Shahjahanabad


Shahjahanabad, colloquially known as Old Delhi, is an area in the Central Delhi district of Delhi, India. It was founded as a walled city and officially named Shahjahanabad in 1648, when Shah Jahan decided to shift the Mughal capital from Agra. The construction of the city was completed in 1648, and it remained the capital of Mughal India until its fall in 1857, when the British Empire took over as paramount power in the Indian subcontinent. After the inauguration of the New Delhi as the capital of India, the city started to be colloquially known as Old Delhi in order to distinguish it from the rest of the city.
It serves as the symbolic heart of metropolitan Delhi and is known for its bazaars, restaurants, street food, shopping locations and its Islamic architecture; Jama Masjid being the most notable example, standing tall in the midst of the old city. Only a few havelis are left and maintained.
Upon the 2012 trifurcation of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, Shahjahanabad became administered by the North Delhi Municipal Corporation, but in May 2022 the city was re-unified under a new Municipal Corporation of Delhi.

History

Delhi Sultanate era

The site of Shahjahanabad is north of earlier settlements of Delhi. Its southern part overlaps some of the area that was settled by the Tughlaqs in the 14th century when it was the seat of Delhi Sultanate. The sultanates ruled from Delhi between 1206 and 1526, when the last was replaced by the Mughal dynasty. The five dynasties were the Mamluk dynasty, the Khalji dynasty, the Tughlaq dynasty, the Sayyid dynasty and Lodi dynasty.

Mughal era

Delhi remained an important place for the Mughals, who built palaces and forts. Most importantly, Shah Jahan ordered his famous chief architect Ustad Ahmad Lahori to build the walled city between 1638 and 1649, containing the Lal Qila and the Chandni Chowk. Delhi was one of the original twelve subahs, renamed Shahjahanabad in 1648, bordering Awadh, Agra, Ajmer, Multan and Lahore subahs. Daryaganj had the original cantonment of Delhi, after 1803, where a native regiment of Delhi garrison was stationed, which was later shifted to Ridge area. East of Daryaganj was Raj ghat Gate of the walled city, opening at Raj Ghat on Yamuna River. The first wholesale market of Old Delhi opened as the hardware market in Chawri Bazaar in 1840, the next wholesale market was that of dry fruits, spices and herbs at Khari Baoli, opening in 1850. The Phool Mandi of Daryaganj was established in 1869, and even today, despite serving a small geographical area, it is of great importance due to dense population.
File:Red Fort 01.jpg|thumb|The Lahori Gate of Red Fort from Chandni Chowk.

Colonial era

After the fall of the Mughal Empire post 1857 revolt, the British Raj shifted the capital of British controlled territories in India to a less volatile city, Calcutta in Bengal, where it remained until 1911. After the announcement of the change, the British developed Lutyens' Delhi just south-west of Shahjahanabad. At this point, the older city started being called Old Delhi, as New Delhi became the seat of a national government. It was formally inaugurated as such in 1931.

1876 description

In 1876, Carr Stephen described the city as follows:
The clock tower no longer exists, although the location is still called Ghantaghar. The sarai of Jahanara Begum has been replaced by the city town hall. The kotwal is now adjacent to Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib.
The Old Delhi Railway Station, was designed in the architectural style of the nearby Red Fort, which was constructed during the administration of the British colonial government and opened in 1903.
The British also built the State Bank of India branch building in Chandni Chowk as well as the St. James' Church, the St. Stephen's Church and the Central Baptist Church leaving an influence of European architecture as well in the historical place.

Demographics

The population of Old Delhi remains a mix of many different ethnic groups. While the region is Muslim-dominated, Hindi–Urdu is the most spoken language.

Walls and gates

It is approximately shaped like a quarter cìrcle, with the Red Fort as the focal point. The old city was surrounded by a wall enclosing about, with 14 gates:
  1. Nigambodh Gate: northeast, leading to historic Nigambodh Ghat on the Yamuna River
  2. Kashmiri Gate: north
  3. Mori Gate: north
  4. Kabuli gate: west
  5. Lahori gate: west close to the Sadar Railway station, Railway Colony, including the tomb of Syed Abdul Rehman Jilani Dehlvi.
  6. Ajmeri Gate: southwest, leading to Ghaziuddin Khan's Madrassa and Connaught Place, a focal point in New Delhi.
  7. Turkman Gate: southwest, close to some pre-Shahjahan remains which got enclosed within the walls, including the tomb of Shah Turkman Bayabani.
  8. Delhi Gate: south leading to Feroz Shah Kotla and what was then older habitation of Delhi.
The surrounding walls, wide and tall, originally of mud, were replaced by red stone in 1657. In the Mughal period, the gates were kept locked at night.
The walls have now mostly disappeared; only some of the gates are still present. The township of old Delhi is still identifiable in a satellite image because of the density of houses.
The Khooni Darwaza, south of Delhi Gate and just outside the walled city, was originally constructed by Sher Shah Suri.
The Bahadur Shahi Gate was the last gate built by the last Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar, which connects the Salimgarh Fort to the Red Fort.

