qutb Minar is the most spectacular
building of its kind and reflects the grandeur of mural calligraphy and the majesty of
building art as it developed under the patronage of the Delhi Sultans. The unfinished
tomb of Iltutmish is another impressive example of building art of the early thirteenth

22
century which represents the second stage in the evolution of the Indo-Islamic
architecture. This style was perfected after the arrival of the artisans from West Asia.
Buildings of this phase represent the third and the last stage of the evolution of the Indo-
Islamic style. Alai Darwaza, constructed by Alauddin Khalji (12-13) is a perfect example
of it. As has been pointed out earlier, the Hindu art traditions did not disappear. They
were incorporated in the vocabulary of Indian art. Tombs, mosques, dargahs, and forts
were constructed in large numbers during the Sultanate period.
Unfortunately, we do not have much information about the art of painting as it developed
under the patronage of the sultans of Delhi. However, there are literary evidences which
suggest that the art of miniature painting flourished in Delhi. Shms-i Siraj Afif‟s
description also suggests that the tradition of fresco painting continued in Delhi, and that
the walls of the private apartments (mahall u khilvatgah) of the Sultans were decorated
with mural paintings at least up to the reign of Muhammad Tughlaq.
3.4.4 Music
Many significant changes appeared in the realm of music. While in the pre-Sultanate days
Sangit was the amalgam of acting, dancing and singing, and the knowledge of the
stagecraft was considered an essential accomplishment for the fashionable people of
society, in the new scheme of entertainment theatre had no place. The elimination of
theatre from the majlisihunar (accomplishments appropriate to convivial assemblies) led
to a tremendous decline in the status of the theatre artistes. A further change was brought
about in the connotation of the term sangit during the period under review; it now
included the three arts of vocal music, instrumental music and dance.
One notices a transition from Turko-Persian musical traditions towards the close of the
thirteenth century, which began more markedly during the reign of Sultan Muizzuddin
Kaqubad (r. 1287-1290). During his reign Indian performing artistes were patronized by
the royal court. According to Ziauddin Barani, there grew a colony of musicians, pretty-
faced entertainers, jesters and bhands from every region in the vicinity of the palace
Kilukhari where the Sultan held public audience. Pretty faces began to show themselves
in every lane of the city. Money-belts of distillers became full and handsome eunuchs,
rope dancers, and performing women were laden with gold and silver.
Ziauddin Barani further writes that for some time Kaiqubad, following the instruction of
his father against wine and venery, abstained from convivial gatherings. It became an
alarming news for Indian performing artistes, who made efforts to attract him with new
devices. Indian courtesans, slave girls and slaves were trained in the Persian language and
music and instructed in the manners and customs of the court. Experts in Persian and
Indian music composed eulogies of Sultan in the form of qaul and ghazal which they
rendered in every musical air.
Barani‟s observations are extremely significant. In fact, they reflect the efforts of Indian
performing artistes to adapt to the changing demands of the period and match the taste of
the new patrons. They mastered the Persian language which had emerged as the language
of the new aristocratic circle; they became expert in the latest styles and techniques of
musical arts popularized by the central Asian and Khurasani musicians. Thus, there was a
temporary setback to the community of natas, the traditional instructors of Sangit. By

23
adapting themselves to the new artistic requirements they retained their status as
instructors of musical arts until the end of the seventeenth century.
A process of the assimilation of Indian and Persian musical traditions also started. Many
of the early medieval musical forms such as suryaprakash and chandrapakash began to be
performed by Muslim musicians. These forms have been mentioned in the Persian
musical treatises as marg music, and their knowledge was considered essential for the
nayaks (maestro) even as late as the nineteenth century.
During this period the traditional prabandh form was denounced by Indian poet saints and
adopted chhand, pad, and doha. They also began to compose in regional languages. It is
in this scenario that most of the musical forms, such as shabd, dhrupad, and bishnupad
took shape in due course. A good part of medieval music, thus, evolved in a religious
setting, but one which assimilated strands from both popular Hindu and popular Islamic
forms.
3.4.5 The Revival of Theatrical Arts
This period witnessed, to some extent, the revival of theatrical arts in the form of
paturbazi (performance by a patur). It is likely that the term patur or patar stemmed from
Sanskrit patri (an actress). Sufi poet Malik Muhammad Jayasi refers to one patur in the
akhara (a sort of playhouse) of Sultan Alauddin Khalji who was a swangi and excelled in
the acting and make-up of a jogan (a yogini). One can infer that some of the courtesans
acquired expertise in different kinds of make-up and the art of disguise which was known
swang during this period. This also suggests that different kinds of costumes were used in
musical shows which were called patur-bazi. Paturs were trained artistes and distinct
from the women of free love(veshyas).
Bhagat-bazi was another important art which found vogue around the sixteenth century.
This art was practiced by the bhagatiya or the Bhagatbaz caste of the Hindus. The
bhagatbaz used to disguise themselves in various forms and performed mimicry. Badauni
refers to a bhagat boy in the service of Sultan Adil Shah Sur (r. 1553-1556) who acquired
perfection in this art. Bhagat-Bazi survived as a favourite pastime of the upper classes
until around the close of the eighteenth century.
3.5 The Literary Culture
The reign of Muhammad Shah also witnessed the emergence of Urdu as a literary
language which is an example of cultural synthesis. Amongst the early promoters of Urdu
poetry the name of Sirajuddin Ali Khan Arzu (popularly known as Khan-iArzu) is worth
mentioning. He was a great Persian scholar of the early eighteenth century. Although he
himself did not compile any divan in Urdu, but he encouraged his numerous pupils like
Abru, mazmun, Yakrang, and Tek Chand Bahar etc. to shift from Persian to Urdu. The
popularity of Urdu as a literary language arose to such an extent that it undermined the
status of Braj Bhasha and Persian as a medium of poetry. Persian, however, continued to
be used for scholarly and other serious compositions in prose wherein sophistication and
elitism was maintained. Even the biographical accounts (tazkiras) of poets were written
by the accomplished poets in Persian.
Urdu poetry bloomed in Delhi during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The

24
institution of mushaira (literary gathering) greatly facilitated the growth of Urdu poetry.
These were held in the residences of the poets, in the fairs, and in the qahva-khanas. The
Urdu poetry was nurtured by poets like Mir Taqi Mir, Mirza Rafi Sauda, and Khwaja Mir
Dard. They took great pain in refining the language. Urdu ghazal attained a status of its
own in their hands. Other popular literary during the eighteenth century were qasida, and
masnavi. During the nineteenth century, however, ghazal was taken to unprecedented
heights in terms of expression as well as the grandeur of language by Ghalib, Dagh, and
Momin and many more poets of the Delhi school.
3.6 Urdu: Its Origin and Development as a Literary Language
The history of Urdu language in Indian subcontinent begins with the advent of the
Muslims. Urdu is a Turkish word which means “foreign”, “horde”, and “camp”. The
association of all these terms with Urdu is a pointer to the fact that this language
originated in the military camps and that it amalgamated words from indigenous and
foreign languages which were spoken in these military establishments. Urdu was, thus,
formulated by the interaction of Indian and foreign armies, merchants and immigrants to
India. Gradually, however, the representative culture of various ethnic and social groups
of the Muslim armies, immigrants, Sufis, traders, travellers, and settlers came into close
contact with the local communities. Their interaction began the process of the
development of a common language with various shades and styles, but at the same time
with an identifiable essential character. Through the socio-cultural synthesis over the
centuries, the primary nebulous shape of this tongue (Urdu zaban) was developed into a
common medium of communication known at various stages and different regions as
Hindavi, Dakhani, Rekhta, and Urdu-i mu’alla. It developed as a regular language and
assumed independent form, and the status of a distinct literary language through various
phases of development.
3.6.1 Urdu: A Language Representative of Linguistic Synthesis
Urdu showed a unique capacity of owning and absorbing the words and expressions of
other languages and it was greatly enriched by the vocabulary and expressions of the
cross-section of local tongues and dialects. Besides vocabulary, Urdu language utilized
the other indigenous elements the expressions, historical events, myths and symbols as
well as the poetic metres and verse-forms of various Indian languages profusely. All these
elements were woven into a unified medium of expression giving the language its
Hindavi or Indian foundation.
The process of this linguistic synthesis was a phenomenon not confined to one region
only, it happened in all parts of the subcontinent: from Sindh and Punjab, the Indo-
Gangetic plains in north India, Deccan in the south, and Gujrat in the west.
As has been pointed out earlier, being the dialect of the camp Urdu acquired the
characteristic traits of almost all Indo-Aryan languages which were used as country-wide
level. This is one reason why the origin of this language has variously been attributed to
Sindh, Punjab, Delhi and U.P. on one hand, and Deccan and Gujrat on the other.
Linguistically, the scholars trace its origin to different languages and dialects. One of the
foremost Urdu critics, Muhammad Husain Azad relates it to Braj Bhasha, while others
see its roots in Harayanavi, Rajasthani, Awadhi, and Ardh-Magadhi. It is now an

25
established fact that Urdu belongs to the group of western Hindi, consisting of such
dialects as Shaurseni Apbhramsh, Braj Bhasha, and Awadhi. However, it drew upon
many elements of Arabic as well as Persian. This prompts us to suggest that the common
language known from its beginning as Hindavi, Hindi, Gujri, and Dakhani etc, and which
later came to be known as Rekhta, Urdu, or Hindustani has been a common denomination
of all the tongues spoken in the subcontinent. This has, over the centuries of its
development, become a specific linguistic entity called Urdu.
Urdu spread from one corner of the land to the other, absorbing in the process various
regional characteristics and styles, and eventually established its own identity through a
script of its own. The script of Urdu has its origin in Arabic and Persian scripts, adapted
itself to its needs. This trait may be seen in the fashioning of those letters which are used
for denoting the compound words and sounds borrowed from Indian languages, such as
tha, dha, chha, and so on.
3.6.2 Association of Urdu with various Cultural Centres
Urdu was nurtured at various cultural centres. In north India it started taking the shape of
a separate dialect spoken in the Delhi region, and was known as Desi. It is clearly
discernible during the thirteenth century, from the time of Amir Khusrau.
Amir Khusrau, the doyen of Persian literature and an expert musician, made it the
language of his songs. He composed qaul, tarana, sohla, and other allied musical forms,
which have association with sama‟ (music which leads to spiritual ecstacy) prevalent in
the dargahs of the Chishti Sufi saints, in desi that had the sprinkling of Persian also.
These musical forms were popularized by a class of musicians who were known as
qawwals.1 He also wrote riddles (pahelis) in the dialect which was spoken in and around
Delhi.
During the fourteenth century when Muhammad Tughlaq made Daultabad his capital
(1328–29), it also emerged as a centre of Islamic culture. Urdu language was also
nurtured here which was greatly influenced by the spoken dialects of the region. This
form of Urdu is still spoken in many settlements which were founded in the vicinity of
Deogiri that was renamed as Daultabad by Sultan Muhammad Tughlaq and known as
Aurangabadi.
During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries Gujarat had became the centre, and finally
after Akbar’s conquest of Gujarat in the year 1572 the centre of this language moved to
Deccan where it already taken roots during the Bahmani rule. Amongst the Deccani
states, the Adil Shahis of Bijapur (1490 –1686), Qutub Shahis of Golkunda (1512 –1687),
and the Nizam Shahis (1496 –1636) were great patron of art and culture. Their Sultans
were fine scholars and their courts attracted literary talent from far and wide. It is here
that Dakhani Urdu flowered. Though it was directly influenced by Persian, it retained its
indigenous colour, in close contact with its cultural surroundings.
Following the Mughal conquest of Deccan, these cultural centres declined, However, the
socio-cultural synthesis which took place here as a result of this conquest amalgamated
1
For details see Madhu Trivedi, “Tradition and Transition: The Performing Arts in Medieval North India”
in The Medieval History Journal, 2, 1, (eds.) Harbans Mukhia & Rajat Dutta, p. 84.

26
the best traditions and features, linguistic as well as literary, of the north and south and
consequently a new standard of the language and literature came into being which was
given the nomenclature of Rekhta. The foremost Rekhta poet in the Deccan was Vali
Dakhani (b. 1667 AD).
During the early eighteenth century the centre of this language shifted again to Delhi. It
made its own contribution to the growth and development of the Dakhani tradition of
literature and further enriched it. Mir’s observation about the popularity of Rekhta verse
is significant. He says: “It is a kind of verse in the manner of Persian verse, but in the
language of the imperial camp [Urdu-i mu’alla] of the kings of Hindustan, and which was
becoming popular at this time.”
3.6.3 The Emergence of Delhi School of Urdu poetry
In the opinion of some scholars the development of Urdu poetry in north India with Delhi
as its centre is associated with Vali Dakkani. A renowned Urdu critic Maulana Husain
Azad opines: “He was the first to put Urdu on a literary map”.1 Vali arrived in Delhi in
the year 1700 AD and during his long stay here he came in touch with some of the
literary and spiritual celebrities especially Shah Sadullah Khan Gulshan. According to a
contemporary author Qudrutullah Qadiri “Qasim”, he gave up Dakkani in favour of Urdu-
imu’alla, the spoken language of Delhi and its suburbs under the influence of Shah
Gulshan. This opinion is shared by Mir Dard, a noted literary figure of Delhi, who adds
that Shah Gulshan advised him to embody Persian themes and sentiments in his Rekhta.
Vali following his advice discarded Dekkani in favour of Urdu, and imbibed the features
of Persian poetry in his ghazals in preference of the themes popular in earlier poetry.2
According to Azad’s version the impact of this visit and the subsequent arrival of his
divan in 1727 AD proved to be tremendous. He considers it an epoch-making event
which paved the way of the beginning of the literary activities in Urdu in the north. He
remarks that Vali is not only the trend setter in Urdu ghazal in Deccan, his impact was
felt in north also. His poems were recited in the streets and musical assemblies and that
his impact was felt on the masses and the classes. It broke the hesitation of the poets for
the composition of poetry in Urdu which had remarkable potential for literary
compositions. This view is corroborated by a modern critic, Muhammad Sadiq, who says
that the arrival of Vali and his divan (collection of poems) led to a literary revolution in
north India, but its effects were not felt immediately. Persian lost its hold in a gradual
manner.3
This view is, however, not supported by the scrutiny of literary trends in the Deccan. It is
to be noted that earlier Urdu poetry, which flourished in the form of Dakhani and
Aurangabadi, itself was modeled on Persian poetical standards. Secondly the difference
between Urdu and Aurangabadi was nominal as this region was consistently under the
cultural and linguistic influence of north since the reign of Muhammad Tughlaq.
Aurangabad remained for several years the seat of military operation of Auranzeb in the
Deccan. It further enhanced the influence of north on the culture of this region.
Aurangabadi, called Hindi during the seventeenth century, was virtually identical with
1
Ab-i Hayat, p. 81.
2
Maikhana-i Dard, p. 36.
3
Muahammad Sadiq, A History of Urdu Literature, p. 89.

