Chandni Chowk

The Chandni Chowk is a street market square it is one of the oldest and busiest markets in Old Delhi, India. Located close to the Old Delhi railway station, the Mughal-era Red Fort is located at the eastern fringes of Chandni Chowk. It was built in 1650 by the Mughal Emperor, Shah Jahan, and designed by his daughter, Jahanara. The street spanning the market was historically divided by canals, engineered to reflect moonlight. These canals have since been closed, leaving behind a transformed urban landscape. It remains one of India's largest wholesale markets.

History

The market's history dates to the founding of the capital city of Shahjahanabad when Emperor Shah Jahan established the Red Fort on the banks of the Yamuna River, hemming his new capital.

Original Chandni Chowk

The original Chandni Chowk, half-moon-shaped square, was situated before the Townhall; its reflection used to shimmer in the moonlit water pool located at the front. A shallow water channel, whose source was the Yamuna, ran through the middle of the straight street now referred to as the Chandni Chowk bazaar, with roads and shops on either side of the channel. This road had three bazaars. Chandni Chowk and its three bazaars were designed and established by Princess Jahanara Begum, Shah Jahan's favourite daughter, in 1650. Originally consisting of 1,560 shops, the bazaar was 40 yards wide and 1,520 yards long. The bazaar, fashion to resemble a square, was accorded ample elegance by the presence of a pool at the complex's center. The pool glimmered under the moonlight, a characteristic that inspired its name.
The shops were originally arranged in a distinctive half-moon pattern, a design that has since been lost or altered over time. The bazaar gained renown for its thriving silver trade, leading to its association with silver merchants. This prominence earned it the moniker Silver Street—a name rooted in its Hindi counterpart, wherein silver is called Chandi.
The term Chandni, which is closely derived from Chandi, further emphasizes the cultural and linguistic connection to the bazaar's identity. The pool at the square was replaced by a clock tower in the 1870s. The centre of the market is still referred to as Ghantaghar. Chandni Chowk was once the grandest Indian market. Chandni Chowk was a significant route for Mughal imperial processions, hosting the grand displays of emperors and their entourages, highlighting its importance in the empire's cultural and architectural heritage. The tradition of grand processions through Chandni Chowk continued during the Delhi Durbar of 1903. Meanwhile, the British contributed to the area's architectural heritage by constructing the Delhi Town Hall in 1863.

Original three bazaars

The term Chandni Chowk previously referred only to the square that hosted the reflecting pool. Today, the entirety of the stretch that runs spans the middle of the walled city, from Lahori Gate of the Red Fort to the Fatehpuri Masjid, is known as Chandni Chowk. The road was subsequently trifurcated into the following bazaars:

Urdu Bazar: the stretch spanning from Lahori Gate of Red Fort to Chowk Kotwali near Gurudwara Sis Ganj Sahib was called Urdu Bazaar, i.e., the encampment market. The Urdu language received its name from this encampment. Ghalib noted the destruction of this market during the disturbances of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and its aftermath.
Johri Bazar: the Chowk Kotwali to Chandni Chowk section of the straight road was originally called Johri Bazar.
Fatehpuri Bazar: Chandni Chowk to Fatehpuri Masjid section of the straight road was originally called the Fatehpuri Bazar.

While the contemporary market is blighted with congestion, the market still retains its historical character.

Kucha, katra and havelis

The road now called Chandni Chowk had several streets branching off of it, which were referred to as kuchas. Each kucha usually had several katras, which in turn had several havelis. The following terms are generally used to describe the buildings and the streets:

