Delhi is deeply rooted in history; its land is where emperors and kings like Indraprastha, Lal Kot, Quila Rai Pithora, Siri, Jahanpanah, Tughlakabad, Ferozabad, Dinpanah, Delhi Sher Shahi or Shahjahanabad- envisoned and built their kingdoms.
It is largely rumored that Delhi is the place where the legendary city of Indraprastha, mentioned in the Mahabharata 3,000 years ago, existed. However, archeological data indicates this land has been occupied for at least 2,500 rears.
Since the 12th century, Delhi has been a power in India’s history, throughout which time it has been controlled by 7 different powers. The Chauhuns took over the city and transformed it into one of the most prominent Hindu centres in North India. Then in 1193, Outab-ud-din Aibak won control of the city, which led to 6 centuries of Muslim rule. Delhi Sultanate controlled the city from 1206 to 1526, followed by the Moghuls from 1526 to 1857. The Moghul emperor Shah Jahan who ruled from 1628-58 built much of what makes the old city famous today, such as the Red Fort and the Jama Masjid.
In 1803, the British colonized India and entered Delhi, putting a British administrator in charge to oversee the city’s governance. At this time, the city contained about 150,000 people and was an important commercial centre. After a short period of time, 7 years, the Brits made Delhi the capital of India. They built up ‘New Delhi’ with grand architectural government buildings of imperial glory. Then in 1817, Partition forever altered the religious composition of the city, changing from a city of 1,000,000 and largely Muslim to a sprawling, crowded center of 2,000,000 people, majority of whom were Hindu.
Delhi was also the main center throughout India’s war of independence from Britain in 1857 lead by Azad Hind Fauz during the freedom struggle.
