A Vandalised Civilisation (original) (raw)

The Art and Architecture of the Town of Shahjahanabad(Old Delhi)

Indo Nordic Author's Collective, 2021

The Art and Architecture of the Town of Shahjahanabad(Old Delhi) Delhi has a long history, and has been an important political centre of India as the capital of several empires. Earliest coverage of Delhi's history is in the onset of the Tomar's kingdom in the 8th century. Since then, Delhi has been the centre of a succession of mighty empires and powerful kingdoms, making Delhi one of the longest-serving capitals and one of the oldest inhabited cities in the world. It is considered to be a city built, destroyed and rebuilt several times, as outsiders who successfully invaded the Indian Subcontinent would ransack the existing capital city in Delhi, and those who came to conquer and stay would be so impressed by the city's strategic location as to make it their capital and rebuild it in their own way. During the Vedic period, Delhi was the site of Indraprastha or Indrapat, an Indo-Aryan city in the Khandava Forest which served as a capital of the Kuru Kingdom, the first recorded state-level society in the Indian subcontinent. In the medieval era, Delhi was ruled by the Tomara dynasty and Chauhan from 736 to 1193. The Delhi Sultanate is the name given for a series of five successive dynasties, which remained as a dominant power of Indian subcontinent with Delhi as their capital. During Sultanat period, the city became a center for culture. The Delhi Sultanate came to an end in 1526, when Babur defeated the forces of the last Lodi sultan, Ibrahim Lodi at the first Battle of Panipat, and formed the Mughal Empire. The Mughals ruled the area for three centuries. During the 16th century, the city declined as the Mughal capital was shifted. The fifth Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan built the walled city of Shahjahanabad within Delhi, and its landmarks, the Red Fort and Jama MasjidHis reign would be considered the zenith of the empire. After the death of his successor Aurangzeb, the Mughal Empire was plagued by a series of revolts. They lost major portions to the Marathas, Sikhs and many governors of erstwhile Mughal provinces like Bengal, Awadh and Hyderabad. Delhi was sacked and looted by Nader Shah. The Jats captured many important towns of Mughal heartland south of Delhi. The Marathas captured Delhi in the battle of Delhi in 1757 and continued to control it until 1803 when they were defeated by the British during the second Anglo-Maratha War. In 1803, the Delhi was captured by the British East India Company. During Company Rule in India, the Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah II was reduced to merely a figurehead. The Indian Rebellion of 1857 sought to end company rule and declared Bahadur Shah II the Emperor of India. However, the British soon recaptured Delhi and their other territories, ending the short-lived rebellion. This also marked the beginning of direct British Rule in India. In 1911, the capital of British India was shifted from Calcutta to New Delhi, the last inner city of Delhi designed by Edwin Lutyens. After India's Independence from the British, New Delhi became the capital of the newly formed Republic of India.

Old Delhi: The Fusion of Hindu, Muslim and Jain Cultures

WordPress, 2022

When one thinks of Shahjahanabad (in Old Delhi), the city that was built by Emperor Shah Jahan and became the capital of the Mughal empire in 1648, they think of it as an Islamic city. The defining monument of the city might be the Jama Masjid but we forget that this was a city that was planned by the emperor keeping in mind the various trades and professions of its residents.

GEOGRAPHY OF PLACE-MAKING: THE RIDGE, THE RIVER, AND THE HISTORIC CITIES OF DELHI

Delhi, a Rajput military outpost till 12th Century AD, gained its importance as a capital city after repeated foreign invasions between 8th and 12th century, mostly happening from NorthWest frontier. Protected by the Aravalli ridge and the river Yamuna, its locational advantage became evident around the beginning of Islamic rule in 12 th century. Since then, Delhi has remained the capital of multiple empires. Ruins of their 'cities' can be found in three major zones within the modern urban agglomeration of Delhi. Together they roughly form a triangle. Endpoints of this imaginary triangle are Shahajahanabad (North), Mehrauli

Panāh-I Din Daran: The Story of the Forgotten Mughal Capital, Dīnpanāh – The Court Observer

The Court Observer- The Society for Court Studies Blog, 2023

”نہ تھا شہر دہلی یہ تھا چمن کہو کس طرح کا تھا یاں امنن جو خطاب تھا وہ مٹا دیا فقط اب تو اجڑا دیار ہے“ (“Delhi was never just a city, it was a garden of harmony They have erased all signs of that, now only a ruined waste remains") -Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last Mughal Emperor, on the destruction of Delhi in 1857 It is hard to imagine that the city that Zafar so eloquently described was not a favourite of his ancestors, at least for the first century. Scholars believe that Delhi gained prominence as the Mughal capital only after Shahjahan, the fifth Emperor built his capital city, Shahjahanabad, in Delhi in 1648— eventually ransacked by the Company in 1857. While Shahjahanabad and the Red Fort have dominated Delhi's Mughal history, this blog challenges this narrative by highlighting that Mughal presence in Delhi began not under Shahjahan, but a century prior: under the often ignored second Mughal Emperor, Humayun. Humayun had established Dīnpanāh, the 'Refuge of Religion,' as his capital in 1533. Although much of Dīnpanāh is lost—remnants like Purana Qila, Qala-i Kuhna mosque, and Sher Mandal have endured. Stylistic similarities reveal that Dīnpanāh was the unacknowledged inspiration for iconic monuments including Humayun's Tomb, Red Fort, and Fatehpur Sikri Complex. By delving into its architectural, political, and cultural history, this blog emphasises how even in anonymity, Dīnpanāh, the forgotten capital, became a testament to Delhi's rich architectural legacy and resilience through the ages. Keywords: Delhi—Mughal—Dīnpanāh—forgotten

Inhabited Pasts: Monuments, Authority, and People in Delhi, 1912–1970s

The Journal of Asian Studies

This article considers the relationship between the official, legislated claims of heritage conservation in India and the wide range of episodic and transitory inhabitations that have animated and transformed the monumental remains of the city, or rather cities, of Delhi. Delhi presents a spectrum of monumental structures that appear variously to either exist in splendid isolation from the rush of everyday urban life or to peek out amidst a palimpsest of unplanned, urban fabric. The repeated attempts of the state archaeological authorities to disambiguate heritage from the quotidian life of the city was frustrated by bureaucratic lapses, casual social occupations, and deliberate challenges. The monuments offered structural and spatial canvases for lives within the city, providing shelter, solitude, and the possibility of privacy, as well as devotional and commercial opportunity. The dominant comportment of the city's monuments during the twentieth century was a hybrid monumental...