27
Urdu, while Dakhani was regarded distinct from Aurangabadi. Then, there are evidences
to show that Shah Gulshan spent 22 years in the Deccan and Vali met him there.
Thus, the above opinion regarding Rekhta i.e. Urdu and the influence of Vali Dakhani on
north Indian Urdu poets should be accepted little cautiously in view of the fact that
initially the Urdu was the language of the imperial camp, and Delhi always had a vast
military establishment. From the fourteenth century it was also the popular song language
of the “Delhi singers” who were commonly known as qawwals. The Sufi khanqahs
(hospices) were always a centre of cultural sharing which must have contributed
immensely to the development of a common language in the urban centres, especially
Delhi which was the cultural node of Medieval north India.
The most important issue in this regard is the fact that the growth of fine arts and
literature during the medieval period was intimately connected with patronage, and there
was considerable change in the patronage pattern during the eighteenth century. The
Mughal ruler was stripped of his riches due to the sack of Delhi by Nadir Shah in A D
1739. The Mughal court had become a stage for the intrigues of various factions of nobles
who were busy protecting their interests. There were new claimants for power and
resources. In the changed social and political conditions, the court and the established
nobility were impoverished and new patrons became important. The poets were obliged
to seek patronage from them and composed poetry in the language which was spoken in
the imperial camps and in and around Delhi. Undoubtedly it had the influence of Dakhni
and Aurangabadi, but it was more due to Mughal association with Deccan and not solely
because of Vali’s influence.
The popularity of Urdu as a literary language arose to such an extent that it undermined
the status of Braj Bhasha and Persian as a medium of poetry. Persian, however, continued
to be used for scholarly and other serious compositions in prose wherein elitism and
sophistication was maintained. Even the biographical accounts (tazkiras) of poets were
written by the accomplished poets in Persian.
3.6.4 The Early Promoters of Urdu Poetry in Delhi
Amongst the early promoters of Urdu poetry in north India the name of Sirajuddin Ali
Khan Arzu (popularly known as Khan-i Arzu) is worth mentioning. He was a great
Persian scholar of the early eighteenth century.1 Although he himself did not compile any
divan in Urdu, but he encouraged his numerous pupils like Abru, mazmun, Yakrang, and
Tek Chand Bahar etc. to shift from Persian to Urdu.2 Even Sauda, the renowned Urdu
poet, shifted from Persian to Urdu at his advice. The comment of Qudratulah Qadiri
Qasim‟ is worth mentioning here. He says: “just as the theologians are the lineal
descendents of Abu Hanifa, similarly it would be quite appropriate to consider all Hindi
(i.e. Urdu) poets as his descendents.”3 Shah Sadullah Khan Gulshan (popularly known as
Shah Gulshan) was another promoter of Urdu. As has been mentioned earlier, according
1
He was the author of the famous tazkira, Majmu‘a-ul- Nafais, also called Tazkira-i Arzu. It provides an
account of those Indian poets who have composed poetry in Persian and Hindi (Urdu). Siraj ul Lughat
and Nawdir ul Lughat are his other important works.
2
Ab- i Hayat, p.121.
3
Quoted in Syed Abdullah, “Urdu ki t„amir mein Khan-i Arzu ka hissa”, in The Oriental College Magzine,
November, 194 3, p. 3. Qadiri was the author of Majmua-i Naghz

28
to one tradition it was him who persuaded Vali Dakhni to shift from Dakkani to Urdu. He
had great following in Delhi. Khwaja Mir Dard was his grandson and pupil.
The early Urdu poets excessively indulged themselves in Ihamgoi, which means exciting
suspicion by manipulating the words.1 In the opinion of Muhammad Husai Azad this trait
was borrowed from Braj Bhasha which was till now one of the major literary and song
languages.2 However, from a biographical account of the poets (tazkira) it becomes clear
that it was a marked feature of contemporary Persian poetry and probably from here it
was borrowed in Urdu poetry. The poets of the early phase were fascinated by Iham to
the extent that they sacrificed the beauty of expression for the sake of it.
3.6.5 The Early Urdu Poets of Delhi
The prominent Urdu poets of the early phase were Shah Mubarak Arzu (1692-1747),3
Sharfuddin Mazmun (c.1689-1745), Saiyyid Muhammad Shakir Nazi (d. 1754), and
Shaikh Zahuruddin Hatim (1699-1781). Hatim was the leading poet of the reign of
Muhammad Shah (1718-1739). They were all Khan-i Arzoo’s pupils.
In spite of the fact that Urdu poetry from the very beginning was modelled on Persian
forms and sentiments, the language of the early Urdu poets showed a preference for the
adoption of words from dialects current in the vicinity of Delhi. The early Urdu poets,
thus, wrote in the idiom of the day and did not conform to the prescribed usage, spelling
or pronunciation of Persian and Arabic words.4
The early eighteenth century was a period of transition. While the fortunes of the
aristocracy and the established nobility was on decline due to a variety of reasons,
especially the sack of Delhi by Nadir Shah, and the rise of diverse groups as claimants in
the resources of the Mughal Empire which virtually led to its decline. There was,
however, a boom in the trading activities at Delhi and the surrounding area. It led to the
emergence of a new and effluent section in society which aped the way of the nobility.
The description of a contemporary author Dargah Quli Khan reveals the prosperity of
these people. They are described as razil (upstart) by these poets who appear to be deeply
moved with these developments. A few lines from Hatim’s poem are worth mentioning
here:
Those who once rode elephants now go barefooted.
(While) those who yearned for parched grain once are today owners of prosperity,
palaces, and elephants as mark of rank. The Jackals have usurped the place of lions.5
Muhammad Husain Azad refers to one of the mukhammas (a five-line verse) of Shakir
Nazi where he describes the indolence and debauchery of the nobility, the decline of the
great, and the rise of the upstarts.6

1
The word on which the sense of the line turn has double meaning: direct and remote. However, the
meaning of the word is based on the remote meaning.
2
Ab- i Hayat, pp. 90-91. The Braj Bhasha poetry adhered itself to a formalized code of poetry – Riti – and
an excessive use of figures of speech, especially Yamak, and Shlesh which may be taken as the variant of
the Persian figure of speech, Iham
3
He was the greatest protagonist of Ihamgoi. Similarly, Hatim also excelled in it.
4
Ab- i Hayat, p. 91.
5
As cited by Muhammad Sadiq, History of Urdu Literature, p. 104.
6
Ab-i Hayat, p. 105. It is no longer extant.

29
3.6.6 The Later phase of Delhi School of Urdu Poetry
Mirza Mazhar Jan-i Janan (1700-81), Mir Taqi Mir (1720-1810), Mirza Muhammad Rafi
Sauda (1713-1780) and Mir Dard (1719-1785) ware the poets of the later phase of Delhi
school of Urdu poetry during the eighteenth century. This phase is characteristic of the
censuring of the vogue for Ihamgoi and the initiation of the task of enriching and
purifying Urdu. Ghazal received impetus during this phase.
Mirza Mazhar Jan-i Janan is accorded a very high place by the contemporary tazkira
(biographical accounts of poets) writers. Dargah Quli Khan, the author of Muraqqa-i -
Dehli, praises his Persian poetry so much that according to him, “it is worth writing on
the petals and his thoughts deserved to be engraved on the pupils of a bulbul’s eyes”.1 He
was a renowned Persian poet and considered to be the foremost amongst those who made
departure from the practice of Iham, and also to give currency to Urdu- i-mu’alla, which
afterwards became the favourite of all. He is also regarded the first poet who wrote verses
in Urdu modeled on Persian.2
Mirza Muhammad Rafi Sauda was a versatile writer and introduced many verse forms in
Urdu such as qasida (an ode). He was the first to use satire in Urdu. In writing satire and
qasida, he even excelled the great masters of these forms in Persian. Before him ghazal
and masnavi were the main literary genres. Sauda’s poetry was important in one more
way. Urdu poetry hardly reflects its age. By using the lash of satire Sauda made
significant observations on his age. In his qasida-i-Shaihr Ashob and mukhammas i
Shahir Ashob he makes important observations on the decadence of the contemporary
society. His qasida-i-Shaihr Ashob portrays the picture of the decline and degeneration of
the leading professions in Delhi – of the poets and the physicians. They were obliged to
debase their talents as they were to depend themselves on a degenerate nobility.
Like Sauda, Mir Taqi Mir was another poet who contributed a lot in the purification of
Urdu, and awarding it a literary status. Mir is a realistic poet and he has also written a
Shahir-i Ashob which sheds light on the deplorable contemporary scene in Delhi after the
invasion of Nadir Shah and his sack of Delhi. Some of his ghazals have also given a
poignant description of the desolation of Delhi. His masnavis deal with various subjects
such as hunting expeditions, marriage ceremonies etc.
Khwaja Mir Dard was the pupil of Khan-i-Arzoo and a famous ghazal writer. His
residence was the venue of the literary gatherings where all these poets exchanged views
on poetry and various other intellectual matters. Thus, he was also an important figure in
the purification movement of Urdu. He was well versed in music and composed a number
of khayals, thumris, and dhrupads.3
3.6.7 The Dominance of Persian Influence on Urdu Poetry
One should note here that these poets regarded the language of the early Urdu poets as

1
Dargah Quli Khan, Muraqqa-i Dehli, Persian, English Translation by Chander Shekhar & Shama Mitra
Chenoy, Delhi, 1989, p. 53.
2
Tabaqat us Shu„ara, ed. Abdul Hayy in Teen Tazkire, pp. 120-21.
3
Mir Asar, his younger bother, refers about it in his Masnavi-i-khaab-u-khayal: Hazrat dard ke banaye
khayal kya kahu kya karte hain dil ka haal

30
vulgar or obsolete. In their effort of weeding out the rough and unmusical words they
eliminated a large number of Hindi words and imparted Urdu a Persian veneer. Shah
Hatim takes notice of the growing influence of Persian usage and diction and disuse of
words of purely Hindi origin in the literary circle.
The indigenous elements faded out in Urdu during this phase of the development of Urdu
poetry and Persian influence began to dominate. Urdu poetry, especially ghazal, showed
adherence for the adoption of Persian poetical standards to the extent that it appeared a
mere continuation of Persian literary ideals in a new garb. They simply transplanted
Persian themes, forms, metrical system, imagery and figures of speech. Also, it showed
an abstinence from the rich literary traditions of Braj Bhasha and Awadhi. Their
endeavour created a wide gulf between literary language and the popular speech and also
eliminated the indigenous colour or trait of Urdu. The spontaneity of Urdu language,
which could have given way to the creation of a common language, was also suppressed
considerably.
Urdu poetry bloomed in Delhi during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The
institution of mushaira (literary gathering) greatly facilitated the growth of Urdu poetry.
These were held in the residences of the poets, in the fairs, and in the qahva-khanas.
Ghalib, Dagh, and Momin were the product of Delhi school. They have taken Urdu
ghazal to unprecedented heights in respect of expression as well as the grandeur of language.
3.7 Suggested Readings
1. Alam, Muzaffar. (2013) "Introduction to the second edition; Revisiting the Mughal
Eighteenth Century" in The Crisis of Empire in Mughal North India: Awadh and the
Punjab 1707-1748, Delhi: Oxford University Press, pp. xiii-xiv
2. Ataullah. (2006-2007). "Mapping 18th Century Delhi: the cityscape of a pre-Modern
sovereign city" proceedings of the Indian History Congress, vol, 67 pp. 1042-1057.
3. Chenoy, Shama Mitra. (1998). Shahjahanabad, a City of Delhi, 1638-1857. New
Delhi-Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers.
4. Raziuddin Aquil, (2017) "Violating Norms of Conduct" in The Muslim question:
understanding Islam and Indian History, Delhi: Penguin Random House, pp. 133-
156.
5. Anonymous author, Delhi the capital of India, Revised and enlarged edition of "All
About Delhi"; First published in 1918, reprint, New Delhi, 1997.
6. Catherine B. Asher, Architecture of Mughal India, Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge, 1992.
7. Dargah Quli Khan, Muraqqa-e-Delhi, (Persian) English transl. Chander Shekharn &
shama Mitra Chenoy as Muraqqa-e-Delhi, The Mughal Capital in Muhammad
Shah's Time, Delhi, 1989.
8. Madhu Trivedi, 'Medieval Delhi as Cultural Node of North India' in Delhi through
the Ages, Published by Indian History Congress, 28-30 December, 2007.
9. Madhu Trivedi, 'Shahjahanabad' in Historic Delhi, Published by Indian History
congress, 52 Session 21-23 February, 1992.
10. Muhammad Sadiq, A History of Urdu Literature, Second edition, Oxford University
Press, Delhi, 1984.

