Delhi Historical Travel

One of the most fascinating aspects of Delhi is the "visibility" of its historic past. Were it not for the demands of urbanization, large portions of the city could well be earmarked as archaeological parks. This is because the rulers of successive dynasties between the 13th and the 17th centuries established seven cities in different parts of Delhi. A chronological review of these cities fortunately also serves as a suitable itinerary for tourists and highlights the important monuments amongst the 1300 officially listed. Delhi's history goes much further back in time than the 13th century. In 1955, excavations at the Purana Qila revealed that the site was inhabited 3000 years ago. Ware pottery known as Painted Gray Ware and dated to 1000 BC confirmed this as being yet another site associated with the epic Mahabharata. The excavations also cut through houses and streets of the Sultanate, Rajput, post-Gupta, Gupta, Saka-Kushan and Sunga periods, reaching down to the Mauryan era (300 BC), thus revealing almost continuous habitaion. The association of Emperor Ashoka (273-36 BC) with Delhi has come to light with the discovery of a Minor Rock Edict in the locality known as Srinivaspuri.

India Gate
Located straight down the road from Rashtrapati Bhavan, the foundation stone of India Gate was laid by His Royal Highness, the Duke of Connaught in 1921 and was designed by Edwin Lutyens. The 42 mt high structure is a war memorial in honour of the soldiers who died during the second world war. The impressive has an eternal flame, amar jawan jyoti to honour the memory of the unknown soldiers. On the walls of the structure are inscribed the names of all the soldiers killed in the Northwestern Frontier in the Afghan war of 1919. The entire arch stands on a low base of red Bharatpur stone and rises in stages to a huge molding, beneath, where the names of thousand unknown soldiers are inscribed. The trifling domed bowl at the top was intended to be filled with burning oil on anniversaries. Originally known as All India War Memorial, India Gate is a popular picnic spot during the winters and equally popular as a relaxation area during the summer evenings. During the night, it is intensely floodlit and the fountains nearby are lit up with coloured lights. Several vendors selling bhel puri, ice-cream, balloons, etc stand at night. One can very easily find families enjoying together, youngsters playing cricket and tourists, just standing and viewing this imposing monument.

Jantar Mantar
At first sight, the Jantar Mantar appears like a gallery of modern art. It is, however, an observatory. Sawai Jia Singh II of Jaipur (1699-1743), a keen astronomer and a noble in the Mughal court, was dissatisfied by the errors of brass and metal astronomical instruments. Under patronage from the emperor, he set on himself the task of correcting the existing astronomical tables and updating the almanac with more reliable instruments. Delhi's Jantar Mantar is the first of the five observatories that he built with large masonary instruments. The observatory has the Samrat Yantra, a simple equal hour sun dial, the Ram yantra for reading altitudinal angles; Jai Prakash for ascertaining the position of the sun and other celestial bodies, and the Misra Yantra which is a combination of four scientific gadgets.

Qutub Minar
The Qutub Minar (pronounced kuh'-tub mee-'nahr), or the Tower of Qutub, is the tallest freestanding stone tower in the world (approx. 250 feet). It's also very old - just a shade over 800 years old, to be precise. Qutub-id-din, an Afghan warrior prince, invaded northern India and captured Delhi near the end of the 12th century. He built a large palace complex to the south of the city that included India's first mosque, as well as this tower. The Qutub Minar eventually served as his mausoleum, not to mention as an excellent perch for spotting potential invaders. The Qutub Minar is not only a marvel in itself but it is also significant for what it represents in the history of Indian Culture. In many ways, the Qutub Minar, the first monument of Muslim rule in India heralded the beginning of a new style of art and architecture which came to be known as the Indo-Islamic style.
The Qutub Minar is a fluted red sandstone tower which tapers up to a height of 72.5 metres and is covered with intricate carvings and verses from the holy Koran. Qutb-ud-din Aibak began constructing this victory tower as a sign of Muslim domination of Delhi and as a minaret for the Muslim priest, the muezzin to call the faithful to prayer. However, only the first storey was completed by Qutb-ud-din. The other storeys were built by his successor Iitutmish and the top was restored by Firoz Shah who used marble to face the redstone. There is however a controversy regarding the naming of the tower. Many historians believe that the Qutub Minar was not named after the first Turkish sultan, Qutb-ud-din Aibak but in honour of Khwaja Qutb-ud-din, a saint from Baghdad who came to live in India and who was greatly venerated by Iitutmish, Qutb-ud-din’s successor. The Qutub Minar is considered to be one of the most perfect towers in the world and was once the axis of the imperial city of Delhi.

Red Fort
Red Fort or lal qila as it is more popularly known is a masterpiece of architecture and one of the most haunting spots for tourists from both India and abroad.Before the mutiny of 1857, the fort presented an altogether different picture from what it presents today because only about one-fourth of the imposing structure is accessible to visitors with the rest of the area being under the control of the Indian Army, which continues the occupation begun after the uprising of 1857 was suppressed.In 1858, a large number of palaces in the fort were demolished, many of the taikhanas ( basement rooms) sealed and massive barracks constructed for the soldiers. Before 1857, the fort was a mini-city with palaces, offices, workshops and halls of audience where about 3,000 people lived, yet today more than 10,000 visitors come to savour the magnificence of the building everyday. There are 15 distinct structures within the fort with the first being the Lahore Gate and the last one the Moti Masjid.The Lahore Gate of the palace is veiled by the barbican added by Aurangzeb, a Mughal emperor.The gate is from where the Prime Minister addresses the nation and unfruls the National Flag on August 15, Independence Day. The entrance of the Gate leads through a long covered bazaar called the Chatta Chowk.From Chatta Chowk follows the Naqqar Khana(Drum Room) also called Naubat Khana or the Welcome Room, which earlier formed part of a square enclosure with apartments for the umrah (Nobles) on duty. It was at this point that everyone other than the Emperor had to dismount from their elephants and walk towards the magnificent Diwan-e-Am(hall of public audience) where the Emperor used to listen to the grievances of the common man.