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A name tells a lot about a person. Similarly, for a city, it is the same! From name comes an identity. Just like how we say Ye Dilli hai Dil Walo Ki or Dilli Dilwalo ka Shehr Hai (Delhi belongs to the people with warmth). Though the reference to Dilli (Delhi) and Dil (heart) may be a contemporary one, there is a very rich history behind how Delhi got its name!
the naming of Delhi
According to Mahabharata, out of the first seven cities of Delhi, Indraprastha is the first one. The name Indraprastha comes from the ruler Indra, whereas the term prastha means 48 double handfuls. Prastha is derived from the story where King Indra fills both his hands with pearls and distributes them among his subjects.
It is also said that in 50BC, a Mauryan king named King Dhilu had loved who named this town Yoginipura after the Goddess he worshipped Yogmaya. Later, he named the city after him, and thus it was known as Dhilli or Dhillika. However, these claims are mostly mythological and do not find much relevance in history.
However, one reference could be seen from Vikram Samrat (1189-1230) by Vibudh Shridhan, where the text does mention the country Haryana, whose capital is Dhilli. The text also mentions that the ruler was King Anangpal.
According to Sir Syed, the city of Delhi was named after Raja Dalip, who belonged to the Suryavanshi and Chandravanshi clans of Rajputs. Some believe that he was an ancestor of Yudhisthir (from Mahabharata). However, this claim is untrue as Delhi is not older than Indraprastha.
Gujarat History på Twitter: "198 years old watercolour painting of the view of Lal Killa (Red Fort) on the bank of river #Yamuna at #Delhi was painted in 1823 AD. https://t.co/i8pGDip23y" /
Old painting of River Yamuna near Laal Qila in Delhi, source: @GujaratHistory (twitter)
Delhi was built near the River Yamuna, so its soil was considered suitable for agriculture. The deposit of Yamuna provided Delhi with fertile land, from which comes the next theory of naming Delhi. Many believe that the Tomars who ruled Delhi referred to the region by the kind of soil it had- Dheeli or Dhilli, which meant loose or soft. And over time, the name evolved from Dhilli to what we now know as Delhi. While looking at the claims of King Dhilu, some documents do suggest similar names to King Dhelu of Dehlu in one of Amir Khusrau's poems:
Kannauj. As per those documents, the King is said to build a city and named it after himself. The dates, however, are debatable. Some suggest 50BC, while there are some who suggest 328BC. Though the most agreeable date is 57BC.Though the dates may be debatable, there is a definite mention of Dehlu in one of Amir Khusrau's poems:
Ye nak apsam baksh ya zi akhur ba farma bargiir Ya befarmaan deh ke gardun sheenam Dehlu ravam(tr. Now give us a horse or form the stables grant us a beast of burden, Or give a farman to the skies that it may bear us to Dehlu)
Many also mention Delhi in their writings. One such is Ptolemy (90-168AD), who writes about Daidala- a city built by Raja Delu in 57BC, further matching the dates and the information on King Dhelu.
Another theory proposed by Basheeruddin Ahmed is that the term dil in Hindi means maqam-e-martaqa or an elevated place. Therefore the name Dilli is derived from its strategic location at the foothills of the Arawali range. Furthermore, from a baoli stone of Ghiyasuddin Balban's reign that is currently preserved in the National Museum, the theory of Haryana country and Delhi being its capital could be seen in congruence. However, the evidence is not conclusive.
The most commonly accepted theory is of the "threshold." Delhi, the cultural center, was known to be the threshold of new beginnings. Whether it was the beginning of someone's power. Beginning of trade. Beginning of battle. The location of Delhi has been such that it always worked as a threshold to something. This is where the name Dehli came from. The term Dehli is derived from the dehliz, which means threshold. It is believed that the Sultans first used the term Dehli to connote it with the threshold of power and cultural amalgamation. Further, some theories also suggest that Persian, Arabic, and Urdu phonology did not allow the rulers to pronounce "Dh," thus the name was changed from Dhilli to Dehli
Lastly, with the advent of the English rule and its influence over language, the term Dehli or Dilli was anglicised and finally pronounced Delhi.
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