31
 UNIT IV
DELHI IN 1857: REVOLT AND RE-CONQUEST
Abhinav Mishra
Assistant Professor
Department of History
Sri Guru Nanak Dev Khalsa College
University of Delhi
4.0 Introduction
The sepoy mutiny broke out in Meerut in the summer of 1857. On 11 May, the mutineers
reached Delhi traversing the bridge of boats on the Yamuna River. The garrison at Delhi
almost instantaneously revolted, and Bahadur Shah II was given the rebellion’s leadership
(Malleson,1891, p. 84). Many British residents were slaughtered. In the following days,
there were outbreaks across north and central India. The army revolt, as it spread,
metamorphosed into a popular uprising as peasants, local leaders, and urban groups
united together to fight foreign rule.
In the absence of British rule from Delhi, looting and plundering the people began. A few
of the sepoys also seem to have taken part inthe loot of the baniyas, jewellers, and even
petty shopkeepers (Hussain, 1998, p. 25). These developments were so sudden and
extraordinary that it became difficult for Bahadur Shah, who was already stripped of
power and resources, to regulate law and order in the city. Fed up with the incessant
chaos and other trepidations, it is hardly astounding that several citizens of Delhi turned
into spies and well-wishers of the British, usheringin the re-conquest of Delhi by the
British (Hussain, 1998, p. 34).
The British eventually triumphed in the intensely fought military campaign due to their
superior tactics and organisation. By the end of 1858, British authority was restored with
the use of violent force. In Delhi, this had occurred as early as September 1857.
Consequently, the East India Company was abolished, and India came directly under the
dispensation of the British Crown.
4.1 Revolt of 1857
The geographical nucleus of Delhi in 1857 was primarily centred in and around
Shahjahanabad, encircled by a wall, covering an area of around 6400 acres and the
northern Ridge where the British cantonments were situated (Lahiri, 2003, p. 36).
Although the revolt in the Cantonments and the city did not last more than four months, it
was a vital arena of resistance in several ways. The expulsion of the British from the city
was recognised as signifying the break in their authority. For the British, the recovery of
Delhi was essential because they believed that the conquest of the city without loss of
time might save the rest of India (Sen, 1957, p. 77).
In the revolt of 1857, the rebels targeted the symbols of British authority. The British
properties such as the Delhi Bank in Chandni Chowk, Metcalf House, the house of Joint
Magistrate Theophilus Metcalf, houses of Europeans in localities like Kashmir Bazaar
and Daryaganj, and the British Cantonments were attacked and looted. The treasury was
raided, and its contents were presented to the King, all the jail prisoners were released,

32
and the Main Guard was captured by the mutineers (Haq, 1968, p. 119). The Main Guard
was a crucial exit point linking the walled city and the Ridge.
The rebels sought to seize the gunpowder magazines, known as Expense Magazine,kept
inside the city; however, it was destroyed by the British. The rebels managed to capture
the Magazine, containing more than 1000 barrels of powder, situated on the banks of
Yamuna. Fuelled by the belief that the British were determined to destroy Hinduism and
Islam by propagating Christianity, church property was also attacked. The most
significant symbol of this was St. James, the first church built in 1837 in Delhi. Delhi’s
Baptist Mission was destroyed entirely. Two of its British ministers and Dr Chaman Lal,
the first Indian resident of the city who was converted by the mission, were killed (Lahiri,
2003, p. 38).
These attacks were not mindless mob fury; the sepoys saw the raj as an entity that
interfered in their way of life. Thus, they attacked and destroyed the proximate symbols
of that structure (Mukherjee, 2001, p. 71).
4.2 Re-Conquest of Delhi
The British army could recapture Delhi only after four months because the gunpowder
magazine was within the city, and the troops were outside at the Ridge. This gave the
mutineers an initial advantage. The British civil and military officials believed that the
revolt had been a plot of the local Muslims in unison with the Meerut soldiers (Gupta,
1971, p. 62). The local inhabitants accepted the regime of the rebel sepoys not due to
enthusiasm but out of fear (Spear, 1951, pp. 208-12).
In September 1857, four military columns concurrently assailed Delhi. When the city was
sacked, she saw widespread destruction and plunder. The army had three days of
unbounded loot (Haq, 1968, p. 232). After three days, the property of Delhi residents was
legally treated as prize, and official digging tickets were given to the specially appointed
Prize Agents. This official appropriation of private property ended only in December
1857 (Lahiri, 2003, p. 38). The prize did not include the property of
merchants, sahukars and artisans.
The whole city was treated as legitimate spoil. The British soldiers plundered the red Fort
and took away whatever they could find- artefacts such as jewels, clothes and weapons of
the royal family, marble slabs and inlay works. The copper gilt domes of the Diwan-i-
Khas, the Moti Masjid and the Musamman Burj were auctioned (Hearn, 1906, p. 14).
This looted treasure became the property of those who discovered it as the souvenirs of
their victory.
The Delhi loot reached England since many British non-commissioned officers and
soldiers bought their discharge after the end of the revolt. The mutiny veterans took home
their souvenirs of conquest. Several souvenirs went to the British Museum. The most
famous among these were the rare pietra dura panels that formed the backdrop of the
Emperor’s throne in the Diwan-i-Aam. (Lahiri, 2003, p. 39).
When the British regained control of the city, they expelled all the inhabitants of Delhi,
many were hanged, and the suspects’ houses were confiscated and looted. The people of
Delhi had to spend cold winter months taking refuge in tombs and other shelters in the
south of Delhi. Some were fortunate enough to escape to other towns (Andrews, 1929,

33
pp. 73-4).
The Hindus were allowed to return to the city in January 1858, but the Muslims were not
readmitted until January 1859. A general pardon was issued in November 1858, but many
pre-eminent Muslims were kept under house arrest (Gupta, 1981, p. 25). Lord Canning,
the Viceroy, permitted the Muslims in December 1859 to retrieve their property after
paying for it. In two years, many properties belonging to the Muslims had either been
taken over by the government or were demolished for security interests or to build
railways (Gupta, 1971, pp. 62-63).
The constraints of the revolt of 1857 threatened good relations, not between Hindus and
Muslims, but between those who supported rebels for reasons of fervour or self-interest
and those who either remained ambivalent or assisted the British troops. The cleft cannot
be straightforwardly defined as being between a declining Muslim aristocracy and an
incipient Hindu middle-class but between those who sided with the Emperor and those
who were clairvoyant enough to back the British and thus pre-arrange a repository of
surety and rewards for the future (Gupta, 1981, p. 20).
The counter-mutiny measures adopted by the British brought many social and economic
changes. The population of Delhi had drastically fallen from 160,270 in 1846 to 141,709
as late as 1863. The Muslim elites had suffered enormous losses of family and property;
they lost their intellectual and cultural centres. The commercial classes, mostly Hindus,
suffered less, and many had profited by buying the confiscated properties from the
government (Gupta, 1971, p. 63).
4.3 Changes in Delhi after 1857
The revolt also marked a watershed in the urban morphology of Delhi, and it transformed
the terrain of the city. When the immediate measures of retribution were over, the
government gave serious thought to the city’s future development. The army contingent
was expanded, and its constitution changed: the army was to consist of an equal number
of Indian and British soldiers. A large police force was established. In 1861, the civil and
military police were merged and paid from the municipal funds (Gupta, 1971, p. 63).
The Red Fort, the symbol of resistance by the city, was insensitively transformed. The
army occupied the Red Fort, and many structures were converted into living quarters for
the military. The buildings considered of little value, which could not be advantageously
used or were judged unworthy of preserving, were demolished. Barracks were built in
large parts of the Fort, whereas historic buildings were transformed to suit the purposes of
the garrison. The officers were accommodated in the Naqar Khana; soldiers used the
Zafar Mahal as a bath. Wooden doors and iron grates were erected in the Diwan-i-Am.
Buildings were demolished and cleared within 450 yards around the walls on the city side
to keep the Fort secured (Lahiri, 2003, p. 40).
In December 1857, it was decided to build a wide road around the city wall, and wide
roads cut through the crowded parts of the city. The cantonment was set up in 1861 in the
area extending from the northern end of the Fort to the Delhi Gate and from the river
bank to Faiz Bazar (Gupta 1971, pp. 63-4). Most of the property in front of the Fort and
Daryaganj had been confiscated as they belonged to the suspects. The British civilians
moved to the new civil lines beyond Kashmiri Gate. The Indian elite retreated into the

34
area surrounding Chandni Chowk.
The military authorities, in February 1858, ordered the city wall to be demolished.
Lawrence was convinced that it was an unwise move. He pleaded that there was not
enough gunpowder in Delhi to blow up seven miles of wall. By the end of the year, the
Imperial government accepted his proposal and decided to retain the wall (Gupta, 1981,
p. 28). The Civil Department was given control over the wall, the city ditch, and the
glacis in 1863. No alteration could be made without the sanction of the Military
Department (Gupta, 1971, p. 66).
The retribution was not confined to the city walls. Several pieces of agricultural land
from thirty-three villages of Delhi were confiscated; these included Alipur, Chandrawal,
Indraprastha, Kotla Mubarakpur, Mehrauli, Palam, Raisina and Wazirabad (Gupta, 1981,
p. 31). Such measures had transformed the social geography of Delhi, as these lands were
allegedly given as rewards for loyal service or were bought by those who were not the
residents of these villages (Lahiri, 2003, p. 42).
Between 1858 and 1862, a land transaction of astonishing complexity was carried out.
The confiscation of houses of all Muslims, who could not prove their innocence, the
demolition of many houses for constructing a cantonment and railway line, and the need
to compensate the owners of these houses were all linked. This gave rise to one of the
most significant changes in urban property ownership. This gave much of the property
belonging to suspect Muslims in the hands of a few individualswho had liquid cash.
Canning proposed that the confiscated houses should be given as compensation to those
persons whose houses were to be demolished as part of the Fort and railways clearance.
To enable them to choose freely, they were given tickets stating the property’s value to be
destroyed, which could be exchanged for confiscated houses of equal value. The tickets
became negotiable currency, and the total number of ticket holders were fifteen (Gupta,
1981, p. 29).
When the crusade of confiscation and demolition ultimately concluded, what remained
was a dilapidated and marred city. The triumphant British forces had practically treated
the entire populace of the city as guilty of disloyalty and had made sure that their
castigation left an eternal physical imprint (Lahiri, 2003, p. 42).
4.4 Remembering the revolt
On the one hand, the destruction and demolition of 1857 physically transformed Delhi;
the erection of sites of remembrance and commemoration of the mutiny landscape by the
victors, on the other hand, was equally metamorphosing. Some of the sites could be read
as ideological statements. The monuments and epigraphs inscribed on them interjected
the manufacture of one of the exemplary myths of British India, that of bravery and
sacrifice exhibited for a greater cause.
There was a qualitative difference in which the rebellion was memorialised. The British
deliberately commemorated their victory, creating a tangible landscape of conquest and
heroism. There is hardly any trace of the resistance tendered by the residents of Delhi.
The brutally suppressed populace cannot be expected to set up memorials or
commemorate sites of resistance. Delhi saw a shift in the usage of the monuments,
alterations in the architecture and additions in epigraphs. These changes were connected

35
with the attitudinal changes within the Raj and the subcontinental contestations (Lahiri,
2003, p. 36).
A separate cemetery was not constructed for the British soldiers who died in the revolt;
their graves were spread over a large area. Instead of the distribution of graves, the
epigraphs on gravestones and memorial tablets permit us to envisage how the army
aspired their dead to be remembered. An illustration of a detailed message on stone
comes from the church of St James. The stone was for the dead soldiers of the 2nd
European Bengal Fusiliers. It mentions the name of nearly two hundred officers and
soldiers who lost their lives in the mutiny. The way in which such inscriptions appealto
British patriotism and sacrifice is intensely evocative of the sentimentalities and language
of the mutiny literature that was intertwined around resembling stories of selfless bravery
in the face of native barbarities (Lahiri, 2003, p. 45).
In addition to the graves, the maintenance of the memory of events that were critical in
the trajectory of the events that unfolded between May and September 1857 formed a
coherent archaeological field of remembrance from the British point of view. Though not
exclusively, such commemoration was associated with the event’s sites. For the British,
the most heroic act of 11 May, when the rebellion began in Delhi, was the deliberate
blowing up of the Expense Magazine, south of the Kashmiri Gate. Two gates of the
magazine became a commemorative monument on which the actions of nine Englishmen
were inscribed on a tablet (Lahiri, 2003, pp. 45-6).
Situated in front of the Old Telegraph Building, the Mutiny Memorial was constructed in
1863 by the Public Works Department at government expenses, during British-ruled
India. It was erected by the British to commemorate the lives lost during the Revolt of
1857. During the revolt, a large number of soldiers belonging to the Delhi Field Force
sacrificed their lives to win back freedom for their country. Apart from soldiers, people
from all other walks of life fought fearlessly. The names of thousands such martyrs
whose existence is symbolic of their invincible spirit are etched in the walls of the Mutiny
Memorial. The use of Victorian Gothic architecture spells magnificence. The tower is of
octagonal shape on the exterior and circular in shape from the interior. The plaques on the
surrounding walls and the red sandstone base are engraved with the names of soldiers and
their ranks.On the 25th anniversary of India’s independence in 1972, the monument was
hailed as a tribute to all the martyrs of India’s freedom struggle and was rechristened as
Ajitgarh by the then government. (Times of India March 6, 2016)
The commemoration of particular events and incidents was not simultaneous. It staggered
over fifty years or so. An example of this is that it was in 1876, after two decades, a stone
tablet was fixed between the arched openings of the Kashmiri Gate to commemorate the
blowing up of the gate in September 1857, a momentous event that allowed the British
direct access into the walled city (Lahiri, 2003, pp. 47-8).
A thorough assessment of the memorials indicates that historical details were selectively
inscribed. There is no mention of the British army’s action on 11 May or the following
days since they failed to suppress the revolt. Neither are those British soldiers deemed
worthy of commemoration who died in the early days of the rebellion.