Streets and neighbourhoods

The streets in Old Delhi are known for being narrow and winding and being labyrinthine within the walled city with many alleys, as well as for being vibrant and bustling and mainly crowded.
The streets retain the essence of the Mughal-era layout, serving as a functional network for moving from one place to another as well as for bustling markets and iconic landmarks, creating a unique living experience in the city. Historic shops, traditional mansions and religious sites are built directly along and into these lanes, making the streets themselves a form of premises that houses and shapes community life.
The main street, now termed Chandni Chowk which meant Moonlight square, runs from the Red Fort to Fatehpuri Masjid. The street square today which includes the market which was historically divided by canals, engineered to reflect moonlight hence the name Moonlight square. These canals have since been removed, leaving behind a transformed urban landscape. The 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 rich architectural heritage.
North of the street, there is the mansion of Begum Samru, now called Bhagirath Palace.
South of the street is Dariba Kalan, a dense residential area, beyond which connects the Chandni Chowk area with the Jama Masjid. Daryaganj is a section that used to border the river at Rajghat and Zeenat-ul-Masjid.
The Urdu language emerged from the Urdu Bazaar the stretch spanning from the Lahori Gate of the Red Fort to near the Gurudwara Sis Ganj Sahib was called Urdu Bazaar, i.e., the encampment market in Old Delhi. The Din Dunia magazine and various other Urdu publications are the reason for this language staying alive.
Its main arteries are
Old Delhi is approximately bounded by these modern roads:
The engraving accompanying Letitia Elizabeth Landon's poem, "The City of Delhi", appears to show the Jama Masjid with an elephant on the open ground before it. She associates the city's past glories with tales of enchantment, namely James Ridley's The Tales of the Genii. In Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1832, page 44.

Historical sites

Many of the historical attractions are in the Chandni Chowk area and the Red Fort. In addition, Old Delhi also has:
  • Gurudwara Sis Ganj Sahib, a sikh Gurudwara built to commemorate the martyrdom site of the ninth Sikh Guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur. It marks the site where the ninth Sikh Guru was beheaded on the orders of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb on 11 November 1675 for rebelling against the forceful conversion of people from other religions to Islam.
  • Gaurishankar Temple
  • Salimgarh Fort
  • Mumtaz Mahal
  • Gali Qasim Jan in Ballimaran is the site of Mirza Ghalib's haveli, and that of Hakim Ajmal Khan
  • Razia Sultana's tomb near Kalan Masjid
  • Jama Masjid, India's largest mosque
  • Lal Mandir, Delhi's oldest Jain temple
  • Fatehpuri Masjid
  • Khari Baoli, Asia's biggest spice market
  • Zinat-ul Masjid, Daryaganj built-in 1710 by one of Aurangzeb's daughters
  • Rajghat, Mahatma Gandhi's cremation site memorial
  • Kalan Masjid, 14th-century mosque in Old Delhi
  • St. James Church built-in 1836, Delhi's oldest church, built by Col. James Skinner.
  • Golden Mosque, the mosque is located outside the southwestern corner of the Delhi Gate
Some of the historical mansions include:
  • Dharampura Haveli a restored heritage hotel
  • Haveli of Mirza Ghalib, Gali Qasim Jan, in Ballimaran
  • Chunnamal haveli, Katra Neel
  • Kathika Cultural Centre and Museum
  • Naughara mansions in Kinari Bazar, 18th-century Jain mansions
  • Masterji Kee Haveli, Sita Ram Bazar
  • Haveli Sharif Manzil in Ballimaran is famous for its Aristocratic Hakims and their Unani practice, and that of Hakim Ajmal Khan
  • Haveli of Zeenat Mahal, Lal Kuan Bazar
  • Kucha Chelan, where the Persian descent inhabited
  • Begum Samru's Palace of 1806 now called Bhagirath Palace.
  • Khazanchi haveli
  • Haveli Raja Jugal Kishore
  • Haksar Haveli, Bazar Sitaram, where Jawaharlal Nehru was married in 1916 to Kamla Nehru.
  • Haveli Naharwali, Kucha Sadullah Khan, where Pervez Musharraf, former president of Pakistan was born