Mohalla : a residential neighbourhood with kuchas and katras within kuchas.
Kucha or Gali : Kucha in the Persian language is synonymous with "Gali" or street in the Hindi language. It is a street or a zone with houses whose owners shared some common attributes, usually their occupation. Hence the names Kucha Maliwara and Kucha Ballimaran. Kuchas either had rows of large Havelis or gated cul de sac "Katra" marketplaces along with them.
Kucha mahajani: is one of the biggest gold-trading hubs and wholesale jewellery markets in Asia.
Katra : are one-room quarters around a court with a single narrow entrance and inhabited by people of the same caste or occupation i.e. a zone with houses whose owners shared some common attribute, usually their occupation, hence the name. Katra refers to a separate wing of tradesmen and craftsmen belonging to the same trade. They usually lived and worked together in a gated cul de sac, the doors of which could be closed at night for the protection of the merchandise, equipment, workers and their families. It is a system similar to the guild housing in Amsterdam such as Handboogdoelen and Voetboogdoelen.
Haveli : A normal haveli has a big courtyard surrounded on four sides by spacious rooms and often another walled courtyard around the exterior. Historic havelis include:
* Begum Samru's palace built in 1806, now called Bhagirath Palace, see.
* Dharampura Haveli, Gali Guliyan, designed in late Mughal style although parts show the influence of 20 Century architecture. During Mughal and late Mughal Period, a large numbers of Havelis were built by courtiers.
* Chunnamal haveli in Katra Neel
* Ghalib ki Haveli of Mirza Ghalib, Gali Qasim Jan
* Haksar Haveli in Sita Ram Bazar, where Jawaharlal Nehru was married on 8 February 1916 to Kamla Nehru. She was born here, and her family sold it in the 1960s. Haveli used to host mushairas
* Haveli Banarsi Bhawan with a water well is situated near to Shree Digambar Meru Jain Temple in the Masjid Khajoor area.
* Haveli Naharwali, Kucha Sadullah Khan, where Pervez Musharraf, former president of Pakistan was born and his grandfather sold it to Prem Chand Gola after whom this area is now called Gola Market. This was originally owned by the Raja Nahar Khan a Hindu convert of Mewat who converted to Islam during the era of Firuz Shah Tughlaq in 1355, hence the name.
*Khazanchi haveli, the Khajanchi were the accountants of Shah Jahan. A street is named after them called "Gali Khajanchi", a long tunnel connects the haveli and the Red Fort, so that money could be transferred safely. It is close to the entrance of Chandni Chowk, from the Red Fort walk towards Fatehpuri, turn left on road to Dariba and the haveli is at the end of the road that connects Dariba and Esplanade Road.
* Haveli Raja Jugal Kishore, a grand mansion with an imposing gate, which was adorned with a large ghanta-bell. Located adjacent to the gate, a room in the haveli opening towards the street, was given to Lala Sukhlal by the owners of the haveli as a philanthropic gesture to open a sweet shop, which came to be identified as ghante ke neechewala halwaii.. A street is named after the haveli; Kucha-i-Haveli Raja Jugal Kishore between Kucha Maliwara and Kotwali Chabutra.
*Naughara Mansions in Naughara Gali off Kinari Bazaar has 18th century Jain mansions. It is a street with nine continuous havelies with brightly painted floral designs on the facade. Each of the havelies used to have a gharha placed at door for the thirsty passersby. There is a white marble Jain Svetambara Temple at the end of the street with stone elephant heads at the door, intricate carvings on walls and pillars, a museum on the ground floor with rare manuscripts embroidered in pure gold and silver threads and a black image of Lord Parasanath in the rare kasauti stone on the first floor. Office of Atma Prakash Aggrawal at the beginning of the street houses numerous antiques and should not be mistaken as an antique shop.
* Zeenat Mahal Haveli, Lal Kuan Bazar

Some other commonly used terms are Chatta, phatak, mahal, kamra, kuan is waterwell, etc.

Historic religious buildings

Delhi's most famous mosque, Jama Masjid, built-in 1650 in the vicinity, is near other religious shrines, belonging to multiple religions. Starting from the Red Fort, the buildings include:

The Sri Digambar Jain Lal Mandir, established in 1656 with a bird hospital established in 1929. A Naya Mandir was built in 1807 in Dharampura, as the first temple with a Shikhar.
The Gauri Shankar Temple was built by a Maratha general Appa Gangadhar according to one of the legends.
The Central Baptist Church, it was built-in 1814.
The Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib. The ninth Sikh Guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur and his followers Bhai Mati Das, Bhai Dyal Das and Bhai Sati Das were executed nearby by the Mughals in 1675. The Gurudwaras in the form of memorials were built in 1783 after Delhi, the then Mughal capital was captured by the Khalsa under the command of Baghel Singh. Present Building was however built later in 1930.
The Sunehri Masjid was built in 1721 by Roshan-Ud-Daula Zafar Khan in the reign of Mohammad Shah. Persian invader Nader Shah spent several hours on the top of the mosque on 11 March 1739 to observe the Katl-e-Aam that he had ordered, which resulted in 30,000 deaths.
The Fatehpuri Masjid was built by Fatehpuri Begum in 1650, one of the queens of Shah Jahan.
Present

On both sides of the wide Chandni Chowk are historical residential areas served by narrow lanes, several of which are teeming with the peddlers, street vendors, street food and bazaars.