36
4.5 Conclusion
When the dust of the demolition had settled down, the people of Delhi looked in vain for
their familiar landmarks. Delhi had transformed into a vast cantonment and undeveloped
civil lines. Its inhabitants cramped into two-thirds of the walled city and the rugged
western suburbs. Jama Masjid was guarded by a sentry, and an entrance fee was charged
at the gate of the Fort. The people’s morale was low, the city was battered, and politically
it was a cypher.
The massive rebellion has remained forgotten in archaeological terms. Nandini Gupta
suggests that this was partly due to the misfortune of Delhi being the national capital; the
nation is crushing the city (Gupta, 1981, p. ix). The process of nationalising has rendered
invisible the rich history of the 1857 revolt in Delhi. The state remembrance islimited to
the leaders of the revolt in Delhi, Bahadur Shah II and his military commander Bakht
Kham. The role of those who lost their lives in the city and their social remembrance is
not accorded a place in the museums.
4.6 Suggested Readings
 Andrews, C.F. (1929) ZakaUllah of Delhi. Cambridge: W. Heffer & Son Ltd.
 Gupta, N. (1971) ‘Military Security and Urban Development: A Case Study of
Delhi 1857-1912’. Modern Asian Studies. Vol. 5. No. 1. pp. 61-77.
 Gupta, N. (1981) Delhi Between Two Empires 1803-1931. Delhi: Oxford
University Press.
 Haq, S.M. (1968) The Great Revolution of 1857. Karachi: Pakistan Historical
Society.
 Hearn, G.R. (1906) Seven Cities of Delhi. London: W. Thacker & Co.
 Hussain, I. (1998) ‘The Rebel Administration of Delhi’. Social Scientist. Vol. 26,
No. 1/4. pp. 25-38.
 Lahiri, N. (2003) ‘Commemorating and remembering 1857: The revolt in Delhi
and its afterlife’. World Archaeology. Vol 35 (1). pp. 35-60.
 Malleson, G.B. (1891) The Indian Mutiny of 1857. London: Seeley and Co.,
Limited.
 Mukherjee, R. (2001) Awadh in Revolt. Delhi: Permanent Black.
 Sen, S.N. (1957) Eighteen Fifty Seven. Delhi: Publication Division.
 Spear, T.G.P. (1951) Twilight of the Mughals. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
 Majumder, S. (March 6, 2016)Mutiny Memorial and Ashokan Pillar, Times of
India.

37
 UNIT-V

MAKING OF THE NEW IMPERIAL CAPITAL: DELHI 1911-1930

Abhinav Mishra
Assistant Professor
Department of History
Sri Guru Nanak Dev Khalsa College
University of Delhi
5.0 Introduction
New Delhi was made the capital of British India in 1911 at the Coronation Durbar of
King George V. The announcement by King George V to shift the seat of the
Government of India from Calcutta to Delhi represented a complex vision of the colonial
state to pacify Indians and simultaneously bound them more closely to the British
Empire. The new capital not only projected imperial power and permanence but also
symbolized the underlying strands connecting British political reforms with the
reaffirmation and reinforcement of British rule. New Delhi was meant to be a masterpiece
in colonial town planning and colonial architecture. Its exact location, structure, and
design to link both the ‘Old’ and the ‘New’ Delhi and meticulously controlled roads were
skilfully combined to make the capital a new sanctuary of the British Empire.
5.1 Shifting of Capital from Calcutta to New Delhi
The decision to move the seat of the Government of India from Calcutta to Delhi was
closely tied to both the partition of Bengal and to its revocation. The Bengal Presidency
included the whole of North India. It comprises sub-provinces of Assam, Bihar, and
Orissa. The province was perceived by the Central Government to be ungovernable.
(Frykenberg, 1986, p. 371) Sir Andrew Fraser, the Lieutenant-Governor, suggested
allocating Bengal districts of Chittagong, Dacca, and Mymensingh to Assam (McLane,
1965, p. 224). The plan was made public in December 1903 by Lord Curzon. Fear
aroused in the Bhadralok of these districts. To alleviate the Bhadralok’s fear and counter
the local European opposition, Curzon planned to split Bengal (Broomfield, 1960, pp. 15-
16). His plans were approved in June 1905. The new province created was called ‘Eastern
Bengal and Assam’ with Dacca as its capital. This resulted in massive protests throughout
the country, which lasted for five years (Frykenberg, 1986, p. 372).
The revoking of the Bengal partition, redrawing the provincial boundaries, and the
transfer of the imperial capital to Delhi were proposed by Sir James Jenkins in his letter
of 17 June 1911 to Lord Hardinge, the Governor-General. Jenkins reasoned that to bring
peace in two Bengals, it was necessary to remove what all Bengalis regarded as an act of
injustice. There was also the expectancy that something would be done to remove this
injustice at the Durbar (Frykenberg, 1986, p. 375).
During the Durbar of 1911, Delhi underwent miraculous changes as a result of which
electricity and tramways, and railway lines transformed acres of fields into a settlement
that was many times greater than London. The Coronation Durbar was held on 12
December 1911 at the King’s Camp, north of ‘Old’ Delhi. The announcement of the

38
transfer of the seat of the Government of India from Calcutta to Delhi by King George V
came as a surprise to many, as the Official Gazette was secretly printed and tightly
guarded at the durbar camp (Frykenberg, 1986, p. 379).
In Bengal, the moderates were satisfied with this decision. Their rejection of cries for
immediate self-rule and of terrorist violence seemed to have paid off. However, the
Calcutta gentry was not so enthusiastic (Frykenberg, 1986, p. 381). The Europeans of
Calcutta experienced the loss even more deeply. Loss of privilege and hurt pride caused
much indignation. The merchants and notables of Calcutta had long been accustomed to
direct access to power. For them, the Delhi Durbar announcement brought shock and
anger (McLane, 1965, pp. 228-30).
The factors to shift the capital of India were complex. For the structural balance and
efficient functioning, a balance was required between the local and the imperial
government. It meant the shifting of imperial government from the excessive influence of
local opinion (Frykenberg, 1986, p. 385). The immediate political concern about the
public opinion in Bengal also had a role to play. There was a need for a remedy for the
opposition to the partition by the Hindus, the reaction of the Muslims and Europeans. The
public opinion and the political excitement which could be aroused was enough to daunt
the government.
5.2 Town Planning
In the early years of the twentieth century, the Delhi Municipality was grappling with
problems created by the Imperial Government in three respect- the railway expansion, the
army’s requirements, and the exigencies of two Durbars within a short period. There was
not enough revenue for the rapid pace of public health and environmental improvement
measures. The shifting of the Capital to Delhi further imposed strains on the municipal
services (Gupta, 1981, p. 176).
For Delhi, the transfer had social and political implications and financial and engineering
requirements. The shift of bureaucratic and legislative machinery was bound to be
followed by an influx of the political pressure groups active in Bengal, the United
Provinces, and Punjab. To meet these requirements, the Government assigned areas
intended for the new city and the Cantonment and reserved a large part of the Delhi
Province. The Delhi Enclave, later known as Province, was 1290 sq. miles and included
Delhi District and part of the territory of United Provinces across the Yamuna (Gupta,
1981, p. 177). The Town Planning Committee recommended acquiring a large area for
the extension of the city and Civil Lines and firm control over building activity in the
environs of New Delhi. The Town Planning Committee, headed by Edwin Lutyens, had
complete freedom to choose the site for the new capital. The Committee saw the site
south of Shahjahanabad as the most suitable site for the new city. It was possible to
acquire ten square miles for the city and fifteen square miles for the new Cantonment.
The site near the Raisina village was deemed suitable for health reasons, for its proximity
to the river, its undulating land, and many archaeological sites. Naraina was chosen as the
site for the Cantonment as the cost of land was low, and no business interests would have
to be moved (Gupta, 1981, pp. 178-9).
The officials considered the planning of the new city extravagant classical architecture,

39
an attempt to compensate for the dismal political front. Hardinge was appalled by the
grand plan. Others like Harcourt Butler and Patrick Geddes sympathised with the town
planners(Gupta, 1981, p. 179).
Paharganj was incorporated in the capital; the new railway station was to be built there.
The unplanned growth of Delhi became evident. There were discussions whether to
remedy the uneven development of Delhi by drastic town-planning measures or by
improvements are to be limited to those areas of the existing city impinging the new city
(Gupta, 1981, p. 180).The combined fear of the old town encroaching on and spoiling the
symmetry of the new and the Indian town polluting the imperial one led to the first
serious attempt at long-term town-planning for the urban area. Good roads between the
Civil Lines and Raisina were regarded as necessary. The settled areas near these roads
should not be ugly and congested; therefore, the room had to be provided for expansion.
These imperial considerations led the Government to take up the suggestions Col.
Cracroft had made forty years earlier for utilizing the nazul lands intelligently (Gupta,
1981, pp. 181-2).
Two reports by H.V. Lanchester detail the schemes to settle the families of workers
employed in construction, those displaced by acquisitions, and immigrants. The area west
and south-west of Sadar Bazar, near Karol Bagh, was selected. Later known as Western
Extension Area, the site was approved by the Town Planning Committee and India and
European traders in Delhi. The Western Extension Area began to be built after 1926 bore
the mark of earlier planning in the aligned roads. However, the proposal of the style of
architecture was not implemented (Gupta, 1981, pp. 182-3). The area between the
Western Extension and the city was to be ‘improved’ with a wide road linking the Civil
Lines and the new city, through Sadar Bazar and Jhandewalan. The city wall from Kabul
to Ajmeri Gates was to be demolished and the ditch filled (Gupta, 1981, p. 191).
The town-planning schemes slowed down during World War. The development of the
southern and western extension took time due to the realignment of the Agra- Delhi
Chord Railways. The Imperial Government took this task. MacNabb in 1917 suggested
bringing nazullands under the Imperial Government, which was carried out in 1924.
Gupta opines that the expansion from 1912 to 1919 was artificially stimulated(Gupta,
1981, p. 191).
The class distinction evident in the separation of the Civil Lines from the ‘India City’
resurfaced. The mutiny Memorial Road was to be used by ‘superior people and high-
grade vehicles,’ and the new Mundhewalan Road by the ‘city folks’ (Gupta, 1981, p.
192). For the improvement of Daryaganj, the cost had to be borne by the Municipality. In
1916 the plots in erstwhile Cantonment were acquired and sold for shops and residences,
and a large number was reserved for schools.
5.3 Architecture
The new Delhi consists of buildings embodying the essence of the north Indian tradition
of imperial architecture, as historians argue, seeking to capture the authority of the
British. The use of red sandstone for buildings, pierced stone screens, the decorative
turrets, porticoes, and chhatris, together with the location of the new city flanking the
Mughal capital of Shahjahanabad, have been considered as an indication of the British

40
attempt to create for themselves an imperial capital in the Mughal manner.
The new city was charged with symbolic meaning from the outset, and the two architects-
Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker- had a thought-out set of objectives in their design.
Thomas Metcalf is of the view that although Lutyens was the chief designer and architect,
the designs of Baker are central to the understanding of the architecture of New Delhi
(Metcalf, 1986, p. 392).
Baker left South Africa in 1912 on an invitation from Edwin Lutyens to join in the
building of New Delhi. Lutyens took charge for the overall layout of the new city and the
design of the Viceroy’s House. Baker was given the charge of the Secretariate blocks.
Before the arrival of Baker in 1913, several decisions had already been made. The new
city was to be built south of the old city, the Viceroy’s House on the citadel of the Raisina
Hills was to be the plan’s focus, and the Indian style of architecture was inappropriate to
British imperial capital. Baker agreed to much of these. However, Baker insisted upon
one alteration that the secretariats be moved up with the Viceroy’s House (Metcalf,
1986, p. 395).
Lutyens, Baker, and Lord Hardinge agreed that new Delhi, a manifest of British imperial
position in India, should have an imperial architecture. Hardinge urged to use an
‘Eastern’ style, preferably Indo- Saracenic, due to its historical association with Delhi and
its neighbourhood. He insisted that the architects incorporate the pointed Mughal arch in
their designs. Hardinge desired to make the new imperial capital acceptable to Indian
subjects (Hussey, 1953, pp.252-274).
Lutyens, on the other hand, adhered to European classicism. He believed there was no
authentic Indian architecture or any great tradition. The Indian buildings were picturesque
and decorative but lacked basic principles of architecture. (Hussey, 1953, pp. 277-9) For
Baker, imperial architecture had to be nothing but imperial (Metcalf, 1986, p. 396). At its
heart must be a political objective to capture the spirit of the British Indian Empire in
stone. The new capital must be a sculptural monument of the good government and unity
India had enjoyed for the first time under British rule. The new city had to embody
synthesis in its style of building (Baker, 1944, pp. 219-22). he argued that the European
buildings in southern lands had to be adopted to the needs of the tropical climate.
Therefore, Baker’s work in new Delhi incorporated features such as open verandas,
colonnades, overhanging eaves, and small high window openings. These structural
devices limited the sunlight and increased the circulation of air. Metcalf indicates that all
these features were the standard elements of indigenous architecture, apart from the
classically-inspired colonnades. By incorporating such features into his design, Baker
adapted his buildings to the extreme climate and enhanced their Indic appearance
(Metcalf, 1986, p. 396).
As construction proceeded, Lutyens’ Viceroy House incorporated several Indian features
too. The strong horizontal lines of the building are reinforced by a cornice with a chajja,
while sunken chhatris punctuate the roofline, and elephant sculptures mark the entrance
gateway. The Viceroy’s House was plain, austere, massive with Indian detail transformed
by Lutyens’ imaginations. The secretariat of Baker shows a more direct grafting of the
Indian motifs onto its classical surface(Metcalf, 1986, p. 397).

41
The buildings of New Delhi were meant to connect the British rule with India’s imperial
past and at the same time evoke a sense of pride in the accomplishment of the British Raj.
The British chose a classical style for New Delhi to connect their monuments to the
ideals, and empires of classical antiquity, to enhance the moral worth of their political
handiwork. This is why Metcalf suggests the imperial architecture was not tied to any
particular geographic setting.
5.4 Politics after 1911
Delhi had been a political blackwater before 1911. After the transfer of the capital,
gradually, the inhabitants began to take an interest in politics, especially with the contact
of the politicians of all-India reputation. Slogans and ideologies formed as part of
nationalist politics started to be used in local grievances. The political fervour of 1906-09
revived in 1912 when an attempt to assassinate Hardinge was made during the State
Entry. This was the reply to the decision of the transfer of the capital by the extremists.
Formal expressions of grief were made by the traditional loyalists as well as many
religious and social groups, including men like Mohammad Ali (Gupta, 1981, p. 196).
However, the involvement of Delhi was negligible.
The Delhi-Lahore Conspiracy of 1914 sparked off great indignation when harsh
punishments were pronounced. Amir Chand, a local man who enjoyed much popularity,
was condemned to death. Very few men were implicated in this incidence also. Extremist
nationalism did not find much support in Delhi as it had in Bengal. More and more
politically active Bengalis started coming to Delhi in 1912 (Gupta, 1981, p.197).
The Khilafat Movement, in contrast to the poor response to extreme nationalism, received
a huge response from Delhi’s people. This was chiefly due to the patronage of the Ali
Brothers, who had situated themselves in Delhi in 1912. The Comrade, newspaper by
Mohammad Ali, along with Urdu Hamdard, gained much popularity. Shaukat Ali’s
Anjuman-i-Kuddam-i- Kaaba, an association formed to sympathise with Turkey at the
times of the Balkan Wars of 1913, had a fairly large membership. Dr Ansari’s house in
Daryaganj, Dar-us-Salam, became the venue for many Congress meetings (Gupta, 1981,
p. 197). All these leaders were helped financially by the local leather merchants, who had
been supporters of Turkey since the 1870s.
The reason why the young men in Delhi did not turn to extremist nationalism was due to
the influence of constitutional agitators like Mohammad Ali. He was able to raise the
alarm when Beadon, the Deputy Commissioner, prepared two lists of shrines, one to be
preserved and the other to be destroyed.
With the shifting of the capital to Delhi, the Prakash of Lahore wanted to shift the
headquarters of the Arya Samaj in Delhi, and the Pratinidhi Sabha thought to start a
branch of Gurukul Kangri. The influence of the Arya Samaj increased in the city,
especially the Jats. A close connection between the Gurukul Kangri and some members
of St Stephen’s College developed due to the friendship between Munshi Ram (popularly
known as Swami Shraddhanand) and C.F. Andrews. The students of this college have
been sympathetic to the Arya Samaj since the 1890s (Gupta, 1981, p. 200).
Between 1915 to 1917, when Ali Brothers were imprisoned, political activity in Delhi
was at its lowest. In 1917, in anticipation of the visit of Montagu, Secretary of State, a

42
large number of political meetings were held in the city. During this time, some people
got interested in the Home Rule League and the National Education Movement of Annie
Besant. Those involved were Miss G’Meiner, the Principal of Indraprastha School,
doctors like Ansari and A.C. Sen, lawyers like R.S. Pearey Lal, Asaf Ali, Abdul Rahman,
Abdul Aziz, S.N. Bose, and Shiv Narain, and some bankers and merchants (Gupta, 1981,
p. 201).
The first political organisation with nationalistic characteristics originating in 1917 was
the Indian Association by two lawyers. It was used by Ajmal Khan to present the views
of the moderates to Montagu (Gupta, 1981, p. 201). The association put forth demands
specific to Delhi Province. They demanded to make Delhi a Governor’s province, with a
Council, since it had no representation either in Provincial Council or in the Imperial
Council. Delhi should have its own court as well as a separate university.
More and more people were involved in politics from the end of 1918. This was because
of an unprecedented rise in the prices between 1918 and 1921, high rentals, a slump in the
cloth market, the imposition of income-tax and super-tax, and the influenza epidemic of
October 1918.
The Rowlatt Satyagraha movement gathered momentum after a meeting addressed by
Gandhiji on 07 March 1919. The Satyagraha pledge was signed by one hundred and
twenty people in Delhi. The Satyagraha in Delhi was carried out under the leadership of
Swami Shraddhananda (Gupta, 1981, p. 204).
The Non-Cooperation activities began in August 1920. Pearey Lal, Ajmal Khan, gave up
their titles, and Gidwani, the Principal of Hindu College, resigned. The movement was
characterised by the abandonment of cow-slaughter by the Muslims and both the Hindus
and Muslims boycotting the Gulfaroshan at Mehrauli. Local grievances were not
completely forgotten in these years. In August 1920, Morning Post complained that the
leader of Satyagraha and Non-Cooperation had neglected the issues of tenants in Delhi
(Gupta, 1981, pp. 2011-2).
New Delhi Municipality was set up in 1916; it became an effective body in 1925. Delhi
Deputy Commissioner was given the charge of developing the city and managing
the nazul properties, but this responsibility of the Deputy Commissioner ended in 1928.
By 1931 the implications of the transfer of the capital had become clear. The urban
government of Delhi was more concerned with the maintenance of the capital than with
the upkeep of the ‘old city’. The most well-developed municipal service, the water supply
system, was turned to the benefit of the new city at the cost of the old (Gupta, 1981, p.
221).
5.5 Conclusion
Political activities became a constant after the transfer of the seat of the Indian
Government. On occasions, when connected with local problems, it affected the local
inhabitants. The ‘old city’ became the political heart of the urban area. The officials
became more conscious than ever before to maintain a balance between the two
communities and between various political groups.
The transfer of the imperial capital to New Delhi exemplifies the ways in which the

43
British attempted to redefine its imperial mission in India in response to the dynamic and
diverse all-India independence movement. This redefinition permitted colonial
policymakers to assert that Britain’s imperial position had not become weakened in India.
Subsequently, it also ended Delhi’s political and ethnic isolation. Delhi increasingly
became part of India with more and more people getting involved in national politics.
5.6 Suggested Readings
 Baker, H. (1944) Architecture and Personalities. London: Country Life limited.
 Broomfield, J. (1960) ‘The Partition of Bengal: A Problem in British
Administration, 1803-1912’. Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. Vol. 23.
pp. 13-24.
 Frykenberg, R. E. (1986) ‘The Coronation Durbar of 1911: Some Implications’. In
Delhi Through the Ages, ed. Frykenberg, R. E. Delhi: Oxford University Press.
 Gupta, N. (1981) Delhi Between Empires 1803-1931: Society, Government and
Urban Growth. Delhi: Oxford University Press.
 Hussey, C. (1953) The Life of Sir Edward Lutyens. London: Country Life.
 McLane, J.R. (July 1965) ‘The Decision to Partition Bengal in 1905’. Indian
Economic and Social History Review. Vol. II. pp. 221-37.
 Metcalf, T.R. (1986) ‘Architecture and Empire: Sir Herbert Baker and the Building
of New Delhi’. In Delhi Through the Ages, ed. Frykenberg, R. E. Delhi: Oxford
University Press.

44
 UNIT-VI
DELHI IN 1947: PARTITION AND AFTER
Abhinav Mishra
Assistant Professor
Department of History
Sri Guru Nanak Dev Khalsa College
University of Delhi
6.0 Introduction
Delhi had served as the capital for ages and it was beyond doubt that Delhi was going to
be the capital of post-independence India. August 1947 was a landmark in Indian history.
India gained independence and emerged on the world stage as a democratic nation. With
independence also came partition. India was divided into two countries: India and
Pakistan. It was a moment of happiness and sorrow. Independence Day was marked by
chaos and violence in many parts of both the countries. Due to the lack of
communication, lots of misinformation was spread which became a breeding ground for
communal hatred. Such was the scale of violence that the common people in far-flung
places could only realise that India gained freedom when communal violence broke out in
those regions.(Pandey, 1997, p. 2262) It has been understood by the historians that the
division of India and Pakistan (East and West) based on religion was not well-received by
the Indians. The primary reason behind this ferment was that India became a secular
nation, whereas Pakistan (both east and west) had a state religion, i.e., Islam. The
conservative section among the Indians thought that there has been a nation for Muslim
people, i.e., Pakistan and therefore India should be left for non-Muslims. Over-night, the
Muslims born and raised in the same culture as Hindus became Pakistanis. Even the
Muslims who wanted to stay in India, were seen with suspicion.
6.1 Restructuring Delhi
Delhi was the city that suffered the most during this turmoil. Delhi was flooded with
immigrants, migrants and refugees. Hindus, Sikhs, Parsis and other minor communities
suffered a lot in Pakistan. By late August 1947, the situation was aggravated as the capital
came to be flooded with Hindu and Sikh refugees from Punjab, looking for safety,
shelter, rehabilitation and, in many cases, revenge. (Tan and Kudaisya, 2005, p. 191) Sikh
and Hindu refugees from Pakistan flooded Delhi before migrating to other places. Hindus
and Sikhs arrived from distant places, including the NWFP, Dera Ghazi Khan, Dera
Ismail Khan, Peshawar, Kohat, Chinyot. The Peshawari salwarkameez and the unique
Afghan male headgear with its golden peak were not uncommon in the streets of Delhi
till as late as the mid-1960s. They found shelter in far-flung areas and built thatched huts
in localities like Nabi Kareem. They moved into refugee camps at Kingsway, Hudson
Line, Outram Lines and Reeds Lines, the last being the site of the Khalsa College in
Delhi University today. Some were later shifted to Haqeeqat Nagar. They started building
houses on the lands allotted to refugees. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, a few moved
to Mukherjee Nagar, while others were assigned houses in Rajinder Nagar. A large
population of Sikhs had settled in Inderpuri, a settlement that came up on agricultural
land acquired from villagers of Dus-Ghara. (The Wire, 2017)

45
Minorities like Hindus and Sikhs in Pakistan had suffered a lot of violence and
antagonism. India people from these religions had anger in their eyes and revenge in their
minds. Muslims were made an easy target for they wanted to settle the score with them
and also driving them away would make room for them. Muslims were targeted all over
India. Muslims came to Delhi from rural hinterlands like Gurgaon, Rohtak and Meerut to
escape violence and leave for Pakistan.The population of Delhi increased by 90 per cent
within a decade from 1941 to 1951. (Pandey, 1997, p. 2263) Delhi was turned into a
refugee-istan. Needless to say that the city witnessed major re-shufflingdue to communal
tension, which was a tangible reality of partition. Almost two-thirds of Muslim
inhabitants abandoned the city—an estimated 329,000 Muslims left Delhi following
partition—and in 1951, when a census was taken, the city had99,000 Muslim residents.
Delhi’s Muslim population had declined from 33.22 per cent in 1941 to 5.71 per cent by
1951. (Tan and Kudaisya, 2005, p.193)
By the end of August and start of September, 1947, the conditions deteriorated. Delhi
moved beyond stabbings and looting to the systematic marking out of ‘enemy’ houses
and shops and concerted attempts to drive out Muslims from every part of the city.It was
not people alone but the very clothes they wore that were now pronounced as being
‘Hindu’ and ‘Muslim’. The police too became partisan. (Pandey, 2003, p. 137)There is an
incidence noted in Connaught Place, near Odeon movie theatre where goons were looting
shops and police were inert. Noticing this incidence, Jawaharlal Nehru, the Prime
Minister of India, got impatient and himself took the task of dispersing the goons. This
reflects the bias that had crept in the police as they too came from the same society where
communal hatred was spewing its venom.
The localities struck by the bloodiest violence in early September 1947 were the three
‘mixed localities’ of Karol Bagh, Subzi Mandi, and Paharganj. The diverse nature of their
inhabitants rendered their Muslim populations especially vulnerable since they could not
set up gates and other forms of protection, as did Muslims in Muslim-majority
neighbourhoods. (Geva, 2017, p. 773) The massive killings in these areas pushed the
Muslims outside of these areas. Thousands had become refugees in their own homes and
mohallas before they escaped to the refugee camps. The Old Fort refugee camp had
80,000 people crowded into the grounds, with a handful of tents; one tap with running
water; no provision for lights, toilets or bathrooms.
Partition not only altered the city sizes and functions but also turned upside down the
urban hierarchies. The rich overnight turned into the poor. Individual observations and
memoirs are replete with examples of the disbelief experienced by one person after
another at discovering their acquaintances and peers, privileged, protected people too,
among the hunted refugees. Krishna Sobhti recalls the tears of humiliation in the eyes of a
middle-class Muslim neighbour when people from her home went to see him in the
Purana Qila camp, and speaks of the touchiness of the Hindu and Sikh refugees from
Punjab in her father’s bungalow, for the change from privileged and proud - even
haughty- backgrounds to the wretched status of ‘refugees’ was not easy to accept.
(Pandey, 2003, 132)
A massive exodus took place within less than two months, as indicated by the
demographic data for the two Muslim camps, which peaked in mid-September. Purana

46
Qila and Humayun’s Tomb jointly hosted roughly 164,000 Muslim refugees. A month
and a half later, on 22nd October, Purana Qila closed down, and the remaining 2,000
refugees were shifted to Humayun’s Tomb, whose population had also drastically
declined to 4,000. (Geva, 2017, p. 773) The Criminal Investigation Department’s reports
indicated that about 30,500 Muslims left Delhi for Pakistan via the camp during January
and February. While this is not stated explicitly in the reports, it is quite clear that most of
them left the Muslim zones, whether they were originally inhabitants of these areas or
had settled there after having been uprooted from the mixed localities in earlier waves of
violence.
6.2 Efforts to Re-settle
It appears that most of the occupants of these camps left for Pakistan. But it was their
love and belongingness to the city that despite the unprecedented violence thousands
returned to the city. Their return was the fruit of intense efforts by nationalist Muslim and
Gandhian leaders and volunteers to convince the Muslims that they belonged to India and
would be safe in Delhi. Congress Muslim leader and Education Minister Maulana Azad’s
speech at the Jama Masjid after the Friday prayer on 24thOctober was reportedly a critical
moment that convinced many Muslims to return from the camps. (Geva, 2017, p. 773)
Most of Delhi's Muslims were by this time returning to Delhi from Pakistan, having heard
of the restoration of peace. But there were no houses left for them. Hindu and Sikh
refugees from Pakistan occupied many of the deserted lands. A significant conflict arose
when the local Hindus and Muslims sought to return on the re-establishment of peace.
The key state institution responsible for regularising Muslims’ dispossession was the
Custodian of Evacuee Property. (Geva, 2017, p. 774) It should be emphasised that some
of the Muslims whose houses were declared evacuee property—which were allotted or
whose occupation was confirmed by the Custodian—had never left Delhi or had left and
returned. In other words, their houses were declared evacuee property, although they
lived in the city. Where did they go? Most of them flocked to the Muslim-majority
localities, now considered the only safe place for Muslims in the city. One of the
complainants, for example, claims that the house where he and his family once resided
was forcibly taken from him in order to clear space for the local Custodian’s office.
(Geva, 2017, p. 788) On11thOctober, Delhi's Chief Commissioner Khurshid Ahmad Khan
noted that “Muslims no longer feel safe in mixed localities of Carol Bagh, Subzimandi
and Paharganj, and it is suggested that they should be rehabilitated in predominantly
Muslim areas.” By late November, Nehru reluctantly admitted “Very few Muslims can
find houses or any security in predominantly non-Muslim areas” and became a chief
advocate of turning the Muslim-majority areas into ‘Muslim zones’ that could provide
safe haven for the city’s Muslims. (Geva, 2017, p. 777)
Gandhi was very hurt seeing the communal tension. Seeing the plight of Muslims,
Gandhi wondered whether Delhi had become the ‘City of Dead’. In his evening prayers,
he repeatedly said that he is on a mission to ‘Do or Die’ to bring peace upon the city.
Perhaps Gandhi's arrival in Delhi was the turning point; perhaps his intervention gave to
secular nationalist elements the moral
strength they needed to renew the fight for the composite India that so many had dreamed
of; perhaps his very presence stunned the government and an army of stupefied Congress

47
workers into gathering their wits about them, recognising their duty, and initiating moves
for the restoration of peaceful conditions. (Pandey, 1997, p. 2265)He fasted for
communal harmony. It worked miraculously but only briefly. People for the first time
since 1946 began to re-build their city and lives. But his assassination in 1948 changed
the whole scenario. Gandhi achieved through his death even more than he had achieved
through his fast. The assassination of Gandhi wiped out the blaze of Hindu-Muslim
violence in such a way that “the world veritably changed”. The fire of sectarian strife that
had raged for months, or rather years, died down as if such strife had never occurred.
(Pandey, 1997, p. 2266)
Starting in March 1948, thousands of Muslims who had fled to Pakistan returned to Delhi
and either reoccupied their old houses in the Muslim zones or occupied other vacant
houses in these areas. This return caused great frustration and anger among the homeless
refugees, mostly the Hindus and Sikhs from Pakistan. The papers published panicky
reports on the arrival of Pakistani ‘spies’. (Geva, 2017, p. 792)The returnees were
projected as Leagui, meaning that they had connections with Muslim League and they
were spies of Pakistan. Most of these prejudices were untrue. It was made as an
opportunity to harass their foes and quench their jealousy. One such incident happened at
Chawri Bazar where Haji Imamuddin, who rented a printing press, was charged with
printing insidious propaganda. The investigation by Criminal Investigation Department,
found that Haji Imamuddin occupied the place legally, and that he had duly paid rent to
the landlord. It was later found out that the informant had a business dispute with the
accused. (Geva, 2017, p. 795-6)Nevertheless, violent incidents were again on the rise, and
rumours spread in June 1948 that another serious wave of communal riots were
imminent. The Administration and police were also alarmed and reported on the
infiltration of Pakistani spies and other ‘undesirable elements’ sent from Pakistan to
create trouble in Delhi. (Geva, 2017, p. 792) Some Muslims, too, complained that they
had to bribe the Custodian to unseal houses that had been seized and sealed unjustly.
There were cases where people were declared non-evacuees and yet their property was
seized, or where the district judge had ordered the Custodian to restore the property to its
rightful owner, yet the Custodian had failed to do so. (Geva, 2017, p. 813)
6.3 Conclusion
August 1947 was celebrated by many regions to mark independence while for some it
was only partition. For some people it brought about only the pain of partition. Delhi was
troubled due to partition which had accompanied independence. The transfer of power
was not smooth. It led to ghettoisation of communities based on religion. Muslims
became the targets of communal hatred in India. It is true that a similar fate was meted to
the Sikhs, Hindus and other minority communities in Pakistan (both east and west).
However, what happened in Delhi needs to be discussed because it changed the landscape
of the city of Delhi. It took almost 30 years for Delhi to get over the trauma of what it
endured during the 1940s and 1950s. Writing about partition and Delhi in the 2020s,
gives the impression that it happened a millennium ago, but that is the beauty of Delhi
that its forgiving in nature but not forgetful.

48
6.4 Suggested Readings
 Geva, Rotem. ‘The Scramble for Houses: Violence, a factionalized state, and
informal economy in post-partition Delhi.’ Modern Asian Studies 51,3 (2017) pp.
769–824.
 Hashmi, Sohail. ‘The Role of Partition in Making Delhi What It Is Today’, The Wire,
15th August, 2017.
 Pandey, Gyanendra. ‘Partition and Independence in Delhi: 1947-48’, Economic and
Political Weekly, Vol. 32, No. 36 (1997), pp. 2261-2272.
- Remembering Partition:Violence, Nationalism and History in India. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 2003.
 Tan, Tai Yong and Gyanesh Kudaisya. The Aftermath of Partition in South Asia.
London: Routledge, 2005.

49
 UNIT-VII

DELHI AS ECONOMIC AND CULTURAL CENTRE

Dr. Madhu Trivedi

Structure
7.0 Introduction
7.1 Development of Art and Culture in Delhi under The Mughals
(a) Development of Musical Arts in Shahjahanabad
(b) Crafts and Artisans

7.0 Introduction
There was a temporary setback to Delhi’s glory as an Imperial city after the shift of
capital to Agra by Sultan Sikandar Lodi which assumed significance as the cultural node
under the great Mughals. However, from about the middle of the seventeenth century,
artistic and cultural activities again shifted from Agra to Shahjahanabad, the new capital
city founded by Shahjahan (1628 –1658) in the year 1638. The shift of the capital paved
the way for the confluence of the rich classical traditions of the Mughal court with the
cultural traditions of Delhi region. The Mughal rulers inherited Persian and Timuride
sense of artistic appreciation and valued Indian legacies as well, which were synthesized
to produce a distinct Mughal identity. These traditions were transmitted in Delhi during
the reign of Muhammad Shah (1719 –1748).
7.1 Development of Art and Culture in Delhi under The Mughals
During the reign of Muhammad Shah the Qila-i Mubarak (Lal Qila) had become the
centre of cultural activities, and Shahjahanbad, popularly known as Delhi, emerged as the
leading centre of Mughal culture in north India during the early eighteenth century. The
percolation of court culture and elevation of popular culture were the important factors
which contributed to the cultural setting of the period. While some of the arts, and music
also, lost their sophistication and elitism to a certain extent, the exclusive court
techniques and performance traditions became accessible to a wider group.
There was, undoubtedly, a crucial diminution in court patronage after the invasion of
Nadir Shah (1739) who deprived the Mughal ruler of his immense riches. The emperor
consequently abstained from musical soirees and cultural gatherings and suspended them
at court. However, there was no dearth of cultural activities and festivities in the city.
Shahjahanabad is a gallery of architectural grandeur. Mughal architecture attained its
highest degree of perfection and impressiveness during Shahjahan’s reign. The
ornamentation becomes judicious in his buildings. The buildings of Shahjahanabad also
denote a change in the form of arch and dome. The arch is engrailed, the curves of which
are foliated by means of nine cusps. This arch later on came to be denoted as the
Shahjahanabadi Mehrab. The full developed form of dome became a common sight in the

50
buildings of Shahjahanabad. It is bulbous in its outlines and constricted at its neck. Other
important architectural developments of the period are: the introduction of pillars with
tapering or baluster shafts, vaulted brackets, capitals with foliated basis.
Music played its own role in enlivening the cultural atmosphere. The musical arts
received patronage of an exceptional nature not only from the court and the elite circles
but also from a large section of the local populace. Dancing and singing became a
favourite pastime as well as an integral part of all the festivities. No occasion of mirth or
festivity was ever wanting in these two arts. Sufi Assemblies (mahfil-isama) were
regularly arranged at the tombs and shrines of saints on the occasion of urs and certain
dates of the month, especially the nauchandi. Even for ceremonies of sorrow such as
Muharram there had developed a special kind of music recitation called marsiya-khwani.
As a result the number of professional artistes burgeoned. A large number of outstanding
singers flourished during this period. The number of popular artistes was beyond count.
During this period dhrupad declined considerably in popularity, while khayal singing
gained in vogue. Other popular musical forms were kavitt, jangla, tarana and many more.
Qawwali was integral to Sufi assemblies (mehfil-isama), urs and other festivities. This
period witnessed a full fruition of the skill of qawwals. Marsiya-khwani attained the
status of a musical and literary form during the eighteenth century.1
This period witnessed a great rise in the status of performing women. They were no
longer supportive artistes to the male performers of their communities. Instead, they
began to perform independently and their talents were recognized. The courtesans were
highly sophisticated and most of them commanded enormous respect in high society.
These courtesans lived in great style and most of them were well versed in the manners
and courtesies to be observed in the mehfils. Many of the courtesans were learned and
subtle orators, eloquent in speech and they began to dominate social life in the manner of
the courtesans of the early medieval period.
(a) Development of Musical Arts in Shahjahanabad
From about the middle of the seventeenth century, artistic and cultural activities shifted
from Agra to Shahjahanabad, the new capital city founded by the Mughal emperor Shah
Jahan (r.1628-1658). The capital city remained without the head of the state for a
considerable period, from 1679 to 1707, due to Mughal involvement in the Deccan, and
the political situation diverted the resources and activities elsewhere. The rhythm of
cultural activities was, however, not hampered for want of patronage during this period.
During the reign of Muhammad Shah (1729-1748), the Qila-i Mubarak (the palace-
fortress, popularly known as Lal Qila) had become the centre of cultural activities. A
modern scholar remarks: “The brilliance of Mughal culture, as described in non-political
sources of information, stands out sharply against the background of political turmoil and
the gloom and the depression caused by it.”2 In this perspective music played its own role
in enlivening the cultural atmosphere. The musical arts received patronage of an

1
Marsiya was the funeral eulogium or oration sung during Mahurram in commemoration of Imam Hasan
and Husain. The tuneful recitation of marsiya is called marsiya-khwani.
2
Zahiruddin Malik, The Reign of Muhammad Shah, 1729-1748, Delhi, 1977, p. 345.

51
exceptional nature not only from the court and the elite circles but also from a large
section of the local populace. Dancing and singing became a favourite pastime as well as
an integral part of all the festivities. No occasion of mirth or festivity was ever wanting in
these two arts. Sufi Assemblies (mahfil-isama) were regularly arranged at the tombs and
shrines of saints on the occasion of urs and certain dates of the month, especially the
nauchandi. Even for ceremonies of sorrow such as Muharram there had developed a
special kind of music recitation called marsiya-khwani. As a result, the number of
professional artistes burgeoned. A large number of outstanding singers flourished during
this period. The number of popular artistes was beyond count.
It is often maintained that music began to lose its grandeur and refinement during the
eighteenth century, and pure classical music declined considerably. General debasement
is said to have set in during the period. A closer examination of the available literature,
however, makes it clear that the expression 'decline' implies a decrease in the popularity
of some of the elite styles such as dhrupad and the growing vogue for khayal, tarana,
tappa, and other dhun based musical forms. This departure was not due to lack of any
skill as outstanding singers from the family of Tansen, and nayaks (super musicians)
flourished in large numbers during this period. Instead, it was due to the emergence of
new patrons who came to prominence in the changed social and political conditions and
demanded such forms which had the backing of the popular musical traditions of Delhi.
They insisted on their own distinct tastes and traditions. Thus, the period was not one of
decline but rather one of transition with some important changes and modifications.
Change in Patronage Pattern
The growth of fine arts and literature was associated with patronage during the medieval
period which motivated the artistes to produce what the patrons wanted. The taste and
munificence of the patrons influenced the standard of creativity. In fact, there was a
crucial reduction in court patronage after the invasion of Nadir Shah (1739), who
deprived the Mughal ruler of the immense treasures and riches. Dargah Quli Khan, the
author of a contemporary Persian travelogue Muraqqa-i-Dehli, pointedly remarks that
“since the invasion of Nadir Shah, His Majesty Din Panah abstains himself from the
musical soirees and has suspended them at court”. As Mughal emperor and his nobility
were losing fortune, the elite artistes were obliged to seek patronage from the patrons
who had leisure but no refinements. However, they were affluent enough to extend
sustenance to these eminent court artistes. This proved a boon for the popularization of
those court techniques which were hitherto forbidden to the general populace. True,
music lost to certain extent its sophistication and elitism, but it cannot be denied that
greater interaction of the court artistes with those who had always performed for the
commoners brought in results of immense significance. Most importantly it led to the
blending of classical and folk traditions.
A significant feature of the period was that music, by and large, had come under the
domain of the dancing girls and courtesans. Most of them were well-versed in this art and
were trained by accomplished musicians of the time. Dargah Quli Khan has mentioned a
number of dancers and singers of the royal court who were as authentic and acclaimed as
many master musicians of the time with whom they used to compete. For instance, in the
singing of tarana the skill of Chamni was recognized by her contemporaries as well as the

52
court circle. Rahman Bai of the Dhadhi community was versatile in her art and well
known for it. Through constant practice Kamal Bai mastered the art of singing and
dancing to perfection. These courtesans were highly respected and most of them
commanded respect in high society. The class of Ramjani appeared to be the foremost
among the performing women. Dargah Quli Khan’s observations about a few courtesans
of this class are worth mentioning: “Asapura is from the ramjani (community) and is both
popular and respected in musical gatherings and amongst singers and poets.... She is
covetous of honour and res pect and duly receives both”. About another courtesan
Khushali he says, ‘a lot of dignity and grandeur are associated with her bearing.’1 These
courtesans used to live in great style and most of them were well versed in the manners
and courtesies to be observed in the mehfils (tehzib-iakhlaq). The professional artistes
were numerous and prosperous is asserted by contemporary literature.
Music was appreciated in all circles. Musical assemblies were attracted large audience.
As Dargah Ali Khan tells us, people started arriving at these gatherings since morning.
The Festival of Basant, celebrated at the onset of Spring, was a great occasion for the
performing artists of Delhi. The festivities and the hustle and bustle that commenced on
this day continued for a week. The qawwals and the groups of singers used to exhibit
their art in the Qadam Sharif of the Holy Prophet as a kind of worship on the first day. On
the second and the third day they used to visit the dargah of Hazrat Bakhtiyar Kaki and
the mausoleum of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya respectively and pay their tribute in the
form of vocal and instrumental renderings. On the sixth day they used to pay a customary
visit to the Badshah and the nobles. On the night of the seventh day, all the dancers of the
city used to assemble at the grave of a person named Azizi in Ahadipura, wash it with
wine and take it in turn to dance. Gradually the qawwals also join in and enlivened the
atmosphere
Decline in the popularity of Dhrupad
As we have noticed earlier, dhrupad declined considerably in popularity during the period
under review. This was for a variety of reasons. The style of dhrupad was difficult in
technique and its high pitched and vigorous tonal expressions had no appeal to the
untrained. This form, as compared to other musical forms could not be adapted well to
dance. One also comes across observations that a tendency of concealment was growing
among the drupadiyas (dhrupad singers) for the protection of their skill and knowledge.
They were jealous as well as afraid of the new artistes outside their families. All these
factors restricted the audience of dhrupad. It did not disappear, it only lost adequate
patronage. The techniques of dhrupad-gayaki were adopted in other musical forms.
The Khayal-gayaki
This period is especially important for the development of the khayal-gayaki. In the initial
stages, khayal existed as regional musical genre and rose to classical status at the Sharqi
court during the late fifteenth century. Khayal was further developed during the reign of
Shahjahan. However, this form did not receive much recognition amongst the musicians
of the Mughal court till the beginning of the eighteenth century. It was brought to

1
Dargah Quli Khan, Muraqqa-iDehli, English Trans. Chander Shekhar and Shama Mitra Chenoy,
Muraqqa`-e- Dehli: The Mughal Capital in Muhammad Shah's Time, Delhi, 1989, pp. 104, 109,110.

53
perfection and popularized by Niyamat Khan Sadarang who was a master musician
attached to the court of Muhammad Shah and was considered at par with the nayaks of
old days. Nayak was the highest title during the medieval period given to a musician, one
who performed all musical forms. Niyamat Khan renovated the khayal and modulated it
in different rag-raginis. Due to his efforts, Khayal-gayaki became a distinctly recognized
form of music. The slow moving (vilambit) khayal, which has strong bearing of dhrupad,
owes its origin to him. It, however, gained currency towards the later years of the
eighteenth century.
Firuz Khan Adarang, a nephew of Sadarang, also enriched this musical form. He
composed a number of khayals and modulated them in new ragas. Dargah Quli Khan
remarks: “His alaphad the quality of both the slow advance of spring as well as the effect
of a rocking boat in an overpowering river.” It is believed that Muhammad Shah also
composed khayals under his pen name “Rangilapiya”.
The popularity of khayal increased due to a number of factors mainly because it showed
greater adaptability for rhythmic variations. It was open to every rhythmic variation and
could be sung in a variety of tals. It could be sung in slow tempo like dhrupad and brisk
tempo like tarana, so that it went well along with dance. The khayal-gayaki gained
respectability to the extent that even the most sophisticated musicians, began to perform
it.
Kabitt (kavitt)
Kabitt was next to khayal in popularity. Rahim Sen and Tansen, descendents of legendry
singer MiyanTansen and attached to the Mughal court, were unsurpassed in the art of
rendering kabitt. Some of the courtesans, too, had command over it: for instance, Uma
Bai whose singing was recognized as flawless. It seems that two styles flourished in the
rendering of kabitt: the traditional or the classical style and the improvised one. We are
told that Uma Bai and AsapuraRamjani had mastery over the traditional kalawant style
which was probably similar to dhrupad. The other style probably incorporated some
changes in accordance with the tastes of the patterns and imbibed some features of the
other musical forms current during this period. Later on, this form was also used as one of
the song accompaniments in the kathak form ofdance.
Tarana
Another popular musical style was tarana. It was similar to git in its rhythmic structure. It
gained currency along with khayal and had the same raga pattern and rhythmic variations
as that of khayal, with the exception that it was sung in brisk tempo and included bols
(rhythmic syllables) from other instruments. Its stress was on rhythm. One Chamani
courtesan excelled in it and her tongue moved “sharper than scissors”. Her skill was
acknowledged by her contemporaries, and in the court circle.
Jangla
Jangla was another musical style current among the musicians of Delhi during the
eighteenth century. According to some scholars Jangla was an Indian version of the
Persian mode zangulah which was developed as a musical genre by Sultan Husain Shah
Sharqi (r. 1458-1505). Others opine that jangla was a folk music genre of the doab region

54
and flourished as a courtesan dance-song from the sixteenth century onwards. It was the
precursor of thumri which emerged out of zangula’s blending with khayal.1 Nur Bai
Domni and Jani Hajjam excelled in this style.
Qawwali
Qawwali was integral to Sufi assemblies (mehfil-isama), urs and other festivities. The
music of sama originally belonged to the khanqahs where it was performed for the
attainment of spiritual ecstasy. Gradually it began to be influenced by Indian classical
music for which credit goes to Shaikh Bahauddin Zakaria Multani. He is said to have
modulated it to some classical ragas, especially Multani and Kafi. The process of
Indianisation of sama’ music, initiated by Shaikh Zakaria, culminated in the musical
innovations of Amir Khusrau in the forms of qaul, tarana, tillana, sohla, and other allied
variants. These song forms were integrated into a composite performance tradition in
Shahjahanabad during the eighteenth century and came to be known as qawwali after the
qawwals, with whom qaul-tarana and other allied variants were associated. Qawwali
incorporated the stylistic features of khayal in many ways.
The foremost qawwal of the period was Taj Khan. Dargah Ali Khan is all praise for him
that his voice moves the people to ecstasy, and he creates pleasing images like the
paintings of Behzad. According to him the listeners were “captivated by the magic of his
voice.” He was attached to the royal court. Burhani and Jatta qawwals were also
renowned for their talents. Jatta was a prominent figure in the mehfils of the Sufis.
Marsiya-khwani
The art of marsiya-khwani was developed during the period under study. Marsiya was the
funeral eulogium or oration sung during Mahurram in commemoration of Imam Hasan
and Husain. The tuneful recitation of marsiya is called marsiya-khwani. It developed as
an established art during the eighteenth century.
In Delhi, like the Deccan where marsiya in India first took shape, only folk metres were
employed. However, it was distinct in one respect that these compositions were rendered
here in dhrupad style. In spite of the fact that marsiya performers had formal training in
music, marsiya did not yet attain the status of a literary or a musical genre. It was
primarily because of its association with mourning, due to that reason the rag-ragini in it
remained in the background only. The concentration of the singer remained more on
creating an atmosphere of pathos and affliction and not on a display of its skill. Obviously
for this reason, he did not conform fully to the principles of a raga and employed folk
tunes quite extensively. All these special features of marsiya-khwani were misunderstood
by the people and taken as lack of skill which led to a popular saying – big ragavaiyya
marsiya-khwan (an unaccomplished musician turns a marsiya reciter). However, the
validity of this proverb is suspect as contemporary sources reveal that most of the
marsiya-khwans were well versed in music. Miyan Sikander and Miskeen were well
known for their skill in classical and folk music. One Mirza Ibrahim had the power of
“ mesmerizing the people”. About one Miyan Abdulla Dargah Quli Khan remarks: “great
musicians were unanimous in their opinion that a superior elegist with a rhythmic voice

1
See Peter Manuel, Thumri in historical and stylistic perspective, Delhi, 1989, pp. 50, 61.

55
such as his [Miyan Abdulla] never been heard before”.
Instrumental Music
A number of changes appeared in instrumental music, too. There was a decrease in the
number of binkars (vina players), while the popularity of sitar increased day by day.
Sarangi became the standard accompanying instrument for courtesan’s dance songs.
Some new instrumental styles were also evolved.
One explanation for the popularity of the new instruments was that like dhrupad singers,
the binkars were also becoming increasingly sensitive and protective of their family
music. Training was imparted to a selected few and that too to the direct descendents.
Besides, playing the bin was a difficult art. As a result, it was known to a very limited
number of artists. Under these circumstances the sitar, which was relatively a new
instrument, gained popularity.
Sitar, most probably, developed out of sehtar (a Persian three-stringed instrument) and
tambur (a lute). In the beginning, the technique employed in sitar was similar to those
employed in dhrupad and bin, and it had emphasis on rhythmic complexities. It retained
some of these techniques even after the introduction of the new khayal style during the
nineteenth century, known as Masit-khani Baj. Adarang, the renowned sitar player, made
some innovations in the playing technique by using the notations of other instruments on
it. Due to this capacity that techniques of other stringed instruments could be easily
applied on it, sitar gradually overshadowed the popularity of bin and rubab.
It is interesting that not a single tabla player is mentioned in our sources of this period,
although we are told about those who played on pakhawaj, dholak and dhamdhami (a folk
percussive instrument). In fact the use of tabla as a dance accompaniment is associated
with the evolution of kathak at the Awadh court during the nineteenth century.
Dargah Ali Khan had mentioned about a number of noted and talented instrumentalists of
Shahjahanbad: Baqir Tamburchi, whose performance could move “even the animals and
inanimate objects”; Hasan Khan Rababi and Ghulam Muhammad Saranginawaz, who
were incomparable in playing their instruments; Husain Khan Dholak nawaz, who had
taken “the art to its peak and that a better player of dholak is yet to make it mark on
Delhi.” An instrument was fashioned by an instrumentalist Shahnawaz from which “the
sound of dholak, pakhawaj and tambura could be pronounced.
Conclusion
Above description reflects it well that Shahjahanabad was a leading centre of musical arts
in north India. The trends set here were perfected further in other places especially at
Lucknow which emerged as the cultural hub of northern India during the late eighteenth
century.

(b) Crafts and Artisans

Delhi was not merely the cultural hub of north India; it was also a busy commercial
centre. The elements of a “highly charged economy”, which include capital accumulation,
long distance trade, and a large money market with a highly developed mechanism of bill

56
of exchange, may be witnessed at its best in the Mughal capital Shahjahanabad, popularly
known as Purani Dehli.
The reasons for this prosperity were numerous. The city became the administrative centre
after Shahjahan (1628-1658) transferred his capital here from Agra which meant that the
trading community, artistes, and artisans also shifted from Agra to the new capital which
provided them sustenance. Next emperor Aurangzeb too had is court and camp here till
1679. This half a century of peace “coupled with imperial care and attention” proved a
boon to the capital city for its growth as a flourishing commercial centre.1 Another reason
for the prosperity of Shahjahanabad was that its hinterland was rich with alluvial soil and
“the city lay within easy reach of major sources of agricultural production. From such
granaries, during normal years banjaras could carry harvests to supply the needs of urban
population.”2 Besides, the city was also connected to important places through major
highways, which commenced from here through its city gates named after their respective
point of destination. Thus, all the important urban centres commanding the produce and
markets of adjoining areas as well as their own were well-connected with the capital by
road. There was an added advantage too, that the Yamuna was navigable the year around
as far as Delhi which facilitated the growth of a flourishing riverine trade.
Hamida Khatoon Naqvi observes: “The dazzling display of splendour and wealth at
Shahjahanabad, together with legacies of the urban settlement left by earlier Sultans of
Delhi, attracted multitudes of newcomers to the city. Lakhs of enterprising people, many
of them artisans and traders eager for profit converged upon the city. Descendents of the
Sahans of the old Sultanate were still in the vicinity. Prior to 1785, at least one important
nagarseth, or ceremonial head of a house of merchant-bankers, flourished within the city
proper.”3 Apart from the Banyas, the local shopkeepers and merchants, the Armenians,
Central Asians, Persians, and Kashmiris also frequented the city which provided all sort
of merchandise to them. Arab ki Sarai, aninn in the vicinity of Humayun’stomb, was
often full with these transient visitors. Money changers, writers, transporters, and other
skilled and unskilled labourers were found in abundance in the city.
The Bazaars of Delhi
Delhi had numerous bazaars; some were general markets, while some dealt in specific
commodities, and some were wholesale markets. Nakhas was a daily market where
people from the neighbouring areas came to sell their produce. These Nakhas were held
in several places in the city. Then, there were the bazaars, which catered to people of
different areas of the city for some or the other specialized commodity. Besides these
there were two other bazaars, which provided “the most unique things to the entire
population of the city”. Apart from these there were alarge number of retail shops. These
shops were situated in various place providing both luxuries and necessities of life.4

1
Hamida Khatoon Naqvi, Urban Centres and Industries in Upper India11556 –1803, Asia Publishing
House, Delhi, 1968, p. 12.
2
Hamida Khatoon Naqvi, “Shahjahnabad, the Mughal Delhi, (1638-1803) An Introduction” in Delhi
Through the Ages, p. 143.
3
Ibid.
4
For details see Shama Mitra Chenoy, Shahjahanabad A city of Delhi, 1638-1857, New Delhi, 1998,
Chapter VII, pp. 118-138.

57
These markets which were intelligently laid out in the time of Emperor Shahjahan
gradually expanded out of their premises due to a rise in population as well as the
expansion of the city, especially towards the middle of the eighteenth century. Dargah
Quli Khan’s travelogue, Muraqqa-i-Dehli, provides the glimpses of this development.
Some of these bazaars existed on the pavements where vendors sold goods more
attractive than found in the shops.1 There was a proliferation of shops in the residential
areas also.
Katra was a kind of market centre, which functioned as a wholesale market. These trading
centres were located on the farther side of the Lal Qila mainly due to heavy traffic
associated with them. In other words, the working place and the residential quarters of the
artisan classes were located within the city, though some of them came from the suburbs
of thecity
Four bazaars emanated from the four sides of Jama Masjid. Mention may be made here of
the famous bazzar which emanated towards the west side. Intoxicating liquors and drugs
like opium were marketed here. The cloth merchants had their kothis in this area. This
bazaar led to a famous bazzar Chaura. Copper and brass utensils were sold here. It was
also the trading centre of handicrafts and paper. This bazaar was punctuated with several
streets leading to localities and other bazaars known as kuchas. The Chaua Bazaar
terminated at the crossing known as Qazi-ka-hauz and from this point several roads
diverged to different parts of the city.
On the southern steps of Jama Masjid was the market known as Chitli Qabr where the
shops of vendors of small wares, shoe-makers, and famous handicraftsmen were located.
Adjacent to it were the habitations and establishments of the artisans, such as chhatta-
imomgaran. The locality of the butchers or Qassabpura was located at the end of this
bazaar; it was close to Dehli Darwaza.
Close to the northern steps of Jama Masjid were the shops of jewellers, shops of
enamellers of the ornaments, and similar other industrial arts which included pachchikari,
an art of polishing on precious stones, engraving and setting pieces of various colours
into other stones such as marble; khurdakari or inlay work on boxes or mirrors with ivory,
and khattamkari, an art of engraving or inlay work done on ebony wood by means of
ivory or some other material. Bazar Daribakalan had the outlets of various kinds of crafts
such as seal engraving. On both sides of the kucha were shops of sarrafs.2
The eastern steps of Jama Masjid led to the Khas Bazar which had the shops of the
handicraftsmen and sellers of other goods. The greatest attraction in this part was
ChaukSa’dullah Khan. Dargah Ali Khan mentions in his travelogue that “the variety of
goods that are available would easily make a man loose himself here and the poor eyes
would smart at the constant exercise of looking at the abundant display of
novelties…Arm sellers display a variety of uncovered weapons to attract the
customers who can gauge their sharpness. The cloth merchants display their wares on
their arms making the entire atmosphere colourful and outbidding each other in attracting

1
See Muraqqa-i Delhi, pp. 21-25.
2
Madhu Trivedi, “Shahjahanabad”in Historic Delhi, Indian History Congress Felicitation Volume,
pp28-29.

58
the customers…Thus, the goods of human needs and conspicuence are available in this
melee of people.”1
Faiz Bazaar and Chandni Chowk
One of the two main markets in Shahjahanabad was the Faiz bazaar. It was located on the
road which connected the Akbarbadi Gate of the Akbarabadi Gate (now called Delhi
Gate) of the city wall. It was planned in the time of Shahjahan and described by the
contemporaries as a place of great charm of beauty. Nahr-i-Faiz flowed through the
centre of it and its both sides were strewn with shops. The other bazaar was located on the
road which connected the Lahori Darwaza of the city with the Lahori Darwaza of the Lal
Qila. The Nahr-iFaiz flowed through the centre of this road between the Fathpuri mosque,
and a square was connected around the central part of the canal. Both sides of the roads
were lined with trees and more than 1500 shops were constructed. These were either
owned by Princess Jahanara or Nawab Fathpuri Begam (one of the queens of Shahjahan).
Starting from the side of Lal Qila the markets on this side were called Urdu Bazaar,
Jauhri/Ahhrafi Bazaar, Chandni Chawk, Fathpuri Bazaar and Khari Baoli.
Dargah Quli Khan is all praise for Chandni Chowk which was famous for unique articles
and artifacts available in Delhi. He describes it in the following words:
Chandni Chowk is the most beautiful and profusely decorated passage in the city. It is a
centre of recreation for the pleasure seekers and a gallery of rareties for the interested
buyers. Displayed in the shops….Rubies and gems from Badakhshan adorn the shops [of
the jewellers] and their counters abound with pearls and precious stones…On the other
side are cloth merchants beckoning loudly in their in their sing-song voices to attract the
customers…The attars selling varieties of perfumes and essence carry out a brisk trade
with the help of their agents and smooth talks….All the self-control one imposes here on
oneself melts away at the sight of the China crockery and a variety of colourful and
gilded huqqas of glass. Bowls, jugs and exquisite wine cups are displayed in the shops
which are displayed in the shops which attract even the aged pious to savour a
drink…The assortment of rare and unique goods available in this market cannot be
bought at one time even if the treasury of Qarun was at one's disposal.2
In the vicinity of Chandni Chawk was the Kucha natawan. This place was perhaps
originally devised for the natawas, the trainers of the dancing girls for the royal courts
and the nobles, and other performing artistes. During the early nineteenth century,
however, it has been described as occupied by the Hindus and Muslim artisans such as
fashioners, painters, and sculptors and other handicraftsmen.
The fruit market contained many shops which during the summer were well supplied with
dry fruit from Persia, Balkh, Bukhara, and Samarqand, and in winter with excellent fresh
grapes, black and white brought from the countries mentioned above. As Bernier tells us
fruits were very dear and formed the chief expanse of the Nobles.3 Bakers were numerous
according to his description. He also tells us about the shops where meat is sold roasted
1
Dargah Quli Khan, Muraqqa-e- Dehli, (Persian) English transl. Chander Shekharn & Shama Mitra
Chenoy as Muraqqa-e- Dehli, The Mughal Capital in Muhammad Shah’s Time, Delhi, 1989, pp. 21-23.
2
Muraqqa-e-Dehli, pp. 24-25.
3
Francois Bernier, Travels in the Mogul Empire, reprint, Delhi, 1972, p. 249.

59
and dressed in a variety of ways.1
The bazaars of Delhi had all the hustle-bustles of a busy urban centre where one could
procure the best available articles of all kind.
Craft Production
Shahjahanabad was highly renowned for its craft production especially for cotton textiles.
According to a foreign traveller Manrique, Shahjahanabad craftsmen were renowned for
the excellence of their chintzes, quilts, and tie-dyed stuffs. Its chintzes were reported to
have been inferior only to those of Masulipattam and it was a major object of export. The
Arminian and Persian traders were chiefly interested in this commodity. Carpet weaving
was also one of the flourishing industries of Delhi. The carpet weavers of Delhi were
extremely prosperous as they catered to a large market at home. These carpets were used
for various purposes as bedding or as a cover of seats, and it was also used for its normal
purpose of covering the floor, and occasionally as screen in some of the tents.2 The carpet
weavers of Delhi produced rich silken, woolen, and cotton carpets in accordance with the
demand. Shamyanahs and qanats were also manufactured here in large numbers. The
indigo manufactures of Delhi occupied a full ward which was also a hot item of trade.
The Delhi craftsmen also produced fine copper utensils, weapons, paper, leather goods,
sugars and indigo. Book binding was also a flourishing craft of Delhi.
The immense building activities in Sahjahanabad provided employment to thousands of
masons and stonecutters; the number of unskilled workers employed in the building
industry was beyond count. The quarries of red, yellow stones were worked and
extensively employed in the magnificent edifices of Delhi. The workmanship of the
masons, stonecutters, and carpenters was of such a high order that Nadir Shah, who
invaded Delhi in 1739, took along with him 300 masons, 100 stone cutters, and 200
carpenters to Iran.
Bernier is full of praises of Indian artisans. While describing the city of Delhi he
comments: “Numerous are the instances of handsome pieces of workmanship made by
persons destitute of tools, and who can scarcely be said to have received instructions from
a master. Sometimes they imitate so perfectly the articles of European manufactures that
the difference between the original and copy can hardly be discerned. Among other things
the Indians make excellent muskets, and fowling pieces, and such beautiful gold
ornaments that it may be doubted if the exquisite workmanship of those articles can be
exceeded by any European goldsmith”.3

1
Ibid., p. 250.
2
Bernier saw the interior “of a good house whose floor was covered with a cotton mattresses four inches
thick over which a fine cotton cloth is spread during the summer and a silk carpet in the winter” (see his
Travelspp. 247-8).
3
Ibid., p. 254. He further says: “If the artists and manufacturers were encouraged, the useful and fine arts
would flourish; but these unhappy people are contemned, treated with harshness, and inadequately
remunerated for their labour. The rich will have every article at cheap rate…When an Omrahor
Mansebdar requires the service of an artisan, he sends to the bazar for him , employing force, if
necessary, to make the poor people work; and after the task is finished, the unfeeling lord pays, not
according to the value of the labour, but agreeably to his own standard of fair remuneration…The artists,
therefore, who arrive at any eminence in their art are those only who are in the service of the King or of

60
Karkhanas
Bernier describes the karkhanas (workshops) in the premises of the Lal Qila in a graphic
manner: “Larger halls are seen in many places, called Kar-kanays or workshops for the
artisans. In one hall embroiderers are busily employed, superintended by a master. In
another you see the goldsmiths; In a third, painters; in a fourth, varnishers in lacquer-
work; in a fifth, joiners, turners, tailors, and shoemakers; in a sixth, manufacturers of silk,
brocade, and those fine muslins of which are made turbans, girdles with golden flowers,
and drawers worn by females, so delicately fine as frequently to wear out in one night.
This article of dress, which lasts only a few hours, may cost ten or twelve crowns, and
even more, when beautifully embroidered with needlework.”1
The rulers required a large supply of luxury articles to meet the demand of the royal
establishment and to maintain the splendour of the court. The bulk of these articles
especially the silk and other textiles were produced in these royal workshops (karkhanas),
which were best equipped and most efficiently organized. As a modern scholar remarks:
In Mughal India the state was the largest manufacturer or rather the only manufacturer on
a large scale in respect of several commodities.”2
Some of the merchants and nobles ran their private karkhanas, where the employees
worked at some fixed remuneration, as in the imperial karkhanas. Workshops occupied
by skilled artisans might be rare during the seventeenth century as Bernier remarks.
Situation was, however, different during the eighteenth century as many of these
workshops sprang in the city catering to the requirement within and outside the city. It is
also possible that some of the weavers themselves reached a position where they could
maintain their ownkarkhanas.
Chhattas
A large number of manufactories and production centres were spread in almost all parts
of the city of Shahjahanabad which have been termed as craft muhallas by some
historians. Smaller in size and, perhaps, restricted to one particular craft, and located
under covered space, were some production units which were known as chhatta (cover)
such as Chatta Lala Tansukh Rai and Chatta Jan Nisar Khan. These were perhaps private
commodity production units where hired labour was employed. The city had provision
for quarters for different craft communities, for instance chamar ka hata. Sometimes,
members of a particular profession or craft occupied an entire lane which were named
after them such as kuchanaiwalan (barber’s lane), and kucha Charkhewalan and many
more.
By the middle of the eighteenth century the fortunes of Delhi began to eclipse due to a
variety of reasons. Delhi became feeble owing to Nadir Shah’s invasion, the occasional
attacks of Marathas, and Ahmad Shah Abdali’s repeated incursions. The emergence of
successor states established by powerful nobles in northern India further weakened the
Mughal empire. The city became too insecure which led the merchants of substance to

some powerful Omrah, and who can work exclusively work for their patrons”. (pp.255-56).
1
Bernier, pp. 258-59.
2
Tripta Verma, Karkhanas Under the Mughals from Akbar to Aurangzeb, Pragati Publications, Delhi,
1994, p. 17.

61
migrate to other cities such as Agra. The artisans also shifted to less troubled areas like
Murshidabad, Patna, Faizabad and Lucknow and other capital cities and commercial
centres. As a result many industries declined owing to the strained condition of the
imperial treasury, while some retained their vitality. In spite of these adverse
circumstances Delhi still remained known for many crafts and industries. It offered a
variety of merchandise that attracted merchants from far and wide. Even as late as 1793,
the once-a-year visiting caravans from the north brought Kabul Kashmir horses, shawls,
and fruits; the last two commodities could be procured at Delhi at reasonable rates. Delhi
enjoyed the reputation of being a richemporia of trade during the eighteenth century.
7.2 Suggested Readings
1. Madhu Trivedi, 'An Appraisal of the Musical Arts at Shahjahanabad During the
First half of the Eighteenth Century', Art and Culture, (Felicitation Volume in
Honour of Profession S. Nurul Hasan), eds. Ahsan Jan Qaisar and Som Prakash
Verma, Jaipur, 1993.
2. Madhu Trivedi, 'Hindustani Music and Dance: An Examination of Some Texts in
the Indo-Persian Tradition', in The making of Indo-Persian Culture: Indian and
French Studies, eds. Muzaffar Alam, Francoise 'Nalini' Devoye and Marc
Gaborieau, New Delhi, 2000.
3. Madhu Trivedi, 'The Contribution of Sufi and Bhakti Saints in the Evolution of
Hindustani Music', in Sufism and Bhakti Movement: Eternal Relevance, ed.
'Hamid Husain, Delhi, 2007.
4. Madhu Trivedi, Amir Khusrau's contribution to North Indian Music Culture,
Paper presented in an International Seminar on Amir Khusrau, In Jamia Milia
Islamia, in March 2006.
5. Madhu Trivedi, 'Tradition and Transition: performing Arts in Medieval North
India' in The Medieval History Journal, Volume two, Number on (eds.) Harbans
Mukhia & Rajat Dutta, Sage Publications India Pvt. Ltd., Delhi. 1999.
6. Percy Brown, Indian Architecture, Islamic Period, 5th ed., Bombay, 1958.
7. Francois Bernier, Travels in the Mogul Empire, reprint, S. Chand & Co. (Pvt.)
ltd., Delhi, 1972.
8. Hamida Khatoon Naqvi, Urban Centres and Industries in Upper India 1556-1803,
Asia Publishing House, Delhi, 1968.
9. Hamida Khatoon Naqvi, 'Shahjahanabad, the Mughal Delhi, (1638-1803) An
introduction' in Delhi through the Ages, Oxford University Press, Delhi, 1986.
10. Tripta Verma, Karkhanas under the Mughals from Akbar to Aurangzeb, Pragati
Publications, Delhi, 1994.
11. Madhu Trivedi, 'Female Performing Artistes in Northern India: Survey', Art and
Culture: Painting and Perspective, vol. 2, eds. Ahsan Jan Qaisar and S.P. Verma,
Delhi, 2002.

62
63
64